The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-08-31
HARVARD PROFESSOR BLAMES BEER
FOR BRUTALITY Of GERMAN ARMIES
Conclusion Supported BY Many Well Informed Authorities
Stupidity and Baseness Inevitable Result of Life Long
CONSUMPTION of Matted Alcoholic Beverages

Professor Reginald Aldworth DAILY
of Harvard university. attributes to
beer the blame for the brutal con-
duct of the German armies in the
present. war. In this opinion. based
upon lifelong observation and ar
rived at reluctantly, he is supported
by the views of many other eminent
men who are well acquainted with
the German people and their drinking
customs. In an article in Munsey
magazine, Professor DAILY says:
Il venture the hypothesis that life
long drinking of mild beer has been
one of the most potent causes for the
amazing brutalitIes of official Ger
many. These crimes have been Or
dcrcd ty men who for decades have
been poisoned by beer. In times Of
peace and quiet. the poison causes
arrangement Of brain tissue, often ex-
pressed merely in some form of SEN
timentality, plain or maudlin. If,
however, the victim is put under
stress, his nervous disorder is likely to
lead to bad temper and bad judg-
nent, with endless possibilities In the
way OF loss of dignity, poise, and the
sense of human fellowship"
To the hypothetical retort that as
much alcohol per capita is drunk in
England and France as in Germany.
he answers:
The Germanic peoples are the only
great group who feed alcohol to ba-
hies or very young children of the
middle or upper classes. If the ba by
has not been already prenatally dam
aged because of beer drunk by his
mother ~ still runs the risk of pois-
oning from the alcohol bearing milk
OF drinking mother or wet-nurse.
The child grows to manhood, drink
ing alcohol and continually handi-
capped in his development of cere-
hral, and therefore moral. control.
ON the other hand. nearly all the
alcohol drunk In France and Eng
land is consumed after the formative
years OF hildhood--distinctly lessen
ing the danger Of permanent degen-
Grafton. The drunkards of France
and the British isles are, as elsewhere,
brutal and mean; but. fortunately for
the good name of the governments OF
these two Countries. many men of the
ruling classes, the men who issue or
ders, are not addicted to the daily use
OF alcohol, either in youth or maturi-
ty"
And he ends his exposition Of the
part that beer has played in the great
war with quotation from the elder
IAOithrt WHO oilGe Sdlu.
Beer is a far more DANGEROUS en-
enly to Germany than all the allies
OF France"
4 German on Beer-Stupidity.
The German immigration to Ameri-
ca may be divided into two classes.
Ehe one class, embracing the ma
JQrity of these people. came to accept
American standards and offer varia-
tions which were in the general direc-
ton OF original American character
development This class is found
principally in the rural districts and
the small towns. 1t Is beyond praise
for the strength of It's principles and
intellectual activity. Its whoiehearted
loyalty and incorruptibha morality.
The other class embraces those who
either had a financial interest In the
beer business or fell under the infu-
ence OF those who have such an inter-
est. This class is characterized by
beer -degeneracy. which shows itself
in stupidity. immortality and disloyal-
~.
1t was to this class that Prof
Adolphe S1ille. of LEIPZIG, wrote in
Die Alkoholfrage;
The injurious effects OF the ha-
bitual moderate use of beer stand
out nowhere so conspicuously as in
the United States of America. because
there one finds material for compare
son which Is scarcely obtainabie else
where, on the one hand the total alb
stinent Anglo Americans. on the
other. the Germans who almost with
out exception are given to the daily
use of beer.
Where Arc the Active Old Beer
Drinkers?
Among these circumstances ] put
first the striking fact, which was a
problem to me during the seventies
and eighties. that there was a much
higher death rate during the active
years among our Germans than among
the Anglo-Americans The German
manufacturers, and he nd
In borers die In strikingly large num-
bers shortly before or soon after their
hftiesh year, and we do not find
among them those active, tranquil
that arc SO common among the An
glo- Americans.
Who Lead In Culture and Science"
"A second noticeable difference is
that the Germans in America show far
less interest than the Anglo-Americans
In intellectual matters--in science,
culture and public officers. The city
Of st. Louis, for example, during the
eighties. contained over 100. 900 Ger
mans, out tnere was not a single Ger
man book -store worthy of the name
Schiller Goethe and Heine could he
bought ii is true, but they seldom were
for any other purpose than as Christ
mas or birthday presents, but wheth-
err they were ever read or not is an
other question, And of German scien :.
tific books there were scarcely any In
St Louis except a few medical books
used by German physicians
The Clubs That Arc Only Beer Clubs.
The influence of beer drinking as
A disturbing element in all kinds of
German societies Is already evident
In America. Every club, every So
ciety, whether for bowling music,
gymnastics target practice. drama
tics, Is on the inside simply a beer
club, How many a Turnverein has
pledged itself in the 'foamine glass
to take up intellectual matters, and
mas provided for a liberty and reading
'oorn; but the reading room soon stood
empty, while the beer hall was full
TT Is plainly evident that all eff
forts for advancement among the
Germans In America are drowned in
Beer, for the same conditions are re-
oeated in all cities. The German