TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 4028, 26 May 1931, Page 7

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

(Published by arrangement with the United Temperance Kccorm Council.) THE REAL POINT. William James, the great psychologist, aptly characterised the psychic effect of alcohol as that of •“ narrowing the field of consciousness.” SOME THINGS WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DRUG ADDICTION. A prominent educator has well expressed the first truth we should consider, as follows; — We are confronted with daily reminders that habit-forming drugs are becoming a real national menace to health of mind and body, to our social well being, as evidenced by the number of arrests for peddling “ drugs ” and the dastardly crimes committed by the demented addicts. The second truth to be realised is, since there is no real cuie for drug addiction, it is an added reason for us to make every possible effort to prevent its spread. The third truth is one upon which all authorities on this question are agreed: “ Education is the one and only force that can successfully cope with this menace, both for immediate and permanent results.” Fourth, ‘ Hunger is Nature's method of calling our attention tc the need of food for the body Food is the substance which, when taken into the body, is readily digested and assimilated, then used to repair worn-out muscular tissue, to add new tissue, and to combine with oxygen to furnish hodily heat and energy. Stimulants are those substances that, when taken into the human system, whip the energies into temporary activities. Many stimulants create a recurring and unnatural appetite for themselves. All forms of alcohol come under this head. Narcotics are drugs that cause insensibility to pain or feeling of any kind, through deadening or paralysing the nerves. They not only create a constant appetite for themselves but require increased doses to keep the system benumbed.'’ A large dose of any narcotic is a,deadly poison and will exterminate human life by complete.paralysis. The most common narcotics are; —1, Alcohol; 2, cocaina; 3, opium; 4. morphine; 5, heroin; 6, veronal; 7. codeine; 8, hasheesh, or indian hemp 9. nicotine. Narcoctis are not food. Narcotics are not stimulants. Narcotics are poisons.

They are habit-forming, degrading, exceedingly dangerous to human kind, and are poisonous. They should never be taken in any form except as administered by a most conscientious and careful physician. Let us do our part in spreading the truth as to the dangers of drug addiction, remembering the words, “ If ye shall know the truth, the truth shall make you free.” WHY I DO NOT DRINK LIQUOR. Alfred A. Ebert (Former saloon keeper in Missouri). A short time ago I was seated in the big coliseum in St. Louis waiting for the “Boy Scout Circus” to commence. Presently a bugle sounded in the distance, and we heard the tramp, tramp of the boys marching. Here they came, the flag, the bugle corps, the brass band, and thousands of boys dressed in khaki. Around the big amphitheatre they went; I thought the procession would never end, and wlien at last they were crowded into this huge arena there were 6000 of St. Louis’s finest boys standing at attention. There were 13,000 people in that audience, many of them parents and relatives of these khaki boys; no wonder there was thunderous applause. Accustomed to big things and thrills in life, yet to me it was the most inspiring sight I had ever witnessed. The reason is simple. “My Bo.v ” was one of those 6000 khaki-uniformed Scouts. I knew he was clean on account of the principles he had been taught in this organisation; I knew there were 5999 other clean, high-minded boys marching with him. For two and a-half hours we sat and watched the programme. They made bridges, they lighted fires without'matches or other fire to aid them, they gave us delightful music, they drilled, played games, and received their merit badges, and ■were presented by some of the leading men of our nation. The programme had ended and fathers were seeking their boys; the meeting was more than cordial, it was affectionate, and there was not a father who did not go’"home with a deeper love and feeling of greater responsibility for his boy. Going home that night, and as my boy nestled closer to me on the seat, this thought kept coming to me: So there are still some who would like to use these 6000 boys as future prospective customers for their liquor business. In order to sell liquor you must have customers, and future customers are mustered out of the ranks of young fellows like we saw tonight. - With the experience which 1 have gone through and the love I have for my boy, it is but natural I want to guard him from the evil which I know so much about; and I am not only interested in my boy being spared the evil and curse which drink brings with it, but I am interested in the welfare of those other 5999 khaki boys who paraded with my boy that night at the “ Scout Circus.”

My boy is getting a different training entirely from that which I received. He is being brought up in a different environment, and I must necessarily guard my step as a fitting example for him.. Only a few evenings ago at our dinner table, my daughter remarked: “Daddy, I saw’ a drunken man the other day, the first one I ever saw.” My blood shot through me like fire. Looking back on my experience in life, I believe liquor, and particularly as it was served in the saloon days, was the greatest curse that ever befell mankind. So. with my boy, I am using every worth-while measure to dodge this evil; the Boy Scouts, the Y.M.C.A., athletics, and constant warning and teaching.—Union Signal.