The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-11-12
GETTING DRUNK
Is the Vice on the Increase in
TOpeka2
DOctOred9
WRONG COURSE TAKEN
Drunkenness a Disease That
Needs Treatment,
Scientific in Character, Not a
Jail Sentence.

Jail Sentence.
Those who have been taking notice of
dt say that drunkenness is on the in
crease in Topeka. More men drink, par
ticularly young men, than did, five
years ago. There appears to have been
great relaxation of temperance senti-
ment and what might be called a"moral
subsistence" The cause of this would be
an interesting study, but still more
interesting one is, why do men get
drunk, and what should be done with
them or for them when they do? Should
drunkenness be punishable or should it
be treated scientifically as a weakness,
either psychological or physiological.
Should we try legislation or medication?
What shall we do with the DRINKS?
IhlS has long been a sore and perpIeX-
ing question with the police in Topeka
and for the want of something better
to do with them the worst of them have
been taken to the city prison and lock-
ed up. The next morning they would be
fined and either committed to the rock
pile or be allowed to pay the fine and
go only to be back again, perhaps, in a
week under the same conditions.
The city jail has but two cell rooms
for men. Both are on the first floor
and in these two rooms all the men ar
rested are placed. A man in a drunken
stupOr must lie on a hard wood bench
or on the floor and sleep off the effects
of the liquor. He has a quilt to cover
him and that is all
Is this the proper and humane way to
dispose of persons arrested for being
drunk? Not one case in hundred is
benefited by this mode Of treatment.
Ihere are men in town who are arrest
ed over and over again for being drunk.
They are taken to the station and after
serving three, five or ten days on the
rock pile or paying fine instead they
are again ready to get drunk-even more
ready than before.
Would not some way of treating these
cases, that would tend to stop the habit
be the proper way? Is drunkenness a
crime punishable by imprisonment? 1t
is more of a disease. If the ones ar
rested could be taken to a hospital or
asylum for treatment there would be
much greater chance that the detention
in such a place would do them good.
More than one case of the liquor and
drug habit has been cured at the in
sane asylum. Many cases nave not
been cured and many have returned to
the habit after the lapse of a few years,
but even those who returned to 1t en-
jOyed a few years free from the desire
and some cases have been permanently
cured, but as far as is known not case
has ever been cured by being imprisOn-
ed.
Chief Strauss says in regard to ar
resting drunks: This has always been
a hard question to handle. DRINKS
must be gotten off the street where they
are public nuisance but whether they
should be lodged in jail is a question.
Putting them in jail casts a stigma on
them and in many cases instead of stop
ping the habit it only encourages them
on the downward path. I have often
thought that a hospital or a sanitarium
would be the proper place for persons
arrested for drunkenness but certainly
not a jail. To get drunk is not a felony
nor is it a misdemeanOr. 1t is a viola
ton of city ordinance and can only be
tried in police court and not in a JUS
tice court. I hold that drunkenness is
n sc n
OVerlOadS his stomach; it is a disease
that takes hold of him and he should not
be punished for it as a crime. If a man
reS1Sts temptation 1t strengthens him
to resist the next time but each time he
yields to temptation he is weaker to
resist the next time If DRINKS could
be taken to a hospital and treated as
they should be they might receive prop
er medicine and attention that would
aid them in avoiding the temptation
again. Something along more up-to-
date lines should be done for the hand
ling of drunks."
Police Judge L. S. Ferry said: Elm
ing prisoners for being drunk is a hard
proposition. Now, for instance a man
comes in drunk and is fined, say So, for
the offence. He pays the fine and in a
week he is arrested again and fined IS
and next time $40. The judge gets ex-
aSperated and imposes a heavy fine.
Who pays it? The man? Some times
but in many cases a wife works hard
taking in washing to get money enough
TO pay HeF nuSDanQ' 5 nne ana get MN
out of Jail. Does he suffer any under
those circumstances? There is not one
case in a hundred that arresting will
stop the habit Drunkenness should
be treated in some other way"
This is a question which should be
studied along new lines. The folly of
expecting to keep men from getting
liquor to drink seems to have been pref
ty thoroughly proven. If they can not
buy it in Topeka, they will buy it some
where else and ship it in. They will and
do form clubs to purchase it and thus
the habit spreads among young men
until drunkards are manufactured more
rapidly than ever. The place to begin
reform is with the victims themselves.
They should be made not to prefer
drunkenness to sobriety. A thoroughly
drunken man is not happy. He doesn't
want to be in that condition. He has
simply lost control of himself and needs
help. Filming him is merely an aggra-
walton of his trouble. It seems like the
natural feeling of mankind for their fell
low creatures should prompt some
method of dealing with these unfor-
Inmates that is firm, helpful and hui
name.
CHICAGO AND WISCONSIN,