The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1908-07-31
WHISKY AND TRAGEDY
Alcohol lnfIames the Passions
and Clouds Reason.
CAUSE OF MYRIAD CRIMES.
Strong Drink Has Led Many . Poor
Fellow to the Gallows, and Women
InnumerabIe Have Paid the Bitter


InnumerabIe Have Paid the Bitter
Price Of Ruin For the Social Glass.
The record of recent tragedies has
been especially appalling. Not perhaps
because they have been nor
! Gus than usual, but because of the
prominence of some Of the persons
connected with them.
There is always axnurder trial drag
ging its burden of guilt and suffering
through the columns Of our great dali
lies. There is always a divorce case
spreading its scandals and unearthing
its family skeletons. There is always
a man who is paying the penalty of
his desperation. There is always a
woman who Is paying the penalty of
her folly.
People hold different opinions with
regard to the publication of criminal
proceedings. Whether they will be a
n to the morals of the young OF
q warning to evildoers depends largely
on the point of view. But whether one
approves or disapproves of the public
ity given to such trials the majority of
the reading public manages to keep
tolerably wen informed on all impor.
tant cases.
Murder trials and suits for divorce
do not make pleasant reading. But
they have a significance that should
not be ignored.
Love, jealousy and a desire for gain
furnish the apparent cause for many
crimes which have their real founla.
ton in strong drink. Whisky inflames
the passions and clouds the reason. 1t
makes madmen of lovers and hus-
bands. 1t makes criminals of well
meaning individuals.
When the deed is done we try to
even up matters by bringing the guilty
n to punishment. We hope by his
example to brighten other wrongdoers
into a reasonable control of their in
sane impulses.
But u efforts are always a little
late. The hangman's rope and the
electric chair might have many ter
rors for a sane, well balanced and So
Der man, but such a man never would
stand in their shadow. 1t is the man
that loses his self control through
drink who carries out his frenzied
plans for revenge. 1t is the man that
nerves himself by drink who makes
the brutal assault for gain.
There is one 'unwritten law that
would go far toward protecting mans
life and defending woman's honor.
There is an unwritten law which ac-
complishes it's purpose without>an ap-
peal to the courts. That law is, Let
whisky alone.
Whisky makes men irresponsible. 1t
makes women irresponsible. Whisky
is not the only cause of trouble, but it
causes many troubles that might be
avoided.
If the greater number of heartbreak.
ing tragedies could be traced back
through the various stages that led up
to the awful deed that shocked a com.
munity or a nation it would be found
that strong drink had been an active
agent in bringing them about. If the
broken homes and blighted lives that
fill SO large a place in our modern CIV
ilization could reveal their hidden Sc
Z X III pV u lHdl III tCllN
or indirectly strong drink had created
conditions that led to many of the
final descriptions.
Strong drink affects different people
in a different manner. 1t makes some
men quarrelsome. 1t makes some men
~resentful. Many a poor fellow has
gone to the scaffold as a result of the
whisky which fired his temper. Many
a woman has paid the bitter price Of
her wrecked and ruined life for the
fictitious pleasure of a social glass.
Whisky made a maniac Of the man
and he committed a murder. 1t made
a fool of the woman and led to her
downfall.
The physical effects Of one drink
Of liquor oon e away. But one
drink may lead to an act that will
stand as o disgrace and a sorrow as
long as life shall last.-Banner Of Gold.