Lord D'Abernon's suggestions for the control of the Drink Traffic
after the war were conveyed, in his absence through illness, to a meeting of the Women's Total Abstinence Union and Church of England Temperance Society Women's Union at the end of last week. To avoid " the re-creation of drunkenness at the rate of nearly two hundred thousand convictions a year," and the sacrifice of health, fitness, and efficiency, he would reasonably control the hours of sale, divert the consumption to meal-hours, provide can- teens and other alternatives to publio-houses, abolish treating, " maintain the price of alcohol in relation to the price of prime necessaries," set up a central control for licensing, and dilute spirits and encourage the brewing of lighter beers. There may be some
obscurity on the point of " maintaining the price of alcohol " j and we see no justification for permitting the sale of washy stuff at the price of spirits and beer. But Lord D'Abernon's general policy is sound ; and as a speaker at the Conference remarked, the best way to fight drink is to provide attractive alternatives—to make liquor an incidental accompaniment to recreation, not an end in itself.
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