CONTROL OF INEBRIATES.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 80, 2 November 1872, Page 3

CONTROL OF INEBRIATES.

(From the MKIMCAL TIAIES AND OA7.KTTK.) It in very easy t:'»\m\si oiiitWihyAfri'tig, however, important, itml u-oful, if it ':tn be made appear to conflict with our popular Knglish idea of, " hlwri.y." Hence, vc have seen llrd an influential'paper deride:) tlw conclusions arrived at by tbftl ■ Select Committoo of the House of CoirunoiiM winch W.u* pscaded over by Mr Dalrymple, and which investiga'ed and reported on "Tlve Boat Plan for;d.Uo G'on'rul a;id Management"'<»t- Habitual Dmnkwdi.". 'M is very eaiy to.nay thai any person, lwwt".w sober, prudent, tiod respectable who happens to be. dining at a tavern, ami to t«ke u glui-too. much, may be draped bo fere a ma«;Utrute nud heavily lined; :ind l.hxi, all old'-Js«g--linh conviviality will cease, all family harmony be destroyed, and husbands and wives bo found informing against each othey if ever they take a pint of.beer too much.. , . , t All I.lmm nonsense may be dismissed ; and we may fix our attention on two crying ami'pnlpabh: groi varices which afflict society, and vvhico tlie law may be made to reach without trenching ou liberty or interfering with our amusement, our lollies, or even our peccadilloes. I. , «. The first is the frequency with which ollerices fi./airnt deeenev and order are ommitted in public by per.ioiw under the influence of drink. It, is fair to sav, let people drink as much as they like in private —-there need be no punishment in that: but, on the otliur liand, tiiere ought to ba a really deterrent punishment against public offences which drunken persons commit. A man who himself in a tipsy condition, unable to fake care of himself,and therefore occupying the time and attention of the rruardiaiis of tlie public peace; a man who fights, or iissiMilts women, or who annoya fellow-passengers in it railway carriage, ought to be visiied with a punishment which should render him cautious about committing a second offence. But these are matters for the poTice, not, for the physician. Members of our profession have a sadder and a higher task in combating the passion for secret drink ■which allliefs persons who never come in the way of the police, "or are dealt with by the authorities" (as the report.of the committee- says), but which is probably even a more fertile source of misery, poverty, and degradation than that which conies before the police court; for this no legal remedy exists, and without further legislation it must, go on unchecked. * Huoh are the cases in which, if I may paint from the life, nome young, imaginative, roinanl ic girl, of feeble body and excited brain,' gets married. The " liviTi"- happy ever after" is found to be a delusion. Children come, quickly; perhaps exhausting miscarriages ; the husband may be cross or poor ;' his family nuiy grumble at the " deiieate " wife ; slie, poor thing! exhnud.e(l, bloodless, and spiritless, may bravely try to do her duly in flic family, and for this purpose listens to the insidious advice, " Why not take a glass of port wine at eleven o'clock?" or, peradventure, a little 'dins of gin. Thus a little spurt is got up; but the appetite is bad, and the food coarse ; it is easier to drink than to eat; and so, step by st 'p, the pno :• victim in led on, till at hist the hideous discovery h made some dav by the astonished husband that, his wife " drinks." Then there is a row, a family council "real Ills of 'Tying, and promises of amendment-. Possibly these may Inst; possibly not. Then, after !i deceitful calm, fresh discoveries are made; the' tradesmen's bills are found unpaid ;. hills come in for hrandv; articles of plate or jewellery are pawned ; the children's dresses are scanty, and their food curtailed; and worse than all, a drinking mother is a suiii'ee'of demoralisation to her whole surroundings. The children are Kent out for drink, and taught to lie :ibmt it; the servants rob, and misconduct them selves, because their mistress is afraid of them ; and tind Ihe tradesmen screw up their charges, because the ; r monev is m arrears. M-iw, let the unhappy husband vneiid this state of thin"*.' Me consults his parson, but (for reasons I >[■ o'lld iv>t like to stale in a medical journal) ordinary r . Unions teaching is useless ov mischievous. The h wyer proposes a "deed of separation," which would on.v be letting the poor creature go to the deuce unchecked. The'physician, on the other hand, says, <• Let me treat the : pa font, and I'll cure her. Such and sue ; a cause of exhaustion can be suppressed; palaiabl ■m\ nutrtiom fuul be insisted on; tonics an 1 harmless stimulants be substituted for alcohol ; rest, care, and tenderness will accomplish the rest." Bul'then comes this difTlcully: the paliont will not submit to tveatn out—she will drink on—and there is no power to stop her, un'ess legislators -vill stoop to matters o\' fact, ai d sunp-Tt the recommendations (or some of them) of Mr Dalrymplo'a Select Committee. 1 am, etc., 11. DlUJirr;