A Hint to Prohibitionists: Some French Figures Paris, Aug. 3.—A striking comment on the stock arguments of the supporters of Prohibition is afforded by the statement issued to-night by the Ministry of Labour calling attention to the substantinl decrease in drunkenness and in the consumption of strong drinks in this country since the war.
In reading the details that follow it should be borne in mind that there is practically no restriction in this country as regards the number of places at which alcoholic beverages may be obtained, while the vast majority of "licensed houses" both in Paris and in the country districts habitually remain open continuously from carly morning until midnight, while many do not close before 2 a.m.
A few weeks ago the Ministry of Labour published a Report showing that alcohclism_is manifestly on the decline in Paris and the surrounding region. The report published to-night deals with the great industrial area in the North of France, where an official inquiry has been carried out recently. The Minister directed his agents to ascertain whether consumption of alcohol—which in this country means spirits and li-queues and does not include wines and beers—is having any detrimental effect on the output of the working classes and on regularity of work in factories.
A GOOD RECORD, The inspectors who have carried out the inquiry report that as a result of their inquiries among employers and others well qualified to speak with authority on the subject there has been an enormous improvement since the beginning of the war, and especially since the Armistice, in the direction of greater temperance. The Report adds:
These statements are corroborate ed by an appreciable diminution both in the number of licensed premises and in the number of arrests for drunkenness. The high price of alcoholic drinks, the propagandist movement against alcoholism, the extension of the practice of sports, and a more rational utilization of their leisure time by the working classes are causes which are most often advanced to explain the improvement that has occurred.
There is 2. certain amount of evidence indicating that another cause is to be found in the srester consumption of wine instead of gin and other spirits.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.