THE PROHIBITIONIST.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3961, 12 November 1891, Page 2

THE PROHIBITIONIST.

Published by the courtesy. of the Edito- of WalrarapaDai'y under the auspias of the New Zealand Alliance for the prohih'di-n of the liquor traffic, Mastcrton Auxiliary.

When ratepayers demand the entire extinction of all places for the sale of liquors their prayer should be granted. — Charles Buxton, Breton:

[Communications lor this column musl be addressed to "The Prohibitionist' care of Editor of Wairaeapa Daiia.]

The Prohibition Reform can stand the glare of tbe light of modern science. A striking change has come over the world of medical science. A number of years ago brandy was freely and liberally used in the sickroom; This treatment is a thing of the past. The voice of medical science against drink is being heard. About two hundred physicians, surgeons, etc., of New York, Brooklyn, and vicinity, recently signed the following Medical Declaration : " I. In view of the alarming prevalence and ill effects of intemperance, with which none are so familiar as members of the medical profession, and which have called forth from eminent English physicians the voice of warning to the people of Great Britain concerning the use of alcoholic beverages, we, the undersigned, members of the medical profession of New York and vicinity, unite in the declaration that we believe alcohol should be classed wi.h other powerful drugs; that, when prescribed medically, it should be with conscientious caution, and a sense of grave responsibility. 2. We are of opinion that the use of alcoholic liquor as a beverage is productive of a large amount of physical disease; that it en'.ails diseased appetites upon offspring; and that it is tbe cause of a large percentage of the crime and pauperism of our cities and country. 8. We would urge judicious and effective legislation —State and National—which would seek to confine the traffic in alcohol to the legitimate purposes of medical and other sciences, art, and mechanism." Over 2,000 physicians of Great Britian declared :—" That total and universal abstinence from alcoholic beverages of all sorts would greatly contribute to the health, the prosperity, and happiness of the human race."

Are fermented liquors nutritious ? Professor Liebig. the greatest chemist not a foe to beer said of Bavarian Deer, which is considered to be the most nutritious and best: "We can prove with a mathematical certainty that as mncb flour as can lie on the point of a table knife is more nutritious than eight quarts of the best Bavarian beer; that a person who is able to consume daily that amount (two gallons) of beer obtains from it in a whole year exactly the amount of nutritive constituents which is contained in a five pound loat of bread or in three pounds of flesh." That is, he must drink twenty three barrels of beer to get as much nutriment as ic a five-pound loaf of bread or three pounds of meat. Dr Lyon Playfair, professor in chemistry in the University of Edinborough, has analyzed a specimen of beer, and reports that of blood forming matter it contains exactly one part in 1,666 parts.

Sir Henry Thomson, tbe criminal physican, in writing to the late Archbishop of Canterbury said :—"I have long had the conviction that there is no greater cause of evil, moral or physical, in this country than the use of alcoholic beverages. Ido not mean by this the extreme indulgence which produces drunkenness. The habitual use of fermented liquors to an extent far short ot what is necessary to prod.ice that condition, and such as is quite common in all rinks of society, injures tbe body and diminishes the mental power to an extent which I think very few people are aware of. Such, at all events, i§ the result of observation during more than twenty years of professional life devoted to hospitil practice, aud to | private practice in every rank above j it. I know full well how unpalatable is such truth., and how such a declaration brings me into painful conflict, I had almost sa,id, with the national sentiments and the timehonored and prescriptive usages of our race. My main object is to express my opinion as a professional man in ielation to the habitual employment of fermented liquor as a beverage. But if I veutuj*«d one step further, it would be to express a belief that there is no single habit in this country which so much tends to deteriorate the qualities of the race and so much disqualifies it for endurance in that competition which, in the nature of things, must exist, and in which struggle the prize of superiority must fall to the best and this strongest."

Dr Harris, S2oretary""of the prison igsociajion pf New York, in an essay m tije }4at{gn of djunfeenness to irirae, writes as fgllpws;— Lej, these nskancesot terrible Grimes with vybjch he Society is continually afflicted iuffice to show precisely to what part li2 f'emon alcohol plays in the murlers, arsons, ana Eyeless outrages hat ?hock the public ear and send brills of horror throughout the State. Enraged tigers and 'hideous yjpers iould roam "our streets more safely han human beings so poisoned and sraaed by strong drink. In France, t is an' ascertained fa,ctf that about $9 per cent of alj murders are psrletrated amidst drunken brawls in or ibouj dram shops. In Great Ifritain ind the the percentage s still exceeding £0 per cent j ybjle among the .convicts in prisons md penitentiaries in both these coun.rics, over 75 per cent, of the prjso: lers were addicted to inebriation before imprisonment, and nearly 01 juite half of the total number com> yitted their crimes wheu in 6om( iegree under the poisonous influenc( )f alcoholic drihifs, yhe fcistory o crimes (hat are committed'agiinsi the person, such as those here nar rated, sufficiently illustrate tb3 con. iitjoua lf'4ff?? which the conscienci and reason become sclent, and th< rule of diabolism is established.' Eyei the educated and socially favours* man is in great danger of falling int< vice—irregularity in duty departure from htpypss, integrity and even the commission of if he indulges freely in intoxicating drinfes, 'j-'he prisons and the courts as well 9.8 tjja hj.sl.ory pf banking anc mercantile pursuits! and the 'gpea enterprises of commerce and industry prove thia, The fact is here to bi declared boldly that the intoxicating effect of alcohol prepares the way foi the commission of crimes of ever] kind, and that even for those whicl require a steady hand and a cleai head there is need of the paralysing effect of the alcohol upon the con science and moral sense; and tha s>uch an effect is desired and sough by the professional criminal is a fac

well-known. It i 3 also an important fact that the unpremeditated or gradual sliding into fraudulent and criminal practices by persons who surprise society by their fall is largely due to the demoralising efTects of alcohol upon the conscience, and the normal hold of moral principles upon the mn.dand the daily affairs of men.