PROHIBITION.

Hastings Standard, Issue 69, 16 July 1896, Page 4

PROHIBITION.

."To the Ei»iT r <r..' Sir,—There is a whol- eo'-nnn, ft v_r ui \ i ii- i of }t ti r t.) e bc xnng on the ..bo .t sublet, and it 1 toft—. - to r pi) t) n% If tter of a few days I would like to deal vuth th" i n i } f i't 1 1 it I r< piii'e tvo c 1 r i o i *1) o toi.it.m c-i'ti ci- (t 1 h r n a imitu d in j hi' n lii confine mwlf to i < ir t n n\ -t >:* ment-i made. Ta fit tn- Im r-'v. rentleT'i a tui! ruy confounding the use c £ ikf 1 i I l In "101- »\ ith their abuse. ' I do nof'i *i ' of tl kind. I contend th vt t' i i r i - m intoxicating li-juor. wliii-o is verv diilerent. \ cb ilbii_t No Lover of Shams" to p jiiit o i; t -i gi< rv of the vilest 1 t 1 {*l. ' D-h - it nourish tlit b 11 \ 1 Vn.jb 11- a fort l n tlt-ment to tin " lnl». It poisons. Nature thiow- it c/ 1 j i ta- c ulp,is-e- tl rouirh tht t > tt nnii i'-nr The body tries to tret rat of it as quickh a i o—ibic. Fo <t- seri tu J ii in nit p upo-e- in th' hii.un 1 d\, noui i-hm- nt nnd h it 'i hf \ i th r f- 1 ti—ue or help to m mihi » tn ta I tat.ire of the bodv at a g n [on. . Vlcohol cont.Uiii ni m'riu n in t'< 1 < nt-. It has no gluten, or casein, with which to buildup th* 1m U, <>.■ to replace the waste of 11 >s 11 e. Mtgar is nutritious, but th* 1 .r_rt r p tlx of I*, nu'riment is lo~ f w lit 11 1; 1- diroir.jhtst .1 111 the act of fen.u ligation. Barley is a most nutritious trrain, but it loses in tlie act of g* rnii ."tnu a fir: un amount, both of the c<m-t>"u nt- which form flesh and of tl'i'-< which form fat. Malt, on bt ing tun* d into alcohol, goes through a decomp wing process, which leaves Iwit li*fle nutriment, and even tins is in a form unlit for absorption by the body. Alcohol hardens alirini.-noiH structure ; arrests, to a extent, its d composition destroy- th • pli-ric p rs of the blood ; irritates tissue ; and hinders the pro-ct-sri of dictation. I couill give medical authorities enough for this position to fill twenty i=- i's of th-* Hi-iiv.s >vr.->. lea\ - in™ out all thf advem- m< nU m the bir_ri\i. Dr. Ma l kb,i it \\h<ntditor of the British Medical Journal, summed up a lengthy discussion on alcohol m that journal with the words, " We are in ci nscitnce bound to say that science h 1 proved that alcohol is II ■: food.', Says Sir Lyon Playfair : " To drink bevi- or porter to nourish us, is tantamount to swallowing a sack of cha"* for a grain of wheat. One hwli 1 parts of ordinary beer or porter contain 91 parts of solid matter; and of this only six-tenths consist of tie-h forming matter; in other word-, it takes 16G6 parts of ordinary beer or port* r to obtain one part of nourishing matter." I - alcohoi a heat-producer ? In a free state it burns readily on the application of a flame, and we may therefore conclude that it must be combustible in the human organism. A glass of spirits is .-aid to keep out the cold. Bat it is proved, bejond the possibility of doubt- that it lowers the temperature of the body. It is said to pass through the body unchanged. The theory that it produces heat i- as baseless as that it nourishes tissue. The following four facts are established by natural science:—l. Alcohol, when taken diluted in the form of ftrment d or di-tilitd spirit is rapidly ab-orhe 1 without ciiange.carried into the blood, and with that fluid brought into contact with erery structure and part of the human body. 2. That, while circulating in the blood, it' 1 pr. 'cnce retards those molecular or atomic changes by which nutrition, disintegration, and secretion are maintained, and the phenomena of life continued. 8. Its presence retards the elimination of waste matter, impairs nerve sensibility. k---en< muscular excitability, and lowers the temperature of the body: i t: a part, at least, of the amount taken is finally eliminated or thrown out of the system with the m en-lion-:, -without having undergone any appreciable chemical c'sauLT'-. Alcohol is not a food ; it dots not furnish material for the ti—ucs. nor fuel for combustion; neither does it 2:1 nerateeither muscular or nervous force. What use is it"? Let "* No Lover of Shara- " reply. To compare I>mt on 1 whisky to milk i-> prepovt> rous. New milk contains everything the body requires. It is a body-warmer and flesh-former. In one pint of cow'* milk we get : Water ; th >h former, foz ; hody'wanner. l|oz: phosphate of lime, potash, and other salts "No Lover of Shams trie- to justify hi' position in delibe .UiK attacking me in public by name, and hiding hin self bihmd the coward's castle of a Hon* ,1, /than,'. He says, " It would hardly be i\ptdi»nt for me under the circumstance,, to sign my name." I am very -orry : hat 1 hope that attacking anoths r's nv.ie n. ly also appear inexpedient. My name may be as valuable to me as yours. I do not despise all anonymous writing. . All that I contend for is that, to "quote from my tir-t letter. " I think it is drcidtdly unfair and most reprehensible for anyone to deliberately attack another by name and then conclude his epistle with a iimn if,- pi nun:.'' A challenge i=> thrown out to me, which I gladly accept. '• No Lover of Shams " says. *• If John Hosking will deny that k* i- the author of a certain .scurrilous article • Plymouth Bivth reni-n; ■ by » \ ther,* which appeaml in a recently-i<.-u»d scurrilous pamph'v. I will consider Ae ail visa! deno-s or otherwise of appending my full name." I tl.itiy d- ny having ever written an article on th.it subject. But a >efuM.!l>oy can the con t radio lion in such a c ha Hen'.re. J;ist now the excuse for anonymous writing was "I am under on employer who looks on these matters through a gian tockly," 4c. »ow the revela> j

