The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-04-22
The TEMPERANCE PROPAGANDA
CONCERTED ATTACK ON DRINK
WINNING ALL ALONG LINE.
j. G.. Everts Tells in the Home Herald
About the Movement in Europe
Translation of a German Anti

Translation of a German Anti
Alcoholic Manifesto.
The following translation of the
anti alcohol declaration, which was
recently circulated among the medical
and juridic faculties of the German
universities in the spring of 1907 and
received more than a hundred sig
natures, should be Of prime i'm
portance to all, but especially to u
Cerman-American countrymen, or
whom a great number still think that
alcoholic Indulgence is the mark Of
the true German.
And now the thorough German sci
entists declare for total abstinence.
Let Us read their u~nequivocal declara-
ton as published, together with the
names of all the signers, in the May
number Of the 1nternationale Monats-
Schrift EUR Bekaempfung der Think
Sitten, the official organ Of the Ger
a Anti-Liquor League:
at is a scientifically i~ndisputable
fact that alcoholic drink undermines
the physical and intellectual stamina
of the human race and hurts the
moral welfare of the people more
than any other factor. 1t impreg-
mates the offspring with hereditary
ailments and thus deteriorates the
race. More than half the inmates OF
our penal institutions have been actu-
ated to their criminal course by alco-
holic indulgence, and about one
fourth of the male inmates of the in
sane asylums owe their deplorable
condition to the same cause. Domes-
tic misery, poverty and crimtnality
follow in the wake of this poisoner
of the race. Alcohol has been shown
to be the cause Of one-tenth of the
deaths among the adult population.
Thirteen hundred deaths occur an
nually in Germany alone in conse-
quence of intoxication, and 1900 VIC
TINS of alcohol commit suicide every
year in this country, while about 3d.
600 are yearly added to the list Of
those suffering from delirium tremens
and other psychic disorders.
This awful amount of misery at
the same time entails an enormous
financial burden on our people. The
direct cost of the alcoholic beverages
consumed every year in Germany
amounts to $500, 000,0 900 marks
(nearly 81, 000,000,000), or about
fifty-five marks per capita of the en-
tire population. This movement ex-
ceeds the combined annual cost Of
our army and navy threefold. And
to this must be added the equally
enormous indirect cost caused by the
above mentioned natural .conse-
quences of the drink habit.
THE consumption of alcoholic bev-
erages has increased in an astonish-
ing manner during the last century,
and is still on the increase, on account
of the unprecedented prosperity fol-
lowing upon the rise of the modern
industries. But an adaptation of the
human race to this increased alco-
holic indulgence has evidently not
taken place on account of the directly
harmful effects on p~osterity.
1T is therefore apparent to all who
have a sincere interest in the welfare
of our people that n of their most
important patriotic duties is to help
stem this destructive tide as soon
and as effectually as possible.
1T has been demonstrated that
even the moderate use of alcoholic
liquors, which, however, is rather to
be considered as the exception and
not the rule among Germans, brings
no real advantage or benefit of any
kind to the drinker. All the preva-
lent ideas in regard to the invigorat-
ing and otherwise supposedly bene-
fetal properties of alcohol in small
doses have been proved erroneous by
scientific research. Moderate drink
ing has a tendency to make the hu-
main body more liable to disease and
to shorten life. Furthermore, we
must point to the fact that it is the
moderate use Of liquor to which the
curse attaches itself of having become
such a snare to SO many thousands OF
our countrymen, in as much as it
leads and entices them to the intern
perate course which at first they not
only did not desire, but positively abb
horred. This consequence is a nat.
ural one on account of the inherent
nature of the alcoholic poison, and
of the human nervous system. Even
though we were optimistic enough to
believe that the latter would ulti-
IldlGly dudpI lISCiL LlOlC " IAS WI
tinual inroads of the alcoholic poison,
the fact of the %perfdious character of
the poison would yet remain. Hence,
the practice of moderate drinking re-
mains the ultimate ource of intern
perance. The hope to do away with
any appreciable amount of this un-
told misery by exhorting drinkers to
moderation has proved itself utterly
futile. AS long as intoxicating liquors
have existed, moderation has been
extolled and intemperance con-
demned, but with what results IS ap-
parent on every hand. The efforts
toward moderation have never and
nowhere set an effectual barrier
against the alcoholic evil. On the
other hand. eminently beneficial re-
suits have been attained in a number
of lands by the adoption Of a course
of strict abstinence. There are now
over 100000 adherents of this
policy in America, and Over 100000
in Europe. Recently this movement
has also gained a foothold in Ger
many, and is now growing with rapid
strides. The movement is an inevita-
BILE one, and as it is founded on both
the ideal and the material interests OF
mankind, it's ultimate triumph is as
sured."
No EycuSp For 81 WhiDp