, 1891-11-21
THE CONGRESS OF HYGIENE.
ALCOHOLISM.
From Mature" Sept. 77tb,)

PuDllc Health ana the meCnOdS TO be adopted
for its prevention.
Prot. Harald Westergaard, of Copenhagen,
followed with a paper on the same subject.
What are the losses of life, he asked, caused to
a population by intemperance? This question
can to a certain extent be answered by exam
lining the causes of death, especially delirium
tremens and chronic alcoholism. 1t has been
objected that these causes of death supply an
unsatisfactory picture of drinking excess,
because the wish to spare the feelings of sur
viving relatives makes returns Of such deaths
less trustworthy, and it has therefore been
proposed to use other diseases as a measule-
such as liver disease Especially cirrhosis of
the liver. Yet it is worth while to examine
the aforementioned causes of death. In most
countries the statistics of the cause of death
do not allow conclusions with regard to alco-
holism corresponding to those for Denmark and
Norway But, at all events, the statistical
data sufficiently show that a great part of the
civilized world is suffering greatly from the
effects of alcoholism. The investigations of the
Harveian Society make it probable that in
London one seventh of all adult deaths tmales and
females) is directly orindirectly due to the conse-
quences of alcoholic excess. The mortality in
England from alcoholism in 1871-8O among
males 25 to So years old was about l per cent
of all deaths-nearly 500 yearly. What an
amount of disease and poverty, of moral and
physical degradation, is represented by these
800 deaths In Belgium the yearly loss of
life from delirium tremens among males was
$50 in 1S70-S9. Still greater have been the
devastations of drinking in Switzerland.
Prussia has a yearly loss of 100 males from
delirium tremens. Undoubtedly we should
find. if trustworthy data could be had, that
chronic alcoholism and delirium tremens
alone kill many thousands of men every year.
What is to be done? High excuses are generally
looked upon as an excellent weapon against al
coholism. But we must not forget that even a
very high excise, as in England, does not pre-.
vent spirituous liquors from coming within
the reach of anybody, so long as the number of
public-houses is so exceedingly large as in
this country. If a person has to go a long
way to get drunk, and if he has in addition to
pay a good sum for it, he will stop to think
before going. Still, high excuses seem to have
some effect the German law of 1887 has, for
instance reduced the consumption of spirits to
a certain extent. But generally the reduction
of the consumed quantity does not seem to
correspond with the increase of the excise.
An interesting expedient is the new State
monopoly in Switzerland. Ten per cent of the
surplus are left to the cantons counteracting al
coholism. By regulating the price the monopo-
ly acts like an excise, and the Governmenttake
care that only unadulterated liquors are sold.
The monopoly is reported TO nave had a good
sanitary effect, and it has caused some decrease
in the consumption of liquors. In connection
with excise and duties every effort is to be
commended which tends to render the access
to Intoxicating liquors more difficult. Among
these measures, the three popular American
systems deserve our attention-viz, the Maine
laws, local option, and the high-licence system.
The first of these expedients-the prohibitory
system-has been tried in Maine and some
other American States. According to this
system, it is prohibited to manufacture and
sell intoxicating liquors; the only exception
commonly being that liquors of Foreign pro-
duction" may be imported and sold in the
original packages. But this exception is I'M
Just, permitting the man who can afford it to
order as much liquor as he likes, and nearly
all reports agree in testifying to the perpetual
violation of these laws. One curious fact
from Maine where the system was adopted in
1881 may be mentioned. During the years
1851 SO: 8412 divorces of marriages took
place, being probably several per cent. of the
yearly number of celebrated marriages. OF these
no less than $50, or IL per cent. were caused
by incompetence, combined or not with other
causes. 1t thus seems that incorporate habits
are rather frequent in this State. Curiously
enough, the State Of Massachusetts (whe1e
there is a considerable revenue for ~licences)