Milford chronicle., 1903-09-25
TEMPERANCE TEXT
! BOOKS ATTACKED
Pennsylvania Doctors Declare They
Make Misleading Statements.
". c, 7. U. BOOKS THE WORST
s--ua4ass--~~.-s. -. -.

York, Pa. Sept. 23.-The annual
meeting of the Pennsylvania State
Medical Society began here and will be
in session until and including tomor-
row. A feature of the first days ses-
sion was the report of the committee
on school text books, which discussed
frankly the controversy with the W. e.
T. U. on the subject of alcoholic liquors
and tobacco. The committee reported
that it had in four years published re-
views of 81 text books and that dozen
more remain to be reviewed. The re-
views are published from time to time
in the Pennsylvania Medical Journal,
and the committee requested that it be
continued for one year that it might
finish its work.
For some years the w. c. T. U. has
advocated the use in all public schools
Of text books on physiology that should
set forth very strongly the injurious,
almost deadly, effect of alcohol on the
human system, using therein the word
"poison" as a synonym for all spiritu
GUS drinks. In many schools such
books as have been prepared under the
supervision of the w. c. T. U. are al
ready in use and other books have been
prepared by the total abstinence peo-
pie for the purpose of teaching the
young that alcohol and tobacco in any
form OF quantity are deadly poisons.
In general the committee says of the
school text books on physiology and
hygiene that they contain many errors
and much misleading information and
very serious omissions. The books as
a whole cannot be recommended, al
though some few are good. We are
sorry to be compelled to say that the
books supervised by the Women's
Christian Temperance Union commit
tee are the most reprehensible." e"
The committee quotes from an arti-
Gle by Mary H. Hunt to show that the
W. c. T. U. believes that Temperance
should be the chief topic in these
books" whereas the committee Of he
medical society believes that the books
should treat of physiology and
hygiene, giving full and truthful infor-
nation as to the nature and effects of
alcohol and tobacco, but making these
subservient to the general subjects. If
the object of the women's committee is
the teaching of prohibition then let
them openly and honOrably designate
their books by truthful titles and not
resort to the contemplate method OF
{ using a scientific teSm to cloak an
ethical principle"
Replying to a pamphlet issued by
the w. c. T. u. the committee notes
that 80 of it's suggestions are to be
adopted and criticises the indiscrimi-
nate use of the word poison" as ap-
piled to all forms of alcoholics, say
ing, "it is evident to any 'fair-minded
observer that while grain of strycn-
mia is a poison, the one-hundredth part
thereof is not. It is absurd to teach
that cider, beer, wine, etc, in any dose
is a poison, whereas we all know that
a tumbler of pure alcohol is. This is
but the morbid expression of fanatics
who are guided by zeal rather than wis
dom"
In conclusion the committee recon-
mends that a committee be appointed
to consider the advisability of state SUI
pervision of the school text books per-
tanning to anatomy, physiology, hy-
giene and allied subjects.