New-York tribune., 1869-05-05
THE USE AND ABUSE OF sTIMULANTs.


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 ana use OF
stimulants have been unwise and Irrational
Human nature is not so hOpelessy vicious as
to be beyond the influence of reason and per-
suasiOn-however obstinate it may be III lts
resistance to arbitrary and inconsistent laws,
and the inference, therefore, is that the eX-
tremists who have declared uncOmpromislng
war against the use of liquor under any circum-
stances have overshot the mark, and actually
increased the evil they intended to crush out.
The United States law authorizes the lmporta-
ton, manufacture and sale of spirits, ana TIE
Government derives q large revenue from such
Importation, manufacture and sale, and Whlle
this is the case no local law can eyer prevent
the use of the article. The statutes when I'M
pose 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
prohbtionists, and they make bylaws to pre-
vent the citizens from exercising personal
privilege guaranteed to them-by implication
at least-by the law of the land.
Every good man admits that intoXication is
n terrible vics-the fruitful parent of every
| species of CRIME. But it does not therefore
| follow that alcoholic stimulants should be
! abolished. Wipe them out, and what becomes
Of one of the most important departments of
medical artP Only ignorant fanatics, or mel
whose better judgment is warped by prejudice,
will attempt to deny that lives are saved daily
by the timely administration of spirituous
| stimulants as q terminating and restorative
| 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, medical science would be
| like the play Of Hamlet with the part OF the
hero omitted. Most especially is this true OF a
pure medical stimulant. Unquestionably the
extremists Of the Neil Dow stripe would
like to suppress all medical preparations
containing alcohol. They would prob
ably begin with Hostetter's Stomach Bit
ters reputed to be the most potent re-
storative 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 Mississippi or the miner in the placers and
canyons Of California, or the v0yager about 30
| sail for the insalubTious coast OF Mexico or the
| West Indies, and demand the surrender OF this
great antidOte TO malaria, and protective
| against the effects Of unwholesome water il he
| happened TO be provided with it. Nay, they
would probably go further than that, destroy
the great factory at Pittsburgh, where it is pre-
pared, 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 10 them that the article was manufac-
| tured from the purest of all known diffusiys
stimuli, and the most valuable of mediea
herbs and roots. Away with it away with
itlr they would cry; "it contains alcohol, and
| therefore il must he destroyed"
But this is the language OF insane bigotry.
| Emil lightened Scienee-aye. and enlightened Re
| ligion ana Morality, too-cOndemn 1t utterly.
| Bishop Eastbnrn, the Rev. DIR. Worcester, aud
other great divines, have recently given their
| testimony against such wholesale hostility TO
| stmuants, and have declared that the vice of
| drunkenness has been greatly increased by the
discriminating onslaushts OF the prohibition
| its. The great Agassiz. and such men as Pro-
| fcssors Hosford and Jackson, together with
| Drs. Bigelov, Clarke, Holmes, White, and
| many Other eminent practitioners, whose stand
| ing as phSncians should secure respect for their
| opinions on u point like this have stated that
alcoholic preparations are absolutely essential
in the treatment Of many diseases and as re-
storatves. They only insist that the prepara-
tions be pure. They are in favor Of stringent
laws against aduteration; 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 lt does not prevent,
it never has prevented, 1t never can prevent
the sale of alcoholic fluids but il leads TO their
deterioration, and thus increases thousand
fold the evils that it proposes to annlhllate.
When liquors are sold secretly, and at the risk
of personal liberty, of course the dealers will
seek to compensate themselves for tho hazards
they incur by inOrdinate profits, and to obtain
those profits they will adulterate what they
sell 1t is notorious that the liquors sold in
States where prohibitOry laws exist, Is for the
most part poison.
1t is as safe for the vender 10 give his Gus
toners 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. Prohibitory laws promote it. 1t is
well known that most of the liquor recently
forfeited IN New York, Brooklyn, and else
where, for evasion of the Government tax has
been of the vilest description. The manufae-
turers, in 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 discovery, might be comparatively
small. The safety of the public health de-
mands that such pernicious stuff be destroyed,
and under proper system OF tests 1t would DO
condemned and emptied into the docks. But
no. it is sold by the Government at the aver
age rate Of about S2 a gallon, 70 pay the tax:
In this way alcoholic poison is distributed
broadcast among the people. The whole system
OF legislation bearing upon tho liquor trade IN
this country is, although not so intended, IN the
interest of intomperance. A moderate excise, and
wise sanitary laws in relation TO the testing OF
all distilled and fermented beverages are the
best safeguards against the great evil which all
thinking men deplore, but for which few have