REVIEW OF THE DRINK QUESTION.
Mataura Ensign, Volume 11, Issue 806, 11 September 1888, Page 4
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REVIEW OF THE DRINK QUESTION.
budding are now in full progress. Protect , wall fruit from wind . and frost. Strawberries : ..Where plants. have been growing, in j the same place for several years, weed the J . bedß well before they begin to grow, stir the soil, and sow some ' bonedust over them in showery weather. . . Flower GABDESfr-SoTsr. hardy /annuals, and half hardy in' frames.' Sow grass seed on new lawns; Gr^ss lawns should how be frequently cut and roiled. : . Proceed with the p'ottihg'Off of all* bedding . plants. This, is the best month for increasing dahlias for cuttings. Roses : When the green fly makes its appearance, a strong; infusion of carbonate of ammonia ' (wrielUng' salts) is the only | remedy that ought to b« admitted among j choice roses. Plant carnations and picottees . i
(Wellington l Press.') ■ • British Medical Asabciatioiihave * ; )W<#nt]y. made" some very laborious enquiries regarding the question whether totalabstinence is favorable to longevity, , ani|l genera]ly*as to the results of habits ''■^fiph ' reference to alcohol, extending ..over /large numbers of people. The > British Medical Journal ' of the 23rd of June contains the report of the Collective Investigation 1 Committee ap* ! pointed for "this purpose j and it will, we are sure, be a surprise to the general public, : and a : shook to extreme Temperance advocates/ to learri : that the report ia by no .means favorable to the theory that total abstainers live longer than^other people. The enquiry was conducted px this manner. JSo ; fewer than 178 members of the British Medical Association obtained particulars -regarding the habits of $234 persons aged 25 yearß and up;.wardB, .wardß, recently deceased. These were divided into 5 classes, namely, total .abstainers, habitually temperate, careless drinkers, free drinkers, and derjOldedly intemperate. The age at death o f those in each class: was registered, together with the, cause of death, and -lithe average at;e at death of each class - was found to be as follows : — Glass T Years a 5122 b 62.13 o 5967 • d 67.69 c 52.03 ' Oi Jkctiording to 'this the total abstainers v^ied J at an earlier 1 age than any other ''^lacs, iiot 1 exdeptiDg habitual drunkards. I,t was qttiikly seeti, however, that this ° J< #is^in-'ferr6r, arißing from the fact that total abstainers" are on an average J ": r lbuth-yDuii)ge^ thanperson« : who use means, ; in bthfer • « J wdVd^ that few people carry the habit a bfii6'tal abstinence through life, by far of "persons ~ ab ! oVe ; the 1 inidldld age coining under class b, '"■ liamdy 1 , habitually temperate. In a or&ki Co -correct this ' error, therefore, d^h(^eomtnitteW setto '#b^k to prepare : u 'k H&caiMF 'table," dbtisisting of two '■' edlniniis, from one of which all persons 1 ' ' who J died under 1 30 were omitted ' and -"■ b tmtt throtber 1 all" who 1 ; died ! under 40 ' ; "Thi^ &&?# the^following results : — ;
The effect of this is to show that as the jounger lives are eliminated, the differ;ence between the abstainers and the moderate drinkers becomes less marked, . hntj that throughout, the moderate drinkers have the advantage. It will be seen from the third column, that even when all lives under 40 are - .eliminated — that is to say, shutting but of the calculation the great number of young people who died before the age when on the average the' habit of using alcohol is contracted — the moderate 4rink«}M» were still found to live five years longer than the total abstainers and the careless drinkers two years longer. The ' British Medical Associa* tion ' seem to have adopted these figures as conclusive ; and the ' Post Magazine and Insurance "Monitor/ the recognised ... Insurance organ, in an able article on ;(&& subject, endorses that yietg. The investigation Committee furnish an important additional foundation for -their conclusions in a table of the; of death. From this it appears that, contrary to the generally received opinion, consumption is commoner jimong total abstainers than among those who use alcohol, and is compara^ tlvely rare among free drinkers. The encjuiry also shows that cancer has less pendency to develop in those who consume stimulants than in those who , eschew them. The ' Insurance Monitor* ..xiglitfy points out, however, that this mutt not be taken as a justification for indulgence, because the intemperate man Bubjecta himself to other scourges not less fatal than consumption or cancer. Our own belief is that, notwithetand■tanding alt the safe guards they may have . taken; against error, the figures compiled by the Committee are altogether misleading, and that, if the troth could be ascertained, it would be found : that the average duration of life is much longer among those who have been total Abstainers from childhood than amongst any other clasß. What disturbs the calculation in the present state of society —which ia a transition stage— is the fact' that a large proportion of total ebstaiiners have been hard drinkers, and they pay the penalty of their early excess by succumbing to illness which habitually temperate persons survive. It fs one of those questions on which ihere is a great deal to be said on both ] /sides.
Class Yearß Years « 57.31 62 74 i> 64.48 67.71 c 61.52. 64.65 a 68.87 61.98 "" c 53.42 67.47
