People's friend. (Rome, Ga.) 1873-18??, February 01, 1873, Image 3

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The reasons, then, which should influence legislation on this subject, are clearly joined with every interest of the State, and of the individual citizen. 'They deserve and demand the most careful and impartial consideration of our public men. The dictates of an enlightened philanthropy and wise statesman ship, as well as the sentiments of our holy religion, plead most earnestly for the establishment of Inebriate Asylums. In conclusion, I would call especial attention to the “Proceedings of the Second Meeting of the American Association for the Cure of Inebriates.” From the able and interesting paper of Dr. Parrish, President of. Pennsylvania San itarium, I give the following extracts as containing the matured views of one eminently qualified to speak on this subject. “The penal management of inebriates is of no practical service to them, or no certain protection to society.” “Detention in asylums or sanitariums, with appropriate work for body and mind, under prescription of medical officers, and a limited probationary trial before being finally discharged, would be the salvation of thousands, and a source of economy to the State ” “Our institutions have accomplished much, and are gradually tending to higher and more reliable results. The best and greatest things come by little and little.” “If crime and disease are so largely the result of intemperance, it is evident that it is cheaper to detain the confirmed inebriate that he may not be in a position to become a criminal, and to treat the better class in hospitals where they may have an opportunity to recover and become productive, with less risk of being burdensome to society and continuing a diseased posterity.” “The existence of such institutions would afford opportunity for studying the subject of inebriety, as it can be studied in no other way; and they would be instrumental in diminishing the demand for alcoholic and other narcotics, while public sentiment would, of necessity, become more enlightened, and results could thus be secured, which would do much to instruct the legislation cf the country.” To the General Assembly of the State of Georgia: Your Memorialists are moved by various urgent reasons, to ask that your Honorable Body will take such measures as shall lead to the establishment of an institution for the relief and cure of the unfortunate victims of intemper ance. This class of citizens, already large, is becoming larger every year, while the evils that afflict society and the State from this source, are so mani fold and distressing as to call for the earnest efforts oi all good men to mitigate them by all lawful and prudent means. Timely and wise Legislation may speedily bring some relief, and may avert still greater suffering and losses in the future. Your Memorialists will not attempt a full recital of all th© evils which attend and follow the habitual use of alcoholic drinks. The ablest and best among the physicians, Legislators, Jurists and Clergy of the land, have done this with a force and richness of argument, illustration and pathos, that would have banished these evils from the land if they could have been reached by moral influences alone. It is the general conviction that intemperance engenders and aggravates many painful and fatal diseases, hastens the decay of all the vital powers, perverts and paralyzes the intellectual faculties, blunts all the liner feelings and moral sensibilities, and ultimately imbrutes and destroys its wretched victims. Its effects are disastrous upon the physical energies and intellectual growth of a nation: upon the patriotism and morals of the entire people. It entails fearful losses upon the productive industry of communities. This insatiable destroyer is at work night and day with ceaseless activity; the fruitful source of reckless waste, misguided efforts, mistakes and failures; of quarrels and litigations, crimes and prosecutions; the chief supporter of poor l.ouscs, jails ami penitentiaries; the prime cause of indolence and inefficiency, of subtraction from the effective capital and labor of the country, of the rapid increase of non-produccrs and profitless consumers; the annual squanderer of wealth sufficient to maintain the Government, and support all the schools and churches of the nation. In accomplishing this destruction of health, mor als, life and prosperity, it bereaves dependent mothers, wives and sisters; re duces helpless children to beggary; sends strife, misery and want to the once happy homes of love, joy and plenty; creates scenes of wretchedness and hope less woe, over which human hearts bleed in unavailing anguish, and human tears forever flow in token of sorrow, overwhelming and unutterable. If intemperance were simply a moral vice, or social evil, results so sad and appalling would check the most thoughtless and reform the most abandoned. But this is something more than a vice from whirl), as moralists and jurists have supposed, a man can deliver himself, if only he shall desire, ami will but i take the effort, to break its power. Doubtless there is a stage in the inebriate’s progress at which a resolute effort might redeem and save; but it is the very nature of this calamity that the victim is deceived as to the time when deliver ance may be possible. Your Memorialists would respectfully ask whether our law-makers and moral reformers have fully understood