s,
"but it is that half which gives us the most concern. There are many
ways of dealing with the drunkards and with their families, and the
remedy must be separately chosen for each case. Some of our friends
are impatient with all these partial remedies and will use none of
them, waiting until they can sweep out of the State the alcohol which
seems to them the whole cause of the trouble. But if it were all taken
away to-morrow, I feel sure we should find this also only a partial
remedy, and that the same want of self-control which makes men and
women drunkards would drive some of them to-morrow to other and perhaps
worse stimulants. So, while I hope and believe that slowly and
steadily the sentiment of individuals {59} is growing toward total
abstinence, and that in the course of years, generations, perhaps, it
will become the law of the State, I believe in working man to man and
woman to woman in building up and strengthening character as the chief
safeguard against so great an evil." [7]

The first thing, in dealing with an individual case of drunkenness, is
to find out its history. Is it the cause of poverty and misfortune, or
have poverty and misfortune caused it? Is there an inherited tendency
to drink, or did the habit originate in some other bad personal habit?
Is bad health the cause? Has unhealthy or dangerous employment
anything to do with it? Is bad home cooking one of the causes? Some
one has said that the best temperance lecturer is the properly filled
dinner-pail. Worry from lack of work, and the need of some warm
stimulant after exposure, are frequent causes; and they are both
removable with friendly help. A man who is honestly trying to break
himself of the drink habit {60} deserves all the patience, sympathy,
and resourcefulness at our command.

When a man is sensitive and proud, the visitor can often be most
helpful by simply showing his sympathy. "A travelling salesman who
became addicted to drink lost a good situation through this habit. He
had a wife and seven children, all the children being too young to earn
anything. The wife was very brave and supported the family as long as
she was able. When the case came to the Charity Organization Society
the rent was in arrears and the landlord threatening. We sent a
gentleman as our friendly visitor in the case, and after great
persistence and repeated failures he succeeded in keeping the head of
the family sober for a few days. The man