The Dolores star., 1909-10-08
DECREASE IN DRINKING HABIT


DECREASE IN DRINKING HABIT
Better Living Conditions and HesIt3s.
Ter Amussmsnts Tend 70 Lessen
Drunkenness.
II is only proper and right that the
quently to the evils Of intemperance.
Few of US meanwhile realize what Inn
mense strides humanity has made in
the course Of the centuries toward
Temperance, says ]. X. Friedman In
the Chicago Daily News.
AZ late as 1886. We are told BY
Porter in his Progress Of the Ma
tion.. the favor In which intoxicating
drinks were held by the people had
reached such point as to occasion
continued debates In parliament and
to call for remedies Of very string
ent character. II was then the prac-
tice of some keepers OF liquor shops
to entice customers with a notice to
the following effect, painted on
board outside the tippling house:
You may get drunk for q penny, dead
drunk for two pence. and have clean
straw for nothing" The mere DIFF
ference in public opinion in our own
day and in the age which would toll
crate such vicious appeal to the
lowest Of instincts perhaps 10 its own
best comment.
When the legislators Of that time,
thinking to correct the abuse BY In.
creasing the price of spirituous
liquors. proposed duty of 20 shillings
($4.S0) gallon. the act led to riot
and violence on the part of the popu-
lace. The secret sale Of gin went
on In defiance Of the law. Says the
historian: The demand for penalties
the offenders were unable to pay filed
the prisons and by removing every re.
straint plunged them into courses
more audaciously criminal"
In March, 1913. a proclamation was
Issued to enforce the gin act, to pro-
tect the officers Of justice in their ef.
forts to that end and threatening Of.
tenders with punishment. Within less
than two years from Its passage H.
900 persons had been subjected to
lines. The harsh measures failed ut.
teriy. as any measure, unsupported by
public feeling. always must fail.
Nor were those habits of drunken.
ness" Porter again remarks. .con.
hued to the laboring classes. What
would now be called drinking to ex-
cess was then 80 much the custom in
every circle that It was as uncommon
for any party to separate while any
member Of It remained sober as It IL
now, for one In such a party to de.
grade himself through intoxication.
In those days 1t rarely happened that
men holding the rank and otherwise
bearing the character of gentlemen
rose from the table Of a dining party
IN condition to enter the society OF fe.
males. and thus all were debarred
from the sweetest hours OF rational en-.
1oyment which now spring from 80.
cial intercourse" The contemporary
novels verify these words.
With reference to this same speriod
another authority tells us: mo loss
of character was incurred by habitual
excess. Men in the position Of gen.
tlemen congratulated eachfother upon
the number Of bottles emptied: and
1t would have been considered yerv
frivolous objection to a icitizen who
aspired to the dignity Of alderman
or mayor that he was a habitual
II one seeks an explanation for the
great and most satisfactory decrease
In drunkenness which has come one
hnds 1t not In drastic laws or compul.
sorry prohibition. but in the growth
OF intelligence among the people. in
an enlightened public opinion. in the
spread of education. refinement and
sane living consequent thereupon.
Better living conditions, better
wages and shorter hours and the df.
version Of the people from grosser
and crueler forms of sport to healthy
amusements have been tremendous
factors in the movement. Nor IN IL
to be doubted that these same benefi.
cent forces. increasing in strength as
humanity increases in age and expe.
rfence. will lead to greater and
greater decrease in the drinking
habit; for OF all methods of abolishine
an evil that Of pointing out its bad
effects to those who indulge In It has
proved the best and the most lasting.
Gloom In Jersey.