The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1890-04-18
VICTIMS o. ALCOHOL.

VICTIMS c@ ALCOHOL.
Tho Identity Ex;sting Between Insanity
and Chronic Ia~l,ri~ty.
What is called the Jurisprudence Of ing
7sicty tsa new department of me ico-iegM
;cicuce that offers material for eatcr,ain-
IN. speculation. and develops new and
Interesting phase Of tho much-discussed
liquor question. DR.. 7. d. Crothcrs, editor
of tho Journal OF lnebriety, has attempted
to establish an identity between insanity
md alcoholism of sufficiently closo char
acter to warianta radical departure from
existing judicial methods in tho treatment
II criminals whose lawlessness is mani
tested under the influence of liquor. Enough
'l!spntation over such criminals has oc.
cured recently, says the Boston Herald,
% give DIR. Crothcr's views tho merit ut
east of tiineliness, and throughout the
':oiintry there ave enough cases of the char
r''cr that no treats of pending judicial de-
,ision to nuke peculiarly interesting any
suggestions in the line of change Of Judi
,.ial method. -
Tho three theories which the medical
rcnticmi;i pointed out in his address on
'Metico Legal Problems Of Inebre,y" be-
iurc tho Massachusetts Medical Society as
prev;;i.iny In the treatment. OF alcoholic
criminals are these: The stli;cai and moral
view, which holds that drunkenness is an
Indication oil personal dcpraviiv, that IL de-
.'e:o along tle lino of animal qualification,
nd t:'at it should receive tie most positive
ensure and punishment Of ercics;astca!
md lay power. The legal Wow was next
.i;ed. az that which assumes tina. lnebriety
; the manifestation CT u lawiess instinct
shas ts esscn'la;.v hostile to The spirit of law
ma order, and that az sach it ought to be
severely punished. The next theory, whi.h
"a the ono that clici;s DIR. Gro hers appro-
oa;inn and support, is the scientific and
r:ctiic@l view which considers the appetite
for intoXlcants a manifestation Of Z, consti
utional disorder, which may be due 10
multitude of causes for which the victim
may not in any sense be responsible. Ii
nay Sc a symptom or u coincident of insanity,
or rias;..ii'y IN turn may be ~ symptom of ill.,
ea:i,.,y. Medico-leg:.!y this theory would
sst.itrd the drInkard as ircaiN.ci.ated for
;ic;!on involving consecutive conscious
Effort OF q reasoning and reasonable nature.
The acceptance Of this view would esti.h-
.ish new method of lulcal treatment
for drunken criminals or criminals with de-
iincd alcoholic taste and tendency. H.
would practically abolish the penal judg-
mcnt, which is often so hard Oh the victim
of alcohol, and the alcoholic mau;ac, us he
would be called, would be treated on ther;,-
ocusic grounds by sympathetic scientists.
the fundamental spirit of this theory is that
physical causcs are accountable for the al
coholic habit, and that only by treat
ncnt based on physical principles
can the dread malady be eraslicat.
I'd. The insanity of the victim
of drink must be assumed, and tn. burdcncf
proof IL on the prosecution to prove that the
prisoner Is sane, the natural ana proper as
sumption being in the opposite direction.
Givcn facts reasonably accurate, tho plain
statement that u drunkard is lun;.tc is it,
self evidence of the kind that lawyers call
piiina facic. Nevertheless, tho sentiment
Vt the judicial powers is frequently mani
fcs.cd in contradiction of this idea, and one
'iotablc instance whcrc an alleged inebriatc
was hanged was cited by DR.. Crothers to H.
N!stratc the Impression, erroneous he
claimed, that a criminal under alcoholic iu-
!lIence is cognizant of and responsible for
ais ms,.ccds.
John II. Swift shot his wife July Z, 1857,
at Hartford, Conn. In December of the
same year he was tried ana sentenced to be
hanged 1: ycar later, April 8, 1850. The
Leg Stature was appealed to to coMin,;' Q his
sentence to life imprisonment. Tie Judi
ciary Committee made On exhaustive ex-
animation Of ell evidence and new testiino-
ny offered, and reported in favor of columu-
:ation. Both houses Of tho Legislature
voted to sustain the report, and cou,l:l,,tc
.ac sentence to life imprisonment. An sd
verse wive of public sentiment caused the
Governor to veto the action ci the iegisl;.-
ture, aud soinfluenced the incm,ars Of ore
body tlia, they f;iledto sustain ,:..ir former
vote. Hence Smith was hanged April la,
1889. He was q chronic incbriatc, and l.aa
',ecn drinking to great excess for weeks be-
fnre the murder. The defense claimed that
.;wift was incapable Of deiiberation and pre-
meditation at the time of the crime, from
.!,e effect Of continuous intcxication. Nc
medical testimony was called. The prose-
.,ution claimed premeditation, malice and
! full comprehension Of what: ne was doing
DIR. Crothers cited this case us an in
stance of hereditary alcoholism. Swift's
fatEer, who was an erratic man, had an
apcpicctic seizure at twenty-four years of
age. Swift's grandfather on his mothers
side was n drinking man. His only son was
l chronic inehriate; the other four children,
Of which Swift's mother was one, were all
exceedingly nervous and some of them
i,y.;erical. Swift himself was always O
weak Child; had brain fever in infancy,
:sc:irlatina and violent nasal hemorrhages
N youth. He had been in the reform school
at Meriten. Conn.,, and in manhood was an