New-York tribune., 1869-01-13
THE USE and ABUSE of STIMULANTs.

ance is moro nreyalent in the United States to-
day than il has ever been at any former period.
This ia n statistical fact which the well-in-
formed philanthropist cannot deny, however
much he may regret it, and 1t proves one ol
two things-ether that the vice is past remedy
or mitigation, in that the stringent means
adopted to prevent the sale and use OF stlnla-
lants have been unwise and irrational. Human
nature is not so hopelessly vicious as to be be-
yond the influence of reason and persuasion
however obstinate it may be in its resistance
to arbitrary and inconsistent laws, and the in
ference therefore, is, that the extremists who
have declared uncompromlsing war against the
use of liquor under any circumstances, have
overshot the mark, and actually increased the
evil they intended to crush out The United
States law authorizes the importation, manu-
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 be
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 citl-
zens from exercising a personal privilege guar.
anteed to him--by implication at least-by the
law of the land
Every good man admits that intOxcatiOn is
terrible vice-the fruitful parent OF every
species of crime. But it does not, therefore,
follow that alcoholic stimulants should be abol-
ished Wipe them out, and what becomes OF
one of the most important departments OF
medical art Only ignorant fanatics, or men
ind 10 i'll
dice, will attempt to deny that lives are saved
daily by the timely administration OF spirit
uous stimulants as terminating and restora-
tive agent 1t is the basis Of all the tinctures
of the pharmacOpeias, and it has preserved the
lives of thousands on the battlefield, In mill
tary and other hospitals, and in private prac-
tice. Without it the medical science would be
like the play Of Hamlet with the part OF the
hero omitted Most especially is this true OF
pure medical stimuant. Unquestionably, the
extremist, of the Neil Dow stripe, would like
to suppress all medical preparations contain
ing alcohol. They would probably begin with
HOstetter's Stomach Bitters, 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 traveller in the Valley OF the
Nississlppi. or the miner i'll the
placers and canons of California, or the voy-
ager about to sail for the insaubrious coast of
Mexico or the West Indies, and demand the
surrender of this great antidOte to malaria,
and protective against the effects of unwhole-
some water. if he happen to be provided with
it, Nay. they would probably go further than
that, and destroy the great factory at Pitts
burgh 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 manufactured from the purest OF
all known diff'usive stimuli and the most yalu-
able of medicinal herbs and roots Away with
it away with it!r they would cry; =" it con-
tains alcohol and therefore it mustbe destroyed
But this is the language of insane bigotry.
Enlightened Science-aye and enlightened Re-
ligion and Morality, tOo-condemn 1t utterly.
Bishop Eastburn, the Rev. DIR. Worcester, and
other great divnes have recently given their
testimony against such wholesale hostility TO
stimulants, and have declared that the vice of
drunkenness has been greatly increased by the
discriminating onsaughts of the prohibition
lists. The great Agassiz, and such men as Pro
fessors Hosford and Jackson, together with
other eminent practitioners, whose standing as
physicians should secure respect Tor their opln-
ions on a point like this have stated that alco-
holic preparations are absolutely essential IN
the treatment of many diseases ana as restora-
tves They only insist that the preparations
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 prohibition 1t does not prevent,
it never has prevented, 1t never can prevent
the sale of alcoholic fluids, but it leads to their
deterioration and thus increases thousand fold
the evils that il proposes to annihllate. When
liquors are sold secretly and at the risk OF per-
sonal liberty, of course the dealers VIII seek 10
compensate themselves for the hazards they
incur by inordiuate profits, and TO obtain those
profits, they will adulterate what they sell. lt
is notorious that the liquors sold In States
where prohlbitorya flaws exist Is for the most
part poison. lt is us safe for the yender TO give
his customers a fiery and destructive compound
as a good article-the penalty being in each
case the same. Strict and faithfully executed In
spection laws would prevent this horrible adul-
teratiOn ProhibtOry laws promote 1t. 1t is well
known that most OF the liquor recently forfeited
in NewYork, Brooklyn, and el elsewhere, for
eyasiOns of the Government tax has been or
the vilcst description. The manufacturers, III
view of the possibility of seizure have got up
the contraband articles at the least possible
expense IN order that their loss, IN case OF dis
coyery, might be comparatively small. The
safety of the public health demands that such
peniciOus stuff be destroyed, and under pro-
per system of tests it would be condemned
and emptied into the docks But no, it is
sold by the Government at the average rate of
about - a gallon To pay the tax. In tins way
achoholic poison is distributed broadcast among
the people. The whole system of legislation
bearing upon the liquor trade in this
country is although not SO intended, in
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