THE DRINK PROBLEM 189 



way to comprehend inebriety except from exact studies of 

 inebriates in the most favorable surroundings. 



It is something more than the impulse to use spirits to 

 excess, more than a weak will and moral carelessness, which 

 is the cause of inebriety. This disease is beyond cure by 

 punishment or appeals to the emotions, beyond educational 

 and religious influences, beyond remedy by license and pro- 

 hibition. Back into these silent realms, where the great natu- 

 ral laws of evolution and dissolution move in a majestic sweep, 

 there we shall find its causes and the means of relief. 



Declaring the inebriate diseased and restraining him in 

 special asylums for cure is not a new theory of modern times, 

 but has been urged and discussed for over two thousand years. 

 But, like all other great truths in the world's history, it has 

 waited for an audience and a favorable time for acceptance. 

 That time is rapidly approaching, and the principle is already 

 recognized by an increasing number of scientific men in all 

 parts of the country. The state of Connecticut has passed 

 laws for the organization of such a hospital. Bills have been 

 introduced in many of the state legislatures for this same pur- 

 pose, but the opposition of moralists who still cling to the 

 vice theor}^ has so far prevented any practical work. 



Empirics and charlatans, ever eager to profit by the half 

 defined truths just dawning on the mental horizon, rush in 

 with claims of secret specifics for the cure of inebriety, arousing 

 enthusiasm among the poor victims and creating expectations 

 that will only end in disappointment. This in itself is an un- 

 mistakable sign of the rapid growth and evolution of the real 

 truth, which is now passing through the empiric stages. 



We must have hospitals in every city and town for in- 

 ebriates: First, for the paupers and criminals, the saloon 

 loungers, and those who are constantly before the police courts 

 for offenses of all kinds associated with excessive use of spirits. 

 This class must be committed for five or ten years, or on in- 

 determinate sentences depending upon their improvement 

 and restoration, under certain conditions being permitted to 

 go out on parole. Hospitals for their retention must be or- 

 ganized in the country, on large farms, where all the inmates 

 should be required to work every day at some profitable em- 



