People's friend. (Rome, Ga.) 1873-18??, February 01, 1873, Image 6

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FRIEND. Rj turning So-Called Ku-Klux Prisoner. — The Richmond Enbnirer of Tuesday, the 21st instant, says; Mr. Jos. F. Price, of Union county, Soutn Carolina, arrived in this city Saturday evening on his way to the South from the Albany Penitentiary, in which prison he was confined for twelve months. In 1872 he was convicted at Columbia with a num ber of others, of making a raid upon the Union county jail and assisting in lynching teu negro murderers. Ihe evidence against him was scarcely sufficient to couvict him of any connection with the Ku-Klux, yet he was found guilty and sentenced to twelve months’ imprisonment. Having served out his time, he was turned out of prison in a most destitute condition, and only reached this city through the benevolence of some kind gentlemen of New York. Some gentlemen who felt deeply for him in his misfotnnes, got him quarters here, and the Chief of Police secured a railroad pass for him to a city far on the course of his rout. Mr. Price said he left about seventy three Ku-Klux and other Southern prison ers at Albany, nearly all of whom are in a suffering condition, much needing the comfort and remembrance of their South ern friends. Mi The Pay of Congressmen to be in creased. —A special dispatch to the Chi cago Tribune says for some time past the question has been discussed very quietly among both Senators and Representatives as to the propriety of increasing the salaries of the members of both Houses to ten thou sand dollars a year, the proposition being for the law to include the present Congress, thus reverting nearly two years. The move ment is said co have been started in the Senate by Hamilton, of Maryland, and that a canvass is being quietly taken with a favorable result, to ascertain the probable success of the undertaking. The attempt is a ver}’ earnest one, and it is sought to take advantage of the present auspicious time when enough members will go out of Congress with the present term to carry the increase. The correspondent says such a proposition might go through the Senate, but were it not that the terms of more than a majority of the present House will expire March 4, it would certain!}’ fail in the latter body, for those going out do not regard the responsibility as highly as those who re main in Congress. Debts of the Southern States. —The following are the debts of the Southern States as the minority Ku Klux report makes them out. The contingent indebt is added to the present indebted ness : Alabama —Thirty-eight and one-third millions—ati increase of thirty two millions since the war. Arkansas —Nineteen and three-quarter millions —an increase of fifteen millions since the war. Florida—Fifteen and three-quarter mill ions— wholly incurred since the war. (leorgia—Forty-four millions —an increase of forty-one millions Louisiana—Forty-one millions—an in crease of thirty-one millions. North Carolina—Thirty-five millions—an increase of twenty-four millions. South Carolina—Twenty-nine millions an increase of twenty-five millions. Mis-issippi—One and three-quarter mil lions—wholly increase. Tennessee —Forty-live and a half millions —nn increase of fourteen millions. Virginia—Forty-five million.,—an increase of fourteen millions. Removal of the ('apitolto Millf.dg- VlLl.e.— The Macon Telegraph of yesterday Say< ■ r , “Ac are intormed on authority that sel dom make mistakes that a decided majori ty of the Legislature is strongly in favor of the removal of the Capitol to the old and rich’, ful seat of government, Millcdgville. We do not know what will be the result of this opinion on the part, of the members of the tieral A-sembly, but we are assured that if the question could be brought to a direct vote n or, there would Ik? no sort of d.iubt as to the result. Would it not he we’l, byway of testing the sense • f the re: resentatives of the people on this ques tion, that a vote should be taken? We shall never rest easy until the last vestige ■ f 3u!locki<m has been buried in a deep an ’ dish jnored grave.” We heartily second the motion and en dorse the views of the Tdegraph in refer ence to the removal of the State Capitol to Milledgeville, its time honored seat. N’o ranruft Anr*. i The Columbus Sun, in speaking of that city, .-ays; In May, 1 St'»s, the people hard ly knew where to look for substance. Some ten millions of property were destroyed by the Federal.-, and in addition, our slaves were treed Since, we have rebuilt all that was burned, and now stand the first of any Southern city, in point of manufactures. From nothing, in 1865, Columbus is run ning 32.UU0 st indies, several thousand 1 Un-, and Ler iron works are estimated at s9?.Our progress has been steady and sure, and the tendency is still upward and onward Every investment has been made with Southern capital. The Importance of Establishing an Inebriate'Asylum in the State of Georgia. AN ADDRESS BY REV. L. GWALTNEY, DELIVERED BEFORE THE GRAND LODGE I. O. G. T. OF THE STAEE OF GEORGIA, AT ITS ANNUAL MEETING, HELD IN ROME, GA., OCTOBER, 1872, AND PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE GRAND LODGE. Grand Worthy Chief Templar, Members of the Grand Lodge, and Fellow Templars: I earnestly desired that the address on this subject should be prepared by some one whose position and ability would gain a more favorable hearing than I may hope to receive. For the duty assigned me I can claim but one qualification, the deepest sympathy for the unfortunate victims of intemperance and an abiding faith that many of the most hopeless might be saved through the agency of a home, where they could be treated as their unhappy condition demands. Deeply impressed with the conviction that an asylum for inebriates would