Year: 1874




While the present excitement and inter
est upon the question of the use of wine,
and liquors or abstinence therefrom, ar'
agitating the country, we must expect a
great variety of ideas and theories upor
the subject A newspaper does not per-
form its proper functions when it preSlSt


emily presents 4 favorite theory, and ig-
nores all others. The public demand 10 be
informed of all that is of interest in the
matter, that each may jndge for himself
of the relative merits of the different meth
ods of promoting sobriety.


We have before alluded to the commits
sion about to be instituted by authority of
Congress- to be composed of prohibition
| lists and license men, who are to institute
thorough Investigations into the liquor
| traffic in all its aspects, and make reports
Of the testimony and their conclusions.
This is likely to develope valuable facts.
and throw light on q yeyed question


We notice that the New York iegisla-
ture has under consideration 4 bill to com
pei dealers in liquor to sell only those that
are OF approved quality, and fit for use by
| their purity The author of the bill holds
| that the law is as competent to prohibit
| the sale of adnlterated liquors as OF dis
eaSpd meats. The details of the bill are
a careful provision to carry ont etfectually
the main purpose of the law should it
pass There is to be in New York city 4
board Of tWpnty-seyen chemists, to be
known as the board of liquor examiners
of the city Of New York. They are to
have tWenty-fonr assistants. Those officers
have power to prescribe the standard for
all kinds Of liquors sold, to enter and ev-
anime, and confiseate, if necessary i'm
pure goods and to punish offenders. Deal
ers are tied up very close to the require
ments of selling a good article, and
punished with fine and imprisonment for
delinquency. There are several features
about such law which commend il To
begin with, no dealer. wholesale or retail
can make open objection he cannot ask
the right to sell poisonous nostrum7 under
the name of good liquors. So that he is
bound TO support and defend the law,
carried out in letter and spirit as nearly
as may he, what is gained? Very much.
A great part of the trade is stopped in
stantly for it is well known that almost
all the current liquors would cost more
money and could not be retailed at the
same prices, which would have the effect
to reduce the number of tipplers Thirdly
it cannot he denied that although the use
OF intoxicating liquors of the best quality
is injurious, the vile compounds of the
trade are incomparably more so. There
will be controversy on this point, as some
may contend that the more fatal the bet
Ter. Yet ii does not appear that such is
good reasoning The advocates Of this
bill make a very strong case for the di-
minution Of intemperance by the use only
of pure article of what is purported to
be sold. Among all the schemes to re-
strict intemperance, none is less objection
able than this to all classes. and q far
trial of such a law would be an instructive
experiment, to say the least


The question whether alcoholic drinks
| operate on the human system as poison,
and poison only, is calling forth a great
deal of earnest scientific discussion. Arch
bishop Purcell having made the simple
declaration that a glass or two of beer
would restore the wasted energies of q
holman without endangering his salvation,
the advocates of total abstinence have
| loudly insisted in reply that alcohol no
matter in what combination, was in all
cases injurious to the physical as we'll as
the moral being. This brought up for
science the question whether alcohol is q
poison which ruins the constitution. or q
wholesome gift of nature which in mod
crate use serves for its invigoration and
support In the answer to this was in
volved the further question whether total
abstinence, maintained by prohibitory
liquor and local option laws, or by moral
suasion, shall be the absolute rule on the
one hand, or moderate use or ENJOYMENT,
the rule on the other


In following up this question the World
publishes interviews with a number of
eminent physicians whose answers must
be confessed to be as contradictory as the
replies of the Delphic Oracle, while of lit
tie value az answers to the scientific in
quiry But a writer in the Tribune hay
ing asserted that ''as soon as man in his
ignorance drinks beer, wine or any kind
of liquor containing the poison alcohol, it
is elected Just as it went into the system


without change is answered in that
newspaper by DIR. Edward Curtis, one of
the most distinguished medical authorities
in the country. DR.. Curtis explains that
with alcoholic liquors, as with other en-
joyments, all depends on the amount He
asserts that within certain limits alcohol is
transformed like ordinary food in the sys-
tenn without producing any injurious
effects, and yielding useful force for the
purposes of the economy must be consid-
cred tood in any philosophical sense of the
word. This food-action, he declares sis
attended with no exciting or intoxicating
influence, but the whole effect, like that of
ordinary food, is seen in the maintenance
or restoration, according to circumstances,
Of that balance of function called health >