The Liquor Curse in France
By L. A. S.
RECENTLY there was held in Paris, France, an immense convention designated as the First National Anti-alcohol Congress. The urgent necessity for such an organization was shown by facts which were disclosed at the convention. President Loubet, ex-Premiers Casimir-Perier and Waldeck-Rousseau, General Andre, minister of war, the heads of the leading railway companies, and the directors of all the leading commercial and industrial establishments were in attendance. The theme of the convention was, of course, the curse of alcoholic drinks, and it was shown that the situation in France in this respect was truly appalling. Figures were given showing that in the last fifty years the population of France has increased only in the proportion of one hundred and twelve to one hundred, while the consumption of alcohol has risen from one hundred to three hundred and fifty-five. The average annual consumption of alcoholic drinks per individual throughout France is 296 pints of vin ordinaire and 48 pints of liqueurs; but in Paris the average is 566 pints of vin ordinaire and 54 pints of liqueurs. “Small distillers have been allowed to sell, and even pay their work people partly in kind. Many of them distill a cheap spirit from apples, pears, and the refuse of grapes. This fosters drink in all the country districts, and for the same reason and in the same way in the fishing fleets. The ravages of intemperance among the fishing ports of the Atlantic and channel coasts have been seriously alarming. The men bring the drinking habit home with them, and it spreads among their wives with incredible rapidity, and does awful damage. In Normandy and Brittany drunkenness is as common among the women, and even the children, as among men.” Little children on their way to school in the morning, it was stated, soak their bread in a glass of cider brandy in order to nerve themselves for the day’s work. In the last-named provinces the amount of crime has doubled in thirty years, and in the last half century suicide has increased four hundred per cent. “In Brittany doctors have been forced to forbid mothers to nurse their own children, so saturated with alcohol are they.” The Anti-alcohol Congress purposes to begin a thorough war against intemperance, and the first aim will be to prevent the selling of liquor to children. These are facts which should be remembered in connection with the statement which is often made by dealers in wine, that France is a temperance country, and that if the use of wine could become general in the United States, there would not be so much drunkenness. The example of France, which is sometimes cited as evidence in connection with this allegation, is indeed an awful warning of its untruth. L. A. S.