The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1892-07-14
AN UNNATURAL DEMAND,
Thirst for Alcoholic Drinks an Artificial

AN ONNA OHAl OeMANO.
Thirst for Alcoholic Drinks an Artificial
Appetite.
There is definite cause for the wide
spread demand for stimulants, a reason
why alcoholic drinks costs us yearly
5000, 200, 600, while bread costs about half
as much; and philanthropists in this
field with host of others must contin-
ue with each successive generation the
hopeless. almost heart breaking task
of trying to- help those who will not or
cannot help themselves, until we can un-
derstand more Of the wise planting and
nurture Of that only in whose ripcning
and ripened fruit can we rejoice.
George Henry Lewcs, in his "Physi.
ology of Common Life" and some 9th
crs claim that as the desire for stimu-
lahts is universal it is evidently nat
ural demand.
This reasoning is, ! think, unsound,
unless it can be proved that the demand
for stimulants adtcdates the mistakes
end errors of civilization and is more
universal than these, which can hardly
be done.
! Civilization means taking possession
OF the forces of nature to serve our
| pleasure and profit, and is at first more
concerned in possessing all that is pos.
sible than in the careful discrimination
of how those forces can serve us best.
The work of reconsideration comes
later. Another generation must analyze
the abundant supply and make the finer
adjustment
The primeval man required probably
no more than natures productions just
as they grew, and, like the undomesti-
Gated animals, might be left to ca:
these When and as he chose; but whc1,
agriculture has multiplied them indcti
nitcly. and commerce has brought to
our doors the products of all climates,
and there is no end of skill in combin-
ing these, the natural result is that we
provide more than the body can dispose
Of And SO alcoholic drinks are resorted
to to assist digestion and crafty the
already over-stimulated appetite.
The desire for stimulants among the
very poor is increased, no doubt, by in
sufficient nourishmcnt, but the intell
gent people must think for the I'M
thinking. and as soon as wholesome
food and drink are the fashion for the
more intelligent class there will be u
change in every class
Still, incorporate eating and drink.
ing are not the only Incorporate habits
that seem to be part of our social
fabric. There is an incalculable waste
Of feeling, of emotion and will, and the
power lost in these various channels of
life tells the whole story, if we would
trace it back, of the undircctcd or mis-
directed energy at the outset. a child
whose habits of eating, Of sleeping, of
dressing and of talking are controlled
by the real needs of life, and regulated!
with taste and discretion, will never
need the good offices of temperance
society nor legislation to save him from
ruin. His salvation was foregone
conclusion, because all the possibiliti IS
OF his life were led in orderly activity
to the threshold Of his conscious per.
sonality.
What we most need is to be saved
from ourselves, or, better to express
the same thing, to be lifted into our
best selves by adjusting the emotions,
appctites and tendencies when they are
plastic and can be nodded.
We are never brave, strong or just
until discipline has made us So We
often believe ourselves all these be-
cause we have not been tried enough to
know their want. And happy is that
child who has been guided from birth
into nature S law SO that his discipline
has been unconscious force until habits
of obedience to the right in mental,
moral and physical processes have bc.
conc character. Mrs. a. r. Aldrich, in
Harper'S RaZar