USE OF ALCOHOL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18496, 5 September 1923, Page 11

USE OF ALCOHOL.

GREAT PHYSICIAN'S VIEW.

ij AN AID TO HAPPINESS.

NOT 1 NECESSARY, ECU YOUTHS

[FROM cur own* correspondent.] > • 'LONDON.- July-20.

Lord Dawson of ' Penn, tho eminent physician, supported 'in the - House of Lords Lady, Astor's Bill, which prevents the service of alcohol to any person under 18 years of age. While agreeing that for young persons under 18 alcohol was not required, and was even deleterious, he refused to join .in any, condemnation - of alcohol as such.

His own view was that it was a stimulant for a transient period. The chief effect of alcohol was on tho nervous system. Ta call alcohol a narcotic vas a misnomer. It added to the pleasure,, exhilaration, the happiness, and the g«ue } of life. Under the conditions of modern civilisation, and the . constant endeavour to put twelve hours into six, and with a high measure of specialisation, obvious that at the end ot a day the mind of man got into one track. Hieie alcohol came in very.well. • ,1. In moderation it got a. man quit of track; it lightened his mental touch. A man, for example, who worked se\ en eight hours a day in the manufacture or motor-cars had been using precisely ho same set of muscles, and conscqu(;nt > the same'cells, of-the brain. A ' , of his da he was uplifted by the moderate use of alcohol,' and at that time Rood beer would help him and not harm him.

. The One.Grey Spot. Lord Dawkm of Penn said he attended recently a public dinner, wheie • table consisted entirely of prohibition^ many of whom were high ecclcsusticb. Je was interesting to watch them. T ' , was the one dull, grey spot in tho^ole of the dinner, and if anyone wished to b» .converted from an uncompromising Condemnation of alcohol, they wou c i been converted by that scene. P were often too tired at the end of the day to digest their food, and a small of alcohol made them feel hap p y * lth themselves and happy with the ™ d The first effect of alcohol, and the only effect with which Their Lordships were personally acquainted, was an uplifng effect. (Laughter.) The second cnect was obnoxious, and it fo.lowed in th case of vouth very much more quickly than in the case of adults. The argument of the Bill was that youth did not require a stimulant which was damaging to vouthful nerves. He thought a strong case was made out for the Bill. Jiom, • fact that the effect on youth was different from the effect .on adults. If the true use of alcohol were more readily - recognised" bv reformers, their influence world be considerably greater. Then there were the questions of qua.ity and moderation. An enormous deal depended upon the quantity of alcohol. One might take absolutely pure alcohol, di.ute it, and drink it, and one would get an effect totally different from that following the taking of a glass of beer or wine. It would be universally admitted that moderation was progressing by leaps and bounds. Alcohol and Disease. • It had interested him to investigate this question from the point of view of the hospitals. ' He 'had got out figures from a large hospital In London, and had selected two diseases which were exclusively produced by alcohol. In 1900 there were 39 cases of cirrhosis of the liver; in -1920, only seven. -He then selected alcoho ic diseases peculiar to women, and found that m IIA/J there were 19 such -cases admitted into that bi K hospital; in 1920 there was only one. He would take all; diseases due to ; alcoholism treated at that hospital. They were 5 per 1000. in 1SOO; 5.5 in 1905 ; .4 in 1910; 2 in 1915; and under 1 per 1000 in 1920. These figures were a striking testimony to the fact that the. consumption of alcohol was becoming much more circrm&nect, and that there was a greater regard for its quality, and for-the times of its consumption. ' ', But when one came to youth, he fu.ly believed that ,up to the ago of 18 practically no alcohol was required, and that its use was rapidly followed by narcotic effects. For those reasons a distinction should' be made between youths and adults. After all, wo insisted on youth being educated; we protected youth from sex deterioration; we protected youth in factories; and, therefore.- it was ■ only logica' that wo should protect youth from alcohol. The Bill did ■ not carry with it any condemnation of alcohol as such.: It protected youth, and 011 that ground he would support it.