The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1876-12-15
Drunkenness Its Prevention and Cure.


preventi0n and cure OF this vice aud
disease. These letters are not written
bv temperance enthusiasts, moral re-
formers, total abstainers, or men who
look on drinking as q sin merely, but
from persons who suffer directly in
their own health Of body and mind or
indirectly through the conduct Of those
dear % them, by reason Of the domin-
ION OF alcohol over the will and sppe-
lite. They do not ask for cOndemna-
ton Of drunkenness-they know all
shout It's direful consequences-butf for
remedies from drunkenness. IL is an
entirely practical question 10 them, and
they do Not wish To be put of with
moral platitudes, easy 10 utter, and the
truth OF which they freely acknowledge.
Tell u how to conquer the habit of re-
lance on alcoholic stimulants, j. the
question they ask Us with so much
earnestness-
Now, il j. far harder To answer this
question satisfactorily than % stigma
tie the practice of drinking. EXpe-
rieuce shows that prohibitory laws
against the sale Of liquor are in vain.
The only way is for each individual to
De- fortified against the temptation To
indulgence. LAWS can not take the
place OF individual will here, though
they may perhaps help TO strengthen
IL but chiefly they must do their part
by making the vice " drunkenness
odi0us and punishable, and society
must AID Dy treating with less lenIency
the lspses from sobriety which il now
tOIerates among its most hOnored men,
bers. II should be practically enforced
on every young man that beastliness in
drinking j. a social crime for which he
must pay the penalty in social censure,
a. much as Il be had made any other
Indecent exhibition Of vile habits that
if he wishes 10 hold the place II a gen
tIeman or respected member Of sOci-
etv. 90 be received among reputable
people. or 20 obtain employ ment, he
must never be seen under the iuhu-
e-ce II liquor The laws which pun
ish the vender Of the drink are sot sue
cessful, nor are they sound in morals
and logic. Il l. the user who makes a
social nuisance Of himself, who should
be mpelled 20 feel the penalty Of his
derelctiou in his own person and repu-
tation
This = what society can DO 10 pre-
vent the formation of the habit Of gross
indulgence IN drinking. But when
once the habit j. acquired, there Is no
one who csn cure Il except the victim
u it himself, and such victims appeal
% us for the remedy. Now, the great
remedv r. the will There j. no drug
iD the pharmacopWia that # itself can
cure drunkenness, though there are
drug which can mitigate the effects Of
drunkenness, help % restore tone 10 he
system after q debauch, and strengthen
the shattered nerves. A correspondent
II the san has given such prescriptions,
and they are good. But they must be
regarded altogether as means Of re-
covering from the physical damage 81
the habit u drinking, and enabling the
drunkard % sustain himself tempOrari-
III without the aid Of alcoholic stimS-
lants; and So far they are necessary
part Of the cure in many eases.
The man may be said TO be on the
high road 10 becoming a drunkard
who, In otherwise ordinarily good
health, feels the need a the support If
stimu.ants % keep the physical ma
chise I'M running order. II he REGULAR
Is experience sense Of "gunencss
IN the morning, a nervous prostration
and ias- fuie which j. not overcome
until BE- has had cocktail or two before
breakia-t, be is an incipient drunkard,
II be D. rot one already, out and out
lie has go. 50 far that he drinks, not
b. U.-aH
because it's necessity 20 him. Then
the serpent has him In his folds, and
De i gone, unless he A. once and per-
emptOrIly refuses % drink altogether
The bane II our young men and our
business men q al ages Is these morn
ing tipples A man who habitually
drinks iu che morning j. sure 20 20 10
bed full of liquor at night. Beginning
the day on stimulants, he can not 90
through u without Keeping mp the &C.
ton oy continued re-enforcements
There are thousands of highly respect
able men in New York who are under
the influence Of liquor the twenty-four
hours through and from one years end
% another. The utter avoidance Of
every thing in the way Of alcoholic
drinks throughout the day and before
the heavy meal-then, il taken at all,
% be- taken with the foods the inilex-
l5le rule for all young men 20 lay down
for themselves. And when they find
that either BY reason Of an inherited
morbidity Of appetite or by peculiar
temptation 20 drinking they are getting
% rely on the stimulant as an impera-
tive need, let them not deceive them
selves by hopes Of c0Equering the de-
sire while continuing 10 indulge L, but
at once give up liquor altogether. such
men are only safe when they are total