The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-11-22
FOR DRINKERS
STATE INSTITUTION URGED
AT ORANGE MEETING.
Or. Charles A. Rosenwasser Says Excess
sive Drinking Is a Disease and
Should Be So Treated.

yesterday afternoon in Orange. The main
subject under consideration was, lis Drink
the Basic Cause of Poverty and tenn
perance advocates insisted it was, while a
representative of brewery interests in
sisted 1t was not. incidentally Recorder
Franklin w. Fort. of East Orange, son of
the Governor-elect, and DR.. Charles A.
Rosenwasser, who has made a special
study of ineDriates, claimed it was wrong
to send intoxicated men to Jail or fine
them for being intoxicated, and said that
an institution should be erected in New
Jersey by the State government for the
redemption of such men.
Just as the conference was about to
close. the Rev. Henry Wood, of Orange,
who has no parish, said he had been dele
gated by letter to speak on the question.
He was reminded by the Rev. DR.. Charles
I. Walkley, chairman. that the writer
of the letter was not an ofiic er of the
society, and that the time limit for the
meeting had expired. MI. Wood hastily
prepared to leave the ROOM, and shouted
out: Its not fair; only one side has been
presented here this afternoon
Then he left.
Gallus Tbomann, secretary Of the United
States w Literary Bureau, spoke
Oh the negative side OF the question and
III the course of his remarks made a state
ment about President Roosevelt, which did
not seem to be understood. lie made haste
to add:
Roosevelt is a man of great ideas, the
finest American the country has ever pro-
duced, and is in the Presidential chair ell
deavoring TO realize those ideas?'
Then he was cheered.
kecuruef Fort told of the present method
of proceeding against men charged with
drunkenness. and said the system had
grave faults. The class of men arrested in
East Orange, he said, were able easily to
pay fines, and 1t was rarely that a fne was
u punishment to the man without the
money-it being a detriment to his family.
Il have found" he went OH, that the i'm
position of Il fine is more Injurious &c the
wife and family than to the man arrested.
Being sent to prison for this offense Is not
a proper thing in my judgment, for drink
ing is not a crime, but a disease. 1t is not
proper thai, this being a mans only Of
Tense, he should be classed by law with a
man who has broken d criminal law or one
of the commandments, and he should not
be treated as a criminal.
The only remedy that has occurred to
me is the establishment by the Stale of an
addition TO its present penal Institutions in
the nature of a sanitarium for the cure Of
inebriates. / believe it could be easily
demonstrated In case the contemplated in
stitution was effective in providing a cure
IN 80 per cent, of the cases, 1t would be
economic to the State and mean a direct
saving of money. If a man would refuse 10
go to the institution for his wife or friends,
then / would suggest that a police magis-
trate be allowed to commit him until he is
cured. And while there. he should be al
lowed to work at his particular trade, and
the money SO earned could be devoted TO
his family's support. If we put this matter
squarely before the labor people. to show
1t would not be prison labor, We, l believe,
would secure their support This institution
Is needed for treating drunkenness and
means would be devised for forcing men 10
care for their families. We must stop the
incarcerating Of men In jails whose only Of
Tense against society Is caused through
their W weakness.
New Jersey has an immense income
from its liquor licenses. | believe 1t is
over $500.o 0 a year, and i believe 1t would
pe better to use this money toward helping
men who drink too much than putting II
TO its present use.
The time has come in this State when
we must do something to help these peo-
pie who cannot help themselves
DR.. Rosenwasser told of his studies or
the drink question and said a partial ex
animation of a man who drink shows hs
has acquired a disease, and when he get,
a certain amount of alcohol his system will
not carry on all its functions IL he gives i
up.
Some may crave for it lightly" con
tinued the physician, but some have 1
craving so great What though he loves his
wife and family he will choose the gutter
Instead of the fireside. To try to stop hin
Is just as effectual as trying to stoI
Niagara Falls. II you want to help hin
you will have to go about 1t in n careful
way, try slowly to win him, show him NJ
has q disease and try to place him in the
nAh VI q Bhs oiOiuls w AlCi Ic SLOkS lliEl
It Is time for using religious influence, but
you first have to stop his craving, which Is
a physical, not a spiritual. thing.
"Under the present laws of this State we
are powerless to do anything II he goes
reeling home every day under the influence
of drink but In some other States you can.
What we need Is a place for inebriates
other than a Jail and L have been trying
for three years to get the State to build
such n place. Ohio has one and Pennsyi-
vania is about to erect one. II q man re-
fuses 10 stop getting continually intoxi-
Gated a police magistrate should be al
lowed to commit him to a place 10 be
cured. Such an Institution holds out hope
for Thousands, relieves jails and keeps men
after you have been there once. and for
some men they hold no fear. In an insti-
tuition | speak of the men could continue
at their trade and the proceeds might be
used partly for the board and the remain
Ing amount for the support of their fam
ilies. 1t would provide a chance for ply
sicians to study better the disease and
would do away with fake doctcN and fake
ebriates. AS long as there Is a demand for
liquor 1t will be here. If we do away with
the demand we will limit the supply"
Robert Graham, secretary of the Epis-
copal Church Temperance Society. of New
York. held that drink was the basic cause
for poverty, and said that combined
church work would defeat combined liquor
interests, provided the former felt that
AS RkAA1 ff@a - 1AA@ hhAat
the liquor question. A high license law
would solve the problem, he said, and the
United States could be made as sober a
nation as 1t is a great one.
Mr.. Thomann recalled that in France
all the people drink either wine or cider,
and there were less paupers there han in
Temperance lands. Liquor, he said. was n
source of happiness and contributors to
good physical conditions, but he believed
excessive drinking was a basic cause of
poverty.
The Introduction OF steam and cleo
tricity, he held, had brought about armies
of unemployed, and said the present
money crisis would ultimately be respon-
sible for a large number of paupers. In
periods of depression, he said, 1t was al
ways the rule for many men. generally
abstrainers, TO become excessive drinkers.
Efforts directed against alcoholism will
not help any" he ended. DO not en-
deavor to deprive any man of a moderate
drink of beer or wine, but see that the
men thrown out of employment by indus
trial changes are taken care of"
James d. Holmes, chairman of the
Citizens Committee of Fifty. told of the
issuing of saloon licenses, and said it was
ange. he pointed ont. has ninety-eight
licenses for a population of 2.000, and
bring a yearly income Of $4,000. A former
member of the Orange Board of Excise
had told him., he said, that the reason SO
many saloons were retained In the city
was owing to the ownership of many by
breweries, He said one brewery controlled
twenty-six saloons In Orange. Mr.. Holmes
paid q tribute to the present members of