The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-03-14

! Z n & INK II @iltGA
land saloons. and III the company OF q
few c~ongenia spirits about town,
rather than from a knowledge or whd'
the great mass OF housekeeping peo'
pie are thinking and saying. III the
Perrin GEOLOGICAL Gardens last summer
T saw dog IN the same cage with two
Ia nv lions Ii was a common yelIo"
dog. but it bullied those cubs IN a way
that elected the or the by
L was not concerned, ior
one Of these fine days the young lions
would awaken to a realization that
they are lions and that their tyran-
nous tormentor is only 3 yellow dog
Then woe betide the dog; all old
scores Will be paid with a vengeance.
The little incident seemed to me a
parable Of conditions in this ountry
with respect to the liquor power. For
decades it has admittedly dominated
our politics. The public II has treat
ed with contempt and contumely. But
now the public is awakening TO the
glorious realization that it is the lion,
and that the ancient bully is. after all,
only a yellow dog. And the world
has of late been treated to the whole
some spectacle of seeing the cur
kicked out into the street in hundreds
of communities.
The New Attitude.
Speaking soberly and with careful
ness-for too many of the other ind
of words ave been uttered upon this
subject, n their ultimate effect has
been hurtful-We may ask. 1t there
any Likelihood Of this nations COM
ing to disaster through strong drink?'
''What shall be the attitude Of
the citizen of tOmOrrOW toward the
iuuor question:" On the first point
il is enough to say that the Whole is
only equal to the sum Of all Of its
parts. If the people lose their self
ianntrn1 and hpcOma addicted to the
debauching habit of strong drink, then
there can be but one fate for the ma
ton. Private morals are the u1t
determining factor in national destiny.
Britain is great there are such
a large per cent. of great Britons.
America is great for 10 other eaSOn
Directly bearing upon this question:,
is that other practical one. the attitude
of the young people Of today toWard
strong liquors. Let us start with no
misconceptions or misrepresentation,
which may later return and nullify
all our teaching. Every thinker is
not a drunkard. Thousands Of adj
mirable persons use liquor in mOdera-
ton. There are vast reaches of So
ciety, cultured, Christian society at
that, where wine is regularly served
at the table. It even used to be con-
Sldered bad form not to drink. So
far from the use of intoxicants always
causing poverty, disease and death,
there are thousands of ripe and rich
and healthy old men who have regu-
larly INDUCED in the moderate use of
intoxicants.
Admitting all this, and leaving out
of the case for the that other
VaSter company of persons whose use
Of liquor has brought only harm to
them, the pathetic parade OF the
drunken and defeated and weary of
life, we may say in all assurance that
tho al va ~ + aoroc nf Tho lJSn nj ;nfovi 90
carlts are far outweighed by the dis
advantages and the risk. AT best
liquor affords merely a pleasant taste
to those who like it. 1t is not q
necessity at all. The most rabid advo-
cate of strong drink will scarcely
claim for it hat it adds any years to
a mans life. or any real increment to
his working ability. The doctors and
the life insurance companies have put
that phase Of the question outside Of
the realm of dispute. So there IS no
real physical or material gain in the
habit of drinking.
There remains only the social aspect
the case. which has perhaps been
more influential than any other in
gaining recruits for what every be-
ginner fondly calls moderate drinking.
users Of strong drink are moderate
drinkers al first. If men had to be
gin the habit at the gutter end the en-
tire business of the manufacture Of in
toxicants would dry UP and disappear
inside Of five years. The first glass is
generally 'the social glass; Men
because they want to do as 9TH
ers do They do lot care to seem pc
culiar." Their friends drink; there
fore, so should they. is the course
of reasoning which causes the Arab
women to tattoo their faces, and
the Sudanese men to wear huge
gashes in their cheeks. 1t has put
in the MOSES of Hindu women,
and mounds of meta bracelets on their
ankles. There is not a bad or foolish
custom in existence which has not had
as it's chief buttress this argument of
usage.
Happily, society has grown more
sensible and tolerant Of recent years.
A man is no longer peculiar because
does not drink. Somebody has