The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1893-05-19
THE MORRELL AND OTHER LIQUOR
CURES.

To THE EDITOR OF THE hEFORMEK.
4Jeor Sir:-In your contemporary, u
"PLnnx" Of last week, there appeared thrs
paragraphs respecting the MOrrell L'qut
Cure Just established In Brattleboro. Two {
these paragraphs we're somewhat caust
structures upon the coming OF this enterpris
TO Brattleboro and contained some statemen
not wholly correct and which probably WI
create wrong impression III some quarters
WIN you permit me, therefore, to say som
words to your Brattlt b0rO readers by way Q
correcting such wrong impression and poss
blv preventing an injustice.
have no quarrel with any mans opinion
be has perfect light to It, and the right, also
10 speak 1t out In any way accesslGIe 10 nIn,
1t is desirable, however, that when maj
speaks In so public manner Is does The cor
RESPONDENT or the editor of a ne wspaper, tina
be give his opinion In fair and generou
spirit and look well to his facts. The spiri
OF these two paragraphs to which nave re
TERED was certainly rot generous and tb'
statement of what purported to be facts wal
gwen with q carelessness all too common
when men are carried away by the enthusi
asm of composition. II any one doubts this
let him notice the reference TO liquor cures IL
the paragia ph about the rattlesIake. From
the standpoint OF the writer Of the paragraph
this was funny; but "a generous ,, .,p put,
have been more careful. The com.
ing Of the Morrell liquor cure to Brattleboro
| can IN no sense be regarded as rublic cslam-
| ity. It has no quarrel with anybody 1t seeks
no advanta 70 from anybody; 1t is one OF the
most be icent discoveries Of modern times
| and Is practical solution OF the worst evil
with wh!cb0sOciety has ever been cursed. We
| are not a nuts snce and no movement Of writ
ing up, or writing down, can make us so.
Had the writer of the hostile paragraphs re-
ferrd to been half as ger erOrs IN his treat
ment of US as he was. or some other one was,
In his treatment Of the Chicago Dressed Beef
enterprise, written up In the same issue. we
would have had no cause for complaint. We
do not pretend that we are of as much impor..
lance TO certain people as the Ch cago Dressed
Beef enter prise, but we believe that to Ger.
tain other y. OpIe our coming Will be welcom-
ed with fully as much enthusiasm not only
by reason OF what we bring but by reason OF
the men who bring 1t, speaking comparative
ly.
1t IS due TO The editor Of the paper referred
to to say. that the account of the meeting at
the Brooks House. which he Inserted In FIR
day morning just before the paper went TO
press, is candid, and IN the main correct,
statement of the facts. Perhaps II the other
paragraphs had not already been ''set up"
sober atterthought would have prevented
their insertion. Certain I: is that change
came oyer The editorial mind after 10 o'clock
on Thursday evening. At that hour we WIS.,
tied the editorial sanctum for the purpose OF
giving information respecting tho meeting
held at the Brooks House parIors at seven
O'Clock. We were not received with that
courtesy which we have been accustomed to.
cspecia ly when approaching STRANGERS; but |
ss the editorial manners differ In different Of |
fees we do not lay 1t to heart. Our proffeled |
information was curly refused; the article
later furnished by our fellow worker. julius
A. Morrell, was also put aside; but on Friday
forenoon for some reason the editor himself
hi fS of a lft1Pps wrote |
and inserted the paragraph of which we are
now speaking. For this we thank him.
But do not intend this letter to be contro-
versial. I desire to correct wrong Impressions
and modify one or two statements intended
10 be facts. 10 one of the Objectionable para.
: Without eltaking to discuss the scier-
ifc basis. II there Is one, OF any OF the Sc
.alled cures 1t may be accepted as fact
hat there are few scientific physicians who
live any credence TO the idea that there is
pr clfic for the disease. or lack of will power.
which makes man drunkard. TIE chancas
re ten to one that, within u very few years.
We shall see this whole b-chlo,de Of gold
business numbered with long list of expoc- !
d fads or decisions which have captured !
rankin for the time being. 1t Is just about 2
dozen years ago that the blue glass
raze was at its height What the
nan intended should be conveyed by Q
htse statements is clear. nsm,ly, that the a
forrel quar Cure is q fad to be classtd Q
18th the ''blus glass crsZe;' that 1t has no "
scientific basis" that few scientific physi. q
ANS" give Il any support and that Ike other o
fads" 1t Will soon fall into forgetfulness. ! q
ould not Ike to assume that the writer OF y
e above Is not intelligent; nor that be Is X. n
,rant of what he presumes to discuss. 81
prefer to believe that he was u
oughtless In bis utterances: having u
IA out fIr himself the task of "wriiing D.
wn" this whole business. l would spare ni
= intelligence at the expense of his thought. u
lness and generosity. Surely 1t Is not pos- W
de that there Is any oper eyed man or m
oman 10 cultured Brattleboro who does not en-
low that the cure of Drunkenness Is no OF
,ger sn experiment" and that there are At op
vt three ''cure." that are doing the beneh- III
Mt work OF saving drunkaids every day In Oh
year, some of them working successfully re-
en- IN the prohlbitory state OF Vermont.
ey are restoring to merchants the services pr
valuable employees, TO wives and children
? affection and support OF husbands and ~.
hers, to communiti the earnings which
fore went to waste and 20 the slaves OF Ita
Ink their ost manhood. 1t cannot be un- n y
own to any newspaper writer that the Z
,ole front of the temperance crusade has 20. zee
anged within the last naif decade and that tle
Is important work which has enlisted the .rt
mpathies of the great Christian world has ICY
last been placed upon "Scientihc basis co
Thai uTuuheuutSS is UOW tiChSuf
Ter diseases" with specific remedies. w
by, MIR. Editor, one cOmp,nv alone has po
'ated more than one hundred thous and pa
nts. has been at work for nearly or quite ~
e year,, and failures and lapses combined Or
lount to less than 10 per cent probably rs
> I nm 10 per cent. II
With these facts before US It does not seem I'M
lite scientific to assert that there is no In
cient'6c bssis'' for this work. me
As to the physicians, 1t simply Is not true
assert that "there are few scientific physf. Il
ms who give anv credfnce to the idea that col
IRE IL specific for the disease" OF drunken pei
Is. Has not the writer Of that Ter. Jus
ice he ,rd that "scIentlfc physicians Gu
world over are pretty generally convinced BOZ
It drunkenness is q "disease~ And IL he +.
aware thst Isl ientific physicians" almost We
animously hold that for every "disease' Dol
re Is somewhere In Gods greet storehouse Ger
remedy!H The only question that we are cor
rs" is this: Has anv one discovered that wh
nedy! speak advisedly when say that the
ny of the best physicians of the world are OUT
ming 10 believe that remedy. II not the &C..
ledy. has already been discovered. One Of vi!
leading physicians Of Vermont recently
Fred sentiment which ought to be echoed reli
r the whole country. at is true" said be "fo
at ply siclans have professional aversion cur
III patent medicines, and for the same kee
son 10 all secret remedies; but n any one CIV
discovered remedy which will cure not ne
but - per cent, only Of cases treated, wit
bout irjuring the other 81 per cent, be M
made discos cry which should command nisl
sympsthet'c support CT all good people, the
he scieptific physicians who oppose Huuor resi-
pa do 10 from one or more of three causes But
,er lbey have not looked mt, the WORK tr Il
Il being done; or they oppose II on prin ior
e because It Is a "sevret" remedy; or AS u tf
, few cases where woul1.be ..,,,, nt,fic hav
sicians" have raised opposition and writ OF
and talked down the cures-thev have itse