The Times (London) on Modem Drinking.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8048, 3 November 1906, Page 1

The Times (London) on Modem Drinking.

In the early part of this year the following remarkable sentences appeared in the limes, of all papers: "The whole question really turns upon the consciousness that alcoholic drinks satisfy some kind of temporary want, or produce some temporary comfort or exhilaration, coupled with a belief, which modern physiology is doing her best to dispel, that they are at least essentially harmless when consumed in moderation. It may be stated as an opinion upou which nio9t if not all, physiologists are agreed, that alcohol contiibutes nothing to the permanent powers of the healthy organism, whether physical or intellectual. No man, it is said, is the stronger for taking it, and no man is the wiser. The experience, now very extensive, of insurance offices, seem to place it beyond doubt that even the moderate regular use of alcohol, in any form, is, on the whole, contributory to the shortening of life. When these views come to be fairly balanced against temporary gratification of the palate, or temporary stimulation of the brain, they will be likely to lead, not to a single 1 wave' of sobriety, but to a gradual change in the habits of the mere intelligent portiou of mankind."