tion of the precious name is contingent i r ii\ n'*i > di l • m aitl ■jrxl•, f * 1 i i • c>-iff I • i r C lit I ' ' 11 i 111 t No i-iCA fi" c f 1 " i , * < ilv ( il\ to use the h t >1 fu< >'"> I wis'l the Liquor litng would put forward a man of some grit to defend their i .in I would meet any out- of them in public debate, and thrash the matter out before the public of Hastings. But there is not a man of them who would dare defend the vilest of traffics on the earth. Not one. I thought that I answered very fully the remark about " practical temperance " work. "No Lover of Shams " says that I dare not answer his remark about it. I have dared to do it, and stiil will do it. Prohibition is practical temperance work. It aims to control the liquor traffic out of existence, as the pestilence that walketh in darkness and the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. Practical temperance work is not mud-slinging, but working in Hands of Hope, helping on the Good Templar Society, upholding | the Rechabite Orders ; the Sons of I Temperance Society ; forwarding the movement that will give us more work to do, and better wages for doing it; turning money into proper channels ; starting legitimate trade, and upholding righteous and honest legislation. If the five public-houses in Hastings were closed, and the money used to start a woollen factory, instead of the capital now employing a few hands, there would be work for all the unemployed in our town. The brewers are the biggest sweaters on earth. Of £1 spent on clothes, the work people employed get 16s ; if it is spent on shoes they get 13-s; if it is spent on liquor they get 6d. "No I.ovrr of Shams " says that " Mr Hosking is intoxicated with a fad, and his judgment is evidently warped-." I am not mad most noble Festus, but speak the word of truth and soberness. I will not say that my opponent is manly enough to be so intoxicated. If my judgment is warped, try me ! Give me a categorical or a hypothetical philosophic problem ! Please deal out a few facts. "No Lover of Shams " says that " Even one may have too much religion, and I venture to say that that commodity drives more people hopelessly insane than does the drink." Now, that statement is absolutely contrary to fact. Ac-cording to the Fortieth Report of the Commissioners of Lunacy, thore were 80,156 lunatics in England and Wales, or one to every 845 persons. The Thirtyninth Report stated that drink was a pre-disposing cause of lunacy 12-2 per cent, on the total cases admitted. Lord Shaftesbury, who served for fifty years on the Commission of Lunacy,' testified before a Parliamentary Committee that 50 per cent, of the cases admitted to asylums in England were due to drink. Only a short time before his death, he stated in the House of Lords, that fully six-tenths of the cases arise from no other cause than in temperance. Tlfe following testifythat intemperance is the most prolific cause of insanity Dr. Gilchrist of the Chrichton Royal Institution, Dumfries, with an average of 500 inmates annually; Sir W. C. Ellis, M.D., "Wakefield Asylum ; Dr. S. Wilks ; Dr. Edgar Shepherd, Colney Asylum ; I)r. Langdon Down ; Ludwig Dahl, the highest authority in Norway ; Dr. T. S. Clouston, and many other eminent physicans in England, America, Belgium, France, Austria, Russia, and Italy. But I must conclude with thanks to the Standabd for so much space.— I am, &c., Jo Fix Hosking. Wesleyan Parsonage. Hastings. July 14th, IN9G.