The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1917-04-27
WINE AND THE
FRENCH ARMY

An English view of the uses of
wine is given in the following article
from a London daily:
Liebig established the fact that in
France solid food is consumed in
greater quantities by those who
never drink wine, and now that we
have in the United Kingdom seri-
Gus food deficiency, which necessitates
drastic restrictions by his majesty's
government in regard to imported
supplies, it is surely in the interest
Of the nation that we should place
wine in its rightful category, and
that we should follow the excellent
example of the French government
in regarding it at least as a health
necessity for our gallant troops in
the field.
In France, last year, no fewer
than 132,OOO,0OO gallons of claret
and red wine were requisitioned by
the war ministry for the military
forces Of the republic, and it is the
unanimous conviction of the dis
tinguished physicians and surgeons
attached to the medical staffs, that
the addition of one pint of this wine
to the daily rations has contributed
in a very material degree to the
splendid health.
In this country, red wine has hith-
erto been looked upon merely as q
pleasant beverage and a gentle slim
ulant, grateful to the palate, yet to
be taken only occasionally, but the
French and the Italians have seen
further, and have realized that red
wine is to be esteemed for virtues
greater than those which belong to it
as an agreeable adjunct to luncheon
and dinner. They have proved that
it is in itself a food of high value,
with the additional advantage that
it has the property of increasing the
assimilation of other food taken
with it, thus tending to augment
very materially the nutrition of the
body. Across the Channel, the judg-
ment Of the medical profession is
unanimous on these points, as also
in the fact that red wine is a power
full prophylactic against innumerable
ailments.
Before and after the outbreak of
the great war, the leading physicians
and surgeons of France spoke as
with one voice in favor of the in
clusion of pure wine in the daily
military rations.
Dr. Landouzy, DR.. Armand Gaut-
Ter, DR.. E. Vidal, and others-the
most eminent in their profession
publicly annunced that the use of
wine is not only a desirable food for
the troops, but necessary to secure
efficiency. The addition of pint
of wine to the daily rations, is,
therefore, regarded as indispensable
for soldiers who are called upon to
undergo the excessive physical strain,
which is inevitable in the fighting
lines. After an experience, which is
not excelled by any physician in
France, DR.. Landuzy makes the fol-
lowing emphatic declaration:
81 refuse, as psychologist, as a
man, as a dietist, the taboo
of wine"
DR., Regis, professor at the Fac
ulty of Medicine, Paris, states that
the prohibition of wine under pres
ent circumstances, is "almost
crime against the nation from the
economic point of view"
Pure wine is fund to be especially !
suited to those who derive insult
fcient nourishment from their or
binary daily food as well as to the
adult who works hard and eats bad
ly; to the convalescent who is re-
to the aged who are fail
ing in strength; to the sailor, and |
to others who are exposed to cold !
and trying conditions of weather, it |.
is a generous and precious tonic.