Moderate Drinking. ITS PHYSICAL EFFECTS DISCUSSED BY 675 PHYSICIANS. (From Frank Loslie's Illustrated Weekly, with permission of the publishers.)

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume II, Issue 21, 15 July 1899, Page 3

Moderate Drinking. ITS PHYSICAL EFFECTS DISCUSSED BY 675 PHYSICIANS. (From Frank Loslie's Illustrated Weekly, with permission of the publishers.)

Every sincere friend of true temperkuce must view with regret the insi<iioii3 methods bj which Prohibitionists teek to create prejudice against, and thereby to counteract, all efforts calculated to accelerate the progress of "^deration in the use of alcoholic shtnulnnts. Although experience proves that their doctrines, if carried out, produce, m an aggravated form, the* Veryeuls which they are alleged to remove, Prohibitionists persist in demanding that the law-makeri shall forbid the proper use of stimulants in order to prevent their abuse. In | doing tins they prove themselves the most dangerous enemies of true tetoperanoe. Man's instinctive yearning tor stimulants cannot be eradicated by the dictum of a legislative body ; it "ay. however, by other means, be sept within proper bounds. It iera tact, vouched for by the experiences of Wl civilised nations— our own included that the excessive gratification of 1018 a Ppetite is greatest wherever the general use of ardent spirits prevails ; while it disappears almost wholly the light fermented beverya have become the universal drinks SL?« Peo ? le ' his for thi s reason E nen ?* of to™ temperance enour, by all rationa j means to 2J n«° tbe li^ hfc f ermentea bever,.*W*s» lhe literature on this particular

feature' of the drink-question is exceedingly voluminous. The names it presents are thos>e of those niqst eminent physiologists of modern nations, «nd its teachings might be aptly epitomised in the words uttered by Prof. Louis A&assiz before a committee of the Legislature oi Massachusetts (1867), viz. : " I hail with joy — for I am a temperance man and a friend oi temperance—l hail with joy the efforts that are being made to raise wine in this country. I believe that when you can have everywhere cheap, pure, unadulterated wine you will no longer have need for either prohibitory or license laws." Recognising the force and "crushing weight of such testimony, Prohibitionists have of late years begun to concentrate their energies upon a countermovement designed to lead the public* into the belief that medical authorities are all but unanimous in the opinion that alcoholic stimulants, evea when used moderately and in their mildest forms, produce innumerable diseases, premature decrepitude, and death. In furtherance of this mode of propagandisin, medical congresses have been held under the auspices of the Prohibition party and their proceedings published in a manner best calculated to prejudice and obscure the minds qf the ci-edulou" and timid. Prompted by a desire to help the cause of truth and of tenipeiance by [ correcting the errors thus created, rte addressed the following question to every physician whose name appears in the Medical Directory of the city of j flew York :—: — i Whether the person addressed^ regards the moderate use of light wines ! and beer as injurious to the health of grown persona. These repiies stand ris lollows : — ' Negative 435 Semi-negative 88 Affirmative 152 Total 675 No doubt, a very large number is of opinion, expressed by one of our correspondents, physiological chemistry has long since settled this question ; that a discussion of it is useless, and that anyone desiring information on the Subject should read the works of such eminent scientists as Prof. Moleschott, Doctors Anstie, Pavy. Thudicum, Sir James Paget, and others, who hold that " fermented,liquors, taken in moderation, increase the secretion of the digestive juices and promote the solution o£ the food." Although we know that Dr. Oliver Wendall Hobnes once claimed that " medicine is assensative to outside influences, political, religious, philosophical, imaginative, as is the barometer to changes in atmospheric density," still, we honestly believe that but very few physicians failed to answer for reasons other than those given above, or equally laudable ones. Prof. Jaeobi probably expressed the opinion of many, when he stated that he would not reply to our circular because " scientific or moral problems cannot be solved by counting heads and hearts whose cerebral and emotional contents and motives may and do differ too widely."