The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1929-12-01

ly decrease in the national death rate IN
the Reproduction years, that decrease
was SO small that it was barely perceptlole
upon the ordinary chart. With the COM
ing of prohibition, however, the death rate
for the country dropped abruptly. 1t has
not even remotely approached the ratio
for the license period. According to the
figures issued by the Department of Vital
Statistics in the United States Census Bu-
reau, this decrease in the death rate has
been equivalent to the saving of 100000
to 100000 lives per year In other words,
nearly two hundred thousand persons
would have died annually during the past
ten years had the conditions prevailing
during the license period been continued.
Horatio M Pollock, of the New York
State Department of Mental Hygiene, and
Frederick w Brown, of the National Com
mittee for Mental Hygiene have recently
published some unusual statistics on re-
cent alcoholic mental diseases. The follow
ing quotation from their survey is so sig
nificant that it is hardly necessary for one
to point its moral: 1.-The nine states that
were wet before prohibition contributed
more than so per cent of all cases Of al
coholic insanity in 1922 1925, and 1926.
The percentage of alcoholic cases among
all new admissions to these hospitals for
the years 1922, 1925 and 1926 shows a
steady increase. The percentage of alco-
holic cases among all new admissions and
readmissions to these hospitals in 1926 was
less than one-half of that Of 1870 but
slightly greater than that of 1922 or Of
1925. :.
Miss Cora Frances Stoddard of the
Scientific Temperance Federation has
carefully analysed the alcoholism NOR
tality statistics of the various states as
furnished by the United States Census
ho
900 fewer alcoholism deaths in the first
seven prohibition years than there would
have been mad there prevailed the aver
age pre-prohibition rate of the years 1912
1917. In 1926, the latest year for which
United States statistics are available, there
were fewer actual deaths from alcoholism
in registration area of 105,000000 people
than there were in 1916 from II 100000
people"
ENFORCEMENT OF PROHIBITION
Prohibition is neither perfectly en-
forced nor is it universally observed by the
American people. Of course, no law is
perfectly enforced or unanimously obeyed.
The violations of the prohibition law,
however while more numerous than we
might wish are not sufficiently SO to seri-
ously effect any of the gains made possible
by this national policy. Illegal consump-
ton of Intoxicating beverages is not affect
ing our output, our savings or our retail
trade; neither does it register any re-
narkable figure in the accident toll taken
by the automobile traffic. If the nation
to-day was consuming any important frac-
ton of the amount once used, the results
would be Immediately discernible in these
statistics. Before prohibition we were
drinking quantities which seem almost in
credible now. Then, the national drink
consumption was mounting yearly. In
1917, the last year Of comparatively unre-
stricted sale under license, according to
the United States Statistical Abstract,
1922, page GOT, we consumed d, 723, 376 gal
Ions of wine; 1,885071 ,304 gallons of malt
liquors and 167 ,740325 gallons of distilled
spirits. These wines contained over $780,
600 gallons of pure alcohol (the dry wines
ranging from u to IA per cent and the
port and sherry from Ii to "a per cent al
cohoD. The distilled spirits contained 49,
$4,000 gallons of pure alcohol. The malt
liquors contained 75,402, 1852 gallons of pure
alcohol. This makes a total beverage con-
sumption of pure alcohol in 1917 of 1885,
772 600 gallons. Those who maintain that
the nation is drinking as much as ever
must show where such a quantity of alco-
hol is obtainable, illicitly to-day. Prob
ably the highest estimate of diverted alco-
hol claimed that 100000 gallons of hard
liquor or 100000 gallons of pure alcohol