confer priceless blessings on those who might seek its beneficent aid, and at the same time would increase the productive industry, and promote the material and moral welfare of the entire State, I regard with interest any movement in that direction. It was my privilege, two years ago, to prepare a memorial on this subject which has received the endorsement of this body and of the Georgia Medical Association, and which I trust will yet receive the favorable consideration of the Georgia Legislature. It is my present aim to advocate the views set forth in that memorial. Many are accustomed to denounce drunkenness as only a crime, to regard the inebriate as a foolish devotee to a course of sinful indulgence by which he injures society, ruins himself and inflicts unutterable anguish upon those who love him. Any other new of his conduct, they say, excuses his offence and relieves him of personal responsibility. Hence, in proposing for him a refuge and a treat ment in which sympathy, kindness, and remedial agents rather than abuse and punishment, are recognized as the only means of cure, it is necessary that we dis seminate correct view of his true condition; a condition demanding a temporary home, removed from the temptations and surroundings of his former life, to which he can go for physical, mental, and moral recovery. When this wretched man pleads for help, we must not steel the heart and embarrass the judgement by the effort to determine what may have been his antecedent moral character, or what degree of moral turpitude attaches to his present conduct. He may have committed a great wrong against himself and great crimes against society, may have forfeited all claim to the regards of the pure and good, may deserve unsparing censure, and severe punishment, but our first duty is not to sit in judgement upon these issues. While we vainly discuss a most intricate moral problem, a thousand similar cases multiply on all sides, to the public as well as private detriment. The physician does not stop to .consider whether his patient, suffering from poison, was a good or a bad man, whether he was in part excusable/)!’ wholly culpable in taking the poison. Leav ing these points to be settled at a different time and a different tribunal, he works faithfully and perseveringly to relieve the sufferer. Every man honors him for thus doing. This question of the inebriate’s moral guilt was wisely and resolutely set aside in the last meeting of the “American Associa tion for the cure of inebriates” by the following pertinent resolution: “Resolved, That we have no controversy with the dogma of criminality as applied to the act of drunkenness.” Putting aside, then, the question of moral turpitude, we must look upon the inebriate as a diseased man, experiencing in the various stages of his disease the umnistakeable and painful results of his past indulgence, whatever may have been the cause or the guilt of that indulgence. • . The medical profession long ago decided that alcohol is a poison, whose habitual use will certainly cause many distressing and fatal diseases. Such writers as Orfila, Christison, Lees, Chambers, Mudge, Fletcher, and Carpenter have established this by an array of experiments, facts, and arguments, posi tively unanswerable. Their views are further confirmed by more recent wri ters, as Moore, Hall. Parker, Dodge, and others. But the position that inebri ty itself is a disease, demanding the wise use of remedial agents is not so old, and has not been so readily received. Yet even this is by no means a late discovery. “Nearly sixty years ago, the celebrated Dr. Rush referred drunk enness to a morbid state of the will,” and “recommended the establishment of a hospital in every city and town in the United States for the exclusive recep tion of hard drinkers.” He thus writes, “they are as much objects of humani ty and charity ns mad people.” Dr. Robert Jamison, of Aberdeen, speaks of prospensity to drunkenness “as a morbid impulse, forming a variety of moral insanity, referred to under the name of dypsomania, (thirst-craziness). In 1833, Dr. Woodward, of the Worchester, Mass., Insane Hospital, maintained that intemperance was a disease, amenable to treatment. He says, “a large proportion of the intemperate, in a well conducted instution could be radically cured, and would again go into society with health re-established, diseased ap petites removed; with principles of intemperance well grounded and thorough ly understood, so that they would be afterwards safe and sober men.” Such were the views of the ablest physicians of a former generation. “Under the names of dypsomania, (thirst-craziness) or methomania, (an irresistible desire to drink) inebrity has found a recognizt d place in the catalogue of diseases.” But these conclusions of medical science should not be confined to the medical profession. The people generally should know them, and feel their sad reali ty. It is the common opinion that, social drinking is simply a pleasant indul gence, which can be continued or abandoned, as circumstances or judgement may dictate. It is high time for those who cherish this delusion to learn that they are gradually but surely fastening upon themselves a disease whose hold is stronger than fever and as deadly as the plague, when suffered to run its course; a disease from which, in its latter stages, there is no hope of recovery except through the merciful agency of an Asylum that shall separate them for a time from all former associations, and constrain them to the abandonment of long continued habits. As set forth in the memorial referred to. such an Asylum, with the experi ence of its inmates, would be a centre ot light to flic people, tending to the rap id dissemination of correct views on a subject so little understood. The condition of the