Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-02-12
ARIS, Feb. 2.-Frnnce is pass
ing through whnt may b.

~ AR1S, Feb. 2.-FTnnce is pass
- ing through what may b.
called an alcohol crisis
Many of her public men de-
clare that she is in tho grasp OF Al
much more dreaded foe than ordinary
alcohol-that subtle and slow but sure
poison-sbsinthe.
This great republic Is awakening to
the fact that her people are on the
docline, morally, physically and mem
tally. and the momentous question OF
absinthtsm Is 80 vital an Issue that
noted French doctors like Brouardel,
Huchard and Motct Of the Academic
do Medicine arc. using their united
efforts to arouse all Frenchmen to
tho dangerous pitfall that is ut their
door.
Heretofore, the wine drinking coun-
tries such as Italy. Spain and Franco
have hardly understood the word
drunkenness. 1t was a condition
rarely met with either in the work
man or in tho upper class. In any of
these countries II an inebriated person
tottered along the street he was hailed
with derision, hooted at by tho small
boy and was target for tho jeers and
hisses of every passerby, but this feel
ing against the man who has "taken
too much" has changed within the last
10 or IL years In France.
Tho people of tho othor countries
still keep to their custom OF drinking
only the natural light wines of their
country. and they remain SOBER in
dustrious and law abiding. but in
France the gradual introduction OF
spirits has brought into existence a
generation possessing lower mental
ity. a less robust physique and filled
with unsound principles.
BIG PROBLEM.
Franco is facing a big problem. The
thinking Frenchmen all are using thoir
united strength and brain to check this
evil, the sorry consequences OF which
are SO manifest today. The whole
beautiful country of Franco Is In tho
throes of the Green Plague. A greater
adversary than ever Napoleon had TO
fight against is In her cities
with powerful allies in the
towns and the countryside. Napoleon
Is generally accredited with robbing
France of her most stalwnrt men,
thus leaving In his wake only the
weaker. but the savants now claim
that alcoholic drinks. the most for
m!dable of which is absinthe, are the
cause for the degeneration of today.
In the minds OF the majority OF Eu-
ropcnns the army and navy are the
backbone OF every country and there
Is much reason in this conclusion.
Until a more enlightened era, when a
universal peace conference will settle
all International disputes, the coun-
tries of Europe must protect them
selves with strong army OF stalwart
mon. 1t Is In tho French army that
the disastrous effects of too much al
cohol or absinthe drinking are felt
first Most OF the recruits Indulge
moro or less in the poisonous drink. so
that tho very foundation OF the army
Is undermined and weakened. Accord
ing to the statement made by IA
nous officer tho garrisons arc fllled
with men physically UNIT, the hos
pltals are encumbored with sick SOL
diers, tho police stations and prisons
aro filled with lnsubordinate men, the
undoubted cause boing drink Drink,
he says. is the arch enemy to discipline
and without discipline there Is no
army.
DECREASE IN POPULATION.
This sad state of affairs has extend