New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-11-27
THE USE and ABUSE of sTIMULANTs.

in defiance of prehibitory statutes, Intemper-
ance is more prevalent in the United States to-
day than it has ever been at any former pc
Rod. This is statistical fact which the well
informed philanthrOpist cannot deny, however
much he may regret it, and it proves one OF
TWO things-either that the vice is past remedy
or mitigation, or that the stringent means
adopted to prevent the sale and use Of stimu-
lants nave been unwise and irrational. Human
nature is not so hopelessly vicious as to be be-
y0nd the influence of reason and persuasion
however obstinate it may be in its resistance to
arbitrary ana inconsistent laws, and the infer
ence, therefore, is, that the extremists who
have declared uncompromismg war against the
use of liquor under any circumstances, have
oUershot the marx, and actually increased the
evil they intended to crush out. The United
States law authorizes the importation, mann
facture, and sale OF spirits, and the Government
derives large revenue from such importation,
manufacture, and sale; and while this Is the
| case, no local law can ever prevent the use Of
the article The statutes which impose taxes
and duties on liquor, presuppose that it will 10
used, and recognize the right OF the people to
use it. That right is denied by the prohibition
lists, and they make bylaws to prevent the citi-
zen from exercising personal privilege guar
anteed to him-by implication at least-by the
law of the land.
Every good man admits that intoxication is
| terrible vice-the fruitful parent of every
| species of crime. But it does not therefore
| follow that alcoholic stimulants should be abol-
| shed Wipe them out and what becomes OK
| one of the most important departments OF med
| cal art2 Only Ignorant fanatics, or men whose
| better Judgment is warped by prejudice, will
attempt to deny that lives are saved daily by
| the timely administration of spirituOus stimu-
! lus as a terminating and restorative agent. 1t
is the basis of all the tinctures of the pharma-
coppias, and it has preserved the, lives OK
thousands on the battlefield, in military and
other hospitals and in private practice. With
out it, medical science would be like the play
of Hamlet with the part of the hero omitted;
Most especially is this true or pure medtcdC
stimu!ant. Unqnestionably, the extremist,
of the Neil Dow stripe, would ike TO,
suppress all medicated preparations containing
| alcohol They would probably begin with,
HOstetter's Stomach Btters reputed to be
| the most potent restorative and Alternative OF
! the day. They would deprive the ague and
| fever districts of the South and West of this
powerful specific. They would meet the tray
| eleT in the Valley of the Mississippi. or the
miner in the placers and eanons of California,
or the vOyager about to sail for the insalubn..
| ous coast of Mexico or the West Indies, and
! demand the surrender of this great antldote TO
| malaria, and protective against the effects or
unwholesome water, if he happened to be pro-
vided with it. Nay, they would probably go
further than that, and destroy the great factory
! at Pittsburgh, where it Is prepared, and every
| bottle of it upon which they could lay their
hands throughout the length and breadth OF
the land. In vain would it be proved TO them
| that the article was manufa ,tured from tho
| unrest of all known diffusiye stimuli and the
most valuable of medical herbs and roots.
away with it," away with It y they would
cry; sit contains alcohol, and therefore 1t
must be destroyed"
Bnt this is the language of insane bigotry.
| Enlightened Science-aye, and enlightened he
| ligion and Morality, too-condeinn It utterly
| BlshOD Eastburn, the Reverend Dr. Worcester
| and other great dvnes have recently gwen
their testimony against such wholesale hostility
| to stimulants and have declared that the VICE
| of drunkenness has been greatly increased by
| the indiscrimnate onslaughts of the prOhibI-
| tiOnists. The great Agassiz, and such men as
| Professors Horsford and Jackson, together with
| Drs. Bigelow, Clarke, Holmes, White, and
MANY other eminent practitioners, whose stand
ing rs physicians should secure respect for their
| opinions on a point like this, have stated that
alcoholic preparations are absolutely essential
| i'm the treatment Of many diseases, and as re-
| storatives. They only insist that the prepara-
| tons be pure They are in favor OF stringent
laws against adulteration; their motto is
| regulate not destroy"
And this is the true policy, dictated alike by
| philosophy, experience, and common sense,
! What, on the other hand, is the tendency OF
! the policy of pTOhlbitioni 1t does not prevent,
| il nSv&R has prevented, it never can prevent
The sale of alcoholic hnids, but it leads to their
deterioration. and thus inereaSes thonsan9-
| fold the evils that it proposes 70 aunihlgJW'
| When liquors are sold secretly, and at the TED
! seek TO compensate themselves Tor the hazards
thew menr bt inordnate profits, and TO obtain
those nrofts' thew will adutergte what they
sell 1t is notorious that the H;ii;0f sold -: 80
States where prohibt0ry laws exist is for the
most part poison 1t is as safe for the vendeE
to give his customers fiery and destructive
compound as a good artice-the penalty being
in each case the same. Strict and faithfully eN-
ecuted inspection laws would prevent this hor-
rible adulteTatiOn. ProhibitOry laws promote
- .af In lIlf
recently forfeited in New York, Brooklyn, and
elsewhere for evasion of the Government tax,
has been of the vilest description. The mand-
facturers, in view of the poss bilty OF seizure,
have got up the contTaband articles ut the
least possible expense, IN order that their loss,
in case of discovery, might be comparatively
small. The safety of the public health demands
that such perniciOus stuff be destroyed, and
under proper system OF tests t would be con-
demned and emptied into the docks. But no,
il is sold by the Governments, at the average
rate of about 50 a gallon, TO pay the tax. In
this way alcoholic poison is distributed broad
east among the people. The whole system OF
legislation bearing upon the liquor trade IN this
country Is, although not so intended, an me m
tereSt Of intemperance. A moderate excise and
wise sanitary laws, in relation to the testing OK
all distilled and fermented beverages, are the
best safeguards against the great evil which all
thinking men dep0re, but for which lew have
the wisdom and holiness to propose any rene
dies consistent with reason and founded on II
proper appreciation OF the wants and weak
nesSes of human nature. What pity it is that
profesed reforrhists will attempt to drire,
when their true policy would he to lead. ddrise
and restrain. All patriotic citizens would be
glad, if they could, to sweep out OF the trade
and commerce of the country, the vile blaln-
maddening potiOns that are now sold in every
public grOggery and every secret den OF intern
perance, with as little Iisk to the dealer rs the
purest products of the vat aud still.
The question is, How shall it he doneY And
the reply of every right-thinking man ls-oy