The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-18

Formerly, the worst enemy of labor Efficiency and enterprise in Britain was krink. Drinking, however, has greatly been reduced. The saloons are not ltrictly regulated as to hours and sell Ing to minors. They used to be kept Spen until far into the night and their output of "drunks" was rather shock hg.
 The Scots indulged in more hard drinking than the English, with the re- Iult that in the principal industrial kities the number of intoxicated per- Ions one saw on the streets, parttcu- Iarly on Saturday evenings, was heart breaking. ; On my recent visit to Europe saw ks many "drunks" in Paris as I saw ln Glasgow or London. fR
 We in this country are constantly told Ihat no intoxicated person Is ever seen In France. That may have been true Pnce. It is not true today.
 From what could .ather, gambling 1 has become the most fragrant evil kmong the British working classes.
 stand at the exit of large indus 3 Trial plant when the whistle blows at boon and you will see hundreds or workers rush to buy newspapers which I make a speciality of furnishing all the latest racing tips and '"dope." Then E bets are placed right end left, either ! bn the spot or telegraphed to racing [ ztenters. Most of the betting appears to i be done by those least able to afford 7 To lose. I made 1t my Business, as l btated in previous column, to spend < host of my time talking Tn an informal, |I Intimate sociable way with the ordi- ' harry folks in the different countries \ kisited.
 Many housewife and mother is to- < Hay finding gambling as grave enemy z To the households income as drink 2 used to be.
 Il Even among the farm laborers, there Ills today quite a different attitude thani There formerly was toward work. Farm I llaborers used to be, as a class, steady going, industrious, seriously minded 4 Type of men,. But they,a too, are now N NInore bent on chasing pleasures. iObvi- zbusly their war experiences unsettled 3many of thAm. Weekly half holidays NMere unknown in pre-waJ days on the .karu, and most farm laborers rarely Event pleasure seeking except on Satur- May evenings. All that Is now Changed. $
 I left Britain with the feeling that hings have not been going and are hot vet going well there. The rank land file of the people, speaking broad Nly, apparently do not realize that there Nls stern necessity for working unusually < hard to repair the ravages caused Dy
 he cost of the war.
 On the other hand, a trip through I French territory, where the fighting nd the destruction were fiercest, ere 2ated gratifying impression. un- zEmasinable progress has been made Tn Rebuilding ruined villages and towns. 3At place after place youy are told that hot one home was left sanding when khe war ended, yet most the homes have been spiendidly rebuilt. Side by Eide with eonRlomeratioHs of barbed wire, cleared away from nearby fileds, you see good crops and fine looKlns
 @s You 1 see iX clover or grain fields many. whitish spots, absolutely barren. You are told that these are filled-in shell holes. The fertile soil on top na1 all been blown away and the subsoil
 hrown up, It will take time, or course, for this soil to draw to itself enuugh vegetable matter to make 1t fertile.
 incidentally, while we were motoring alonR one important road leading from sRheins to some of the historic battle #fiel0S, our car WOulu ANcANSANJ serious dent, almost throwing us OFT 4our seats as the wheels rose out or IL: Trenches, said our guide, were dug all
 through this part of the country ana every now and then they cave in' ca,,sing the road to sink. Although the ywar has been over six years, some Of
 heu are still caving in.
 irha French people, so far as could
 aarn. have resumed their traditional Industriousness. 'e
 Germany's greatest hope lies in the latitude of her workers The eight lhour day there has gone by the board. i, ,abor unions are not dominating things | a they were in Britain.s The Germans painfully realize that they must work with might and mainato meet their aheayy burdens. ,ra.
 in my humble opinion, the Germans will astonish the world by their indus ztrv and their recovery during the next lien years. They are settling down to pay the piper.
 Looking away ahead. what does this portend?
 It contains a warning to other nations to leave no stone unturned to increase their efficiency andy productiveness.
 
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