THE "JOY-KILLER."

Taranaki Daily News, 24 August 1920, Page 7

THE "JOY-KILLER."

(To tie Edtor.) Sir,—Lawful drinking of intoxicants in unlimited quantities is accountable for great wastage of thought, the problem being how to mept trouble arising therefrom. Both young and old are only too commonly acquainted with the ccfnaequences of drunkenness. We condemn it utterly among savage races; in fact selling liquor in those cases is\ crime of a punishable kind, Government action being necessary on account of the weakening and demoralising effect once tbe habit is formed. How many men have miserably failed to make good because thsy were demoralised by drink? It is. of course, used as a lure, an underhand weapon in money-grabbing. Reliable men do not waste valuable time at s»lea where intoxicants form part of the proceedings (similar to barter ■ with savages) unless requirements urgently press. Why, then, is it so universal? First the vice was discovered, then indulged in till it became a habit, and after watching drunkards' pitiful though bravo attempts to correct a vice acquired through heredity and self-indulgence, could one expect a nation to be righted by people more or less in drink's grip? Certain weeds are declared noxious and are firmly handled, introduced mostly before any settled law 3 were formed. Is not that the correct manner of grasping the drink problem? In cases only where an abrupt stoppage of spirit would cause serious shock do doctors prescribe it, only till the patient's health is somewhat rebuilt. Tljerc is a law prohibiting the sale of impure drink. If that meets the case why do imprisonments for drunkenness occur and atrocities of all kinds be traced to drink? What chance has youth against the drink habit in company with aged drinkers, men who to them are an example of full manhood? Give for the sake of creation all sport reasonably free scope, but let drink lie scourged out as being the true and only "joy killer."—l am, etc., j A. ARCHER. ! Stratford, 2bt August.