the “pat hological influences of alcohol," the “i rue philosophy of intemperance," the real “nature of inebriety.” “Is it a crime or a disease?” “Is it a state of moral turpitude" only, or is it a “mor bid condition of the physical organization," entitled to the name and demand ing the treatment of a disease? The right answer to this question might pro duce a great and much-needed change in public sentiment, and in State legis lation with reference to thv treatment of inebriates. Your Memorialists do not claim that they have discovered, or practically tested, any new truth bearing upon this subject. They respectfully refer your Honorable Body to a pamphlet accompanying their Memorial, published by the “American Association for the Curt* of Inebriates." The writers of this pamphlet haw shown by exhaustive experiments, ami by the collation of au thentic facts from various sources, that inebriety is a disease, tracealfle to well recognized cause- -a disease which involves a “defective condition, of the bodv; “rt disordered state of the mind; “an impaired will; “a depraved ap petite,” clamorous and uncontrolable, and lastly drunkenness w ith its resulting evils. The paper on “the relation of the inebriate to society," is worthy the atten tion of your Honorable Body. "What provision shall be made for these un happy men, many of whom “groan under the worst of all tyrannies, the tvran nv of a bad organization," having coni' 1 into the world with hereditary pro clivities to this vice, against which they have not the power to contend success lull} without assistance; many of whom, though chargeable with guilt in the first steps of their progress, are now in a state both hopeless and helpless, unless aid shall come to them from some*source strong with sympathy and sustaining help. Many of them strive to abstain from excess, but. such is the diseased condition of the brain, the nerves and the stomach, they yield as powerless captives to the insatiable demand of “physical unrest and mental depression,” only to be stung with the deepest remorse and shame when the debauch is over. Are there no errors in the treatment of such unfortunate men? Guiltv of wrong they may be, and yet their ease is pitiable in the extreme. The church rids herself of their presence; society often frowns upon them, and condemns them to “outer darkness" t » the lowest and most debasing dissociations associations sufficient to destroy the last remains of self-resjx'ct, and quench the last glimmering of hope. Ihe Law, at length, consigns them t > the Penitentiary, or scaffold, for crimes committed when conscience, reason ami self control were all gone. The Church has chosen a swift method to be rid of a troublesome offender, but has the church discharged her whole dutv to this offender? Society has asserted her right to put away a loathsome object from her sight, but has society no sin to answer for in this matter? The majesty of the law has been vindicated in the punishment of crime, but have . the lawmakers done what, if timely done, might have prevented the crime that demanded the extreme of punishment ? These are grave and sad tines-! tions. Your Memorialists would respectfully but earnestly press them upon the consideration of }our Honorable Body, because Legislators can do what the I Cnurvh and s,»eiety cannot do. When suffering presents itself in another form, men do not insist that then' shall have been no previous guilt in the sufferer. 1 as a condition of bestowing prompt relief. Asylums are open for the victims of various dis, ases, and their ministration.-, firm, controlling, yet beneficent, are v ?o mled to the helpless sufferers, although there may have been previous vice, pi v ;o.is guilt, or even a reckless disregard of prudence, of truth, of honor, and of virtue. Shall there be for* inebriates no temporary refuge, where they may be the objects of a like beneficent charity; controlling, when control must be exercised; encouraging where encouragement is needed; blending the com forts and attractions of home with those sanitary measures and suitable reme dies which experience has proved to be so full of help and hope to the fallen. Your Memorialists respectfully submit that it is the province of the State to provide such a refuge for her unfortunate sons. “It is a fact,” says the Presi dent of the Pennsylvania Sanitarium, ‘which is essential to our civilization that these are classes of persons who must be separated temporarily from the active duties of life for the common good. Inebriates constitute such a class. Hu man sympathy is a blessed messenger to the needy, even as an occasional visitor, but when it is the presiding and ruling genius of an Institution, it becomes a perpetual benediction that does more to soothe the asperities of a disordered mind and elevate the struggling manhood of a degraded spirit, than any other impulse or sentiment of the race.” Let there be such an institution, guided Ivy such a spirit, for the rescue of inebriates—a class of men especially affected by the whole-hearted sympathy of those who commiserate their condition. Your Memorialists, furthermore, respectfully call the attention of your Hon orable Body to the “Relation of Inebriate Asylums, to Questions of Social and Political Economy.” The wealth of a State consists in the producing power of its individual citizens. The State will advance most rapidly when it has the smallest number of profitless consumers, and the greatest number of wealth