Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-16
DRINKING IN GERMANY.
Four Glasses of Beer per Head the Av-
eraEe Daily Consumption.
From, the London Globe.

From, the London Globe.
The question of excessive drinking in
Germany, and its results on the health
morals and prosperity OF the people, has
just been made the subject of an elaborate
investigation by DR.. Baer, head physician
at the PlOtzensee prison, who has pub
lished pamphlet with the title Drunk
enness and the combat against it in Ger
many" A full account is given OF the con-
tents of DR.. Baer's work in o report ad-
dressed to the English Foreign Office by
Consul General Oppenheimer. The writer
takes a very serious view indeed Of the
mischief which he conceives is being
wrought among his countrymen by their
devotion to spirit-drinking. and his opin-
ions are the more worthy of attention
from the fact that he is not in favor of
total abstinence, either on moral grounds
or as necessarily conductive to health.
1t is difficult, for reasons which DR.. Baer
points out, to arrive at the exact quantity
OF spirits produced and consumed
in Germany, but he has no doubt
that the actual quantity is much
greater than that which he has taken
as the basis of his calculations.
According to these every adult
male German was In the habit of
drinking, ten years ago, an average Of one
litre of pure alcohol a week. or four
glasses daily; and four years later the
consumption had increased by nearly %
per cent. The facilities for drinking have
certainly been augmented; for, while
there were in Prussia in 1869 fewer than
10000 licensed houses, the number had
risen in 1880 to $500. The population
had increased in the Intervening eleven
years by IL per cent, while the public
houses had increased by SO per cent. 1t
can hardly be said, therefore, that the
creation of the empire has tended to-
wards temperance, whatever other good
results il may have had. The 5000 Ii
censed houses do not, however, include all
the places at which intOXicants may be
procured. If all the wine and beer shops
are taken into account, it will appear that
the people of Prussia had, five years ago.
just 200,0 900 places where they could buy
alcoholic drinks. There is a speciality
about German spirit-drinking, il DR..
Baer is right, which demands the serious
consideration of all who wish well to the
Fatheriand. 1t is bad enough that the
consumption of ardent spirits should
reach the high average of four glasses a
day for the adult male population, but
the drinking is SAID 20 be more con-
centrated than in other countries; so
that among the regular devOtees of the
bottle the consumption Is really much
greater than is thus indicated. Accord
ing to DR.. Baer the use of spirits has
almost gone out of fashion among the
upper and well-tO-dO classes, aud, il this
ts the case, il must have extended enOr-
mously among the working people. AT
the same time the consumption per head
by the population OF beer, which is in
Germany not perhaps quite as specifically
the poor mans beverage as it is
in England, has very much more
than doubled in the last quarter
OF century. There is one redeeming
feature about German drunkenness upon
which DR.. Baer does not dwell, as he
would have been inclined To do il be were
better acquainted with English habits. In
this country we are accustomed to hear.
and il is TO be feared with too good reason,
OF the increase Of drinking among women.
IL would seem, from the figures here
brought together, that German women
are as yet comparatively free from
the vice. In every 100 cases OF suicide
in Prussia among men, ID are assigned
TO drink as the prime cause, while
among women the proportion is only ,.
Again, out Of 81 persons who in five
years lost their lives by accidents oc-
curing through drunkenness. there we're
but II women 10 294 men. Once more, il
appears that in p per cent. OF the male
lunacy cases admitted into Prussian asy-
lums, dipsomania was assigned as the
prime cause Of the malady, while in the
case of women the proportion was little
more than per cent. This is surely a
hopeful element amid much in DR.. Baer's
Investigations that is discouraging to
German patriot.