The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-11-24
TEMPERANCE READING.
INSANE pRUNKARDS,

In an article Oh inebriate maniacs,
in the November number OF the
Popular Science Monthly, DIR. L.
ID. Crothers calls the attention
of the public to new division
of the army Of the insane. the in.
ebriate manacs, the victims Of alco-
hol, choral, opium, ether and cbloro-
form. whom public opinion obstinately
refuses to recognize as such, and as
therefore irresponsible to law, because.
at intervals. they are perfectly sane in
act and conduct Waving, for the
present, the discussion of the import
ant question whether, in this matter
the public is right or wrong, we notice
three of the reasons ASST gned by Dr.
Crothers for the sudden appearance of
this new and alarming army of incbri-
ate maniacs: First, The moral failure
of the age and the increasing wicked
ness of the times; Second, The i'll
crease of the manufacture OF alcohol
and other drugs, and the facility with
which they are procured; Third, They
are the outgrowth of bad inheritance,
bad living, and are about to be thrown
out of the struggle for "the survival OF
the fittest" TO what extent any of
these causes are true, or whether
all are true in part, it is un.
necessary now to inquire. Neither
is it necessary, for the purpose of this
article, to follow DR.. Crothers through
his somewhat extended and very inter-
esting classification of these freshly
arrived maniacs. To this we may re-
turn hereafter. What we wish to
speak of now is the treatment pro-
posed by Dr. Crothers for his new army
of incbriate lunaIics. AS, to some ex-
tent, the guardians of the public NOR
ais and of the public welfare, we pro-
test. most earnestly, against the emo
tional-insanity plea, and other artful
legal lodges, invented by legal gentle
men to secure criminals from the Just
consequences of their crimes. They
antagOnize and subvert justice; they
are inimical to public morality; they
have DO existence within the domain
of morals, they should have none
within the domain of law. And
this leads us to the point where
we protest with equal earnestness, and
in behalf of public order and morality.
against the teaching of DIR. Crothers
that the inebriate maniac who COM
mits murder or ass ault. the bank de-
faulters, forgers, swindlers and burg
lars who commit their crimes as re-
suits of the use of alcohol, opium,
chloral, or other drugs. are not respon-
sible to the law because they are "in q
state of intellectual delirium and in
stability" and with brain-cent-
ers so damaged rs to prevent
healthy, consistent and uniform BRAIN
action-that such men, instead of
being punished, should receive
careful restorative treatment by the
use of well.directed remedies, and
"along the line of exact laws and
forces" Such practice would be to
pay premium for crime which no
country could endure. The idea is as we
believe, the unhealthy outgrowth, Of q
sickly, maudlin sentimentalism, and
one for winch we have no use
whatever. Our contention is in oppo-
sition to the theory of DR.. Crothers,
that the nebriate maniac having made
himself such step by step and by his
own voluntary acts, should bear the re-
sponsibilities of those acts as other
criminals are made to bear it. Moral
ly and socially voluntary criminal,
he should DO made to feel the cOnse-
quences Of his crime as other criminals
do, both for the protection of the pub
lie welfare and as hopeful means OF
his own reformation. What those con
sequences should be is question to be
carefully and humanely considered in
full view of the facts already stated.
Certainly the inebriate maniac and
we heartily concur in the position
of DR.. Crothers that all inebriates ara
maniacs-can not be safely intrus'ed
with the rights of citizenship. He
should not be allowed to hold
property, and. recognizing this
fact, the civil law already, in
some eases, wisely and justly puts his
property beyond his control. And yet
those laws are defective. They do not
reach backwards as far as the justice
and necessity of such cases imperative
ly require. and, on the ground which
they are intended to cover, they toe
frequently lack efficiency. Again, the
responsibilities incident to the elective
franchise percmptorily demand tina,
the inebriate. or the inebriatc maniac
If that synonymous designation is pre-
fcrred, should in all cases be deprived
by law of the right to vote. This i,
one of the most pressing needs of the
hour Such law, rigidly and impair
italy enforced, while a matter of jus
tico in itself, would largely aid IN res
cuing the ballot-box, and the results O
onr elections, from the control Of the
saloons, and place them in the hand'
OF men who are, at least, clear-headec
and thoughtful. With all this, anc
while still believing the insane mania,
responsible for his self-intlicted insan
ity, and for crime committed while il
that condition. we would checrfuly adj
vocate and employ for the cure of sucl
maniacs the same kindly and Christian
treatment that is used in hospitals ant
elsewhere. for the recovery of reason
and the rights of citizenship. Interior
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Pitiful Victims Of Rum.