New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-20
A RACE OF ALCOHOLICS.
TIE DOCTORS SAY ONE is CROWN"
Up IN FRANCE.

PROPOSED STATE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. fioN
OF LIouoR-INCEFAsE or TWENTY YEARS
DANGER or HERIpITY -CHAEACTER
or FRENCH ALcoHoIs- LEGs-
1.ATIoN IL THE PAST.
Paris January J.
on the reassomhlinG of Parliament after '"c
holidays Nj. Jules Roche. former Minister ="
Commerce and an acknowledged master Of All
public questions that need statistics LOT '"c'i
solution. will present complete project ~
low dealing with the manufacture rectihca''o'''
cal. and taxation of alcohol in all its forms
II will be the twcnty-thrd project ~ inc KIN"
sine. 1850 to each Of which the French Dcpu-
ties have responded by an innocent law asa'"'.
NOR, drunkenness Like the political rulers OF
other rarts Of the world. they are aware mat
universal suffrage concludes its bargains "crosS
the counter OF the wine merchants.
These require no special licensing in France;
ana ,ho,, wares no matter how highly col
ored and pocticaly named. have for their
oh,o, ingr,di.rts some crude and cheap impure
alcohol ard water from the nearest spout As
CONSEQUENCE ALL projects Of reform begin with
do,,,rd chat .i,c state shall take upon itself
.ho ,..ronoI,, Of tn, manufacture or. AT least
r tho Grai raciiGcation Of all alcohol. Ara
-, . ,,o,r donand a severe Government
control Of the sale and an amount "i t"Na'on
,.,,icb will leave little desire To counterfeit
Good wine with a skiIful mixture OF bad potato
brandy.
Among the reports which have been maze on
tho nronosition Of such reforms. som" are
monumental I'm their completeness a'd Scien-
,idc character Pascal Duprat In lHSl' 'iauu'
dos VosCes) In 1851 Jamas in 1882 saio "eh-
NIGH everything about the consumption Oh
alcohol and it's special dangers in france Inc
late President Carnot vas author oi aho'h'f "
mort and so have been cx-MinisterS feEua'
and Rouvier 1t is not. therefore d! as''a'o''
aool,irp n footstool Of notoriety tha' TINS dues
,ion has been treated II the tnghsh anu
American advocates OF temperance nave neg
lec,ed to profit by these French authori'ies' "
,rust he from the radically different conception
Of the facts Of the case as entertained """"h
tho different peoples. 1t might be wei 10 re-
member that the French proJects nave i"'
choir base the latest and most thorough re-
searches Of the Faculty OF Medicine III al "'
branches 1t is no longer here mere Pues''o''
Of the drunkenness that excltes sen''''''"'"'
nifty or disgust The most eminent spec'a'S's
in insanity and nervous degeHeracE' an" ~
morbid and criminal hcreditN. nave le'' vi.
aid of their science. After tins was ""''' '''''
well and completely done. II sh"u'u w '"'''
,he student Of society as 1t rs. Win us "O'ua'
evils from the abuse OF alcohol or worse sum
from the use Of impure alcohol. CAV" MS US
timony. Finally the political economist mas
sknfullv calculated the relief to the oN'rp"'
dened finances Of the nation when "ou'u IT,
sult from "A taxation that might go Tar -
ror,edv the present abuses in the making anu
selling Of alcoholic drinks.
rb., tho outcome Of these proposed reforms
should he a new State monopoly - nothihs
strange or startling In France. where ''N"'"-
mont has long manufactured and s"ld tobacco
matches and gunpowder TO the advantage %
its own budget. II not always I" the S"''S'"
tion Of the consumer The pohtic"l 'o'0'"S''''
49, 10 90, aside as impraciicablc In other
countries But what II common l" "u' ""'
.aoaorr c,v,l,zation is The constantly increas-
ing influence Of alcohol ever th' n'N'''P"''"'
-, ~. Western races Of mankind. From TINS
no,,, NJ view the question evidently surpasSes
IN interest and importance the mere repression
-, ,,,o and misery-breeding drunkenness.
=. .a.sas from the domain OF sociology I'M"
A., =, pathology. and IL Is quite comparapI'
10 the spread OF cancer or tuoercu'"s's
,,icb indeed II is not without connecton-or'
-. atm with the increase Of idiocy ana
semi irresponsible crime
r. haet, bluntly with the actual consump-
ito, ~ alcohol I'm France. the amount per heau
~ the inhabitants has more than tripi'n !" '''
loo, forty wears In workingmens supur"
% Rouen the average absorption ~ man
l,,re 9s-hundredths ~ pino Tor cach ihh"o-
tan, daily By this Is meant that amount
mo, ., beer or wine but Of spirits OF ai'"ho''
houever taken II would be wrong to suppose
that such excuses are limited TO the Ianorihg
c,ass of the population DR. Laheere"uN
GAYS. women have a particular taste Tor "o-
sinthe: and. II they rarely int"xica'e '"c"'-
selves with wine and with aicohoi' I" i'"'' ="
acknowledged that In Paris, NJ least 'he' "''
often injured by aperitfs 'absih'he' p''''S'
etc) without fear Of being accused vi 'A"s
eeration. I venture to say that this k'''u u
intoxication. for some wears back ~ as common
among women as among men.
Throughout all France. there are now 55.VOo
- ,ouor shops than before the war Of 1870.
With the 80 900 open in Paris and the fZ''voo III
tho donar,ments. there is one place for selling
,oohoI IN every clghty-nve inhabitants. The
oualitv of the alcohol thus sold may be gath
ercd from the scale Of prices In the popular
rosorts-,wo cents a glass for absinthe. three
cents for coffee with the little glass 'orahdS''
The price but not necessarily the qual''y' ~
higher at the places where the wives
OF respectable bourgeois sit beside their
husbands OF late there are frequent COM
plants OF the OF absnthe petore
the noon lunch and the evening dinner
in the family itself. AS TO drunkenness proper
It has until recent years been no very ho'lco-
able an evil among the socalled La'in races
At present in France there Is large ana
growing number Of instances In some OF the
country parts there Is something frishtiui IN
the statistics OF minors tunder sixteen years oil
age) brought up before the courts Tor scahdai-
Gus intoxication. In Paris the frequency VI
drunkenness has long been known fact ana ~
rapidly the Increase. us siBhihcehce ~
strengthened by the great NUMBER OF "ea'nS
registered as due To accidents aicoo'iques'
M