Tobacco is Harmful to the Young.—A dose of poison which will kill a child may do but little harm to a man. Tobacco is certain to hurt boys more than it does men. The poison makes the body grow slower.
Fig. 42 —There is more poison in the one on the right than in the one on the left.
A large number of measurements made by Doctor Seaver showed that the boys who did not use tobacco gained in four years one twentieth more in weight and one fourth more in girth and height than the users of tobacco. These boys were between sixteen and twenty-two years of age. It is likely that tobacco will have a more harmful effect on younger boys.
Laws to keep the Young Healthy.—Boys ought to be wise and brave enough to let alone what keeps their bodies from growing and hurts their health, but some will not do it. For this reason some countries are trying to save the health of their boys by making laws against the use of tobacco.
The Germans a few years ago passed a law in their land forbidding all boys and girls under sixteen years of age to use tobacco in any form. Seeing the good results of this law in Germany and the harm that tobacco was doing the boys in the United States, the Emperor of Japan on the 6th of March, 1900, proclaimed this law: "The smoking of tobacco by minors under the age of twenty is prohibited."
In our own country several states have passed laws against the use of cigarettes by boys. One country after another is learning that if they want strong men, to fight, to work, and to win, tobacco must not be allowed to weaken the bodies of the young.
How the White Man becomes a Slave.—Before the Civil War the black men of the South were slaves. They could not do as they pleased because they belonged to their masters whom they must obey or else they would suffer punishment. No boy can begin the use of tobacco without the danger of becoming a slave to it.
The use of tobacco either by chewing or smoking gradually causes in any one the growth of an appetite which makes him feel miserable and unhappy unless it is kept satisfied. It can be satisfied only by the use of more and more tobacco.