Insanity as Related to Drunkenness
By F. L. Hommel
The Vices and Not the Worries of Civilization — The Grave of Hope, Purity, and Happiness The sixty-sixth annual report of the government lunacy commissioners, when submitted to the British Parliament, evoked a great deal of comment. This report, showing the number of insane persons in England and Wales for the last reported year, and for a number of other years, taking them at regular ten-year intervals, is of special interest to the student of sociology. Notice: | Year |
No. of Insane |
Rates per 10,000 Pop. |
|---|
| 1852 |
21,158 |
11.6 |
| 1862 |
41,129 |
20.2 |
| 1872 |
58,640 |
25.4 |
| 1882 |
75,072 |
29.0 |
| 1892 |
87,248 |
29.8 |
| 1902 |
110,713 |
33.5 |
| 1912 |
135,661 |
37.1 |
The commissioners, in their report, stated that the three great causes of lunacy were hereditary influences, previous attacks, and intemperance. The first two are predisposing causes, and the third is an exciting cause. THE VICES AND NOT THE WORRIES
With these theories the late L. S. Forbes Winslow, M. B., M. R. C. P., LL. D., D. C. L., a specialist upon mental diseases, whose writings, dealing with the relationship between drink and mental defectiveness, have won for him high distinction, takes issue. He says: “I have no patience with those who ascribe this terrible condition of affairs to increased competition, and the wear and tear of modern life. . . . No. It is mere shelving of responsibility, and the true causes of insanity are the vices, not the worries, of civilization. I should put the causes of insanity in the following order: (1) drink; (2) cigarette smoking; (3) heredity. And until the drink question has been settled or properly dealt with, and the marriage laws revised, the nation will continue to go from bad to worse.” The statement that the “true causes of insanity are the vices, not the worries, of civilization,” is not overdrawn. THE GRAVE OF HOPE AND HAPPINESS
Read the following description of another by-product of the liquor and tobacco traffic as given by John J. Eden, in the War Cry: “The public house [saloon] is the grave of hope, purity, life, and happiness. The large takings are indeed the price of blood and innocence. Here there is no old-time comradeship; but you will meet all that quintessence of greed, cruelty, and right down wickedness represented in the racing man, the card sharper, the streetwalker, the wife beater, and the white slave agent. The filthy floor reeks with germs of consumption and foul diseases, whilst the air is poisoned by tobacco fumes and deadly gases from ill-used stomachs. Everything seen, heard, smelled, or tasted is revolting. . . . Through side doors issue the sisters of the night, women young and old, pretty and plain. Once some of them were scholars in Sabbath schools, and loved the Lord. Now their thoughts dwell on beer, and the means of securing a constant supply. “The public house [saloon] is the cemetery within whose unhallowed walls lie buried the virtue and beauty and love of girls who were once ministering angels. Here the flower of manhood, the blossom of womanhood, wither ere the rising sun can ripen the fruit. Visit the hovels where exist life’s derelicts — miserable dens where the tract is unread and the preacher unheard, where conscience lies drowned under seas of beer. . . . In every churchyard, the unknown grave bears witness to the finished product of drink.” What a dreadful picture! From the hour when the daughters of Lot made the world blush because of their disgraceful conduct in a cave in the mountains of Zoar, until the557present day, there has been one continuous, unrelenting, despairing cry of distress. The record says, “They made their father drink wine that night.” What heartbreaking anguish the Israelites endured for generations because of that one transgression! The Ammonites and Moabites, warlike, revengeful, idolatrous, and determined, were ever the foes of God’s chosen people. In manner, in dress, and in morals, the true Israel have ever been different from the idolaters about them. What wonder is it that the human family are steeped in sin, when many of the patterns of female attire are cut in the workshop of hell! Can it be expected that young men and young women who have no hold on God, will retain their purity when compelled to witness such sights as are daily seen on the streets of our larger cities? Is it strange that groups of men stand on the street corners and stare in astonishment at the living creatures adorned in fashionable garments who chance to be passing? What do they see?—Presumably, a product of the Garden of Eden, a daughter of Eve. But where is the likeness? The trouser-like cut of the garment indicates masculinity. The hanging folds of cloth indicate femininity. What shall we say concerning this semi-femininity-masculinity type of adornment? Is it not a disgrace to modern civilization? The fact that thousands of wives and daughters whose characters are unquestioned, adorn themselves thus, does not lessen the demoralizing effect. Upon observing the results produced by these fashions, one is led to ask himself whether they are the “finished product” of the Garden of Eden, or of the cave in the mountains of Zoar. Merciful God, preserve the youth of Christian parents everywhere from the enticing, deceptive allurements of this untoward generation.