Roseburg review. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 1885-1920, 1886-02-05

right to take them must exist. For
one Of the grand civic rights of every
citizen is the right to choose the means
by which his body may be restored to
health when diseased, and 10 man has
any authority to say that he shall not
thus choose for himself. If he chooses
alcohol or any other rencdy it is his
prcrogativc. lie has also the same
civic right to choose for his children
that he has for himself; thus he has a
right to buy whiskcy by the plnt or
gallon for medicine but the whisky sot
need not resort to such measures to
get all the whiskcy necessary to satisfy
his thirst. He can buy it in patent
medicines, bitters, etc, by the gross if
he choose. 1t may cost him little
more and thus add to the squal!id poy-
erty of his family. The hundred
Thousand doctors of America, many OF
them would prescribe it to the habit
ual drunkard for the sake of The fee,
and all OF them would continue to give
1t to their patients Of all ages and
classes as they now do This with the
other narcotics which they constantly
use will continue to add fuel to the
flames Of intemperancc, bring more and
more under ITS control, rerverting every
appetite, every feeling and ever, i'm
pulse OF the soul. Hence We see that
the prohibition must lof necessity he
u failure, it is fighting shadow
and leaves the substance untouched
like the boy, who sees the shadow of
another boy on the wall goes to strik-
ing and kicking the shadow, threatniny
its destruction while yhe boy whoseshad
ow he is fighting looks on. laughing
at his duplicity, just SO the prohibition
lists are fighting a shadow-an effect
while they have nothing to say or do
against theclus2 but seem determined to
sustain and perpetuate it. Remove the
substance and the shadow Will flee:
remove the cause Of intemperance and
1T will cease to exist. We have seen
that the use of alcoholic liquors as a
beverage is not the cause, but the
effect OF intemperance like the shad-
ow on the wall. That the cause of
intemperance Is found in the disordered
state OF the physical and mental con-
dltions of the system and this disor-
dered state is engcndered by narcotics
which get into the body, the chief
cause OF their being put there is found
IN the belief existing in the minds of
some people that poisons are good
medicines and this belief comes from
allopathy, therefore, a poisonous. med
cations is the foundation stone Of in
temperance; the hinge upon which the
great tiood-gate Of intemperance is al
lowed to swing open widearld free and
which prohibitionists have not dared
even to attempt to close, but con-
tinue to fight the shadow while
every logical medical man looks on
langhlngly at their stupidity and folly.
We have no reason to look at the
Prohibition party but as farce If
alcohol is the vile demon they say it is
why not legislate it out of use as a
medicine as well as a beverage. Why
is it saint in medicine and devil in
a beverage. Or why legislate against
1t at all when its substitutes which
stand ready to take its place are found
all around on every side many of them
are ten fold moro destructive to health,
morals and intellect and cause much of
the squalid poverty, crime and vice
which is unjustly laid to the door of
alcoholic beverages. Better, by FAR,
have alcohol than such substitutes,
for of two evils we would choose the
least. But there is no necessity of
choosing eyilat all in this case. For
justice, science and humanity call
upon the Prohibitionists to lay their
platform broad and deep resting it up
on the principles of eternal truth. Let
them declare Prohibition against the
use as medicine as well as beverage,
everv agent whose inherent character
is to narcotize, injure or destroy
any organ or tissue of the frame. This
once accomplished, crime and vice
would diminish morality would advance
the number of suicides and insanities
would grow less year after year until
the family of man would be in higher
state of physical, mental and moral
perfection than the world has ever yet
known. TEMPERANCE MAN.
V4RIETIES.