Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-10-15
Drunkenness In Germany.

NV. iuNaIu ~ EtlOu, Ol YAK lark
ILL.,, contributes the followinginterestin
article to The Chicago Advance of Ma,
z, 1885:
In Carlsruhe, the pleasant capita
city of Baden, there assembled last au
tumn the Twenty-third congress for .In
mere Mission" a gathering within til,
Established church of Germany. Iii
work is a sort of cross between thai
OF Home Missionary meeting and thai
of Social Science convention, aiming
by sermons, papers and discussions to
stimulate Christian conservation. and
direct 1t to the practical ameioration OF
social conditions. More than six hun.
ored delegates from all parts OF Ger.
many were in attendance, including
church officials, pastors, directors Of
benevolent institutions and teachers.
! The churches and government buildings
OF the city were put at the disposal OF
the assembly. and the Grand Duke and
Duchess of Baden expressed their warm
sympathy with the objects of the convo-
cation. The proceedings of the congress
have been published in full by the sec
rotary OF the body, and | wish 10 call
attention to the paper by Director DR..
Karl Stark, of Stephensiield, presented
at the tlrst special conference held dur
ing this meeting, entitled Der Ran,pf
actaer die Trunksucht, sThe Fight
Against Drunkenness. containing facts
OF marked significance in view of the
claim, so confidently made in this coun-
try. that the free use of beer in Ger
many is an antidote to the dangers arts
ing from indulgence in stronger liquors
DIR. Stark begins by sketching the
progress of civilization and science in
our day, and asks, Are we thereby ap.
preaching the realization of our moral
idealsP Nor he replies; ION the
contrary we see a deplorable indiffer-
ence on the part of the better classes to
the highest moral and religious welfare
OF mankind, a selfish desire of enjoy
ment choking out the possibility of self
devotion and self-sacrfice; we see in
consequence among the lower classes an
undermining of respect for civil and
religious authority; we see the alarming
growth of vice which, beyond others,
orerthrows man in body and soul, de-
bases him and renders him Incapable of
any ennebling. That vice is drunken
ness"
| Then, on the basis of the Internal
Revenue returns of the Empire, and
statistics OF German physicians and
other scientific investigators, the author
proceeds to lay before his German audi
ence the appalling facts as to the ex-
tent and consequences of liquor drink
ing in their country. The German gov
eminent statistics place the annual
consumption of ardent spirits, brandy
and the like, at ten quarts per capita for
the entire population, which, DIR. Stark
remarks, is manifestiy far too low an
estimate; but even this is three times as
great as the amount consumed in Nor
way, nearly three times what is con-
sumed in France although DR.. Stark
says that the Germans Enthusiastically de-
spise the French for their addiction to
strong drink, and attribute ia part to
this their degeneration and defeat in
war;. more than twice the brandy con-
sumption of Austria, nearly twice that
of Great Britain, and nearly thrice the
total amount of ardent spirits drank In
| The United States. La 1872, the out
lay for brandes in Prussia amounted to
the immense sum of POI, 900, 900 marks,
while the direct taxes of the state were
but 100000 marks Besides this,
there is of course an enormous con-
sumption of beer. aggregating in Thur
ingia l24 quarts annually per capita; in
Saxony 126 quarts; in Wurtemburg 1856
quarts; in Bavaria 253 quarts. In some
districts the brandies are actually dis
placing the lighter drinks. as in Alsace
and Lorraine, where in 1870, six times
as much wine as brandy was sold but
in 1879 the sale of brandy was almost
equal to that of the wine Director
Stark estimates that there are in Ger
many to-day between 10000 and 400.-
| 600 drunkards moderate drinkers,
mind you. but confirmed drunkards
| (Sauter).
The results of all this are not other
than we should expect. In the hospitals
of Prussia alone 3. LOG persons suffering
from the use of alcoholic liquors are
treated in the insane asylums are 597
gone mad from this cause; LIZA die an
nually of delirium tremens; 508 suicides
resulting from drink. and 81 fatal ac-
cidents from the same cause, must be
added to this list of yearly victims of
drink in Prussia alone. The number of
persons fit for military duty sinks per-
ceptibly in those districts where ardent
spirits are most largely consumed. 1t
is stated as the result of the inyestiga-
tions of Baer, that of grave crimes in
Germany against person and life, So per
cent to n per cent are committed when
in condition of drunkenness
When persons become so poor that
they must be aided by the state, as high
as 5000 per cent of the cases are found
to be due to intemperance. In some
provinces the number of saloons stand
in almost direct ratis to the number eli
insane as given by the census. In Prus-
STA it has been established that iIliteraey
and poverty prevail where there is the
most drinking. and that is true not
alone of Prussia. One-fourth of all the
eases of insanity, as high as 16 per cent
of the suicides. nearly three-feurtbs OF
all grave crimes, are attributable to
drunkenness.
Many expressions used by DR.. Stark
are noteworthy, as the utterauces of an
educated German before representa-
tive gathering OF the conservative Ger
man church He calls the drinking
habit ssyeritable social peril = He