The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-02-17
THE GREAT DESTROYER
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
THE VICE OF INTEMPsRANce.
rhe Pity and the Penalty of Drunkenness
The Jovial Cup Toasts Fate, While
Crime and Disease Attend the Banquet
-Drinking n sigu OF Mental Weakness


The drunkard il burden to himself and
10 the community. How to tighten the load
At both ends is the problem OF the hour.
The jovial cup toasts fate, while crime and
disease attend the banquet. The start and
the finish involve only question OF time.
Still. there is enough of pure pity ior the
victim to give humanitarianism lar
chance to do benefcent work.
The latest evidence of proper influences
in such direction is offered in the recent
report OF the State Commissioner OF Prs
Ons. The plea is very justly made Tor
greater discrimination IN punishments not
only Tor mere intoxcation, but for crime
due to drink.
The penalties inflicted are markedly un.
equal. The man of means who takes the
privilege of being "as drunk as a lord
pays the fine and suffers no inconvenience,
while the poor man, whether he pays or
goes to prison. brings actual prlvation to
his family. This certainly should not be.
although the law A. it stands can make no
special distinctions to suit individual cases.
The question OF equity Is, however, dealt
with from another point OF view, which
deserves due consideration The commis
sion claims that the ofiense should not be
treated as a crime but rather as disease.
The idea Is by no means a novel one, but
is widely entertained by the medical ex.
perts. The report truly says "Habitual
drunkenness arises largely from mental
weakness and its treatment should par.
take of the characteristics which the State
has deemed wlse in other cases Of mental
alteration" The man, also. who period.
cally INDUCES in his sprees Is virtually in
the same category. imprisonment or fine.
or both. does not cure either class Of vic.
tins, nor has any form of punishment for
mere drunkenness any strictly deterrent
effect. On the contrary, the ofenses
against society are as constantly repeated
as are those dependent upon more pro.
nounced and more easily recognized forms
OF insanity.
When crime is directly associated with
drink il must be proved that the criminal
was actually insane at the time the deed
was committed, and yet who could prove
that an intoxicated individual is in any
sense a rational being? True, he should
not place himself in such a position, but
considering that he is suffering from mental
weakness, is he not rather to be pited as a
sick man than blamed as an actual Grim
inal! In any event he should not be jailed
with thieves and murderers and be forced
TO consort with all other kinds Of depraved
malefactors. The worst otfense Of drunk.
enness is cn no such level. The commits
sion very wisely suggests that some better
method of dealing with these distressing
cases should be ascertained and adopted
Much good could also be done in pre-.
venting drunkenness by educating the pub.
lie concerning the purely physical penalties
OF drink. Suffice it to say in this connec.
ton that no vital organ is exempt from its
ravages-kdney. brain. heart, liver, stom
ach and arteries all suffer in the long run
and there is no disease, chronic or acute.
that does no. owe its increased mortality
to strong drink. Even the steady. meth.
odical tippler whose saturation limit is
never reached. is in more dagger in this re-
gard than the reckless and periodical de-
bauchee. No one, however. is ever an eN
ample to himself-Editoral in the New
York Herald.