Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1906-07-19
LEGISLATURE ADVOCATES
OPPENHElMER TREATMENT
Special Committee OF New York As.
ssnbly Recommends Its Adoption
by the State For the Reelama-
tion of the Drunkard.


The relation OF alcoholism to crime
received serious consideration by the
senate and assembly in the state o'
New York during the session of thu
present year, 1905, the result being tho
appointment of Il special committee by
the judiciary committee of the assem-
bly, TO investigate and report what they
considered to be the best methods OF
dealing with the treatment of criminal
inebriates. The report of the commit
tee will interest all classes.
About so per cent of the convictions
in the criminal courts of New York
state are for iutoXcatiOn, the punish
ment in many cascg being Il term in
prison, where the Offenders are treated
rs criminals On the expiration OF
the community with the stigma of
"convicts' or Jail BIRDS to seek
livelihood as best they may.
This treatment of inehriatos .S inhu-
man from a humanitarian point of
view and an enormous exp lG2 to the
state in the maintenance of jails and
penitcnt:aries as well as by the sup
port of offenders while imprisoned. II
has been recommended for sevcral
years past in various official reports
that some action should be taken by
tie state to better the condition of tht
criminal inebriate and that he should
be furnished with some means by
which lie could, Il he SO wished, be-
come u temperate and law abiding
citizen
The special committee made care
full and exhaustive investigation into
the various methods for the cure of al
coholism brought to their notice and
reported as follows in part:
In Re Criminal Inebriates.-The
official report of the state commission
of prisons for 1908 states:
"The taxpayers of the state are an
nually subjected to large expense in the
arrest and rearrest OF persons charged
with unkonness, and much of the time
of our criminal courts is occupied in their
trial, and about one-haif of tho expense
of maintaining our jailS and peniten-
tiaries Is caused by the maintenance of
this class of offenders during their term
of commitment When a man Is intox-
icatod his reason is dethroncd for the time
being. 1t is often necessary for the Pre-
lection of the public that he be taken into
custody and receive treatment at the
hands of the state. This oflenso drunk
enncss) should not bc treated strictly as
4 crime. Drunkenness has in It ne ele-
rneat of malice. The law should recognize
let itriNti
sending him to the Jail or to the penitens
tiary brande as a criminal TO consort
with thieves only degrades and discour-
ages him and at the same time inflicts
punishment nd privation upon his FAM
Nv Some wiser method OF dealing WITH
this offense should obtain.
pursuant to the above rccommen-
dations. the committee have carefully
considered the need of some action for
the relief of these dependent and de-
linquent classes and also variouC meth
DDS Of treatment of perscns sHffering
from alcoholism. Recognizing that
many OF these persons are suffering
from Il disease, some form of med
fcal treatmeEt should be given.
an the Judgment Of this committee
ti,e best treatment therefor is that of
the Oppenheime, institute, as it Is
strongly ndorscd and advocated by
large numbers of physicians and busi-
ness aud professional men Of high
standing. national rcpnte and unQues'
toned authority, the treatment Itself
being reported as prompt effective and
free from certain objections inherent
III other systems. \ further reason
for the selection of this treatment is
It's especial adaptability to those
classes specified by the state commits
sion of prisons and the Charity Or
aanization society on account Of its
simplicity OF operation, no residence al
an institute being required, ana also
because of it's easy administration if
each city and county CT the state.
Furthermore, carefully compiled re-
ports show that the Oppenheimer In,
stitute has already treated with
marked success considerable mum.
( Der Of this class of iuebrlatcs, many ot
| them at the instance of courts ana pro-
/ baton officers, both in New York stata
and elsewhere"
| The solution of the problem had Ia
mind by the committee as being at once
more economical, more scientific and
more humane may be shown by sin