The Somerset reporter., 1889-11-07
Temperance and Health


l. : an encouraging fact that large
AMI Influential portion Of this nation has
come - realize that the use Of alcoholic
drink. i more than private and personal
concern /, involves the man as citizen
and hence i a public concern. II strikes
a. the integrity Of the family relation and
4, slCa must attract the attention OF the
Stats. /. Aa- ~ do with :he order Of So
cietg and . demand. special and police
regg alton. II affects our financial pros
pertY aid - must have material consid-
GRAFTON 10 every aspect It comes within
The domain Of political economy; but in
none more than that which relates to the
health Of the Individual and its effect up
N present and prospective populations.
After al, the material resources of q
country are not chiefly in soils. or forests
or mlne-, or cattle. The character and
ability Of the population is the sovereign
.Gea. " aateyer attacks or undermines
ne pubic health i a most serious consid-
Grafton All the more il it not only af-
fects individuals but their offspring. IL
here : heredity Of disability there is q
propagation and continuation of peril TO
the STATE. We see and hear enough of
he ruin which alcohol brings upon the
physical heath Of individuals. As relat-
Dg 70 the organs of the human body
Dickinson has well termed it the very
genius Of degeneration" As relating
. function. ~e know how often Ii dis
turos digestion, deranges secretions, and
irrtates Vita parts. Harley and others
have shown This to be true, not only Of
hose who are regarded as indnlging TO
excess, but Of most who rank as moder-
ate drinkers.
But We have not hsd so fully presented
the entalments Of alcohol. There is not
a realization Of how the effects distribute
themselves through succeeding genera
tons IN divers varieties. The more he
redlty : studied the more apparent 1t is
how the individual tends to reproduce
himself The diseased lung or liver, or
heart. either repeats itself in some of the
descent, or It's consequences appear IN
some general impairment of function or
force. Even where there is no organic
change. not les. distinctly do We find dys-
Iep,ia, rheumatism, govt, and neuralgia.
Close analysis and the accumulation of
facts !, more and more demonstrating
how organic changes or evil physical hao-
IL mingle in the overdowing current Of
po>terity. Since alcohol more than any
other one food or drink makes its record
on organs ard functions, il would be
.aH The fac. that some escape, that
some take most after the sound parent
and not after the un.ouud one, that there
i Constant dllutiOn Of the heredity BY
successive marriages, and that there is q
recuperation ard conservation in nature,
which often in the end overcomes this
1eredlty, does not initiate against the
serious risks and impairments which &C.
cur. Nor are We to assume that no i'm
pairment has occurred, unless We see
some marked result such as inherited
taste for alcohol, mental disturbances, or
tendency 70 crime. There are protesn
forms Of result. DR.. Elan, who has stud
led heredity more as 8 philosophic and
s-=.-4-4 if,.:f.ta..ssl4 tAaz e -ef3-sscT, Ssys
II IS not necessary that children should
ALWAYS inherit the actual alcoholic tenden-
cie> OF their parents in order TO present a
type Of progressive degradation. The
offspring inherit either the original vice
OF -ome Of its countless protean trans
formations We think that DR.. L. y.
Mason Is right when he submits and sup
Stimulates the following proposition Al
ccholl>m in prosen!tors will produce ply
steal and mental degeneration in their
descendants and al the neuroses that
arise from defective nerve organization
Epilepsy, chorea, paralysis-and I'll
grades of mental degeneration from
sight enfeeblement of intellect to inssni-
" and complete idiocy. The laws which
regulate these degenerative chsnges are
similar IN their mode of development and
action to those that govern cogenital de.
generatiye changes from other inherited
CAUSES Il would be strange If this were
not the case. Statistics fully confirm the
expectation of these entailments. A
very great excess IN proportion is found
both IN asylums and IN penal institutions
Of those VITO have had this inheritance
Recently more care has been taken %
separate other exciting causes such as
arise from lust, aysrice. etc, but the
very large percentage still remains.
WOrse even than the number of drunksrds
that can point 10 an inebriate ancestry, is
lie fact that 50 many have inherited s
weakness Of will and diminished power
OF resistance in the presence of tempts-
ton. There is an undermining of the
foundations-an impairment of will
power and so q loss in that true stamina
OF character which imparts 8 perfect
mastery Of self Hence it is that IN no
ordinary sense Is the excessive use Of ar
dent spirits the concern of the State and
of the whole people, for our peace and
prosperity, our civilization and natioralit
are involved both in the present and in
the results entsiled to the future genera
ton. he Independent.