Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-02-10
Outside Point of View

The writer is one that fails to I'M
derstand why the real temperance
workers, not the cranks, do not begin,
at the beginning. All that has been
accomplished in the line of real prac-
teal temperance in the use Of alcoholic
drinks. is easily traced to education
The reason why there is an increasing
number of intelligent people, that are
total abstainers. or only use intoxi-
cants on special occasions, and then
with extreme moderation, is because
these men and women have come to
believe that the use Of Intoxicating
liquor is detrimental to bodily health;
and the worst curse that afflicts hui
manity. the world over. Prohibition
either as q theory or put into law,
lacks tremendously as the cause of the
lessened use of liquor. Education can
claim nearly all of the credit Prohi-
bition is to prevent another person
from drinking intoxicants. Education
results in personal voluntary absti-
nence.
Seemingly to controvert this posi-
ton Is the attitude of the medical
profession on this subject. The very
men that are supposed to know the
most about these bodies of ours. are
the most lukewarm In this matter of
education Not only that but the
medical journals Of the highest repute
every little while have carefully pre-
pared articles written and printed to
show that the moderate use of alcohol
as a beverage, is not always harmful
and frequently beneficial Worse than
all for the cause Of total abstinence
is that our physicians and surgeons
are by large majority addicted to
the use Of intoxicating liquors. Not
that the medical profession contains
more drunkards, more hard drinkers.
more moderate drinkers and more u.s.
ers of the lesser intoxicating bever-
ages, but that it does not contain a
less number is the stumbling block.
The logic Is fair, that If the doctor
uses liquor moderately, the patient can
do the same with iinpunity.
But even here we do not go back to
the beginning. These doctors fifty
years ago used calomel in large guam
titles in their regular practice. Fifty
years ago these doctors generally prac-
ticed bleeding patients for certain dis
eases. which if done today would de-
bar them from practicing their pro-
fession. At the time of our civil war
the army surgeons lost twice as many
Of the wounded in engagements as
did the army surgeons of the Spanish
war The record of the regimental
doctor in our civil war; in the matter
of typhoid fever. shows that the regi-
mental doctor In the Spanish war
saved twice the number of typhoid pa
Atients. And mark these words: The
latter pursued an entirely different
treatment During the civil war ice
water and the ice water bath. the regi-
mental doctor knew would kill his pa
tient. In the Spanish war, ice, said
the doctor, saved hundreds of lives.
The logic is simple: we must educate
our doctors on the use Of intoxicating
liquors.
And this education must begin with
the child, before the child studies for
the medical profession. And here is
a fact that shows strength for this
argument of child education on the
use of intoxica ting liquors; this wheth-
err the child becomes a member of the
medical profession or takes up any
of the other walks of life. First inn
pressions are retained longer than
others. The rare exception of mem
Der of the medical profession being an
active and consistent church member
and worker, ninety-nine times put OIL
a hundred dates back to the attend
ance on the Sunday school, or the
good influence of christian mother.
BILLY Sunday will not convert any
of the doctors of Marshalltown, either
on religious or temperance issues, but
BILLY" Sunday will convert some
boy along these lines that twenty-five
wears from now will be an active
worker of total abstinence society.
The present boy and the future to- be
doctor. not only will preach total alb
stinence but practice it personally and
in his profession. Some of us that
take a little wine for our stomachs
sake didn't have this early education.