The Washington herald., 1910-10-19
Five Dollars or Ten DAYS.

Attention has been paid recently. both
IN public lectures and IN essays in maya
zines. to the problem Of the drunkard
II is the consensus OF the best and most
| advanced opinion that the old-fashioned
remedy prescribed by the police court
Judge. Of Five dollars or ten days" is
worse than useless The question of fine
and Imprisonment for the drunkard has
come to be recognized as totally made
quate-a shuflIng and lazy. not to say
cowardly, begging Of the question. The
physician who would repeat the same
formula 20 the majority OF his patients
would be ostracized. vet for many years
we have read OF the wholesale disposition
of drunkards by police courts as II
everything We're going along quite well
! New York has now board of inebriety
Five members are appointed by the
mayor. who. sitting with the commits
sioner OF charities and corrections. has
entire supervision OF the question Of pub
+ lie intoxication. This board is not vet in
operation. but its aims and purposes
have been warmly commended by ex-
Gov. Hughes and by Mayor Gaynor
as practical economical. and humane.
+ Through this medium II Is hoped 70 pro
vide some sort OF probation or supervi-
sion for the early offenders. Part OF the
plan is to establish a farm colony for
dFunkards, where as In foreign countries.
and already in Iowa and Massachusetts,
/ drunkards may be treated scientifically.
| discharged when cured. but even super
vised lest they relapse.
The basis OF this proposed method Of
treating drunksrds is that drunkenness
IS a disease. It recognizes. too. that the
criminal drunkards must he treated sep
arately from the nOncriminai The for
mer will be seat 10 the farms and 10
hard outdoor work: the latter to the
hospital At both places fresh air.
necessary medical help. plenty Of baths.
/ and so forth, VIII be provided
/ When We approach the subject of
/ drunkenness from the humanitarian
/ point OF view that Informs such move
ments OF reform as this. we come TO see
that in spite or the Wanted progress Of
our civilization we have much vet 10 do,
much probably TO learn. As a people.
we We're instant 10 recognize. when the
subject came up. that China could not
hope to make progress in Western civni-
cation so long as she was cursed with
the opium habit. The most enlightened
/ Chinese statesmen took this view. too.
/ and though the slave Of opium is usually
bound with far stronger chains than
T bind the drunkard, the selling. and
/ finally the use. of opium was interdicted
by imperial edlct. supported by provin-
! cial and municipal regulation Neither
! this country nor any other civilized nation
! has reached that stage OF altruism where
We can, or are willing TO. enforce prohibit
ton upon all our citizens; nor Is II
| necessary, when we consider that num-
| bers OF those who use alcoholic liquors
DO not abuse them. and that the habitual
drunkard Is very largely in the minority.
But II is time that an enlightened pub
lie opinion came 10 see that the habitual
drunkard is a menace 70 the community
IN which he lives; that his productive
value to society has been lessened; that
he is a costly citizen, often a bad hus-
band. usually a bad father II is not a
question OF seDtimeDtaIifv or nrefudfca.
II is solely a question OF humanitarian
economy that We should adopt the teach
ings OF science and instead Of being
content to punish a drunkard for the
annoyance he has caused and then turn
ing him loose 10 sin again, we should do
our duty by him. cure him. and give him
a chance to begin over again, better and
stronger than he was before.