The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-12
A WORRIED MEDIoo.

prohibition puzzles and complications in Kansas is weil-established fact, and how to reconcile them is causing no little worry. Some days ago a doctor in Syracuse, in that State, put the matter up to The Kansas City Journal in this way:
 Some time ago an item appeared in | torney generals physician prescribed alcohol as q bathing lotion for one of Hon. F. Jackson's children. but the prescription until after the preserib- Ing physsisian added some phenoi to pusslsa sss shs writer for some time Tss @ druggist is not allowed to dispense alcohol or any other liquor. wine or malt preparation unless 1t Is unfit for
 There is. I understand. also a law prohibiting phystcians from prescrib- Ing alcohol. iiauors. wine or ferment- l teracts the caustic and poisonous eff fects of phenol. How much phenol | would be needed to make the spirit SIa sRfit fnsn fnd stu 1sb Ss su an l amount of phenoi is added. does 1t not denaturalize the alcohol? And as de- nasursd ,sicohol cannot Ss used In druggist in fiilIns aSovs prescription not violate the rulings of the state | On the. other hand. if physician l should add q harmless Ingredient as. | for instance, aqua hamanelis. would sSs sSsh a%s on the ne one hand ! again, if physician, in order to get the exact results he is looking for. not the State law. the Federal rui- ings, as he no doubt would charge for the treatment, and so indirectly | hol. therefore would have to pay a Federal stamp tax, which fact alone puts him in jeopardy as being look | ed upon as retail liquor dealer?
 Now. we do not know whether there can be found In Kansas any descendant of Solomon who can give a satisfactory reply to the inquiries here propounded, and harmOnize the con flicting conditions that plainly exist, but we feel pretty sure that all the wisdom of the great teacher of Israel would find his wisdom powerless to straighten out such a tangled web as Is here presented. Probably nothing but a special revelation from a higher source would do the job satisfactorily. and we are not expecting anything of that kind-not in Kansas, at least.
 But 1t Is not necessary to wander out to Kansas to find connundrums in connection with prohibition enact ments. for we have them right in our midst, as one might say. and plenty of them. Some of the provisions of our prohibition laws are just as in consistent, illogical and ill-advised as any that are to be found in other States where reform" seems to have driven out judgment and common sense and justice. These difficulties confront each other at every turn.
 This condition of affairs in Ala bama is what Is causing so much trouble, uneasiness and perturba bation among the advocates of the consti- | LullOndl dl lllS TIC leaders in the crusade for prohibi- tion. statutory and constitutional. find satisfactory explanations impos- sible. When one laborious explana- ton starts out 1t meets another com ing back. and they fall foul of each other and confusion worse confound- ed' Is natural result No doubt many of those who are trying to un- derstand it find themselves in the condition of the badly tangled man who said of another that he vas
 Explaining metaphysics to the Ma wii5 ti6n,a he would explain his eTplsRTssG- sTsG
 And this, too. is why the advocates of constitutional prohibition have such hard time trying to defend that obnoxious measure Knowing from bitter experience the impossi- blity of explaining some of the laws
 already on the books they foresee that this amendment will only add to the complications and difficulties and
 thus place them in a more inexpiica-
 ble maze than they are In at pres ent.
 The medical man who put the ques-
 tions and conditions before The Jour
 nal wants to know how a conscien-
 tious physician can obey all the re-