The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-01-21

to satisfy his craving for alcohol all that holds
dear-family honor social standing. There can
be at the present day no difference OF opinion ON
this subject; all students of crminoogy recognize
the fact that one of the most pressing and crying,
if not the most pressing, needs of the hour IS the
cure OF intemperance. Can 1t be accomplished
We believe it But how? By punitive or re-
strictive legislation! No. Prohibition has been
tried on all scales, with all degrees of severity, and
with almost all manners of men. Amy impartial
observer, matter how friendly he may be to the
of temperance, is forced to acknowledge that
| prohibition, i'll practice, does not prohibit Where
the population is temperate, in farming communl-
ties and under specially favorable circumstances,
! it is possible to enforce prohlbitlve ordinances.
! But these exactly the that do not need
prohibition for suTe y where nobody to drink
there is necessity for restriction. But i'll mixed
communities prohibition has been failure. High
license and other methods of regulating the liquor
traffic may have done good. They have lessened
the number, of the occasions Of excessive drinking
but they do not strike the root of the evil For
it must be remembered that the saloon (under what
ever name it may be known is not the cause, but
the result of the drink habit, and 50 long as
will be found who arc willing to pay out their
get somewhere and somehow. Legislation so far
in the United States has proven unable to cope with
the problem. Fines and imprisonment do not cure,
and too often but add to the misery of those de
pendent upon the statutory criminal. Moreover,
jail sentences may extingush the last spark of self
respect in the heart of the unfortunate, and help
send him down farther Oh the road of degradation
and shame, We must not be understood
dennling the present laws against drunkenness To
say that the intoxicated man is a nuisance and
must 'be taken Of" at least temporarily, were
to put it very mildly. But we are seeking for
cure; considered in that light, legal punishments
have proven failure. If prohibition regulation OF
the liquor traffic and punitive measures are in
effective as cures fer drunkenness and intemper-
ancc, whereto shall we turn in our search for
remedy! The latter must, after all. be preventive
to cure the present generation of drunkards seems
superhuman task Where shall we turn in the
hope of finding efectua prevention? First to God
and to the teaching of his moral law. Simple but
eternally true. Second, certain extraneous helps
But let us first ask ourselves What is incompetence?
What are its great causes! We believe that there
ere two characteristics to drunkenness. 1t is both
immoral. vice and the sign of Il physical defect.
I1St uS HiSt StuuN the ldl'tr. here Is 10 uOuDJ
that most inebriatcS long before they be-
come drunkards and many inebrates never do be-
come drunkards because they are saved by some
strong restraining influence. When is one an in
ebrlate! When person cannot take drink of
alcohol stimuant without feeling a craving for
more stimulant he is inebriate. That is the
danger signal for all Happy is he who recognizes
this signal, needs it and adopts the remedy Many
and many and all drunkards are so consti-
tuted that it is a physical impossibty for them
TO indulge in even moderate quantities of alcoholic
beverages without going to excess. They are OF j
nervous temperament extremists in most things;
deny it they please, the fact remains that their
nervous system docs not tolerate the action of al
cohol. When they have abstained for time they |
are perfectly free from all hanlerings but put |
liquor with them in any shape (hard cider brandy |
sauce, patent medicine, what not) and they are |
off on spree and one which will not end till they |
get skin full Inebrety is, therefore, the first !
stage of drunkenness For an nebriate there is |
but one course open, but one measure of salvation
from drunkard's grave-absoute and perpetual
total abstinence. 1t may seem hard but that |
is the law for him. 1t is just as impossible for an
ordinary inebriate to indulge in a stimulating (not
- -'N-AANf'iiic/
not get drunk it is for him to change the law of
gravitation.
This study of the physical side of intemperance
must not make us lose sight of its more blighting
aspect-its immortality. Therefore, if we wish to
cure drunkenness and eradicate it, must we turn
first to God and morality. Let the moral training
of the child along this line be begun early in the
home, IN the church, in the school. Let the first
lessons taught the child along with his prayers be
those Conveyed in words suited to his intelligence)
concerning the great immortality of this vice Keep
up this line of education and constantly keep at it.
till he grows to manhood, and keep at it in the
church, in the home and in the school, and you will
develop moral adherence for temperance that
will prove most efficient Teach the child the great
physical characteristic of inebriety and its portend
of danger till he believes it firmly The desire
Tor more stimuIant after first taste. Let us keep
no liquor IN our houses. Let us never Except as
medicine) give liquor to child. Let us endeavor
to have our child grow to manhood teetotaler
The writer knows hundreds of men now advanced
IN years who have never tasted intoxicants When
asked the reason, their reply generally has been