TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8095, 5 January 1907, Page 1

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

[This column is taid for as an advlktlsbment.j The Liquor Problem. The King's Physician. Alcohol Insidious Poison. Sir F. Treves on Alcohol. A Great Surgeon's Plain Words. \ Reprinted from' ILiily Papers. Perhaps the moat powerful condemnation of alcohol in any form as a beverage, and tne most cogeut, while strictly temperate, exposition of its drawbacks and dangers, was given on May 4, 1905, by the greatest of all living surgeons, Sir Frederick Treves, the chosen advisor of our King and his family. Taking as his them£ " The Physical Effects of the Use jof Alcohol," Sir Frederick said the alcohol was

Distinctly k Poison. It had certain uses, like other poisons, but limitations on its use should be as strict* as on arsenic, opium and strychnine. It was a curiously insidious poison, producing effects which seemed to be only relieved by taking more of it—a remark which applied to another insidious poison, morphia or opium. It had a certain position as medicine, bat in the last twenty-five years its use by the medical profession had steadily and emphatically diminished. People, remarked Sir Federick, were often heard to say that alcohol was an excellent appetiser when taken before meals, But the appetite did not need artificial stimulation; if the body wanted feeding it demanded food. As for its " aiding digestion "

It Hindered Digestion even when taken in small amounts, as could be easily demonstrated. Then there was the idea that alcohol was strengthening. As a fact, it curiously modified ti« nourishment of the body • it greatly', lessened the the output of carbonic '< acid—a very important matter—so that the drunkard was necessarily an illnourished man; and to reach the acme of physical condition was impossible if any alcohol was used. Its stimulating effect I was only momentary, and after that had passed off the capacity .for work fell enormously A'.fcho! •*-%« it were, brought up the whole cf. the reserve forces of the body aid threw them into action, and whyi these were used up there was nothing to fall back

on. _ Dissipates Bodily Energy.

It dissipated rather than conserved bodily energy. As a-work producer it was exceedingly extravagant, and might lead to physical bankruptcy ; and he was not speaking, he would remind his hearers, fl hf excessive drinking.

It was a curious fact that troops could not march on alcohol. In the Ladysmith relief colunlm, which he accompanied, the first men to drop out were simply the mit who drank. The fact was as clear as if they had all borne labels on their backs. As for the statement that alcohol was " a great thing for the circulation." it increased the heart-beat and reddened the skin by using up .he body's reserve power, but then the heart's action became emphatically weaker a temporary effect being got at an enormous cost. The action of alcohol on the central nervous system was very definite, and was that of a

Functional Prison, first stimulating and then, depressing the nervous system. ! The higher nervous centres went first, becoming slightly dulled. The man who worked on even a moderate amount of alcohol was not at hi;, best. Fine work could not be dom : under that condition. The use of alcohol was absolutely inconsistent with a surgeon's work, or with work demanding quick and alen judgment. He was much struck by the number of professional men who for this reason had discontinued the use of alcohol in the middle of the day The last notion he woiilrl refer to was that alcohol kept out the cold that a "little nip" when going out into cold air, ai lc ] so f on h In the words of a great authority, alcohol really lowered tneVmperature of the body by increased loss of heat and to some extent by increased oxidation, and much reduce]) the power of the body to resist the cold. Finally he would say that the great and laudable ambition of all, aud especially of young men, to be " fit ," could not possibly be achieved if fh e y took alcohol. It was simply preposterous to suppose that any young, healthy person needed any alcohol and, indeed be is j Much Better Without even the smallest amount of u. H av . ing spent the greater part o his life operating, he would say, with Sir James Paget, that of all pec pie those he dreaded to operate on were the drinkers. He hoped that what he had said would help his hearers to answer such absolute fallacies as " a glass of port can do you no harm." Such utterances on the p Ur(j 0 f g0 distinguished an authority have naturally attracted great attention, and have created a profound impression. Certainly they deserve to be most deeply pondered. No-License Movement. N.Z.H Speech by the Minister for Lands. December 27ili, i'Joi,, The •'Shouting'' Habit. (By Teleokaiii.—Uw.\ Cfir,KE>PONUEXI.) ' WELLINGTON, Thursday. At a meeting of the Nejw Zealand AUiaocp the Hoi. R. i-1 i

ster for Lands, spoke of the rapid growth of the temperance sentiment in New Zealand. His remarks followed on these of the Hon. A. Wilmot, president of the South African Temperance Alliance, who asked that New Zealand should co-operate with other countries in this matter. Mr McNab said that when he first became a candidate for the House in 1893 he was told that it was absurd for a total abstainer to hope to win an election, as he could not •■ shout " for his supporters, as other candidates would do. Since those days tho community hid been educated to the idea of temperance men holding public positions. As for the habit of " shouting," he found that when he visited places in his Ministerial capacity there was no dissatisfaction that business could be transacted without a subsequent gathering of men behind the bar, to drink and talk things over. Even in districts like the goldfields he had found that it did not in the least prejudice a public man to be an abstainer. With regard to tho effect of no-license in ' Clutha and Mataura, Mr McNab said that hi 3 own home had been for years iu Clutha, and he knew of its success there. He was even more familiar with the position in Mataura, and he assured Mr Wilmot that trade everywhere in the electorate had gaiued by the carrying of no-license. Whatever complaints might be made in other parts of the country, the accommodation for the travelling public was better in Mataura to-day than during the days of license. The Minister quoted the remark of a Southland merchant to show that the transaction of business had been greatly facilitated by the carrying of no-license. Retail business men, he added, found that whereas they formerly could not settle a bill for even 7s Gd without spending a shilling in " shouting," they were now saved this unreasonable demand. Whatever evasions of the law might take place, that was now wiped out of existence. There had not been a very great increase in the no-license vote in Mataura last year, but that did not mean a disapproval of the results. It meant that ihe question seemed so settled that the people did not trouble to fight it vigorously. It was of interest to note that Mataura had increased in population more than any other part of the South Island.