system, called “alcoholism' by medical writers, involves “organic changes” and “fundamental derangements” which have been care fully studi< I and can be easily recognized by the intelligent physician. It is not nocessarv that we discuss the “pathology” of the disease, that we determine the question “whv do men drink?” that we ascertain “the secret of that ter rible propensity. The fact of its existence start -us in the face. The obscure and ig norant an- not' its onlv victims. The loveliest and the most gifted yield to its power in spite of every consideration that can appeal to a rational and immortal lieiny. Its phases are various. Some men seem to be all the time under the sway of this irresistible propensity—are always drunk, except when under restraint. Others have “paroxvsms of drunkenness. Sober and trusted for one, three, or six mouths, thev are suddenly overpowered, and nothing short of absolute intoxication will satisfy them. The manifestations are various. Some show a silly but harmless exultation of spirit.-; others sink into pitiable brutes; oth ers exhibit uncontrollable propensities, as “pyromamia,” “kleptomamia.' and ‘’homicidal mania. All these are but the consequences of the pre-existing mania,—the unconquerable propensity to drink. With the great majority inourday, this morbid appetite is inherited. Ttisan admitted fact that propensities, as well as features and desires, are transmitted through successive generations. These are developed not at once, but at cer tain periods, and with marked gradations. The expressions of countenance, the physical peculiarities, as well as the individual features of the son. become in creasingly like those of the father with advancing years. So. hereditary diseases, as blindness, consumption, and others, are developed gradually, and make their apjiearanee at certain periods of life. In like manner the inherited thirst for liquor is gradually a-tly developed to a certain wli-n it assumes a dominant and dreadful power. The innocence of childhood and the piety of youth do n-’t constitute a sure guarantee of exemption from this law of entail ment. Says Dr. Burr. “the critical period at length arrives, and suddenly, like the fatal cancer, there is developed the morbid propensity.” The man seems completely changed, his organism appears to undergo an entire trans formation. Uncontrollable appetites are arou.-wl. Drunkenness blights the . promise of former years. A life, pure and joyous in its morning, early finds ! an evening of shame and voiceless woe. Thus deteriorated physically, with intellect weakened, moral sensibilities blunted, the self-determining power of the will paralyzed, what can the miserable inebriate do ? What can his dispairing family do ? Left to himself, or with such aid as they alone can render, he must inevitably perish. Regarded with contempt by the community, an outcast from all pleasant and hopeful associations, expelled the church, given up as beyond rescue, a burden to those who have loved and cherished him, and final ly abandoned by them; yet conscious of his condition; at moments, the sad victim of a remorse as bitter and as consuming as ever tortured the soul on eiji’tli, groaning under the tyrranny of an organization he cannot correct, and of hab its he cannot break, doomed to a life which lias no aim, no sun, no star; “not one ray of cheerful hope,” his is indeed a pitiable condition. Alas! alas! poor, lost, wretched man, how I compassionate thy miserable doom, fraught with an anguish so singular and so unspeakable! What has the State done for these unhappy inebriates? Some one replies; what do they desevre ? Have they not forfeited all claim to sympathy and re lief ? Is not the jail a place of confinement for those who disturb the peace by violence, or who become a nuisance as common vagabonds ? And is not the penitentiary a suitable place of punishment for those who will commit crime under the influence of liquor ? True, the jail can confine, and the penitentiary has a penal discipline, but neither can benefit the confirmed inebriate, or banish the crimes for which he is imprisoned. In jail, he is for a time confined at an expense to the county. When released, he returns to his former habits of drunkenness, vagrancy and disorder. He grows in vice, while the public is at a constant expense to re strain or punish him. In the case of those sent to the penitentiary, the same holds true, with the additional disadvantage that many who go there for one crime, committed in drunkenness, come away more hopelessly corrupted, by contact with criminals of every shade, and schooled for the commission of ev ery crime. Precisely this view, based upon facts of constant occurrance, has induced the English Parliament to give its favorable consideration to a Bill, introduced by Earl Dalrymple, whose object is the establishment of Institutions in England for the treatment of drunkards, similar to those already in opera tion in America. English Statesmen, as well as American Legislators are be coming convinced that while jails and penitentiaries have their appropriate sphere, they do but little towards diminishing the vagrancy and crimes of which intemperance is the instigating cause. It has been repeatedly affirmed by the most intelligent and fearless jurists that three fourths of the' vagrancy, vice and crime o c the land can be directly traced to this cause. Our Legislators, then, may well cc ns Ider the question whether there may not be a better and more successful treatment for those whose offences spring from intemperate habits. May it not be wiser and more humane to attempt the cure of the ine briate, while restraining him from the repetition of his crimes. But there are many inebriates who are not criminals. They injure only themselves and grieve only their kindred and