28 SEPTEMBER 1929, Page 3

Drunkenness The licensing statistics show that we are a more

sober nation than we were, and that this improvement has been general throughout the country. It is a sign to be welcomed, too, that the improvement has been greatest in some of the large urban areas, such as Liverpool, where the problem is most difficult. Two very interesting facts also emerge from the welter of figures. One is that the decline in drunkenness has not been checked by the large increase in the number of clubs. The other is that nationalization, as practised in Carlisle, has not produced better figures of sobriety than in the majority of other districts.

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