"THE ALCOHOL QUESTION" IN* THE CONTEMPORARY. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5276, 18 January 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

"THE ALCOHOL QUESTION" IN* THE CONTEMPORARY. TO THE EDITOR.

.; Sir,—The following paragraph is from your :S issue of yesterday:-"'The Alcohol Question-• is dealt with in the Contemporary Review man - able and impartial'manner by Sir James Paget,Bait., and Drs Bruaton and Bernays., All are 7; of opinion that the moderate use of'alcoholic" drinks is generally beneficial." This is,'l fear."' calculated to mislead many of your readers.-? They may not have access to the Contemporary "!j to see what is there said on the alcohol qrie's- -" tion. .Your paragraph will lead them'toima- '■'' gine that three eminent medical men-have- ..: there written in defence of what ispopularly .ir understood aa "themoderate use of alcoholic ■:■. drinks." Such, howeveiv is. not the fact. Sir ■ ■ Jamea Paget, Bart,' eloea7 indeed soi write. H Stated in few words, Sir. -James PagetV argil-" meut, if argument it csn ba called, is this 7 We: '■''. know intemperance is bad, butwe don't know ' whether abstinence would-not be worse, as it * has never been tried, by us at all events, on a sufficiently large scale, .or for a! sufficiently -'. long time for us to Hem a , sound-, opinion' urn ? to its ultimate consequences. We: have so far done very, well with, temperance; therefore, "In the question.raised between\tenii77 7, peranoe and total abstinence the verdict should;, be in favour of temperance." Nor does Sir 7 James Paget think it worth while to " make a trial of total ' abstinence -oh anyr large scale -to see whether its adoption may be advantageous or otherwise. He say., - " We have nothing from which we may make a fair guess (at the advantages of abstinence •■■a as_ against temperance, or even as comparecl;..-'. with intemperance), or which w.buld justify; " - a gi-eat experiment." And ~,ibis, though Dr Norman S. Kerr, at the late Sooial Science 7'!. Congress, said alcoholic liquors are destroying" 200,000 ; lives in Great Britain every year •;'".' and Dr Hardwicke,:coroner for Central Middle- 7" "sex, said that from his experience aa "ahealth•:-'' officer of many years,.and a coroner holding ■'■' - 150Q inquests, per aunum, he was; certain Dr • Iverr's estimate waa rather under than; over.!' the truth. So much for Sir Jamea Paget, Bart.; ; , Dr Lauder Bruiiton his-evidently given ■'~ more attention'and study to tho." alcohol qties-, , tion " than has Sir JamesPaget.' The following; . is the' way in which' he advocates -'the" moderate use of alcoholic drinks" V-THespeaks'-" of three-classes of' driiikers7 To the one, he says, "Alcohol ia a poison, and total abstinence ' - is your only safeguard." Of the other tho Doctor tells his. readers; " Suoh persons may 7sometimea go on taking alcohol in moderation for a long time without doing themselves miwh harm (the italic'is mine), but they run a great risk, and they may sink into a drunkard's grave. For all such, alcohol ia of little use, bo long as they are young and strong. They may possibly take it occasionally: as a luxury, but if they eat well, and sleep well, they will, as a rule, do more work . mental and bodily, and be better without it It is in those who are past middle age, and whose strength is declining with advancing 7 years; in chose who are debiiiatedby unfavourable external oircurastancea, or in those who are prostrated by disease, that alcohol most-<• clearly exerts a beneficent action, and when: . properly used it becomes aa powerful for good as it is.for evil when abused. ~-,,, . ~.

Such, Sir, ia the teaching of the man who is, I believe, regarded in England as the ablest scientific apologist in the country for the use of alcoholic drinks.

But now let ua see what is the use of alcohol defended by Dr Birnays. He says, and says truly, When we speak of temperance we have really no basis to go upon, aud for this reason statistics are faulty. That which many would call temperance I should consider intemperance." Tho Doctor then illustrates what he considers temperance in the following manner:— " V*/heti I have any work to do, which ia the case from Monday till Saturday, I find abstinence from all alcoholic elriuks my best guide.. But in the winter time, if I como homo after my wjrry, I should never hesitate to set myself right by takiug my favourite aud perfect remedy, five or six brandied cherries. And it is upon this matter of experience that the support of moderate alcoholism bhould be baaed." Subsequently Dr Bernaiys speaks of the liquor trade as one "which threatens the foundations of all morality."

Whatever the moderate drinkers may make of Sir James Paget, I wish 99 per cent, of ' them joy of auy support they will find for their temperate use of alcohol from the papers of Dr Lauder Bruuton or Dr Bernays,—l am, .fee,,

John W. Jago. Duuedin, IGbh January, 1871).

The Nihiliat., notwithstanding the strictest surveillance of tho police, havo promulgated in St. Petersburg ,1 pamphlet undor the title of " The Living Dead," threatening tho instaut murder of all pe-raecutors. They intend publishing from October lat a regula*' revolutionist newspaper named L.ud and Liberty. Copies ■ - of the Rbovenantod pamphlet have been forwarded to almos*. all the newspaper, in this country, and what, .coasions pitiliccilar surprise • is that these- c.pUb, boing enclosed simply in book ivwpprrra, havo in almost every instance 'safely readied th.ir destination without being stopped by thi police*. Tho impression prevails thus t!ie_ Nit.iii'-t movement has attained such dimensions, aa practically to defy the re. 'preaaive efforts of t'lo liii-.-'iaii authorities.

The pi'-ice-as of levelling tho ground for a central ra iway termiuua at Strasburg, in Germany, has ierl to the di'covoiyof very many " stouo ooiHii*-, ovideiitly dating from the Romani period, a, discovery whioh confirms the belief long eatertfdned that thj« tiiicewfts the f~it».Qi >'-:- a Rowan ■purj^-gfoijm^ ' T