The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1899-10-12
Written for The Prison Mirror.
A Mental Delusion.

| wonder if it has ever occurred to
any of the indefatigable ladies consti-
tuting the w. G T. U. and other asso-
Citations of a similar benevolent kind,
that they are making serious mistake
in their persistent crusade against that
evil which, in their estimation, is and
always has been the principal cause of
human misery and distress-i. e., the
liquor habit. What mean by mistake,
is, that they do not recognize any dis
tlnctlOn between the habitual drunk
ard and the honest, hard-working man
who thinks it no harm to indulge in
one or two glasses on his way home
in the evening, with perhaps, an extra
one on Saturday night. The former,
indeed, seldom deserves the solicitude
and anxiety the good ladies profess on
his account, especially when their time
and sympathy may be more proftably
enlisted in some other way of social
and moral advancement.
held conversation with one of the
ladies of the w. G. T. U. before ! came
here, when, after some preliminary
remarks, she asked the usual question:
care you Temperament"
"Yes, madam" said I.
81 am glad to hear it," she returned;
"and have you never used intoxicants
all your life 2" she continued, regarding
my nose somewhat doubtingly the
while.
Eyes, L take drink occasionally,
but never to excess; in fact, would as
soon have a glass of ice cream soda or
milkshake any time as that which you
disapprOve of so earnestly"
"But you just said that you were
temperance" she reminded me.
"And still say So" replied" Tenn
perance means moderation or in a
medium degree and not total absti-
nence, as so many people believe"
She admitted that perhaps L was
right and that the dictionary might
prove me so, and finally said:
'But that is not the point; don't you
know that if you continue to use
strong drink, although you may be
Indifferent to it now, your desire for it
will increase as you grow older and
consequently your ability to resist it
will proportionately diminish and in
the end, the end
[ am very glad she hesitated here, as
[ have profound dislike to have any
one, particularly lady, speak to me
of drunkard's grave: it seems such a
dark, gloomy, dismal sort of place, so
different from a millionaire's mauso-
leum, with electric lights and bells in
it. That is why 1 am determined to
become millionaire some day, simply
to provide for my posthumous comfort
But to proceed-what wish to re-
fute is the incorrect opinion so many
people entertain, that, when once a
man (or woman) has tasted of any
thing stronger than lemonade, he Tor
she) is irrevocably lost. Indeed this
would be lamentable world if one in
every hundred verified the predictions
of my solicitous friend; but it is not
true, and the per cent of cases of pov-
erty caused by drink is constantly de-
creasing year after year.
1t appears from some statistics
which possess that on a rough aver
age 21.3 per cent of poverty is due to
misconduct, 744 per cent to an other
young lady by the name of misfortune;
low wages, lack of work, and drink,
constituting the rest. It must be re-
membered besides, that these figures
refer to the poorest district of London.
l do not desire to be understood as
denying that evils are connected with
the liquor business-as evils unques-
tionably exist-but not to so great an
extent as some mistaken reformers
would lead us to suppose. In conclu-
sion, what L wish to protest against is
the assumption of some people that a
person Immediately loses his will.pow-
er upon drinking a good old glass of
lager beer. Most likely, those that it
does affect in that way would never be
of much account anyhow. r. M.