Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-05-10

In a work from the pen of NJ. Jules
Simon, entitled LIE I'TdUdi, which has just
appeared in Paris, appear the following
statements of the condition of the children
of workingmen in some parts of Franceiff
Even in France there are towns where
women rival men in HABITS of intOXication.
AT Lille, at Rouen, there are some so satu-
rated with it that their infants refuse to
take1the breast of sober woman. In the
mountains of the Vosges infants drink eau
de-Vie. On Sunday, in the churches. the
air is literally infected with the smell of
eau.de-vie made from potatoes. In those
mountains there are no more frequent
causes of idiocy and imbeclity,, for in gem
eral the dwellings are healthy, and the wa
ter is excellent. The great misfortune is
that the children of habitual drunkards are
idiots, so that the punishment follows from
generation to generation. from the guilty
and degraded father to the innocent chill
dren. In the manufacturing towns the
mayors are obliged to take measures against
the cdbdrstS that supply eau-de-vie TO chill
dren, for there are drunkards OF fifteen as
there are laborers at eight; and, morally
and physically, they present melancholy
spectacle. Can it be this precociOus de-
bauchery and the consequences of it which
oblige the War Department to lower the,
regulation height for the service? WHAT'S
done to combat the evil? A few sermons
which are not listened to; few municipal
ordinances that are not carried out !;
pathetic exhortations which nobody pays
attention to, are not suflicienttO absolve So
ciety, which allows the pestilence to spread
as if it were an inevitable consequence OF
industry. f .....J ..r u s...r.r
''Insteal of preaching and Furnishing, a
cure should be applied, and for that the
cause of the evil should be known. NoOne
can believe, no one will venture to say, that
the wretched people who haunt the public
house to ruinan to poison themselves have
any excuse for so doing. Yet think OF the
twelve hours that these men spend in their
workshops twelve long and wearlsOme
hours, without any recreation, withouteven
the pleasure of seeing their work finished
under their hands; for the artisan Is a mere'
piece of machinery, and feels no interest in
what he produces. After those twelve
hours, so eXhaustng, so mOnotonous, fol-
low him, in the snow and frost, when lie
quits his shop. Mount the crazy and rOt7
ten staircase leading to his room. Enter
with him into the frightful dOg-hOle, where
his meal is scarcely ever ready, Tor his wife
isat work like himself; where he never
tastes wine, because wine is TOO dear; where
he cannot breathe, because air fit for breath
ing is dearer still than wine; where he has
no furniture, for during illness and stop
page of work his furniture is sent to the
pawnbroker; aud where he finds neither
fire, nor covering, nor sleep! DO you know
many men, even among those who are
most eloquent on drunkenness, who would
resist the attraction of the pleasant tap
room, well lighted, well warmed, with its
glittering pots, its dusty. bottles, its gay
no, n,,f, nd 111l n n IA
piness, which hides from him the want of
real happiness?' ..l -t-.r.,u.
NJ. Simon notices the efforts made by the
cooperative associations in England, Ger
many and France for the improvement of
the habitatiOns of the poor. London. hc
says, is of all places in the world the city
where NEST has been doDein this way.