The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1901. TEMPERANCE REFORM IN FRANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 205, 4 September 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1901. TEMPERANCE REFORM IN FRANCE.

Fbance has for so loDg boen held up a» a shining example of the beneficial effects of free and unlimited supply of liquor in the shape of light wines, that it comes as a shoek to find a war is being waged there against alcohol, as fierce and determined as anywhere. The evils of excessive drinking are making themselves felt there, and temperance reformers are as much cencerned about fighting the wine sellers as they are in Anglo-Saxon countries about fighting the beer and spirit sellers. In looking about for a weapon, the temperance reformer in France has taken hold of .one of the methods most used by the liquor seller for the purpose of pushing his business. The use of advertising methods has long been a prominent feature of the liquor trade. Go where one will, the special virtue of this or that make or brand is set forth in the most conspicuous manner possible. The aid of advertising has been invoked in France by the temperance reformers. It is based on sound psychological principles, so its advocates claim, and great results are hoped from it. The logic of the method and the way of carrying it out are expound* d by Dr. L. Menird, in Cosmos, as follows : —Repetition is the best, or at least the most persuasive, of the rhetorical figure o . Tlie manufacturers who wish to introduce a pro- | duct, or to keep it in the fashion, know this well, and although millions are spent yearly for advertisements, we : must suppose that they ore not lost. It has been asked why this enormous ofiort, so effective in securing publicity in all forms, should not be employed in driving into the heads of the masses certain useful truths. The promoters of the fight against alcohol have already thought of this. Dr. Folet, of the University of Lille, has (Jelivered in that city an interesting lecture on this subject. He desires to create a public sentiment against alcoholism by meaDs of advertisement. Ia his hospital service, Dr. Folet, we are told, fastens i on the backs of the frames used to Hold the patient's record a statement, in brief paragraphs, of the dangers of excessive drinking. But this is not enough, the writer goes on to say, Whon we read on the walh that such and such an appetiser is the bps' l , we should paste below the legend " Absintho is a Poison." Smull tfuinined I labels may ba distributed, to be pasted on walls and trees. One or mora of these devices, M. Folet suggests, may also be printed on objects of domestic use, such as lamp-shades, calendars, boxes, children's toys, toy ballooDs, cheap handkerchiefs, pipes, knives, mirrors, etc., which may be sold for a trifle. The writer continues, still quoting Dr. Folet 1 "' 'JL'ho dqfianco t® alcohol may

be written in letters a yard high on walls, eo as to be visible ovtr a large region. In regions frequented by tourists, I should not object to seeing it in huge white letters on some high rooks. We should ask of thfl railroad companies permission to plslco along their line" great anti-alcoholic pla'-ivds with brief inscriptions, such as" Poison;" " Beware of Bitters." Of course there wou'd le coloured transparency s a* 1 , windows, sandwich mon and illuminated advertising waugons—that goes without saying.' This method has a'ready been employed at Lille, where the anti-alcoholic manifesto is to be seen on every street-car, and where placards are pasted to the w<ills."