The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1884-04-16
JUDGE 9ALBRAITH'S r a
MENT.

JUDGE GALBRA1TH's ARaU.
MENr.
Communicated.
: Judge Galbraith, in his eloquent
4 and well argued address last Sunday
evening, pictured the abs.ainers
from strong drink and those who IA
vor the use of alcoholic liquors as bel-
ligerent forces, and he declared the
I strife between these antagocis ic
4 powers would never a until one
or the other succumbed. He took a
cheerful view of the controversy;
, said the cause Of temperance was
making rapid strides in this country
and in Europe, and he expressed the
belief that with the growth of intelli-
Rence, and q clearer understanding
dlffused of the moral and physical
ruin brought about by the use of
strong drinks, men would cease to
use these deleterious liquors as a bev
erage, and the cause of temperance.
would ultimately prevail.
Such a declaration loosely made by
q fervid moral reformer would have
but little weight. But the Judge ny
his cogent reasoning and scientific
demon STATIONS brought home to his
hearers the conviction that he was
indulging in no idle defamation.
As a soldier. q psychologist and a
lawyer, he has had rare 0pportuni-
ties of studying the habits of his fell
low men and also tracing the ill eff
fects of the use of liquor upon the
physical organs, and the mischief it
works upon society. And with bis
mature consideration of the cas-
Judge Galbralth declares that the use |
OF alcohol as q beverage is against
natural law; that when taken into !
the stomach it does not essimulate
with the system, it affords no nour-
ishment, and in no way contributes |
to build up the physical powers, and
f0rtify them against the waste and
demolition which are constantly 60
ing on. Alcohol is a destructive
agent, it acts az q poison on the anil
NAL frame, and in the course of time
makes away with its victims.
Taking these facts as the basis of
bis argument, the Judge finds sup
port to his optimistic belief in the
truth that nature is preservatlve in
her processes, and an agent that
simply works destruction, and takes
no useful part In the preparation of
organic life, will necessarily encoun>
ter some natural enemy, which will
wage ceaseless war upon it, and
maintain the struggle until its power
for evil is ended.
This is q very comforting and {
plausible theory, and we propose to
devote brief space to the examination
of its logical force, It is q very gen.
eral belief that the appetite for strong
drink is inherent in man. The ear
Hest records tell of their use as q
the Patriarch Noah, it will
be remembered. drank to excess on
his escape from the ark; and travel =
ers tell us that the most barbarous
races manufacture some form of in
toxicant with which they indulge
their appetite for stimulants, and in 6
their debauches are guilty of (
The widest excuses. If these '
facts establish the truth that t
The craving for alcoholic =.
thinks is i'm planted in our nature, .
md is as ineradicable as the appetite d
or food, it is evident that all these '
Attempts at moral reform will be t
'pasmodic and temporary in their :
and the attempt to raise the :,
race above its natural level Z
will prove abortive. When M. c
was carving a stage load of d
lew scholars to Dothboy's Hall, he al
ave them half a meal at a wayside "
nm, and the unreasonable urchins q
sked for more. Conquer your tt
appetites, my boys,' said the rev
rend preceptor, land you conquer ,e
nater.' But this ambitious I"
tempt has never yet proved suc- 9
it
Now, we can point to one young tt
nan in this city, Git Is to be hoped 4,
here are o like him. who al -
bough approaching the age OF thirty, "
meyer allowed a drop of alcoholic II
quor to pass his lips. of course, he ia
as no craving for any such stimu- os
INT. But suppose his judgment a.
aould desert him at any weak Y
aoment, and he should be tempted if
take a strong potation, does any e,
ne believe it would be agreeable to r.
is palate? Would he not strangle v
at the fiery draught? Would IL
OF bis entire physical system rise IN 81
arm and dismay at the introduction tb
so dangerous an enemy? his =,
heave with nausea, his ~
'ngs labor for breath, his eyes blur in
ith tears and his senses grow con- R
'sed? If nature, in some malignant ia
|oOd, had endowed man with an a.
lstinct to seek his own destruction, ~
would seem that the indulgence of m
4 inherent taste should not be at Of
nded with such violent and painful
tects. Give the child (fOr the first ST
mel spirits or beer to drink, and it ~
i'll cry with the disagreeable sensa- y
on produced. These facts tend to 90
low that the taste for fermented fir
luors is not implanted, but that, on w
le contrary, it is foreign to our b.,
ature. We al acquire the habit W
I'd the desire, it is true, as men hu
Ow into many another vicious in> co
But such observation ca
owes that nature in endowing man, ~.
common with all other animals. u
it'll the instinct of self preservation, III
rrounded the citadel Of his BODY ga
it'll vigilant sentinels. and these are lea
ompt to give the alarm when an -:
lemy seeks to gain an entrance. WI
Said Judge Galhraith: "Alcohol is pa
oduced by the destruction of health al
wing grain, which is turned from res
natural use by the process of dis .,,l
lation; its chemical properties have gu
en- transformed and recombined; it Re
now a deadly poison and brings 10.
ath to all 1t touches.' Due praise "a,
awarded to the cogency of the ~
dge's argument, in the brief notice '"
blishad in these columns of his ad- ov'
ess; and this hasty consideration pol
his avowed belief that in the battle ah;
tween temperance and the use of 49,,
'ong drink the former win prevail, a.
e truth Is made evident, we be- Del
We, that no natural law sta
'nds in the way of this ''consum- tbr
Ition most devoutly to be wished" -
d temperance workers may take Vi
AM