Everybody knows that until recently the average statesman, the
majority of prominent men, in England, drank to excess.
Pitt was a drunkard--and Pitt was the most remarkable statesman
in England.
Fox was a drunkard.
In fact, to write a list of England's greatest men, who lived
more than a hundred years ago, would be to make a list of famous
drunkards.
To-day the drunkard in public life is practically unknown in
England, as well as in America. No legal pressure has been
brought to bear upon the prosperous drunkard.
He was not badgered by policemen or by blue-laws.
He could get ALL that he wanted to drink WHENEVER he wanted
it--yet, OF HIS OWN ACCORD, the prosperous drunkard has
reformed and become temperate. ----
Our own great Daniel Webster was a drunkard, as were many other
great Americans. No man to-day could be a drunkard and at the
same time be respected.
Education, experience and common sense have done their work, and
drunkenness is now left to self-indulgent fools, or to those
whose lives are made dull by poverty, to whom alcohol affords the
only escape from horrible monotony.
It would, perhaps, be worth while for the advocates of temperance
to study the causes which have practically eliminated drunkenness
from the most intelligent classes of men.
Education undoubtedly is the greatest factor.
In nearly all the public schools now the evil effects of alcohol
are taught.
These evil effects are taught, not in a lackadaisical way, with
sentiment or religious duty as a basis. They are taught as
FACTS.
Facts appeal to the mind, and they persist in their effect in
later life, when moral suasion and religious appeals are
forgotten.
Teach every child that alcohol destroys his chances of success,
impairs his muscular efficiency, inflames the substance of the
brain and prevents development--MAKE HIM FEEL THAT A DRINKING
MAN IS A SECOND-CLASS MAN, AND YOU WILL HAVE DONE MUCH TO DESTROY
THE DRUNKENNESS OF THE FUTURE. ----
As a matter of fact, drunkenness, like dirt, is mainly an
accompaniment of poverty and a sad, hopeless life.
For the man or woman given to drinking, when the troubles of
life are no longer to be borne, some relief must be had.
Make the lives of human beings more comfortable, make good food
more plentiful, spread education--and you will solve the problem
of excessive drinking.