Evening star., 1942-11-18
More Changes Asked
In Alcohol Text by
Church Committee
Letter From La Roe Says
Revisions Are Good, but
Others Are Needed

ne WdSll0Rt ION FeOefdIlOn Ol
Churches, through it's Committee on
Civic Affairs, told the Board of Edu-
cation today that the recent re-
vision in the text of instruction on
alcohol and, narcotics in the senior
high schools is better than an earlier
draft, but still could be improved
by further revision.
Wilbur La Roe, jr.. chairman of
the Federation committee, expressed
these views in letter to the Board
of Education today as the board
planned to take up this afternoon
the latest text prepared by a spe-
cial committee headed by DR.. James
A. Cannon.
The revision is most gratifying"
wrote Mr.. La Roe, '1in that it pro-
vides a right approach to this very
difficult subject and shows, as the
earlier draft certainly did not, a
sincere attempt to present the whole
truth and to present it in a man.
ner consistent with the purpose of
the statute. Our Federation is duly
appreciative of the excellent hear
ing the board gave us and of the
evident intent. as manifested in
the revised draft, to give judicial
consideration to the points we
raised.
Changes Called Gratifying.
Extremely gratifying" the letter
said, lis the abandonment in the
new draft of the idea that alcohol
is a food, and equally gratifying is
| the emphasis on its adverse effect
on brain functioning and the injury
which it inf1icts on society by caus-
ing insanity and crime. This is a
notable improvement on the earlier
draft, which was so wrong in its
emphasis as almost to encourage the
use of alcohol"
Among the further changes sug-
gested by Mr.. LaRoe is one con-
corning the insane. The present
text reads: Many of the inmates
of insane asylums became insane
because of the abuse of alcohol" !"
This would be improved, Mr.. LaRoe
says, by eliminating the "abuse Of"
He adds, Alcohol cannot be abused.
but it can abuse human beings"
The section dealing with the effect
of drinking on mans status in
society is on the whole commend
able, declares Mr.. LaRoe, but the
portion dealing with alcohol as a
cause of crime "is defective in sug-
gesting that only unstable or i'm
mature people are melted to crime
by its USE
New Wording Suggested.
The chapter dealing with tragic
results of alcohol in the home is
declared by Mr.. La Roe to be lone
of the best parts of the report"
He adds, however, "the heading is
weak and should be strengthened
It reads: Excessive use of alcohol
may lower the economic standing
of the family It is not only the
economic standing that is affected;
alcohol also lowers the social stand
ing and indeed is tragic cause of
homes broken by divorce or other
wise.
"Our juvenile court spends much
of its time trying to patch up homes
which liquor has broken. We re-
spectfully suggest that the heading
should read: Excessive use of alco-
hol often lowers the standing OF a
family and disrupts the home 1t
could we'll 60 one step further and
say that much juvenile delinquency
is caused by the emotional strains
and lowered economic standards
which are so often found in homes
where the breadwinner is q drunk
ard. What child needs most of
all is love. parental care and a feel
ing of security. The odds are against
his having these in home where
liquor has wrought the havoc which
it so often causes"