Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-02-22

speaker had tine sympathy Of his audi
ence which was composed of representa-
tive educators and influential men, and
this very sympathy probably is RESPONSE
bic for the professors extreme outspoken-
ness. Furthermore, the speaker belongs
4 TO an institution representing dcnomina-
/ ton which has always been conspicuous
for heroic activity iii the cause of tenn
| perance.
Between these extremes will be found
other forces working in the same drec-
! ton, as social habits and certain business
and political interests. 1t seems evident
that the attack upon scientific temperance
instruction is to be continued with in
creasng vigor, and the journal Of Educa-
tlon in a recent issue sounded a note Of
alarm, and in the course of a vigorous
article on the subject said:
! IF 1t should appear that the good in
scientific temperance can only be saved
| by the united and vigorous efforts of edu-
cational leaders, Is there any reason why
they should rally for it's rescue? All must
agree that intenlperance is the great Am
erican evil. 1t is not a question whether
beer in Germany and light wine IN France
are harmless, nor yet whether under Ger
tain circumstances light beverages are
beneficial as n relish. Intempcrancc is q
terrible curse in America 1t undoes the
work of the school as nothing else can.
There is no distinction, intellectually, be
tween a Hottentot and q collcgiau " hen
they are drunk. TIC schools, next TO the
homes, arc sufferers from the drink habit.
At low estimate 100000 children In the
schools to-day suffer in food and in cloth
ing by neglect and through direct cruel
ty of incorporate parents. Absence tard-
mess, Indifference weakness, dizziness. and
various forms of viciousncss in school are
chargoablc to this cause.
There is no far-reachng means Of
staying the spread of this curse to the
next generation except through the
schools If the school can do no hing in
this crisis. then America must, apparently,
admit herself to be powcrless to stay the
drink habit. why should not the schools
make a grand effort to stay the spread of
this curse? smallpox harms one person
whore intoxicants harm hundreds, and yet
the child will not be admitted to school
unless he has been successfully Vacciu-
ated. 1t does not matter that many chill
dren have suffered from vaccination, no
more does II matter that some parents
do not believe in vaccination. Why should
not law require that something be done
by the schools to inOcCulate children
against the drink habit?
If intenperancc is a giant evil If 1.
does the school a great injury, II the
school ought to do something in the
emergency, what shall it do? 1t cannot
deal with political aspects of the case, no
more can it with the religious It's sphere
is distinctlvely educational If alcoholic
beverages tend to the most serious ply
sica mental. and moral disorders. as
every sane person knows they do, 1t ought
to be possible to show why they wreck
the body and tumble It into the gutter:
why they upset the mind and make "A
man OF culture an idiot, and often Il man
lac; why they sap the morals and make
loving husband and father, wife and
mother worse than n sober savage that
never heard of church or school. 1t ought
to be possible to teach children why in
toxicants thus ruin body, mind. and NOR
ais as nothing else in nature or human
nature can do If there is anything that
can be taught in this direction Wisely, It
ought to be taught.
with all due Difference to the wisdom
of medical scientists, 1t may he asked of
what importance 1t is to the school that
in small quantities, under favorable con-
ditions, alcohol may be food. or that in
certain physical conditions light alcoholic
drinks may be a relish? Is ii not strain
ing at the gnat while swallowing the
camel to Stylr the omission If these facts
immoral while attaching the only known
moars of Frightening 15,00o00J school
children in America upon the tendency OF
alcohol used in any quantity to create an
appetite which usually becomes uncontroll-
able, placing the limbs, the tongue. the
eye, the temper and the mind beyond the
control Of the Will"
A. S. L.