producers. Asylums for inebriates, by the restoration of useful men to every occupation and profession, and by the influence which these men will exert to save others from their own sad experience, constantly add to the wealth and prosperity of the State. Dr. Day, Superintendent of Greenwood Institute, Mass., gives the following interesting testimony on this point: “There have been hundreds of cases under my own observation and care, of individuals of every age and condition in life, of every conceivable temperament and disposi tion, and every degree of degradation, down to the very lowest, where the cure has been complete and permanent, and the patients have been restored to, and have persevered in a life of usefulness and happiness.” And again, “a short time since, I made an estimate of the taxes which I could ascertain were now paid by patients who had been incapable of work and a source of expense to their friends and the public, and found the amount sufficient to build and sup port several Inebriate Asylums. Startling as this statement may seem, it is within the actual fact.” The most weighty considerations of economy as well as philanthropy, then, unite in commending this subject to the earnest attention of legislative assem blies and to the public at large. In view of the facts above recited; of the evils which may be mitigated, checked, and averted; of the successful operation of various Inebriate Asylums in other States; of the great good already accomplished by them, though in their infancy; of the wide-spread and urgent demand for such institutions; your Memorialists respectfully ask your Honorable Body to take such measures as will speedily give the State of Georgia an institution that shall supply a pleasant home for the unhappy inebriate, that shall be “a center of light and information from which may radiate the truth which our people, already scourged to sadness by this evil, are eagerly "waiting for”—an institu tion which by its wise and beneficent ministrations, shall restore useful labor ers to the fields, skilled mechanics to the workshops, enterprising merchants to their wealth—distributing employ; Teachers, Lawyers and Physicians to their honorable and useful professions, and Ministers of religion, for alas! they too have fallen before the demon of intemperance, to their former sphere of usefulness: an institution whose compassionate efforts shall give back husbands, fathers, brothers and sons to their smitten households, heal wounded hearts, dry up floods of tears, and make in many a home a scene of restored harmony and happiness on which the angels may look down with joy. And Your Memorialists will ever pray Ac. C. H. Stillwell, M. G., W. F. Cook, Pastor M. E. C. S., Wm. C. Williams, Rector St. Peter’s Church., S. E. Axson, Pastor Presbyterian Church. L. R. Gwaltney, Pastor Baptist Church. Extracts from “Transactions of the Georgia Medical Association,” meeting in 1871, page 30: “The Special Committee on the subject of an Inebriate Asylum, presented the following resolution which was adopted: Unsolved, That the Georgia Medical Association deem the establishment of an Inebriate Asylum in the State a necessity, and most cheerfully and respectfully recommend its favorable consideration to the State Legislature.” Meeting in 1872, page 38: . , t “The Committee on Inebriate Asylums, most respectfully beg leave to state, that they have endeavored to familiarize themselves with the practical workings of such institutions, and, so far as they have been able to judge from the opinions of those who have had the management of such Asvlums, find that they have been the means of doing much good, and are of public utility. A large per ccntage of the inmates are cured of the malady, and returned to useful occupations, and as blessings to their families. From the authentic statements of the Asylums that have been established, we have no hesitancy in saying; they are doing more for the restoration of inebriates than any means yet devised. We hope, and look forward to the day, when our State may have a similar institution, and aid in restoring the unfortunate inebriates to society and their families.” Jlesolred, That this Grand Lodge I. O. G. T. endorse' this memorial, and co-operate with the Georgia Medical Association, these Ministers, and other citizens, in obtaining a favorable consideration of the Georgia Legislature. A true extract. W. E. H. SEARCY Grand Worthy Secretary, Independent Order of Good Templars. Gold is found in Vermont, Mary land, Virginia, North Carolina, Geor gia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kansan, Ne braska, Nevada, Oregon and California. Maryland shows but 8108 for her to tal. Vermont 85,015, and Kansas SI,OOO. California has contributed in twenty-four years 8043.121,400. North Carolina’s total is $0,805,253, and Georgia $7,250,000. Virginio and South Carolina have over one mill ion. One of the results of the lute storms in Europe was that great numbers of sardines were driven near the Cornish coast. Fishermen from St. Ives and Port Isaac caught them with seines to the number of 50,000 and 00,000 to the boat. As these fish sold at ex ceedingly good prices, the wind that blew them to the nets of the fishermen of Cornwall was not an ill one, how ever bad it may have proved itself in other quarters. Thirty-five thousand tons of wheat are stored at Stockton, Cal., for shipment to Liverpool. In a stretch of 815 miles on the Tex as Pacific railroad there will be but six bridges. It is thought the Macon and Bruns wick Bailroad, will revert to the State within the next ninety days. This road has never been a paying road, and while under separate management, from thi Central Railroad, perhaps never will be. It is too much like a poor horse trying to pull as much as a fat one. If the road doos revert to the State, it should be sold to the Cen tral Railroad. —A rural gentleman standing over a register in one of our stores attracted general attention t himself by observing to his wife, “Mariar, 1 guess I’m going to have a fever, 1 feel such hot streaks runuin’ up my legs.” Danbury Neu's. GT The Washington corres pondent of the New York World states that Gov. Sam Bard’s “friendsconsidder him elligible to any Federal appointment: pro viding only it is not in Tennessee.’ They seem rather anxious to get him out of the State. Form tlm Masonic ’Tablet. An Evil—The Remedy Editors: There is an evil existing in some Lodges that demands the attention of every true Mason, to the end that it may be remedied without delay; I say in some Lodge;, for I eirais ly hepe that it does not exist in all. 1 allude to a custom that seems to be on the increase, of form ng combination or rings for the purpose of electing certain brethren to office, or get ting some pet measure carried through. I presume that all true Masons agree that this is wrong and grossly unmasonic; but many, even of this class, are drawn into such rings upon the false principles that you must “fight the devil with fire.’’ We safely assume that the man (I will not say Mason) who electioneers fer office is unworthy of any position; and those who lead in those combinations to rule the Lodge, are not fit to hold membership in one. Masonry teaches that there should exist no emulation, except such as prompts us to see “who can best work, and best AGREE,” and also, that the “office should seek the man, not the man the of fice. ’ ’ I regard it as unnecessaiy to elaborate this point further. I have not heard of one who pretends to claim that it is not a violation of the letter and spirit of Masonry. This practice produces ill-feeling and there by destroys the harmony which should ex ist; the formation of one combination be gets an opposing one; the successful party exults over the victory, while the defeated are, perhaps, chagrined, and absent them selves from the meeting thereafter. But it does not stop here- The merits (and particularly the demerits) of the prominent candidates, and the workings and the re sult of the election, coupled with frequent; “flings’’ at some one or more of the breth ren, are freely discussed in the presence of the initiated, and personalities sometimes indulged in that would disgrace a political club- Is it strange that good men who love Masonry should be driven out of such Lodges ? The question arises, who are those who get up and foster such combinations? So far as I have observed, they are persons who have hardly taken off the J/nsomc swaddling dothes, who, having but ju.-t en tered the Temple, imagine that they have explored its deepest recesses, and under stand its sublimest mysteries; who take de grees and attend meetings with about the sinie feelingsand objects that they would in going to a monkey show or a club meet ing. They know nothing about Masonry, except perhaps the ritual or the ceremo nies and do not seem to care to learn; they have scarcely heard the charge read, and you find them ready to instruct the Master in the East. Masonic law and usage is at their tongue’s end before you are aware of it, they will begin to tell around who should be Master, or perhaps have tteir eye upon the Warden’s chair. Such persons live, anti are called Masons. But, what is the remedy? Let young Masons be sure that the}’ stand square md upright before they attempt to walk, and learn before they teach; and let all, yo-mg and old, icpudiate all proposition to 'brm combinations of this character, and oppose any one for office who attempts, directly or indirectly to form one; and let no opportunity pass without administering are buke o all such presump i ms and uuwor hy members. Brethren, this evil sups the foundation of or.r Lodge organization. Will you remedy it and will you doit now Yours Fit ATER. CIVIL RIGHTS IN FLORIDA, The following is the first section of the Civil Rights Bill passed by the Florida Legislature, now in session: “The people of the State of Florida, represented in Senate and Assembly, •lo enact as follows: Section 1. That no citizen of this State shall, by reason of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, 1 e xcepted <>r excluded from the full end equal enjoyment of any accommo dation, advantage, facility or privilege furnished by inn-keepers; by common carriers, whether on land or water; by licensed owners, managers or lesscs of theatres, or other places of public, amusement; by trustees, teachersoi* other officers of common schools ami public institutions of learning, the same being supported by monies de rived from general taxation, or author ized by law; also, of cemetery associa tions supported or authorized in the same way; provided that private schools of learning established exclu sively for white or colored persons, and maintained respectively by volun tary contributions, shall remain ac cording to the terms of the original es tablishment. ” The crime for violating the above clsiise, is to be known as a misdemean or, ami punishable by fine or impris ment, or buth.