friends. From various causes they have gone so far that they cannot of themselves return. The gate has closed behind them that shuts them out from the land of sunshine and joy, of bright skies, and sweet sounds, and scented breezes, the land of faith and hope. . They have no faith in themselves, no hope for themselves. Friends have ceased to hope for them. Though loving them still, they are powerless to save them. Vows the most solemn have been taken and speedily broken. A few days of sobriety, under the influence of a still lingering sense of honor, have been followed by a raging thirst and mental unrest before whose power con jugal love, parental affection, professional standing, kindred ties, riches, honor, all- have been dashed aside, their strength but as “the green withs” which yielded to the arm of Samson,” as a thread of tow, when it toucheth the fire.” Their number is not small. Many of them have gifts and graces that would adorn any position, while all of them, if sober, would be useful citizens. One by one they sink into the untimely grave, lost to their families, lost to society, lost to the State. Many such have been saved through the agency of Inebriate Asylums in other States; many could be saved by a similar agency in our own State. If it be said that it is inconsistent in the State to legalize the traffic which makes inebriates, and then establish an Asylum for their cure, I grant that the inconsistency is great. My reply is briefly this: Because our fathers had not the wisdom, or the nerve, to legislate for the prevention of intemperance, shall we have no pity for its wretched victims? The evil is upon us. The diseased and dying are in our midst. Their number increases with each succeeding generation. With no Asylum for the intelligent treatment of their condition, they are as surely doomed as the maniac, or plague-smitten would be, if cast out from all pity and help. Hereditary taint, deep-seated disease, and the long indulged “thirst for drink” are not subdued by simple legal enactments, cither prohibi tory or penal. These minister not to a mind enfeebled, a soul polluted and debased, a body saturated with alcohol and sinking into the grave. The en slaved and miserable victim of “alcoholism” needs something more. He should be removed from scenes of temptation, should be subjected to firm but gentle restraint, should receive judicious .sanitary treatment, should be separated from all depressing and exciting associations, should have quiet rest and ample time for regaining his lost energies of mind and body. Such treatment, combining the requisites necessary for his recovery, he cannot receive either at his own home, or in any public institution now existing in this State. If possessed of ample means, he can go to Asylums in other States, but the expense to those who are non-residents of these States is so great, that but few* can afford it. Seven such institutions have been in successful operation for a number of years. They are: The N. Y. State Inebriate Asylum, Binghampton, N. Y., Established ISG7. The Washingtonian Home, Boston Mass., “ 1857. Inebriate’s Home, Long Island, N. Y., “ 1866. Washingtonian Home, Chicago, 111., “ 1867, Pennsylvania Sanitarium near Philadelphia Greenwood Institute, near Boston, Mass., “ 1856. Harlem Asylum for Inebriates, Baltimore, Md., “ 1867. The reports from the Superintendents of these Institutions, as far as I have been permitted to read them, are full of encouragement and hope. They show the great need of such Asylums, the special position they occupy, what they aim to do ami what they have actually accomplished; the unreasonable preju dices to such institutions, and the solid considerations which should shame and banish these prejudices; their material benefit to the State in the restoration of laborers, artizans and professional men to the various weal th-producing and wealth-distributing employments; their advantage to the State in the diminu tion of crime, and improvement of morals, so far as affected by the inebriates who have been cured: the good accomplished by them through the personal labors of the many who have gone forth, redeemed from a blighting curse, to live for the deliverance of others from this curse, the home comfort and unspeakable joy they have produced in the families of restored inebriates, and last, though not least, they exhibit the hopeful results of those religious influ ences brought to bear upon their patients; influences which, lost upon the inebriate, affect the heart after tiie demon has been cast out, and lead him to the Cross, to peace on earth, and to a glorious immortality in Heaven. Much that relates to the successful working of these Institutions, may be found in the annuid reports of the “American Association for the cure of Ine briates,” to which I am chiefly indebted for the facts here presented. If we succeed in directing the attention of our legislators to this important subject, I trust they will give these reports a careful reading, for they fully elalx.rate the views which I can but briefly suggest, in the time allowed to this address. Objections to this movement may be readily found, but they are trivial in comparison with the solid arguments in favor of it. Reasons, numerous and most weighty, plead for the establishment of an Inebriate Asylum in Georgia. I can but indicate these reasons. They relate to the questions of productive industry, of crime, of morals, of education, of the elevation and advancement of all classes, for all class’ s are intimately ami inseparably linked with this blighting evil. Thev relate to social tranquility and domestic happiness; to the living who rnav he restored, saved for time and eternity, and to the unborn who, if nothing be done, are doomed to the entailment of a drunkard’s appetite and a drunk ard’s woe.