HEALTH AND WELL-BEING 73 



remedy at any time for lack of vigor and strength, whether 

 of body or mind, is not some stimulant to further use up the 

 scant store of energy, but hygienic living in order that the 

 physical conditions be such as to provide the needed strength. 



Only workmen with clear minds, skillful hands, and steady 

 nerves are wanted in the railway service, in the great indus- 

 tries, and in all positions of trust and responsibility. Dissipa- 

 tion of any sort shatters the nerves, beclouds the brain, and 

 unfits for effective service. Such workers are discriminated 

 against in the affairs of the world everywhere and cannot 

 hope to secure and retain its most desirable positions. 



The continued use of small amounts of alcoholic liquors 

 impairs the health, reduces the recuperative powers of the 

 body in cases of illness, and makes one more liable to in- 

 fectious diseases. Insurance companies often refuse to 

 take life risks of even moderate drinkers because of the 

 higher death rate among them. 



The debauching effects of an excessive use of alcoholic 

 drinks is a matter of common observation; and the use of 

 alcohol as a beverage is a menace to human life and social 

 welfare. The testimony of texts on human biology con- 

 cerning its destructive results upon the nerve centers that 

 are concerned in the higher intellectual processes is scarcely 

 required. The drinker is not only made less efficient 

 physically and mentally, but he loses in self-respect, and 

 his powers of judgment are impaired. 



Poverty, wretchedness, vice, and crime are common 

 accompaniments of the habitual and excessive use of alco- 

 holic drinks and narcotics. At no time does the victim of 

 alc'oholic drink plan to make a wreck of his life and man- 

 hood by becoming hopelessly enslaved. His helplessness 

 in an attempt to regain wasted strength of body, and to 

 reassert control over himself, calls for pity. In his home 

 there are those who are innocent sufferers, and the com- 



