Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1910-05-13

whole country. ii | say that the
spreading Of cooainism and morphin-
ism, Of sexual perversions and ruin
GUS habits among the abstainers is
alarming. But even on the surface
any one can see TO what degree of
dullness on the one side and OF yul-
garity on the other side the masses
are led If the means of physiological
relief are cut OFF from a strong hard
working population. To fight in
temperance by prohibition means toI
substitute, one evil for another: q
reform by slow education towards a
moderate use OF light wine or beer.
is the only way to permanent sue
cess in this country, as long as Amer
leans remain Americans.
The Contentious of Dr. Williams.
or course there are not n few who
are convinced that alcohol is rulnous
: for every one, even IN moderate
quantities.: and Il has become the
fashion to support this BELIEF by the
I results OF scientific Investigations
My whole life belongs 20 science. but
after most careful study ! am con,
WINGED that there exists no scien-
! tiiically safe fact which demonstrates
evil effects II temperance use of
alcohol by normal adult men Every
claim on the one side has been dis
proved by just as important expert
ments on the other side. Even on
physiological ground everything is
uncertain. DR.. Williams, of New
York, tells us that alcohol Is never
food and DR.. Dana. Of New York,
the president OF the New York Acad-
emy Of Medicine, tells MS that al
cohol is always a food. DR.. Williams
writes that alcohol always lessons
the bower for work; and DR.. Daua
writes that. as proved by recent eN-
periments. alcohol has no effect, one
way of the other. on the capacity
to work II given in moderate daily
doses. Or. Williams writes that al
cohol is the greatest evil OF society;
and DR.. Dana writes that the i'm
mediate removal OF alcohol from So
cial life would lead to social and
racial decadence.
But /, a psychologist. am natural
| ly more interested In the mental
SID. DR.. Williams and so many
. others dogmatlcally assure us. for
: instance, that alcohol cuts off the
, power of mental production. But is
! really psychological laboratory
necessary TO demonstrate the hollow
ness of such general statements?
know of scores OF men who never
= produce better than after a moder-
ate use of alcohol. aud II IL well
: known that this IL true in eXcep'
2 tlonal cases even whore immoderatf
] use Is INDUCED In. | had to hypno-
: tie only recently well known New
2 York author whose secret trouble Is
q Lthat he has never written a page oil
: his brilliant books but after intem
+ perate use of whisky. Or. Willlami
6 assures us that every moderate use
Q of wine and beer reduces the powers
$ of intellectual activity; and agar
a the psychological experiment is sait
D TO have proved that. must thinl
+ there instinctively Of the man whC
+ has given to the world the methods
+ of psychological experiment. Profes
: sor Wundt, of Leipzig. the creates
living psychologist. lie Is seventy
six years old today; has written abou
0 forty volumes. whieh are acknowl
: edged the world over as the deepes
+ contributions to psychologists
o thought; has written this year al
!. experimenting book; and yet ha
/ taken for sixty years, twice u day
: beer and wine with every meal. at
a tended last summer number of In
# tarnational congresses and saw ther
Q at many bnnGuets the leaders o
;. thought from all nations. | watch
; ed the situation carefully, but d.
J. not discover any abstainers anon
e the sharp and great thinkers of an
a nation.
'r To demonstrate that the abstain
a ing than such drinking scholar
! would he indeed an interesting eS
20 pertinent. but from the prohibitions
literature | cannot gain the impress
A. sion that clearness Of thinking
Is their particular strength. Typici
n OF their unclearness Is the way
n which they draw arbitrary cons'
n quences from the real experiment
Of It is for instance, quite right 70 clail
1t that alcohol makes our mental al
y soelatlons slower, but they interpr'
m It as II that means destructiN
n Gripping Of our mental life. The
W do not even ask themselves wheth'
a or not this retardation Of associatio
On of ideas may not perhaps be a mo-
r. helpful and useful relaxation of ce
he tain brain ceDters. With the san
he logic they might demonstrate to !
H. that sleep Is most ruinous inyeI
IL tinn 90 nnt,tro a. IL nnpalvzpg m