The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-03-23
BRITISH AND AMERICAN DRuVKAaDS.

guished Americans to Give Their Views and
Experiesce In sbe Treatment OF Drunken.
ness. - ~ Iii
BINGAAMTON, March Ia, 1879.
In . brief despatch forwarded 70 you to day in
formed you OF ehe reception mere OF an invitation
sent by tine Brtstsh House OF Commons to swo dis
tingulshed American practitioners in the treatment
Of lnebriation, asking them to visit London some
time during the monSh OF April II possible, or at
their earliest convenience, ct the expense Of the
English government for the purpose OF laying
before select committee OF Vhe House the results
OF their experience Va the treatment OF lnebriatlon
as disease The gentlemen who are the recipients
of this unusual compliment are DR.. D. G. Dodge,
the superintendent and physician OF the New YORK
State Inehrtate Asylum ct this place., and DR..
Joseph Parrish, WHO holds similar position in the
institution for the OF inebriatton at Media, Pa
The letters OF invitation dated '4fouse OF Com
mons, March 2, 1872" and informed the gentlemen
TO whom they were directed that the writer
"Arthur T. Kingscote. Committee Clerk" was ''dt
rected by the select committee appointed tO con-
slider the best plan for tue control and management
|tof habitua drunkards' and of which committee
Dr. Dalrymple Is chairman, to request your attend
Il ance before them for the purpose OF giving evL
ll dcnce.'
The member OF Parliament OR. Dalrymple> who
ia mentioned as the chairman OF the select commit
country and q thoroughcxamtna alton OF the various
institutions for the reform and cure of drunKe n
Eess. He Is wealthy Scotch physician, who has
followed In the footsteps OF DR.. McNsh and ana
t0mZed ne5rlatiOn untL he has arrived at the con-
clnslon upon which the medical men OF the United
States are unit, viz. That drunkenness Is more
frequently disease than q crime, ana that the
humane ideas OF nineteenth century Christianity
call for different mode of treatment than that en-.
practices OF the Dark Ages. Being man possessed
Of vision that can look beyond the boundary lines
4 OF national preJudicea and endowed with
q sympathetic nature, he was not salts
\ fed with the neglect OF class of his
| cOu1trymen who, in this republic, often
| comprise the most talented and promising but
| VINO, through some mysterious impulse, perhaps
derived fnom distant ancestry, are unable to re
sist the fatal cup. In his place in Parliament ne
has urgel the adoption or vigorous ana practicable
methods, not merely for a visionary repression OF
drunkenness but for the care cure ana reformation
OF those who are savable and worth saving. 1t
was DIR. Dalrymples intention to have been present
at the meeting Of the "Amerlcan Association for the
Cure OF IneOriates" held In New York last Novem-
Der; but urgent private business having compelled
him TO return to England sooner than ne expected.
he sent the following communication to that assO-
ciat0n, which, as u becomes OF importance TO his.
tory, IN view OF the VISIT or American delegates
and their PROBABLE influence the solution of
great social problem, l nave ventured to copy
entlre:-
COMMUNICATION FROM HON. DONALD DALayMPLE MEN,
BIER OF PARLIAMENT. ENGLAND.
express that md myself obliged TO this method Of
which had hoped ana intended delivered so
reScany oompesd 70 rsnaush the pleasure and the
ri
%1e,s AND
Information: The actual position Of nebriae ssylams or
:s tent :ss s:s$ss
PC
NEAR or n EdnS%rs under the Of Dr. Man
fS and EXISTS X, but they ,. said
to ons enough
whs e
attendant or In the house and under the Of medical
s
The custom alike mschevos and Illegal Of Keeping neSri
s.es in ordinary unac asyams after they have recovered
+
fairly aSsn as existing state of things
private
tons Of the Atlantic is very generally felt
The medical profession much favor OF their creation
ihs y general paSc
sent should asked for an expression Of opinion and
now ask the meeting be good enough make vsws
q r. %s s s
s sAS sy
bic tina! those who voluntarily,
placed !" the place those who sent there By ss
should admitted into lunac asylum or hospita
properly y 50 called g. or admitted while In co2d
Lastly nave this request to make which desire to urge
OF the competent and best informed Of those who are
convsr.ant win these institution. should ENGLAND
of Commons that will meet early in the session Of
all seek to promote doubt would
nayanes mat o IN Epgana as much IS ANYTHING else
deeply aose gentlemen who have embraced this
from 81 Legislature as By
hardly i%asns anything outside tn. deea.aele
union anon. earnest, thinking men Of both nations than
in conclS.lon III, permit to tender to those whom
those to whom am Known the cause advocate and
for the
1t Is doubtful If these gentlemen Will be able to
leave their responsible positions before the lst OF
Will be fitting return for our Indebtedness TO the
OH World for the modern and humane method OF
p Fnc that seventy years e s AGO. wen the
first "mad house" was established on the hospital
grounas IN Broadway, and placed under the control
psychology ana physiology were wholly dlsregarded;
and, as was the common pracuce IN Europe at tnst
as irrecOveraDy lost 10 himself and TO tile world.
the great amelordtion IN the treatment OF the IN
sane, which substituted moral management Tor
manaces, stripes and straight jackets, was com.
menced by Pnel, OF Paris, and Samuel Take OF
York, England. The abuses which were perpe-
trated by luuatic asyums In England were
brought to the notice OF Parliament In 1915, Just
as this question OF inebriation Is now Oeing
urged upon the same body aud the result Of that
inquiry was the adoption OF the miIder and more
scientific methods by America when the New York
Hospital and BlOOmingdate Asylum were estab-
lshed. The Introduction In England OF the Ameri-
system OF treating ,nebriati0n, which is now no
longer an experiment. may be reasonably hoped Tor
as result or the facts which Drs. Dodge and Par
IRISH Will be able TO present to the House Of Com.
mons, and they Will thus be made the means OF dis
charging phllantnropic Indebtedness ana also, III
thing outside the debataDle land OF politics 10 pro-
mote harmony and union among earnest tn linking
men OF both natiOns.u This Is why am disposed
70 fhink tho aunnt xorfh mara than a nnaaInnr