CORRESPONDENCE MR. TAYLOR'S FACTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 250, 1 March 1911, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE

MR. TAYLOR'S FACTS.

To the Editor. I Sir,—As Ml'. Enroth reiterates his /statements about the Sixteen Doctors' I Manifesto in defence of alcoholic bever- | ages, it may he of interest to state a brief summary of the position. Medical pronouncements on drink have been numerous, and out of them all only one is quoted in defence. In 1839, the first collective medical statement was given, strongly in favor of total abstinence, and signed by 78 doctors and the leading men of their day. Then followed another medual certificate againsi alcohol in 1847, only more strongly worded than that of 1839; this bore about 2000 signatures. Again in 1871 a third followed bearing 300 signatures, and still against alcohol. In 1903, an international manifesto againßt drink was published with over 700 signatures of doctors in practice and every one a total abstainer. As may be expected, their condemnation of drink was very strong. This again was followed by a petition to the education authorities asking that teaching concerning the evils of strong drink be taught in the schools, and in which they say: ''Thai; most of the degeneracy, disease, and accident with which medical men have to deal is direstly or indirectly due to the use of alcohol." This last was signed by 15,000 medical men, headed: by Brunton, Barlow, and Broadbent, who were men at the very top of the profession; and it only took a fortnight,, to get all these signatures, roughly, about half of the doctors in England. Then came the counter-blast. In June, 1906, a barrister, Mr. Ernest E. Williams, who said that his interest in the matter was that of a "student of economic problems," set to work to draw up a manifesto, to defend economic interests, I suppose. However, after six months' toil he brought out his manifesto in defence of alcohol, and it was published in The Lancet of 30th March, 1907. On 2nd April of the same year, a reply to it appeared in The Daily News (London), a reprint of which I enclose with this; and as I have a few left, I shall be glad to post a copy to anyone asking me for it. All this is previous to what Mr. Taylor said about the sixteen doctors' declaration. Of the sixteen, only three were under 50 years of age; with, of course, the prejudice of the old school. Why did not Mr. Williams get some modern men to sign his paper? Of those who signed some at once explained why, and at least one declared that he signed because someone else, he was told, would do so. When we enquire into the position of the signatories, Ave find that several are shareholders in breweries; and also that one of them, Sir James Crichton-Browne, a little later, said that no one under 25 years of age should drink alcoholic liquors. I should like to say more on this topic, and also about the "poison," and Dr. Dixon, and other points raised by Mr. Enroth, only I fear your blue pencil. Perhaps you will kindly allow me to deal with the other points later.—l am, etc., GEO. H. MAUXDER. To the Editor. Sir.—As Mr. Enroth, in this morning's News, calls in question the accuracy oi Mr. Taylor in classing alcohol as a poison, and further ventures the opinion that "it is doubtful if he can name one first-class chemist or physiologist who agrees with him," will you allow me, in the absence of Mr. Taylor, to submit for his consideration such names as Prof. Sims Woodhead, Sir Fred. Treves, Sir Victor Horsley, Prof. Debove, Prof. Hodge, Sir Jas. Barr, Prof. Sikovsky, Prof. Kraepelin, and a host of others, giants in the medical world, all of whom agree in classing alcohol as a narcotic poison. If Mr. Enroth really desires to know the truth on this subject, and who will say he does not, let him obtain a copy of Sir Victor Horsley's work, "Alcohol and the Human Body," quoted recently in our own Supreme Court as a sound authority, and most up-to-date, published now at Is per copy, and shortly obtainable in New Plymouth at that price, and if facts will convince him, he will be a convert to the Great Reform. Mr. Enroth appears to have been asleep for the last half century, judging by the antiquity of his ideas and statistics, as he airs them from time to time.—l am, etc, N. T. MAUXDER.