HIGH SCHOOL, PALMERSTON N.

White Ribbon, Volume 21, Issue 247, 18 January 1916, Page 15

HIGH SCHOOL, PALMERSTON N.

PRIZE ESSAY.—FORM V. Some Economic Arguments Against the Use of Alcohol.

About four months ago we read that the Russian Government, having control of the sale of liquor (vodka), had decided to forbid the traffic in that beverage in that country, thus foregoing duty to ttie extent of over niiuiy million roubles. This shows that the law-makers of that country had decided that alcoholic liquor was not a suitable beverage for a nation during the time it was fighting for its existence. In the same way, France has prohibited sales of alcoholic liquor. That the buying of ale ohol is a waste of money is evidenced by the fact that the people of New Zealand spend annually over three million pounds sterling on that liquor. In England nearly two hundred millions, or about £\ per head of the population, is spent on liquor. This shows that in ev :ry year a man spends more than a week's wages. A working man has quite enough to do with his money without throwing it away. W hy is it that there is so mm h poverty among the lower classes? Is it not because sc much per week is spent on alcoholic drinks? lb is a commou sight to see two men, both of whom do the same work and earn the same wages, one shabby and unkempt, while the other is respectable and looks as if he looked after himself and did not spend money on wasteful objects. Doctors of mental hospitals say that from 80 to 90 per cent, of insanity i> caused directl> or indirectly through drink. When a man continues to drink he is likely to injure his mind. His children also, without any drink, are liable to be weak-minded, and so it is that when a man becomes a confirmed drunkard, his children’s grandchildren are likely to inherit his weakness for drink and become insane. That a great many accidents are caused by drink is obvious. W hen a man gets into a maudiin state, he is apt to do what a man who is sober would not attempt to do. A drunken man crossing a street is not on the look-out for emergencies, and so when an accident happens he is not likely to try to escape.

The State often suffers through drink. A single man is worth about £7O to the State, while one who is married i> worth nearly double, and if that man becomes a drunkard, he does not work >0 well or set an example to his children to work well. This is shown in the arsenals of Great Britain, where the men who drink work about 30 hours, and those who do not work from 70 to 80 hours per week.