You lucky, well-balanced ones talk much, and sincerely, of the horrors of drink, and of the drunkard's weakness.
You think the whiskey drinker ought to stop.
Do you ask yourself whether or not he CAN stop?
Let us consider to-day the drunkard's side of the case. ——
Very often physical weakness causes drunkenness. Many a man takes a drink because the task put upon him is heavier than he can bear. The whiskey does not help him—it hurts him. But it cheats him and makes him THINK that he is helped.
You realize that whiskey drinking as a settled habit must be fought with weapons of some kind.
WILL POWER is the great weapon to use in our own behalf. You tell the drunkard to use his will power.
But you forget that the first thing that whiskey attacks is will power.
You remind the drunkard that his weakness brings suffering on others, and you appeal to his conscience. But you forget that whiskey weakens conscience even more than it weakens the nerves. You forget, too, that whiskey makes its victims suffer. If he could free himself he would do so, if only for his own sake.
And you must not forget that whiskey argues ingeniously, in addition to its telling of lies.