Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1902-02-08

when alcohol was given with meals
than it did when il was not.
Recent experiments made by G.
Rosenfeld, of Germany, to, ascertain
the effect OF alcohol on the liver,
showed that alcohol caused an ac-
cumulation of fat in the liver which
may appear as fatty degeneration or
fatty utilization and that it also di-
minished the amount OF glycogen in
the liver. Since glycogen is the sub
stance which is burned or oxidized in
the muscles to afford muscular ener-
gy it is easy TO see why alcohol
weakens the muscles.
Third indictment-Beer will kinder
the soldiers digestion of his hard
tack.
Other vital organs affected by the
strain of military life are the heart,
kidneys, lungs, etc.
Fourth Indictment against beer in
the canteen-Science and experience
show that alcohol instead of helping
any organ of the soldiers body to do
its best work has the power to iniure
any one Of them, although not neces-
sarily every organ at the same time.
Military statistics show that the
proportion of men killed or fatally
wounded in battle during the war is
only small fraction of the large
number Of soldiers who die of dis
eases, largely epidemic diseases. Ex-
perimenters have found that alcohol
greatly Increases susceptibility to
disease and diminishes the ability to
resist disease germs. This is true not
only of large amounts of alcohol,
but Of what is called. it's moderate
use. The most recent experimenter
on this point, Laitinen, says:
Alcohol under all circumstances
increases the susceptibility of the
animal body for infection, whether it
be given before or after the inocula-
ton and whether in few large
doses or in numerous small ones ex-
tending over long time"
Fifth indictment against beer for
the. soldier-Alcohol predisposes to
the diseases that are more to be
dreaded by the soldier than bullets
or bayonets.
All this, perhaps you say, may be
true of taking too much, but the linn
tied amount of beer the soldier is al
lowed to drink in a post exchange or
canteen ought not to be forbidden
him because some one else has drunk
too much.
Under the most careful regulations
there is no guarantee that the men
who Patronize the canteen will con-
fine themselves to small amounts, and
even if they should scientific re-
search to-day shows small amounts
to be harmful.
Sixth indictment-The little alcohol
in beer has the power to create an un-
comfortable and destructive appetite
for more.
The great mass of testimony from
which we have culled a little, shows
that there is no justification in OBJ
servation, experience, science or rea-
son for the sale of beer either with or
without government sanction to the
American soldier.
1t is said that beer should be sold
in the canteen because the soldier
will get it anyway and that if he
buys it outside the saloon keeper
pockets the profits, but If il is sold
in the canteen the profit from its
sale contributes to the purchase of
luxuries for his mess. That arrange
ment is asking man to poison him
self in order that goodies may be
bought with the profit on the poison.
The proposition is an appeal for the
use of beer that the government
ought never to tolerate. Beer is
poisonous because it contains alcohol.
Let the Injuries be placed in the ex-
change at cost price, where the men
can buy them directly instead of in
directly through the profits on drinks
that unfit them to represent and de-
fend American liberties.
The sum of it all Is this: moral and
physical strength are needed alike in
! civilian and soldier in all our land
in order that both may be true rep
resentatives and defenders of our
blood-bought liberties.
To repeal the anti-canteen law and
! restore government consent to the
sale to the soldiers of beer or any al
coholic liquors would be to announce
| to the world that we have decided to
weaken our defenses and to invite at
tack. Abolish alcohol from the habits
of the 100000 inhabitants over
whom the stars and stripes are float
ing, then, with Gods blessing, we
may safely trust that the heart.
brain and Drawn of this people will
be equal to the demands of the future
and that liberty will be safe in their
hands.-Mary H. Hunt, in Union Sig
nal.
rpHPnrD IYop n,orrn