The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-01-10
DOMAIN OF TEMPERANCE.
THE FIGHT AGAINST ALCOHOLISM
IN CATHOLIC GERMANY.

n DOOhl0I that ought TO De widely
read by the Catholics, especially the
German-speaking Catholics of this
country, is die katholische Absti-
nenzbewegung, ihr Werden und We
sen, hire Wege und Ziele," Won DR..
Med. Schmuederrich (Frankfurter
Zeitgemaesse Broschueren, Band
XXXII, Helft 6. Hamm i. W.: Breer
& Thiemann, 1913 rs cts.) says C.
D. u, in the Fortnightly Review. DR..
Schmuederrich, who is the successor
Of Rev. Joseph Neumann, the father
OF the Catholic temperance movement
in Germany" begins with a summary
statement of the ravages of alcohol
ism and the recent efforts made to de-
stroy it. Then, on pages Is 500. of his
lively brochure, he gives a historical
sketch of the German "Antialkoholbe-
wegung." This started, in Germany,
in 1895, when the late Father Neu-
mann, o. P, then curate at Aix-la-
| Chapelle, established the first Catho-
lie society against the abuse of spirit
Gus liquors." Two years later he
founded little monthly paper called
Der Volksfreund EUR Foerderung der
Maessigkeit und Gesundheitspilege,"
which still exists.
The movement slowly, from local
society with scarce half dozen mem
bers, developed into the great present
day "KreuZbuendnis," with $40 branch
SOCIETIES, 100000 adult and $4,000 child
members. With this society are aft
lated the "Katholischer Abstinenten-
bund' for adults and the Johannes
bund' for young people, established by
Father Haw of Treves, with an esti-
mated membership of 100000; the
erabstinentenbund' with over
900 members, all priests; and, last but
not least, the "Katholischer akademis-
cher StudentenVerband" with not quite
1000 members. In the public press the
cause is served by no less than twelve
periodicals, prominent among them the
weekly "Vaterland" (Hamm i. W. and
the monthly 'Volksfreund
Internal Development
Still more interesting and signif1-
cant than it's external growth is the
internal development of the German
Catholic temperance movement
1t began with plea for temperance
i. e., moderation in the use of in
toxicating liquors Soon a second
class of members was added, who alb
stained from whiskey. In 1899 there
was established a third class, that of
total abstainers. In 1904 the society
took the first step towards total alb
stinence for all members, and at the
general convention held at Essen a
few years later consolidated it's forces
with the "Verein abstinenter Katho-
liken," which had been founded at
Berlin and Munich by Catholic men,
bers of the Good Templars when that
order was forbidden by the Holy See.
\ Today the Catholic temperance
movement in the Fatherland emphat-
ically advocates total abstinence from
all spirituous liquors and-horrible
dictu-is beginning to bend it's efforts
towards prohibition. "The ultimate
aim of every radical movement against
alcohol" says DR.. Schmuederrich,
must logically be prohibition by law
OF the manufacture, import, and sale of
all intoxicating drinks. If this is attain
ed, and the law strictly enforced by
civil authority, we shall have a per-
feet solution of the alcohol question.
There can be no other satisfactory So
luton"
AS a means to prohibition our Ger
man Catholic total abstinence brethren
advocate local option and equal suf-
frage for women in all cases where the
liquor question is an issue.
A Source of Leakage.
In casting a hurried glance over the
anti-alcohol movement outside of
Germany DR.. Schmuederrich notes
that in the United States of America
the German clergy and laity, signif-
cantly enough, are far behind" He
intimates that alcoholism is one of the
great sources of our leakage" In this
, he is probably right. But it must not
be forgotten that in this country the
, social reform movement, in connection
with which the anti-alcohol movement
has arisen and grown strong in the
, Fatherland, is but a few years old.
, When this movement makes headway
in America our people will recognize
what an important factor in the solu-
ton of the social problem the fight
against alcoholism is, and how many
hygienic and economic reasons sup
port the advice given, for supernatural
motives, by the Fathers of the Third
: Plenary Council of Baltimore, that
Catholics should get out of the liquor
traffic and stay out.
Who knows but what the German
Catholics of America, who were the
first to start distinctively Catholic
social reform movement, will some
, day join forces with the Catholic Total
Abstinence Society, which not many
decades ago they thought it their duty
to denounce and combat!
THREE MILLION ANNUALLY.