DRUNKENNESS IN SOLDIERS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 279, 25 November 1941, Page 6

DRUNKENNESS IN SOLDIERS

THE declaration by Mr. Levien, S.M., that effectual action is needed to deal with drunkenness among soldiers on leave in the city is unfortunately not made without some solid justification. Although it is easy to magnify the seriousness of the trouble—two drunken soldiers attract a crowd, while a hundred sober ones go unnoticed—it cannot be doubted that it exists and is not growing less. The magistrate suggests that a stronger force of military police should be on duty in the streets. That is one method of dealing with the trouble, but preventive methods would be better. Is a sufficient effort made by the military authorities, especially by unit commanders, to impress on all ranks on leave the disgrace of drunkenness in a soldier? Or is the belief allowed to prevail that there is nothing reprehensible about drunkenness provided the soldier keeps out of trouble? There would seem to be good reason to impress on all ranks the fact that we are fighting in this war an enemy whose soldiers are extremely well disciplined, so that their behaviour as individuals (as distinct from the atrocities they have carried out under orders) is usually exemplary. Pride, and military necessity, should both dictate a standard of behaviour no less high among our own troops. There should be a deliberate effort to inculcate the conviction among soldiers that drunkenness is an offence associated with slack and shiftless civilians, and therefore to be avoided by every man wearing the King's uniform. But the civil community also has a responsibility—to satisfy itself whether some soldiers get drunk because of lack of opportunities for decent recreation and entertainment, and whether in some hotels they are not encouraged to drink to excess, before and after hours, and then turned out to take their chance.