The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-07-04

the daily papers not long ago publish
ed an article containing the follow
ing:
believed to have become deranged
from the excessive use Of snuff,-dis-
appeared after leaving a note in a
his hat, coat and shoes"
The note read:
Good bye my friends, The snuff
has got it ALL"
There was no other MESSAGE
was IS years old, married and had
two children. Such is the extreme
story by one of it's victims; crushed,
defeated. life no longer affording any
satisfaction or pleasure, is destroyed.
How many victims, among those who
are it's users, show in their physical
nature the injury that has come to
the person from it's excessive use;
their inability to concentrate or to
stay with a piece of work; to hold a
position or to be held responsible. In
the light Of this, is it any wonder that
the people have risen up and demand
ed prohibition of h manufacture and
sale of this product in the state Of
North Dakota, or hat citizens Of
other states have become awakened to
it's evil effects and demanded protec-
ton? This is more especially true for
l Il10 young LIdn Lux the Olu. Inc DOy
in his teens, yea, almost in his moth
er's lap, has acquired the habit of the
| use of this underminer of health and
destroyer of intellectual ability. Yet
those who are interested in the manu-
| facture and sale of this product seem
willing to sink to a lower level than
the manufacturers Of intoxicating H.
quors, in order to get their product in
to the hands Of the consuming public.
In 1911 h legislature of North Da-
kota enacted a law intended to pro-
hibit the manufacture and sale of
snuff, but through cunning ingenuity
a clause was so modified as to make
the law imperative and worthless for
the protection Of the public. The legis-
lature of 1918, on the other hand, en-
acted a law that is effective and has
been declared constitutional by the
supreme court of the state. NeVerthe-
less, those who are addicted to the
habit Of snuff using are able to get
the product because parties outside
of n state are willing to ship by par
eel post direct to the consumer, pro-
viding, a third party will sign a state
ment reading as follows:
L recommend the person who has
signed the above order as being
worthy of the credit asked. Upon your
filling his order and notifying me of
the fact, I will use my best endeavors
to collect and remit to you"
Here then the third party in the
state, a dealer or some other person
as agent, has taken the same position
as the boot-legger or saloon-man in
that he becomes a party to the de-
bauching Of the young boys of the
state, is willing to act as an agent,
and undoubtedly receives his commits
] ci~r fNn fhn o-oA b. kL ---~-
the sale of a harmful product in the
! state.
1t has already been shown in special
bulletin No. 10, volume II. for Sep
TENDER, 1913, that the so-called Go
penhagen Snuff" and Right Cut
Chewing Tobacco are essentially the
same thing; that they differ very ma
terially from those products known as
Sterling Fine Cut Chewing Tobacco"
Stag Smoking Tobacco and pure to-
bacco leaves. The article referred to
sets forth clearly some of the reasons
why these products are likely to be
harmful.
The department has maintained that
the man who acts as agent for the
sale of snff, in the ann which is in
tended by the circulars generally dis
tributed, is violating both the techni-
cal features of the law and, above all,
the spirit of the law. He is, therefore,
no better than any law breaker; and
those shippers from outside Of the
| state who resort to this method Of do
ing business are no better than the
shippers Of intoxicating beverages who
follow a similar practice. 1t is a ques-
ton under recent rulings from the
postoftice department whether such
products as the snuff and tobacco re-
ferred to, are not poisonous products
and, therefore, prohibited from ship
ment in the mails. If so, then this
would put a stop to- the shipment Of
these products and be a direct means
of protecting the public from the evils
mentioned, providing the postal au-
thorities can be interested in the ques-
ton.
In a previous bulletin, No. 20, Vol. T,
for January, 1911, we published the
opinion of a number of physicians
with regard to the effects Of snuff and
some general conclusions based upon
| the studies and observations then
| made. This Bulletin is now out Of
| print and we have been repeatedly
| asked to republish that portion of the
bulletin which follows under the head
ing:
The Greatest Evil of Our Day.
Do you know what the greatest evil
or vice of our day is here in Nortf;
Dakota? Do you know what Is under
mining most seriously not only the
health but the intellectual and moral
character of those who are addicted to
the habit? Do you know what young
men are practicing the vice, or how
soon those now exempt from it may
become addicted to it? What then is
this great and growing evil that Is
spreading so rapidly among the boys
and young men of our state? Is 1t
the use of i~ntoxicants? By no means.
One mother has said, Can you do
nothing to stop it? My boys health
is completely broken down, he is a
nervous wreck from its USE" Another
says, my boy was a good student, but
now he cannot seem to concentrate his
mind on his studies, nor does he take
any interest in his work." A States
Attorney writes. my attention has
been called to one case in which a
man used it to such an extent that
his mental balance seemed to be at
fected. Can anything be done under
existing laws to stop the sale of it?"
One physician says Many boys from
s to Is years are addicted to the vice"
The terrible effects will be felt more in
future generations, in 20 to 40 years
from now, when it is too late to help
| those who are now forming the hab-
It's of life.
If we are to believe the statements
made by many parents, by friends Of
! the victims, and confirmed by some re-
putable physicians, then we shall have
to admit that the use of snuff. as now
practiced, is one of the worst evils Of
our time. MY own observations and
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