Evening star., 1945-07-07

~ cost OF SZu 10
~'''''' ''' the taxpayers,
Mr. Gill. and usually is a
repeater.
Mr.. Gill studied 500 cases of alco-
holism at the Jail and discovered
that only As were first termers.
Three had come in for drunkenness
$50 times. Three others had made
125 visits for the same reason, he
said.
Try to Help Them.
I'VE clean them up. We try to
put them on their feet. And they
come back to us time and again.
They should be sent to hospitals,
not jails," Mr.. Gill observed.
With health officials and civic
leaders, Mr.. Gill complains that
Washington, with an exceptionally
high percentage of alcoholism in its
population, is paying heavily for
not treating its chronic alcoholics.
The price is higher than statiS-
tics indicate, he said, because many
persons are sent to Jail for other
crimes committed by them under
the influence of alcohol or out Of
craving for it.
We have a girl here on bribery
charge with an 10. of 1885," he
commented. Her trouble is alcohol"
Many Women Offenders.
Almost as many women as men
are jailed for drunkenness in the
District. and they are evenly divided
between white and colored persons.
kThe Yale School of Alcohol Stu
dies attributes the large number OF
women using alcohol to excess here
to the fact that so many are en-
ployed.
Women in the home take their
worries out in nagging, while en-
ployed women take a good stiff
drink" Mr. Gill remarked.
Arrests for drunkenness reached
an all-time peak here in 1943 of
1870 per 100000 population. At the
same time, commitments were de-
clining.
More defendants can pay their
fines, and judges are not so apt to
send a man to Jail when he is
needed on a war job.
Decline Started in 1914.
Arrests began to decline in 1914,
when they dropped to 1858 per
100000. Even in that low year,
Washington arrested more persons
for drinking and disorderly con-
duct than New York City, with
seven times the population. The
figures were 40.33l to 3l,4l3.
The Yale School of Alcohol Stu
dies estimates that Washington has
the highest rate of excessive drink
ing CT any city in the country, with
the possible exception of New Or
leans.
Because of differences in laws
among cities and changes in police
policy. Yale made its comparisons
by studying the drinking population,
according to Francis McPeek, di-
rector of it's summer session and di-
rector Of the department of social
welfare, Washington Federation of
Churches.
1000 Alcoholics Here.
He estimates that there are 1000
alcohol addicts here and total of
28, 900 who could be called grossly
intemperate. His estimate is in line
with the Yale finding that the drink
ing population here is 36 per cent
higher than the national average.
Washington's population is older
than the average; it included more
employed women, and it is world
capital, he explained.
Mr.. Gill is certain all the factors
In the wartime decrease in COM
mitments will end with the war. II
the decrease is due to the general
wartime decline in crime, it will
increase as crime begins to spiral
as it does after any war, he OBJ
served.
The Districts problems will begin
in earnest, he predicted. when the
marginal workers begin to lose their
jobs, when their employers no longer
have to keep neurotics and alcohol
les on the payroll.
Only One Remedy.
The only way he sees to stop the
expensive flow to the jails is to make
some effort to rehabilitate the
chronic alcoholics.
DR.. George C. Rutland, District
health officer. agreed. He pointed
out that Washington has no facili-
ties for the treatment of chronic
cases.
One third of the 5000 patients
admitted each year to the psyche
pathic ward of Gallinger General
Hospital are alcoholics. But Gal
linger, limited in staff and housing,
does not give the aftercare necessary
to keep a chronic alcoholic on the
right path, DR.. Rutland said. >,
Plans for an alcohol clinic within
q bureau of mental hygiene hit a
snag when the selected director went
back to North Carolina because he
was not given enough space for his
bureau.
Dickering With Psychiatrist.
DR.. Rutland explained that the
Veterans Administration had requi-
sitioned the only available space.
with time and patience, we
should have solved the problem"
Now, he said, the big problem is
finding director.
DR.. Rutland does offer one ray of
hope. He said that he is negotiating
with a local psychiatrist, particu-
larly interested in alcoholism, to
operate a clinic two days a week.
Buffalo Editor TO Head