The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-08-09
DOMAIN OF TEMPERANCE
THE GREAT WARS MESSAGE TO
FRANCE. r~,

With the war came this solemn
message to France, the France that
has fought gloriously and well, but
the France which, like Great Britain,
has nevertheless been seriously ham
pered at almost every turn by the
handicap imposed by the drink inter-
ests. And this was the message sent
out to France by an organization of
which the President of the French re-
public is honorary president:
Il. Alcohol is as formidable an
enemy to you as Germany.
SO. 1t has cost France since 1870
in men and in money more than the
present war.
'3. Alcohol pleases the taste; but,
a veritable poison, it destroys the
body.
q. Drinkers grow old early. They
lose half their normal life and are
easy prey to numerous weaknesses
and maladies.
%. The little glasses of parents
are transformed into hereditary weak
nesses in their descendants. France
has today about 100000 insane and
twice as many consumptiVes, to say
nothing of the victims of govt, scro-
fula, ricketts,, premature degeneracy,
and the majority of criminals.
Sc. Alcoholism reduces our produc-
tivity two-thirds and increases the
cost of living and misery
so. Like the enemy's forces, alco-
holism decimates and ruins France, to
the great joy of Germany Mothers,
young people, husbands, fight alcohol
ism and remember the glorious
wounded and dead for the country"
Switzerland found when it gave it's
wine interests a chance to develop
that the actual per capita consump-
ton of alcohol increased. Italian re-
ports, by reliable authorities, such as
DR.. Leonardo Bianchi, of the Italian
Parliament, and DR.. Gina Lombroso-
Ferrero, say that "The recent in
crease in alcoholism in Italy has been
SO tremendous as to cause anxiety in
government circles and among people
interested in social questions" The
death rate, insanity, crime and pau
perism have all increased as the con-
sumption of wine and beer, as we'll as
of spirits, has increased. The number
of cases of alcoholic insanity nearly
doubled in nine years.
The wine and beer route to drunk
enness differs in no essential respect
from any other way. AS long as the
narcotic poison is there, just so long
will the users of any kind of alcoholic
beverage run the risk of physical,
mental and moral loss or even of de-
cay. Last year a writer said:
We are calling up our finest young
men to fight in the world struggle for
liberty. With the one hand we choose
them, equip them, train them; with
the other hand we clutch like treas
ure too precious to resign, the beer
and wine that will do more than any
other one thing to paralyze the fight
ing power of these young men, wheth-
er they themselves have access to
| these drinks, or whether the beer
drinking and Wine-drinking of those
who remain in civil life reduce the
output or quality of munitions, delay
|
the food that our people, our soldiers,
and our Allies should have to "see
this thing through" Let us not fiatter
! ourselves on our food economy while
we continue to allow twice as many
| foodstuffs to be turned into beer as
were used in making beverage spirits,
or while any part of the sugar we are
| IyOl 10 10, IN - ~
wines here or in France, or while
fruits which the people need are
turned into wines, and the nourishing
sugar that they contain is largely con-
verted into alcohol.
We shall never end our alcohol
evils by letting beer and wine con-
tinue. They waste foodstuffs; they
despoil men; they have ruined ma
tons. The occasional beer or wine
drinker here and there who seems to
escape injury is not the criterion by
which we are to Judge the effects of
| these beverages. We do not so Judge
in other matters.
The years that lie before us will be
| filled with serious problems to be
| solved 1Of the human race. what
that future will be is to be largely de-
| termined by the abilities and ideals
of the boys and girls, young men and
young women of today. If it is i'm
portant that the young men who go
out to fight for liberty be protected
against the temptations of beer and
wine, it is even more important that
those who will have to conserve that
liberty should have strong bodies,
clear brains, and the highest ideals.
Nothing in history, science or expert
ence gives us reason to expect that
beer and wine will be other than
handicap to the tasks of peace, as we
know they are to labors of war.
May America be strong enough and
great enough and clear visioned
enough to free herself from every al
coholic weight, so that her sons and
daughters may give powers unspoiled
by beer or wine or any narcotic poison
to meeting the worlds needs and to
the bringing in of Gods Kingdom.
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