Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1891-04-09
|rnoaIBr1IoU 1HAr Will Fno.
HIBlY.
Alcoholic H.dsc.nor. ! ~ asd Hsw

HIBIY.
AiccheHc Asdscsfsor. hss ard uew
E{sfsrs Of Tie Kepae5es Jorrnai:
Ian very much pleased - ses that the
| JorRsAL hss taken up In earnest TIE dss-
cus.ion Of tie g1sasioss CT Tempefa1ce
SD Of Prohibition sm cure thas its
columns eou.d not he devoted 70 the coz
sideraalcn Of any suh jsct whatever. inyois-
| ing 90 Eascs ~ there do, The interests Of
TIE State snd the moral and material inter-
ests OF the people Of every class
In Esg.ard, some years ago. the question
se alcoholic med:cstioo vss settsst. that Is
vas bad and shs1i1 be Put away among the
rubbish Of the pgofsssio1, with the univef-
ssi Administration Of colonel, the free and
constant use Of the issces. svsn In csses OF
scarlet fever. and the absolute prohibition
Of water 10 seTer psssents- 1t IL SD 70 re
| % rasry doctors fsc-csl.edl On this side OF
the Attsnsie advocating alesholic medica-
tor whieh VS. 3 Leading feature OF medi-
cal qusckery thsseqaa.tsys CT century
ago,
-Four or i've years since tnefe VS. royal
commission in Eogiand, of which the Duke
Of Westminster wss chsirman. to irq ,ire into
the reIstion OF drink" 70 the general vel
fare. This commission held many meet
legs IN diaersnt parts Of the kingdom,
examining experts everywhere. It's Is.t
meeting was ia Lordon, where DR.. Rich
arason. Dr.. Clark. physician IN ordinary
| 20 tue Queen. Sir Harry Thompson. sur
geon extraordinary TO The King Of Belgium,
AID Sir VIM Gull were witnesses. These
| faor physicians sand st The head Of the
profession in England snd the equals of
any others 10 Europe. Sir William Gull il
sipcs dead.
| The chairman sad TO Sir VIM. Gull Do
| I understand yos TO say that vice has no
| redestning quality; that IL is never useful
even 70 men ~ho are weary with over WORK?
Yes. was the reply. that is what | say.
Few men are more frequently overlooked
| than sm, but never take wine because
it would not be useful. There may be rare
| aad exceptional cases when alcohol csu-
slousiy administered 10 small doses msy
| possibly be beneficial. In this vie~ of
alcoholic medication the other physicians
coneursed. In England became scqusiased
With four Of the eminent physicians Of the
kingdom ell Of whom had discarded alcohol
from their practice years before, bsciuse
their experience had been that its employ
ment was bad and not good. Their prac
| tee had been far more successful withou.
alcohol than with il. Among men highest
in the profession in England, alcohol il
row discarded, it Is nov mostly employed
by ignorant practitioners and quacks, as 10
the old time, when . pocket full Of calomel
aud q set OF lancets, little ones for babies
lager for ladies'; yet larger for black
| smiths, was an abundant outfit for doc
tor In the old time when the universal
practice 10 the profession was absolute
prohibition Of wafer TO fever patients, thou
sands of whom persisted misersbly, crying,
begging for water. But that practice WAS
| persisted in until the people rebelled
sgsisst it and would no longer permit their
loved ones to be murdered before their
faces. because it Was 90 written 10 the
books; and now alcoholic medication is
far worse qusckery than the lancet and
calomel were. But cannot occupy more
space in this sriic'e with this topic. The
doctor who needs teaching on the mischiev-
Gus effects of alcoholic medication, ough.
not TO be commissioned IS physician.
The article by Mi. Partridge in your issue
Of the 9Th instant requires no answer. He
must be very Ignorant man who can be
deceived or Influenced By it ANY one who
does not recognize the right and the duty Of
the government to protecI the people from
every source Of mischief and who does not
know that the liquor traffic is far more mis-
chievous in its Influence upon every interest
Of the State and of the people than all other
sources of evil combined, is not qualified to
graduate from primary school. The only
question to come in here is this: Is the
liquor tcstfic greater evil than u good to
the community? II yes. than it is the duty
of the Government to protect the people
from it. If like FIRE, il is q greater good
than evil, then we tolerate the lesser evil
for the sake Of the greater good. There are
great many things in the communit y thst
intlict mischief upon society, but the are
tolerated because greater coed comes
from them But as to the liquor traffic, it
iufic,s more mischief upon the community
than "Wsr, Pestilence and Famine
combined" as Mr.. Gladstone said of it
in the British House OF Commons, at the
same tim, that no good comes from il 70
the State or the people. IL is all bad and
so bad that nothing can be worse.
Today, directly and indirectly, it costs
the people of this country annually more
than two thousand millions Of dollars, and
this vast Gum is growing larger rapidly
every year, much more go thaa our popu-
lasien increases, Can we measure this vast
sum? Can we draw lines about it aud
hedge 1t in as we build fence about a
feli? When we can measure the distance
from the earth to the North Star and TO the
most remote fixed stars, we may perhaps
comprehend the length and breadth Of two
billions of dollars. With that money
saved, every family in the Nation could have
of its own good homestead in fee paid
for; there need be and would be no pow
eriy or psuperism in the country. except
in case Of those who are ments lily or phys
icaily impot INT. This vast expenditure on
the liquor traffic is the waste and loss of sill
the property in the country of every bind
ia every period Of less than thirty five
years-spent lost, wasted on the grog-
shops. And row the English speaking peo
pie the world over, are making this
the question of primary Importance, IS
political question: How can this mon
strous evil, this tremendous sin, shame and
crime be swep. awsy?' The problem 10 as
easily solved as q sum il simple addition /:
"By law, make the liquor trade very unpro-
fissbIe End very uncomfortable to those
who persist in it" That is as simple as the
standing of the egg Of Colubmus on its
small end. In that way the work may he
done between the rising OF the suu aud the
g0ing down thereof; and in no other way is
it possible to accomplish it.
The volume Of liquor traffic now in
Maine is not one twentieth as large =, ii
WAS before the Maine Law. Then, we had
open rum shops everywhere, ~holesale and
retail. at tire same time we had many dis
tille,ies runniog night aud day. Now We
haven't dis iilery or brewery in the State.
Seven Of the fbrmer and two Of the latter
were in Portland, large ones. Al the same
time we had very large importa'ions Of
West India rum 1t came to us by the cargo,
large csrgoes, many Of them every year.
Now not q puncheon is imported ard
has not been for many years. Maine
spent in strong drink, in the. old
rum times the entire value of all
is property Of every kind in every period
Of twenty years, ss the Nation is now doing
in every period Of thirty-fve years. Bat
| now. one million dollars will more than
cover the cos. of all the liquor struggled
into the state and .old in violation Of Lag !;
and this vast saving to cur people is seen
everyx here in batter houses better churches,