New-York tribune., 1918-04-21
DRINK A SOUL HUNGER !?
An During This Generation the United States Has Been
Going Dry, but the Average Americans Con-
sumption of Liquor Has Increased
Fiue 7imes Why?

lack of narcot. inhibition. Nothing
cou,d more completely expose the
/ weakness of the pro alcohol argument
than to drag III Russia by the heels as
an al, exhibit of the results of prohibition.
The absurd lack OF sense of propor.
tlon In such an argument renders it
boomerang.
We have now practical demonstra-
tlon OF rohbition in the National
Army. We do rot keep our soldiers
from going insane by feeding them a
drug. but by supplying healthful ac-
tlvlties, good fellowship and varied in
terests. We do not find that the ad-
mission rate for insanity in the Ma
tlonal Army reflects any terrible in
huence from alcoholic deprivation.
AS to the so-called lighter forms of
alcoholic drinks, have this to say, that
unless alcohol is present in suf-
tcient quantity to produce a narcotic
erect there is no need for it to be
there at all. If it is present in suf-
nclent quantity to produce narcotic eff
fect we have narcotic dangers, and
especially those of Increasing indul-
gence.. The same arguments for the
use of light wines and beers could be
advanced for the use of paregoric in
stead of morphine.
One thing we may be sure of is that
no statute could be permanently main
tained unlesseit commands the anpro-
baton and support of the mass Of the
people. The mass of the people uphold
laws prohibiting the sale of other mar
cotlc drugs. and it is my belief that
when the effects of alcohol are fully
! understood and it's place as narcotic
drug is recognized public sentiment
will uphold like restrictions with re-
gard to its sale and use.
Put 1T up to (which is the
better citizen, the man who buys a
drink which he really doesn't need or
the man who buys thrift stamp to
neip the man IN the trenches who is de-
lending the very existence of this ma
/ ton?
II you are socalled moderate user
OF alcohol, are you willing to accept the
SOFT impeachment of the PSYCHOLOGIST
that you must drink or go insane?
A Remedy for
Defective Diet
An unfamiliar type of comment
on the liquor problem is offered by
Rudolph M. Binder, Phi. D., of New
York University and the American
Institute of Social Service. Man,
ne believes, Graves alcohol partly as
temporary remedy for defective
diet.
The whole question of temperance
/ a N RI hi = L
larger point of view than is ord-
narily the case. To take single illus
tratlon, reference might be made to
Sweden and Norway. Before 1850 these
two countries were the largest per
/ and distilled liquors. But the Goth
enburg plan and the Norwegian Com
pany system have worked so effective
iy within half a century that drinking
has been reduced nearly Is per cent,
and in some places even more.
What we're the reasons? Briefly, a
systematic attempt to deprive the sa-
looms of their attractiveness. to pro-
vide more places for eating without the
need of consuming drink, to place read :
ing rooms and simply furnished places
OF amusement within the reach of
everybody, and, most important of all,
to deprive the sale Of alcoholic bev-
crages of the important element of
profit.
Effect on Longevity
Has the health of these countries suf-
fcred? Sweden stands to-day at the
top of the list in regard to the average
length of life, with tifty-four years for
women and tiftytwo for men. This is
practically ten years higher than in
Prussia, with its far-famed efficiency
There is. moreover, less sickness in
Sweden than anywhere else. 1t is true
that the diminuton of drinking was
not the only factor in this remarkable
showing of improved health, but it was
a vital factor and was, moreover, the
first to bring home to the Swedes the
Importance of systematic and scientific
endeavor to combat an evil.
There is a lesson here for other
countries--a lesson based on expert
ence, not on speculation. The reasons
why the United Kingdom, Germany
and Russia are among the heaviest
consumers Of alcohol are largely those
of Scandinavia. There is on the whole
the raw and damp climate and the old
custom of celebrating every unusual
event with drink. But there are others,
namely, those OF food. In the United
Kingdom much, too much. fat-i is con-
sumed by the people, and this requires
o..
cohol. In Russia the opposite is the
case. There is much coarse food con-
sumed, such as cabbage and sour bread.
The result is that the system is not
sufficiently nourished and Graves some
sort Of stimulant We have. then,
from the point of food, the two ex-
tremes as causes of drink, too rich a
diet and too poor diet, or ovcr-nutri
ton aSd under nutrition.
In America. the case is different.
The by far largest amount of alcohol
is consumed by immigrants and their
Immediate descendants who have not
yet thrown off the customs of their ma
tive country and have larger means for
satisfying their craving. On the other
hand, the natives of longer American
ancestry. are notorious sufferers from
indigestion, due to diet too rich and
too heavy, which is not dissolved by
alcohol, as in the case of the English
and the Germans.
No Craving in Normally Fed
The remedies suggest themselves, if
what has been said is true. Diet is
the first thing that has to be looked
after most carefully. A normally fed
individual with a suffciency of we'll
balanced food will not have a craving
for stimulant which gives him that
indispensable solace. the temperate
use of beer and wine" The very crav-
ing is an indication that the party has
not eaten properly, and the stimulant
will remedy the condition only tenn
porarily, just as it furnishes artificial
warmth in cold and raw climate. An
-, I;,,; l,oj With r;cb h1ood tho rnc,,1f