Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-03-11
ALCOHOL AND REASON.

~HAAi6o tSil us lldI uTlHklHR aIQOnR
young men, instead OF being on the in
crease, Is declining to marked extent.
When one judges the whole country by
the narrow limits of his own commune
ty, or neiShborhood and prefers to be-
lfeVe that because he sees around him
many sad examples of what the use of
liquor can and will do for young men,
the statement that drinking Is not car
rfed to as great an excess as formerly
is not received with any large amount
of credence. To others, however, who
would rather believe that the world 10
growing better each day, instead of
growing worse, and that the common
sense of the young men Of this country
is becoming more and more the guiding
factor in their lives. this optimistic
view is hailed with delight. Arguing
from the brighter side of this question,
and it is always best to look for the
silver lining to every cloud. and to
shape ones opinions in the light it
sheds. naturally one will ask why this
decadence Qf so it may be called), In
the use OF intoxicants, has come. In
the first place. the young men Of Ameri-
ca are daily becoming better acquaint-
ed with the more practical side of life.
If they are born wealthy and are able
to attend the higher priced colleges,
they are found now in greater numbers
than ever living simple. unpretentious
lives, some times working even to pay
their own expenses, but at the same
time giving earnest attention to the
| real object OF their naturalization. This
has been proved by observation. If
they find their paths laid In more
modest fields, they are seen at the
training schools striving to learn
trade, laboring to fit themselves for n
place In the world, working early and
late to obtain the means whereby they
may be of use to others as well as to
themselves. And. again. II schooling
is impossible. we find them early in life
confronting the great problems that
their more fortunate brothers will come
to solve at a later day. learning the
lessons necessary to drive the great
| engines of the world forward with ac-
curacy and safety. Later on we find
all three classes united each with the
| same object in view. Sinecures and
beds of ease are few In the world of
to-day. The rich and the poor alike
realize that they must toll if they would
succeed. Confronted with business
problems they learn first Of all that
they must be temperate. The rich
mans son. when admitted to the
counting house Of his father, has no
| advantage over the poor boy on the
stool beside him. The first question
asked is: do you drink?" No need
to tell why. 1t is simple enough. The
man who drinks cannot be trusted with
the interests of others The railroad
has no instrument. or throttle or uni
form for the employee who drinks The
man who stands at the wheel and
guides the ship through darkness and
sunlight. through storm or calm, must
need no alcohol to give him nerve. The
bank has no place behind it's counter,
no safe combination to teach the men
who cannot live without liquor; and so
on through the whole catalogue. Young
men Of to-day are not blind. They see
these things as they are, and being
gifted with common sense and imbued
| with ambition to occupy those places
| above the traces of the work -horsc, and
the responsibility OF the slave, they
accept conditions as they are That is
| why drinking Is on the decline. Some
| one has said that this is q nation of
young men. That is right. Each year
the crew OF the Ship of State is grow
ing younger. One has not far to look
to see that this is true also in every
| branch of industry and trade. And it
is the same common sense. and the
same feeling of responsibility that
drives the world before them in this
respect. that is teaching them that If
they would win, they must let liquor
alone. That there are failures is all
too true. But 1t is also true that they
are due to overconfidence In self Yet
ask the veriest wreck OF them all, ana
he will tell you that reason Is on the
side of the abstainer, and that had he
nut listened to 1t, as the majority or
men are doing. he would not be where
he is. That there are moral considera-
| lions cannot be denied, but the religion
that saves men from the gutter is also
founded upon reason and practical COM
mon sense. The sclf-rcspect that is the
| inherent motive for morality among
many is likewise borne in minds where
in the same qualities predominatc. We
prefer to accept the statement that
young mon arc coming more and more
under such influence. In it we see the
greatest and strongest weapon yet
| found against the curse of alcohol.
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