The Drink Problem
Drink. (An Economic and Social Study. By Hermann Levy, (Routledge and Kegan Paul. 2Is.) IT is not drinking (except when one is about to drive a car) but excessive drinking that sensible people condemn. Alcoholism in this country is not what it was, but is still a serious problem ; the number of excessive drinkers is estimated to exceed 300,000. Here is a sound, authoritative, readable book (edited after Professor Levy's death by R. P. Lynton) which surveys the drink problem from every angle but the purely medical. It falls into three parts: What is the drink problem and what are its effects ? How wide- _ spread is its incidence ? What can be done about it ? Up to 1915 public houses were open on week-days in London for nineteen and a half hours and for sixteen to seventeen in the pro- -vinces. There is no doubt that the much criticised, closing hours (or, since 1921, " permitted hours " ; nine hours in London and eight in the provinces) have done a great deal to curb excessive drinking. This is reflected in the decreasing incidence of convic- tions for drunkenness ; such is the difficulty of assessing alcoholism in statistical terms that this has to serve as evidence. In England and Wales there were 162,000 convictions for drunkenness in 1910, 51,000 in 1929 and 33,000 in 1948. Their number is still too high, as is the amount on drink spent by the community. Whereas the trends of consumption and conviction point' down- wards, expenditure on drink is unmistakably on the increase. Not- withstanding successive heavy increases in price, the national drink bill has risen from f164 million in 1905 to an average, of £760 million for the last five- years. In 1946 the drink bill...alone repre- sented about one-twelfth of the total estimated national income of £8,200 million. The advertising expenditure for drink in 1935 came to over £3 million, which represents as little as seven per cent. of , the sales of drink to the final customer. In other words drink almost sells itself, in contradistinction to medical goods where 42.6 per cent. of the turnover went into advertising.
General social factors which have helped to decrease insobriety are examined at length—counter-attractions to drinking, abatement of drinking-as brought about by the temperance movement, repres- -sion of drinking by legislative measures such as restrictions of time and place of drinking. Counter-attractions, to be effective, should be positive- alternatives to the consumption of liquor, as is the cinema. With the evening programmes lasting until public houses are mostly closed, cinemas have proved a competitive factor of the first order. Counter-attractions connected with home-life, such as the wireless and private gardens or allotments, are equally impor- tant ; gardenless housing and drunkenness go hand in hand.
The total effects of the temperance movement have been very great and dwarf the deficiencies. An incessant tug-of-war goes on between "the two hostile camps, Temperance and-- Trade," Tem- perance wishing to see further reduction of drinking, Trade the opposite. Since drink is one of the most favourite aids to public finance, the State is not inclined to throw its weight into the balance., As to social legislation, it is control and not prohibition that is aimed at ; " every serious writer on the problem otudrink seems to have dissociated himself from prohibition simply because it is prac- tically unrealisable." When discussing the now defunct Inebriates Act the author is somewhat uncritical ; the one or two inebriates' homes that still survive are wholly inadequate to cope with the problems of rehabilitation, &c. Well-documented information on practically every aspect of the drink question is provided throughout the book. As regards traffic accidents, the drunken driver is easier to eliminate and far less a menace than the man who has had a few drinks and takes unnecessary risks in consequence. The num- ber of people who, though not actually intoxicated, are unable to exercise reasonable caution is far greater than the number of those prosecuted for being-" under the influence." Levy has much that is interesting to say about the British (and American) custom of " perpendicular " drinking—the pernicious custom of drinking at the bar, virtually unknown on the Continent. This custom promotes heavy drinking, encourages treating and delays making one's exit. This serious book is not without its lighter side. We learn, for instance, why of all people professional burglars happen to bathe most abstemious. H. PULLAR-STRECICER.
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