Arizona republican., 1918-02-24

tus, which grows in our own southwest and in northern Mexico. In that re- zion of sleep and sunshine and undis- covered things. peyote has been used by the Indians to bring then dreams and visions since long before the com ing of the white men. There were laws regulating its use in the time of Montezuma; and the Franciscan priests who came with the conquering Spaniards fought against it's baleful influence, not so much because it was a narcotic and made men drink as be- cause it was used in pagan religious rites.
 But recently peyote has attained a new fame. The white men, who scorn no way of getting dollars, have carried 1t from the regions where it has long been known to the tribes of the north, even into the Dakotas and Wisconsin, so that there are now peyote societies all over the country. Mrs Charlotte Bonnin, who is a Sioux Indian, a rela- tive of the great chief Sitting Bull, a college graduate, the secretary of the Society of American Indians, and a very up-to-d date Indian woman, is now In Washington for the purpose of fight ing peyote in congress. An appropria- ton of sl50,O00 for the purpose of pre- venting the Indians from drinking whiskey is being considered, and Mrs Bonnln wants the appropriation to Dc used in fighting peyote as well, Ever as the pale face ladies go forth to save the white man from the demon rum so this modern Indian woman is de. termined to save the buck from tht ravages of peyote.
 It is whispered too, that Indians ar, not the only victims. Many whit, men have succumbed to the lure of tn, gorgeous dreams that live in the littl, cactus root It is said that peyote Ina! been a problem for, commanders 0 troops on the border. Now that whis key is sometimes hard to get, and al i sorts of legal restrictions have beel thrown around the use of our well known commercial drugs, peyote come along to take man out of himself ant give him the dreams of power ant beauty that he always craveS.
 As for the effect of peyote, like al other narcotics, it forms a powerful habit in the user, weakens his mora fiber, and units him for the routin industry of modern life. The Indians | 1t appears, use the drug in certain re | ligious rites, and some of these ar
 said to degenerate into orgies. Tn
 Indians attitude toward this and othe
 narcotic drugs differs from that ( | the white man in that he is nc i ashamed of his habit. He believes tha
 in his dreams he sees and talks wit
 his deities. His fathers before hil | have used the magic of this little roc
 to escape from the troubles and tn
 monotony life. Why should not he
 So the Indians form societies for talk
 ing peyote, and dance and sing to th
 music of tom-toms, while the poiso
 works wonders in their brains.
 The dreams of the peyote- eater hay
 been several times described. It ha
 been known to scientists for a lon
 time, and Havelock Ellis, the famol
 psychologist, ate several of the bear
 or pills to see what effect they woul
 have. At the Lake Mohonk confer
 ence, several papers were read dc
 scribing the effect of the drug upon il
 users, and one Omaha Indian in a
 affidavit gave a lengthy account , 2 his own sensations as a peyote cate !, It is interesting to compare ;he effe, | of this nepenthe upon the great scieI ? tist and the savage.
 Ellis ate three of the peyote bean He says that at first he had a feelir
 of immense strength and great il
 tellectual power. Then his pulse b, came slow and irregular, and a viol , shadow floated before his eye Through this emerged visions, at fir