The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1914-05-08
Dr. Wilson Says Crime Increases in
Dry States.

DIR. Edward Huntington Williams,
, Of Montclair, N. r., formerly mem
Der of the New York State Hospital
Service, in an article on The Liquor
Question in Medicine" appearing In
the current issue of the Medical Rec
ord, says that in spite OF the fact that
physicians, individually and collect
lively, have always been ardent ad-
vocates of temperance, the diseases
that are known to be caused by al
coholic excuses appear to be increas-
ing rather than diminishing.
The writer points out that, although
at recent meeting Of the Worlds
Woman's Christian Temperance
/ Union, doctors were severely critics.
ed for using alcohol in any form in
their practice, the medical textbooks
now in existence probably constitute
the greatest temperance library in the
world.
Physicians are ready to accept
any method of combating disease If
such method can be shown to be
effective" DR.. Williams says. $50
that, if the various organizations that
advocate prohibitive liquor legislation
could show encouraging results there
is NO doubt that medical men would
look less askance at their methods.
These advocates Of prohibition,
through such organizations as Wo-
mans Christian Temperance Union,
the Scientific Temperance Federation,
Anti-Saloon League, ETC.. have had
quarter OF a century in which to
demonstrate the worth of their theo-
ries in actual practice. Largely
through their efforts all States have
passed laws requiring the study Of
scientific temperance, physiology and
hygiene, and in some States at least
the law requires oral teaching of
these two last branches for children
as yet unable to read. Furthermore,
prohibitive legislation against the
liquor traffic has increased in such an
extent that at present fully one-halt
the people OF the country are said to
be living in what is claimed to be
dry territory. So that all school
children are now taught the dangers
of excessive alcoholic indulgence and
half the adult population OF the coun-
try is forbidden to obtain liquor eX-
cept for unusual and complicated
methods of barter. Surely such
sweeping legislation ought to get re
suits. L
I'm the face OF this legislation we
find at the present time that more
than twice the amount Of whisky is
consumed annually i'm the United
States than was consumed II years
ago. More liquor OF all kinds Is con-
sumed per capita today than ever be-
fore in the history of our country.
And the diseases that are known to
be caused by alcoholic excuses ap-
pear to be increasing rather than
diminishing. Moreover the Govern
ment statistics for the last census
period show that certain diseases
which are attributed to excessive
alcoholic indulgence, directly or in
directly, have increased more in the
group of States where prohibitive
legislation existed at the close OF the
period than i'm the United States as a
whole.
Thus, according to this report,
there was a gain of A insane per-
sons per 100000 population committed
to the institutions of the country
during the census period. But during
this same period the gain in the eight
prohibition States was 7.3 per 100000
almost twice the gain in the coun-
try as a whole. Moreover, the great
est gain in any State, with single
exception, was in prohibition Maine,
where the number of insane increas-
ed PIP per 100000 inhabitants. while
wet Nebraska holds the record at the
opposite extreme with a decline of
276 per 100000 during the same
period.
When we add to these facts that
the record for homicides in 1912 went
to Memphis, in prohibition Tennessee,
with 64.3 homicides per 100000 popu-
lation, as against license Philadel-
phaia's IA (the lowest record for the
year,; that Bangor, Maine, prohibi-
ton city for 80 years, has a record OF
arrests for drunkenness i'm that year of
one to every nine inhabitants, and
that Kansas, the veteran standard
bearer for prohibition, has more in
sane than II OF the wet States scat
tered across the country, and more
paupers and convicts than her unre-
generate neighbor, Nebraska, the re
suits of prohibitive legislation are not
encouraging, to put it mildly"