Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1894-03-15
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
DRUNKENNESS IN FRANCE.
II Is a contagion That DemoraIizes the
People.

People
Combinations show that IN the past
,wentv-two years the consumption OF
alcohol per inhaDitant is trip.ed- ana
with direful augmentation the usual
eortege of evils: Compromised health
unhappy homes and the undermining
IF frugality of the master and en-
yiable virtues of the French nation. \
nroyerb states: He who has drank
will drink" Perhaps Of all the evils to
eradicate that flesh is heir to the worst
Is the drink crave. 1t demands, Ike
the grave: Give give! give. some
moral NJ. ID. : urge reformed manners
as the best remedies against alcoholle
vice. but the classes that ought to set
the example Of purity Of living are also
stepped IN the spreading sin.
The current budget proposed to abol-
ish all duty on wine, beer, cider and
hvgienic beverages, making mp for the
fiscal deficit by an increased tax ON al
sohol The intention is admirable, but
the more You run up the duty on
brandy the more it viii he smuggled
and adulterated So long as chemistry
can prepare an artificial spirit from
wood distiilation. and spice and flavor
np the compound by poisonous adj
iuncts. the greater duty viii not be
bar to the consumption of the firewater:
besides, the municipal chemist has re-
ported that the cognae sold IN the vast
ma ioritv of cafes and snowy taverns
only differs IN degree from the throat
Initiating and misunderstanding liquid
that consoles the last stage Of human
misery as represented by the nomadic
rag picker
The social habits OF the French facili-
tate the contagion Of the drink disease:
the majoity of the people meal out in
restaurants as costly as their purse can
patroni1e The prOprietors of the tav-
erns tell YOU plainly that they make no
profit on the food, all that must come
from the drink. An individual unless
the address of tea or milk
show, would soon be made TO feel in an
eating house that his presence was I'M
desirable if ne preferred river water to
the manufactured beverage. The mid
die class stra tum of society now rarely
20 home to dinner without swallowing
an ahsinthe. between five and seven
o'clock, the vert stimulant being then
IN full show. II is the deglutition Of
The green.
Anyone can open a bank or dram
shop in France who can pay the sealed
license, and as these rendezvous usual
" unite the supplying of repasts, no
form OF local option could reduce THEN
number. Everyone must live Just as
we'll as a headsman The petty Goa
lealer in his tiny Black hole of Cal
,utta supplies, between piles Of fire.
wood and sacks a. charcoaI. the cheap
st form of boarding ont in Paris; he is
certain to have AN annex for drinks
md when not dealing in fruit and veg /
tables he sells newspapers. am aware /
VI one enterprising coal man who sup /
lilies pork and rabbits. Like the /
Bon Marche and kindred stores be /
,ught to be brought under the influence /
# cumulative trade license tax. They /
ne generally peasants "a young man [
nd his wife, who run these concerns
The French worlNnan-and especially /
he be single-can never find in his /
tito den the shelter. the warmth and 1
he light he can enjoy when repasting I
n his cafe-restaurant, where he can
neet society and share in billiard /
ames. The latter, after politics and
eading the orthodox slices of q trio Of
in his sou journal, are his
hoice pleasures, And in the work
len's quarters, when the rattle Of
illiard balls is not heard in a tavern,
hat implies an infallible drop in the
barometer One bright
pot, though of late becoming a little
haded. wives are never seen with their
drinking Of an evening. and
he children are conspicuous by their
bsenee. Staggering intoxication as a
ule is rare in France: the absorbents
enerally stop when muddled; besides
he proprietor of the rumhole can be
ned if he sells drink toa drunken man
r admits such a new client 60 his bar.
his well-meaning law is next to mop
ratiyc- FOreirn Letter