Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-01-23
RED RUM AND RUIN
ForcibIe Discussion of the lio-
uor Habit.
TRUE CAUSES OF iNEBRIeTs
Chicago Doctors Discuss the Problem in
all Its Phases--It Is Not Dis
case but q Habit.

Chicago Herald - Recent events"
said r.G. Frank Iydston. nave demon
strated the fact that the position which
the more advanced members OF the
medical profession have held for years
regarding the cause of lnebriety have
not been understood By the public.
Despite the enthusiasm Of the masses,
who zee in the Kelley cure . mighty
expounder of a new theory of inebfiety,
the majority of the thinkers IN my pro-
fession have long been convinced that
inebriety per SO is q disease, but it
neeNed an empirical Moses 20 lead the
public out of the wilderness and the
fact that the new prophet II israel pro-
phesieth by the week for the shekeis of
of the ungodly bears no relation TO the
man or his alleged discovery. Be the
Kelley cure meritorious or fraudu-
lent. IT has accomplished one
great good-the impression upon
the public of the disease the
ory of inebriety. Worse than the fall
lacious ideas of the laity, worse than
the errors OF the pulpit. is the infiu-
ence of the physician who regards the
study OF lnebriety solely from a ..oral-
istic standpoint. The history of 'nedi-
cine has been checkered by errors and
clouded by intolerance. Not long ago
a prominent physician here IN Chicago
gave public utterance to the sentiment
that drunkard should be punished
precisely the same as any other crim-
inal. II is high time that the lnetriety
question is understood TO be Of quite as
much Importance from an evolutionary
standpoint as is any other condition
bearing OH the physical and social wei
fare of our race. The moral factor per
Sc bears no more relation to the ques-
ton than it does in typhoid fever.
Evils Caused by Drink.
"Liquor produces primarily overstim-
ulation and secondarly exhaustion,
and perhaps a varying degree of paral-
ysis of the heart and blood vessels. Ii
produces congestion, followed by a de-
post of abH9rmal tissue, with resulting
condemnation of tissues of the BRAIN,
spinal cord, nerves and important or
gans of the body. The liver substance
contracts and strangulates. The liver
is so reduced that it finally strikes
work altogether. The conditions which
occur in the liver occur in greater or
lees degree In the tissues of the brain
and its coverings. That a disturbed
circulation and an altered structure of
the brain cause defective reasoning and
will power is admitted by every stu
dent of the subject.
1--WE should endeavor to correct, as
far as we can, that morbid foundation
of most cases of alcoholism, q defective
will. The condition is bred in the bone,
or rather in the nerve fiber and cell.
Inasmuch as, IN some cases, the cause
is psychological, the most successful
cures are to q certain extent psyco-
logical. Unfortunately the means are
not always at hand. The element OF
hypnotism enters veiy largely into
most OF the inebriety cures, and II Is
my opinion that If we subtract this ele-
ment from the cure now so prominent
ly before the public. it will so the way
OF all the panaceas for human life that
have preceded it. Holding, as do,
the opinion that tho successful cure Is
n psychological one, i think that DIR.
Keeley, with his present boom, ought
to cure larger percentage of cases
than is possible by any other known
method. The espri: du corps of the
Bichiorldc OF Gold club is In itself suf-
ficient to bring about q certain proper
ton of cures aud to preycn. relapses
in the majority"
Opposed the Disease Theory.
DIR. Charles Warrington Earle pre-
sented long and exhaustive argument
against the disease theory OF lnebriety.
"This disease idea," ne said, "is a pass
ing fad. | deny and denounce 1t en-
phatically. If | accepted IL should
pronounce against Its constant hered-
itary transmission as unsuhstantial and
unreal. This is not the presence or alb
sence OF disease. IL is a question Of
habit. discipline and education. What
is the Use of introducing text books In
our schools on the effects of alcohol
with the avowed purpose OF training
the young mind away from il, If the
desire for alcohol is diseaseY IL is not
absurd, however, to educate away from
vice. am prepared for the argu-
ment that inebrlety must he disease
because it is frequently cured by the
simple use Of drugs. | say there
never was yet case of lnebriety
cured by the use of any kind of
drug or chemical substance. introduced
within or applied TO tho body by any
manner of means whatever. Thous-
ands have been cured by force of dis
clplinc, mental invigoratIon and deter
minstion, and the birth or higher de
veiopment of the truer and better pur-
poses Of existence. That a recent
movement, having the commepdatIon
or the public press, possesses large
amount of success IT is not my purpose
10 deny. The case is probable and
would not be improbable. That such
an effect -, however, produced by any
secret drug or preparation do most
etrenuousIy contradict. That there is
direct misrepresentation. or that mis.
representation is allowed, is perfectly
pialn. The entire process and result Is
built upon the operation of nAnts
function. But the only remedy which
has conquered this degradation and
vice has been education. discipline and
the recognition of q moral responsible
ifv."