, 1876-05-18
BEER AND TEMPERANCE.

An Intelligent Amcricnn's Observations
and Cancluatons.
caar'ts Dudley 1Fa'"tss 1nntch haer 10 Hartford
Perhaps tho temperance question Is not cx-
actly solved In Munich | don't know If II was
is' ss aSs @ ts Ks 3ussto oa
probably not hecn reached. You wouldn't say
that tho Munlchcrs arc moderate III tho usc Of
l, nceE: have o seen m people ut heme-and raging
water Just as rccklessly, delugtng tho pale and
1renclled stomach with tue cold, icy-clll fluid.
Probably Tue German would c1patatp c1oquently
upon the horrors Of watcs-drlndng-if hc Ind
any experience in TINT line.
The Municher Is content not to try nny llnz-
ardous experiments having struck the medium
wuy Of beer he deviates neither TO watcr on the
one hand nor wine on tue otllcr, And " WIS
not ne but Prussa1l, and On officer, whose
opinion aud experience gave his remark aotnG
weight, who said to me, The other dny: "As for
me, when Gnu get good water, pure, fresh
water, let the beer stund one side, and drink
wInc.h 1t 1nakcs all the difference In the world
With onc's temperance principles whether he
llvcs OIL the Rhine or on the lscr. There fs
saying here that Munich 1nun Is beer cssk In
the morning. and a cask Of beer Mt night; tic
SSrigrnm nscds no 20 explanation here, but 1t might
II one were disposed phllofophicallr to study
the temperance problem, Munich would bc 4
good field for It; for on' can sec here exactly
What is tc etfcst Of funrrstrnnsd liberty; though,
country, ynu would have to allow for the dti-
ference Of climate and Of the temperament OF
people. 1t don't ut all follow that what would
DO for Munich would do for Hartford.
Probably you cou1d not find In the whole city
q lnnn or womnn who lfls ever thought III
what We eall total abstinence, nnd they could
not comprehend the idea. But there arc plenty
Of temperance pcoplc-that II, people who drink
beer regularly, mud never oycrstcp the hounds
Of moderation. The observation TINT one makes
In Munich is that drunkenness Is n rnrc excc1-
tton. In rcsidcnce here Of many months I
have ncTcr seen more thnn one or two Intoxi-
Gated people in The streets, nrd they weru not
marked by tic wildncss or yIciouEncss OF our
Btrong-lfquor lncbriety, but seemed to bc rather
EotNl-hnNorcd caris, who had lost their way, and
didn't sccm to cnre whether they ever found 1t.
But this sctrns very remarkable, wlle. there Is
bcer-)lousc every half-block, and sou cam
not Belcct Residence In any part Of the town
tint Is not as handy to n Efi|er as 1t IL TO
public Rcl,ool or church. And I cannot see
that the freetio,n Of becr tends to any habit of
overwhelming. l have known strangers to in
lnlEc freely in beer here the whole season, md
bc just as good temperance people ut the end
Us they were in the beginning.
not waste a good deal Of time In bccr-halis,
afternoon after afternoon, mud night after night,
sWlggtnE endless mugs, Is another question.
And 1t Is a fair question to raise: Whit must be
tho tinnl effect upon thr intellect Of people who
SO many hours day soak III this mild but dis
tending fluid, and IN atmosphere of srnokci
The question ts, however, atncrc speculative one,
SO long as the Germans continue to produce SO
many scholars, philosophers, men of incalculnbc
cr1Itlltotl, wonderfully energetic travellers and
explorers, and conqucrsug soldiers.