The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1914-09-11

Robert Bepler
I Grand Rapids, Mich-have created
zones within which saloons are per
mitted. These zones take in the bust
ness portions of the city, the down
| town" sections, while elsewhere no
public sale of alcoholic drink is per-
mitted. Now, aside from theatre
parties and restaurant dining, this
principle is fundamentally wrong.
Alcoholic drink is essentially means
of relaxation, and as such it's most
suitable place is during the time of
rest and recreation By promoting
the sense of relief from the workday
world, by relieving the tension of the
nerves, by enlivening conversation
and social intercourse generally and
preparing the mind more rapidly to
give itself up to the effects of music,
art, drama or simple society, it I'M
harnesses the emotions, lays aside the
mask of artificiality upon which bust
ness rests. and enables the mind to
take it's flight into the realms of the
better feelings, be they family affec-
ton, musical intoxication, the con-
vulsive sympathy aroused by great
tragedy, the laughter of a comedy, the
animated conversation at a concert
garden, the wit and banter of a dinner
party or the simple exchange of Opin-
ion and sentiment in a tavern with
white sand or sawdust on the floor.
It is what the psychologist calls Gin
hibition,' the partial submersion Of
those nerve activities which control
business and working life, and with
out such inhibition-which prohibition
lists, for the purpose of discrediting
| it, call partial paralysis So
called higher life is impossible to the
great majority of people.
In emphasizing this as the chief
value of alcoholic drink we do not, as
prohibitionists claim, contradict our
assertion that alcoholic drink is bene-
| fetal. We do not state that alcoholic
drink directly enhances working pow
er-thOugh there are cases when it
does-in the sense that a man while
under the influence of alcoholic drink
can do more or better work. What we
say-and it is the opinion of science
/ is that the recreation, the relief of
nervous strain which we have de-
| scribed, affords to the normal man or
woman that change from their ordi-
nary occupations which is necessary
| for perfect rest and hence for mental,
moral and physical health. And by
thus aiding in keeping up the tone of
the system, it does increase the work
/ ing powers Sleep "inhibits" or par
| alyzes" the nerves more completely
than anything else that occurs to us
in the ordinary course of life. 1t is
necessary to our wellbeing. Yet this
is not contradicted by the statement
that it is not good to sleep while at
work
The effect of alcoholic drink is diff
ferent on different people. No one has
the right to generalize categorically
from its effect on himself as to its
effects on all others. There are many
people of a powerfully self-assertive
temperament who require no stimu-
liant to give out all they think. Others,
equally full of ideas, and often better
ones, are temperamentally disinclined
to utter them For the former, an
artificial stimulant may be injurious
while working. For the latter, it is a
/ great boon to be helped over that tim
dity which stands in the way of their
giving themselves out. Alcoholic
stimulant sets free the ideas which
crowd our minds. 1t does not create
them. It does not help accumulate
the knowledge on which they are
based But it loosens the various ele.
ments, brings them together and thus
gives impetus to the utterance of the
works of creation or Imagination
And imagination is not confined to
artistic or professional work. The
business man needs it quite as much
and the worker is often dependent
upon it and his enthusiasm to sustain
him. There are, thus cases where
alcoholic drink may be directly bene.
ficial even in our work Tempera-
| ment is a difficult thing to estimate,
and what may help one may be un-