The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-01-20
AUTO SUGGESTION AID TO DRY LAWS .|S COUE's THEORY
Continued Presence of Spark ling Water on Dining Table Finally Has Sort of Hyp-
 notic Effect
By EMILE CoUE


 Suggestion of suggestions, all is suggestion" am tempted to exelaim as I let myself be whirled through the seething current of American life, The preacher was a pessimist, but if he lived now In America he might change his mind and hesitate to con demn everything as vanity. Reality on the contrary, appears to me to be the dominant factor In life over here reality, built up, moreover, by ac- cumulated suggestibility.
 Strange to say, l have never had occasion in Europe to observe the enormous effect of suggestion on the national life of a country. Here in America it has struck me most forci- bly: Are Americans exceptionally sus- ceptible? Are their subconsciouS
 minds particularly sensitive? It is quite possible. I am bound to state in any case, that have rarely met
 with such constant success in teach ing patients how to get rid of their ailments as l have done at my Amer lean clinics. Naturally, one of the principal reasons of this success is the wide publicity given to my meth ods beforehand; people read of them long before coming to me, and their minds are already fertilized by the thought of cure; the thought grows into a belief. and by the time the pa tient reaches me the idea has been transformed through imagination into a reality. The mechanism Is no more complicated than that! In Europe no such faith-inspiring publicity ex- isted, except, perhaps, quite recently and then only in very small way Nevertheless, do think Americans ir general are more responsive to sug- gestion than French people or Eng. fish. I see that in the solution ci
 their national problems.
 For instance, I don't believe that any amount of suggestion would ever persuade my countrymen to become "dry!" Yet l am told that prohibition was imposed upon a majority by z
 strong minded minority, and that, il
 reality, almost everyone longs tt
 slake his thirst again in something stronger, honester than the "Scotcl brew" which catches my eye on thu restaurant cards of suggested bever- ages. See the force of suggestion however. Jugs of iced water have taken the place of the once indispen sable bottle of iced champagne or the tables at the most famed haunts
 of luxury. And what is even more as tonishing is that the effect seems te be almost the same. Diners sip theil crystal glasses of water with evident pleasure. and their merriment and vi vacity of conversation as the dinner goes on could hardly be greater were
 their glasses filled with the sparkling 1 wine of Rheims or Epernay.
 . Due to Suggestion
 1 Now, that requires an explanation for there's some little difference be
 tween water and champa gne! Well
 i+ Ira lor fc suggestion and auto-suggestion Firstly, people are accustomed to be- come merry and talkative over the glasses. and the subconscious mint doesn't really care what they con- tain. Secondly, leading spirits (need- | ing no artificial ones to stimulate them) having set the example of con tentedness and readiness to enjoy themselves even without the aid ot liquor, others respond to the influ-
 ence of suggestion, and imagine they are having the deuce of time on a Hug of New York Nature 1923." My
 theory is strengthened by the popu- larity of the dancing places. They are all Cat least those at which have
 been able to take glance In my in quisitive perigrinations) crowded and animated and full of laughter and
 merry talk, and the only difference between them and similar establish-
 ments at Montmartre is that the music and buzz of gaiety is not punctuated by the popping of corks; and glasses of water and ginger ale replace the familiar bottles of champagne emerg- ing from their glittering nests of ice Quite seriously I am inclined to see
 in the American glass of iced water
 the symbol of new era. It has the # h of ri Q a TO a
 charm thrown in. No matter where one goes to the chic restaurant or smartest tea room, or to the humblest
 eating house. a glass of water Is inn mediately placed before one. To my mind. the repetition of this gesture has developed a sorts of hypnotism and the constant appearance of the
 inevitable tumbler of glistening linn pidity has frozen in many peoples
 minds all idea of any other drink. As time goes on this force of public con viction must increase, and unless 8 change of state policy intervenes, the
 protesting clamors of anti-prohibi-
 tionists will end by being literally drowned in the ubiquitous glass oi
 iced water Maybe, within a genera tion or two an American will nc
 more dream of placing in front of 2 guest a bottle of old wine (preciousls preserved, perchance, by his parents, than an European would today think of treating a friend to 8 ahglass oi water Is there not an impressins demonstration of the force of sugges tion in all this?
 Other Visible Signs
 | The fruits of suggestion are visible again, in other respects of social ant public life on this side of the Atlantic
 so different from that of Europe. Ger tain obstinate notions as to the indis
 pensability of servants, for instance
 would appear to have been eliminated over here. It is perhaps rather pre- sumptious for me to discuss this sub | ject, in view of the shortness of m. sojourn in America. But after all
 these are only impressions based or what I have seen or not seen. Now 1 I have seen very few servants; ye
 everything is done in homes ant | hotels with an efficiency that is amaz ing to European visitors accustomed to a ceaseless and hopeless wrestl, with the servant problem.
 Whereas in Europe we are obsessee
 by the idea of getting things done fol Jus, Americans have replaced it by 1 that of self service" and everythine lis organized accordingly. One zoe.
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