The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-01
ALCOHOLISM IN, FRANCE.
THE HI0H-wATER MARK OF
 CONSUMPTION REACHED.
A Grave National Perll-some Ap- palling Statistics-Lunacy and Dsgsneracy the Results
 of Indulgence.
Cor. New York Evening Post.

Paris Cor. New York Evening Post. Counting alcohol at 100 degrees France consumed in the year. o grace 100 the amount of IS 1-5 litres pc head of her inhabitants, men, women ant children. Of this amount { 2-3 ntres wer, taken in the form of brandies or othe, | strong liquors; ( 2-3 more were in beel and cider; and ! litres was the alcoho consumed in wine. In practice, this means that very many men, many women and some children consumed more than this
 average quantity For the beginning oi
 the century. among all countries, civil
 ized and uncivilized, this Is the high. water mark of the consumption of alco- | hol by a race of mankind. @ This does not mean that France is af- ficted with the violent spreeing drunk enness which lets loose on Anglo-Saxon communities temporary. lunatics at the most unexpected times and places. Il does mean that q certain portion of the French population Is becoming drugged with the constant use of alcohol as a steady stimulant, even though 1t be ta- ken in the shape of mild drinks like wine,
 beer and cider. The decency of the op- eration on the community Is scant conso. lation for the pity of 1t. No political rev. olution, no spread of popular instruction. can compensate this physiological fact. It remains to be seen whether centuries of right living and training to habits of moderation have left sufficient vitality in this admirably organized race to resist 50 persistent a physical strain. Frenchmeu are themselves waking up to the need of quick action. unless they are to become q pathological object lesson to the rest of the world. Unfortunately. politics. which everywhere seems to rest universal suf-
 <~. khn Sho of eolI CTS of alcohol. is not likely to help much in the struggle; in fact, 1t is politics which has presided over the growth of the evil.
 In 1880 each average inhabitant of France absorbed during the course of q
 year little over 3-4 litres of alcohol. mainly in wine; compared to the presen. figure this Is as 100 to 2S3, while the in- crease in population has been only as 10c
 to 112. Other countries have worked out the problem at least in part; it is now up
 to France to see whether she can do as
 much. always supposing that politics will not succeed in preventing her from sav- ing her soul alive.
 In 1929 the average inhabitant of Swe- den consumed annually g 1-3 ltres of pure alcohol: in 1900 he had reduced his ration to a little less than litres. In Finland, in 1850 each inha bitant consume 20 htres; in 1900 tine quantity had sunk to
 2 litres-that is in the proportion of l,cD to 100. In England there has been a ci-
 miruticn in the last twenty-five years from 10 to little under litres per in habitant-a slow progress in the right di- rection. In the United States, where whole classes never touch alcohol in any form, the proportion has not changed for sixty years, remaining always little over litres per inhabitant, if you assess all the alcohol drunk on the universality
 of the community. Only the specialist can say whether the peculiar problem of
 alcohol in the United States is being solved; in any case, 1t Is totally unlike that which F'renchmen have to face, SWe- der, Norway and Finland, which once
 headed the list. show what public good
 will can do when politics does not stand
 in the way. Rising Canada, at less than 2 litres, stands lowest in the alcoholic line, to the great glory of It's people. With France stands, though on a lower plane of destruction, Switzerland. with B 1-2 litres per inhabitant; Belgium. Italy and Denmark. with something more than 10; Germany over. and England and
 Austria just under, 8; and Holland at 6, one litre ahead of the United States. The most striking fact in the alcoholi- zation of what are called the Latin races is that it results not so much in drunk enness as in nerve maladies and degener- acy. Both drunkenness and disease, which are at once recognized as a result of alcoholism, are undoubtedly spreading
 among the laboring and poorer classes; alcohol gives cheap joy as opium does in China and the absolutely free sale of al-
 cohol in all its forms leaves the joy un-
 confined.
 in 1874 the old license law was done away with, and since that time any one is free to sell liquors, weak or strong, on the same conditions as he would sell bread and beans or tea. The number of shops in which alcoholic drinks are sold
 to be consumed on the spot will soon reach 5O0,0o0 for all France, which is about one for every twenty households;
 of course, there are great sober regions, where the proportion is much less. but these are offset by certain country dis tricts of Normandy, fishing regions of Brittany, and manufacturing towns,
 where the liquor dealers form a large fraction of the community. They are the great electors in politics. Perhaps the
 Republic Is not strong enough to regu-
 late and still less to destroy their power. for the representatives of the people in
 Parliament assembled are not likely to
 go seriously against the interests of those
 who have chosen them to their places.
 Yet there is no truth so fully demonstrat- ed by the experience of all countries as
 this: the consumption of alcohol increases
 in direct ratio with the facilities of sale
 Another great and ever Increasing
 source of alcoholism is found in the prac-
 tice of private distilling prevalent in certain wine and cider regions. This
 evil Parliament has attacked repeatedly
 but sidewise and Intellectually. for the same political reasons; the Deputies of those regions are necessary to every sue
 cessfnl government. which depends for its
 existence on a majority in Parliament;
 and tn" Deputies depend for their legis- lative existence on their constituents. who
 are in this case devoted private distilers.
 So here is another political deadlock in
 tho way of reform.
 In 1869. the year before the war which
 founded the Republic. there were 91, ,S69
 of these private distillers, who)were sup
 posed to distill only strictly limited uuan-
 titles of alcohol or brandies from their
 own produce for thei- own consumption
 In 1879 their number had risen to 14s
 655; in 1889 to 562545 in 1899 to 7s1 .2s9 and in 1902. in spite of the intervening attemnt
 to legislat te them out of existence tba,.
 numbered 1.137,32S. It Is believed that tba
 excise agents of the State actually die
 covered only a small part of the alcohol thus privately distilled. It is certain tha f
 the departments of the country where
 there are the most of these private distiI-
 leries are the most completely alcohoIized especially in the rural districts, while tha
 sober departments get their alcohol iron,
 outside their own limits-another proof
 that opportunity makes the hard drinker
 as we'll as the thief.
 The fishers of the Breton and Channel I