The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-05-06
THE CURSE OF DRINK
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not escape the clutches of the dr.a. ....,,. s..
whose power they had once reclle,-lv u...... ...
! selves
Now, it seems evident from aII this -... #.
/ power the drink habit secures over ifs Victims .
largely due to natural temperament. ... n.
| who by the inherent tendencies of ra... f..r..
tions, which they utterly unable to r.l.r, f,f
the ordinary interests of mankind uucu.tu..a.v ,-
pugnant, seek elsewhere to satisfy tbo .rriua. r.,
their hearts and minds. SO long as their alg..r.
feryor holds sway these men are model Christian.
but soon this fervor forsake- -uam-a. f.
does, inevitably, all men at tmes-tirv I'm tha..
deplOrable weakness and despair. seek ~ura,s-e +,
stimulants, and unable to moderate their .r.vira
for such stimulants, debasc and butaIz. their
manhood by over-indulgencc Either this. or hav-
ing once, any tendency to religious fcrvor had
manifested itself-fallen a victim to zinc ,eDiur.
tiveness of alcoholic stimuants, they uDnlrerrIr
sought the supernatural aids of religion in their
struggles to emancipate themselves from IT,, de-
monical grasp, but all too late. Unfortunately for
the purpose Of this soicitous inquiry, thc write,
failed to sufficiently acquaiut himself with the hi,
tories of these men to determine which of tho,a
two hypothesis would the more accurately explain
the perpleXing problem with which we are con-
fronted.
But, be that as it may, is not the plight of rhcs.
men a most pitiabe and a heartrcndiug ouet
Would not any man animated by true Christian
principles gladly forego the pleasure that he might
derive from occasional glass of wine or more
ardent spirits if, by so doing he might save a fell
low creature from such a dread and ioarh,ome
malady-the lot of the hopeless, though desperate
ly struggling, drunkard
1t IS with a view to persuading all weII-disposed
men to use their influence i'll disuading the Young
man from taking his first drink of ntoxicants that
this appeal is made-for it is certain that no mans
temperament viii irresistaby impel him to drink
if his system has not been ruined BY over-iudug-
ence.
To publish in an influential journal am argu-
ment tending to justify the habit Of the moderate
drinker Is, the writer Is convinced a most i'll
advised action. 1t is therefore to be hoped tina,
our Catholic journals may be prevailed upon TO
henceforth eschew the publication of all such mat
ter Regardless of what our views may be con-
corning the moderate use of stimulant, by him
who may safely indulge, no one can feel justified
III encouraging young man, who might otherwise
abstain, to indulge in the first glass which might
eventually bring him to the drunkards grave.
What father who had accidentally discovered
that a dose of deadly poison which would be fatal
to the ordinary mortal was. for some mysterious
reason actually beneficial to him, would therefore
q beloved son-or even a stranger. for
that matter-to partake of a like dose in the vague
hope that 1t might have similar effect. Yet
the problem we are here mooting presents not
strikingly dissimilar case Is there man who
would not prefer to see a beloved child die most
painful DEATH rather than have him live the life of
a hOpelessly irretrievable drunkard.
1t were better far that thousand-yae a mil
lon-nen should deny themselves or be denied, the
Questionable benefits to be derived from indulgence
n alcoholic stimulants, than that the least among
hem should become a habitual drmkard. thus
vrecking and brutalizing his being-that exalted
human entity that was created in the image and
LIKENESS of the Eternal God.
A. c. LAYMAN.