Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-06-25
KNOXVILLE. lkEsRlA1Es AND WORK.

KNOXVILLE. lEEBRlATES AND WORK.
The superintendent of the dipso es1
strong plea for the employment OF
those under treatment there. His
brickmaking factory he expects to be
of considerable assistance to the In
stitution. not only as furnishing a
salable product but thru the effect of
enjoyment upon patients" And he
would have it fully understood that
the able bodied man who is sent to
the jag cure comes there to perform
such labor as may properly be required
of him Too many of them he says
come with the idea that 1t is sort Of
hospital where one may rest quietly.
be fed we'll and comfortably housed
and given a pleasant treatment. a
sort of vacation and building up by
restful process that does not interfere
with the pursuit of happiness except
as to present elimination Of "hookers"
on a keg" in the evening.
The superintendent Of the dipso es-
sympathy and support OF this news
paper and in his theory OF work as a
panacea and prophylactic. There's
nothing like it for anybody. Satan
finds some evil Still for idle bands to
do. That's Watt" There is no
occasion to carry drunkard 10 his
cure on fowery beds of ease while his
family strive to win the price OF
enough to eat and a place to sleep and
tubs and keep the children out Of
school because Of the little sums they
may pick up thru such employment as
children find. The able bodied in
ebriate ought to work, be made to
work and Kept at work. He should
persp!-e. Skin elimination Of alcohol
is good treatment and violent exer-
else for the able bodied beats turkish
baths. And it Is time as the super
intendent suggests that the coaxing
processes were sidetracked and tho in
ebriate who Is curse to himself and
his family and the community were
given to understand that the state jag
cure Is not a pleasure resort. Perhaps
1t would De among the best plans to
select the able and set them to work
on the highways. He certainly
couldn't be more disgraced by exposure
to public gaze at hard work than the
staggering cynosure OF all eyes as he
corkscrews his way home or the offense
Of all ears in the neighborhood as he
curses his wife and children after his
arrival
1t should be up TO the doctors. They
they ought to know when man is
fit to work and set him going when
he is.
So far as that is concerned there are
thousands Of sober and decent men
who work when they are not fit simply
because they must work for their own.
Suppose we sympathize with these for
a time and let up on maudlinizing over
drunkards.
With all kindness toward mankind
and without forgetting charity and
helpfulness and hope for the down and
out, 1t should be understood that con-
tinued and persistent inebriacy is an
offense as we'll as misfortune. that
failure to support families by able
bodied men Is an offerse against the
home and the state and that he who
by his own act and habit renders him
self unable and unwilling to measure
himself against his responsibilities is
the offender; that the man who de-
liberately lives on his wife's labor and
gets drunk on the proceeds of her
wash tub is a criminal: with al this
in mind make q sojourn ut tho dipso
state cure memorable for many things
beside comfortable mattresses, clean
sheets and three squares a day. There
the quasi sentiment and tenderness
that comes to the front 30 much more
readily to sympathize with offenders
and fails to gush over the plight OF
families and the sorrows and sick
nesses Of men who stay sober and find
life hard
Put the inebriates to work. Every
body works Somebody is working
now to earn the appropriation the
next legislature will make for the