ALCOHOLOGY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 229, 10 January 1911, Page 3

ALCOHOLOGY.

v;!i-: .MOVKMKXT ACAIXST .M.l'dHi),,. (Published by Arr;;i::,'eiiie-nt). ! In' attack on alcohol has in peroral two motives. The first is tfio opposition to ak-ohol itself us a dangerous substance nt a poisonous nature w'hieh is not net: ssary to life and well-heintf; tbe .next is opposition to the licensed open drinking bar. To take a hasty glance i\t each would lie useful and, to many, helpful. Alcohol in all its forms is a, depressant on normal activities, while at the same time it weakens all power of self-re-straint, I hns appearing us a stimulant, which it is not. In so far as it seems to produce a comfortable feeling it is a deceiver; it is playing a trick on the nervous system. In this part of the movement I he doctors and hygienists arc. taking the lead. 'lt is freely admitted'that a. trilling amount of alcohol, may be decomposed ov digested by the gastric juice. We must, also renumber that any pqison, as .strychnine, may be taken in less than toxic (poisonous) doses. The evil, however, in drink is not primarily in intoxication.. but in nerve-disturbance. Intoxication is merely Nature's way of trying to throw- oil' the poison. Drunkenness, Ihwftsrc, does not indicate weakness, but rather a vigorous system at work dii\:>:g out r.'i e:i>'my. To be able to take in a lav;„f ijtiaiitity of liquor jvithoi'.t apparent cii'.ct means a disordered nervous system, not sufficiently alert to begin at the lirst the war against the poison whidi drunkenness shows to be acting on the system. A man who is . legiilnrly and constantly nipping is never iu a normal condition. In this the man who n!'-:'h;s i<>::;'l■ om all alcoholics is, saf. r and happier than lie l who rejoices in being made a fool of bv alcohol, which ' means for him future depression. If the use of alcohol were, however, eonlined to the Use of " "

TAiil.i; P.KKK AND LKiHT WINES

the temperance movement would never have assumed its present formidable char-

"cter. In that oi ,; e the user would have to settle the matter with his doctor or hi- employ: r. ius is largely the case now in <0:110 countries.' It must be remembered. at the same time, that the drink habit grows always; the light drink prepares the appetite for fiery spirits, anil th' company of drunkards is recruited only from the ranks of the moderates. The »reat bulk of those who fall in the attempt at moderation are overthrown through i'jnorancc, or good fellowship, or a, nenial. yielding disposition. To say that they are weaklings is unkind, and not what \\". say in other matters. \Ye do not say that a road or a bridge, or a footpath is safe enough for strong men and let the weak ones—such as women and ■ children—take c,!?e of themselves. Xo; we improve th" road, we widen the l:riilae, we fc.iicc the footpath so as to make safe going for all —weak or strong. When we consider the opposition to the open liri'iis: d bar v.e are at once on dill'ercut grounds; we have to deal with the money which is behind it. Hut even here it is not the litrht wines and 'laser, beer

that satidies tin. seller any more than (he drinker. . As an American writer puts it: "Xo one save the brewers can save the saloon. They can save it only by making it innocuous. If it is made.harm-!e-s, it will not bring in the money.'' A I'alnicrstnn 110TKL!\Kl'il , KR .SAYS

th 'it th" only way to fight the anti-license movement is to put the, trade in good order. In a letter last month to the Tribune he sluwvs'in detail how this may l:e . done-—yood liquors, .good men and women to dispense the good liquors, and, to ke; 11 all goiii 1 .' well, each house must le vi-ited twice daily by a SKIMEAXT AND CONSTABLE of police. This is rather a large order and plainly shows that those who are in the trade and know all about it recognise that, in trade us w.eli as in its beverage, use, alcohol is very unruly. :

'l*llK .SC AX D AXA\' IAX SYSTEM is very attractive to some. The idea is to eliminate the profit; if it could be done something might be said in its favor as a means of spreading the evil tiling over the land; and it would still be the same injurious substance. But it can't be done. The prolit would come in, to the oHicials, in the way of "graft," if not directly. As in South Carolina with tilt [ dispensing system. iL would be only substituting one evil for another. There is still mi: remedy that each tan try and that is to shut up (so far as alcohol is concerned i the "little house just beneatfP the nose." i