South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-11-17
Drink Is Losing
Long, Hard Fight
Better Wages, Shorter Hours,
and Even War, Supposed in
Past to Breed lntemper-
ance, Are Working
Its Downfall.
CBy Woods Hutchinson. VI. D.

The Worlds Foremost Writer on
Medical Subjects.
Few reforms arrive according TO
schedule or over the roads built
and laid down for them. II any
one half a century ago had told John
b. Cough or Francis Murphy that
the Demon Rum would finally be eX-
Orcised. not by White Ribbon cru
sades and prohibition laws. but by
consideration of industrial efficiency.
/ by higher wages and shorter hours
and the final push would be given
20 his downfall by war. they would
have secuted his prophecy not only
as incredible. but as self-contradic
tory.
War is destroying intemperance,
when il has always been the very
mother Of drunkenness and the wet
nurse OF all the vice Of dissipation
though perhaps stepmOther TO some
Of the virtues as we'll! High wages
/ lessen drunkenness, when drink is
the favorite luxury of the working
men. and the more money they get
i
spare. the more they will drink
But both these incredible predic
tions have come true, both these i'm
possibilities have actually happen
ed. 1t is not necessary TO prove how
or argue why. All we have 10 do
/ is 10 walk the streets after nightfall;
and read the newspapers and see for
ourselves.
Drunken Men are Rare.
A drunken man on our streets
nowadays is rarer than horse
drawn vehicle and gives you the
same sort of a shock as something
which has escaped from a zoo or
survived over from a previous age.
While one Of the first war measures
taken by the largest Of all the pow
ers in the present world struggle
was 10 wipe out the manufacture
and sale Of vodka, turning a hard
drinking nation into a sober one
over night, a second great power
has almost abolished the use Of dis
titled liquors, and third. England,
has made two partially successful
attempts in the same direction In
AdNA. oil Alt uElAA1t NlAA RbNfAS INV
made more or less radical attempts
TO cut down the consumption of
alcohol. except Turkey and Japan.
who didn't have this vice TO contend
with.
Few signs of the times are more
encouraging and delightful 10 the
thoughtful observer. who goes up
and down this great country Of ours
for TO admire an for 10 see, than
the striking and rapidly increasing
decline Of drunkenness, in public
at least. or. TO put il more precise
" perhaps, the re riry of obviously
intoxicated individuals-in the YER
nacular the remarkable shyness Of
"souses" Men are exceedingly
bashful about being seen in that
condition in public and for the best
and soundest Of financial and
prudential reasons.
Drink Gummed the Cards.
There has been a greater falling
/ of in the habit Of drinking TO eX-
/ cess. indeed Of drinking in and to
all degrees. in the last % years than
! i'm all the preceding 1000 years Of
modern history. And this not be-
cause il was wicked. not because it
was bad form, not because men were
inclined to beat their wives and
| abuse their children when they
were drunk-for most men weren't
not because we had signed the
pledge in infantry to Touch not
taste not. handle not the unclean
/ thing" but because we had dis
covered that alcohol in any form or
amount took the keenness off our
! fighting edge, gummed up the cards
! in the game Of life and handicapped
our chances Of victory and success
/ in any and every line of endeavor.
Even in the strictest moderation
alcohol was found TO cloud our
| Judgment. 10 dull the keenness Of
our wit; TO make our grasp FUN
bling. our muscles sluggish and our
| touch uncertain.
If any young man wanted 10 put
/ permanent handicap of from five
/ TO Is percent upon his chances Of
advancement and promotion. all he
had to do was 10 simply drink two
glasses of beer a day during bust
ness hours. He might, Of course.
have superior ability enough to
carry the handicap and get away
with il. but what was the use of
running the risk and carrying that
permanent loading in the race of
| life and the struggle for survival.
If alchOl has any place al all in
the rational scheme Of things. il is
as an aid TO rest, not as to work;
as a relaxant. not a stimulant As
| a putter-on OF the soft pedal.
shock absorber. a non-conductor in
/ the path OF business currents of
thought and worry. after the days
work is over il may have some
utility in the future scheme OF
/ things. but in business hours alco-
hol is as out OF place as a pair of
l pajamas or a bathing suit.
FIRST PROHIBITIONIST.