Total Abstinence.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 41, 12 October 1905, Page 6

Total Abstinence.

A coi respondent , ' Fa< Is,' writes us a very lengthy letttr en the 'Demoralis ng and DeMtahsing Efiects of Alcohol,' aji<l' supports his contentions by statistics from vario'iiS authorities, lie shows from 'irrefutable statistics ' that the average duration of life among total abstainers is higher than among drunkards and moderate drinkers Notwithstanding the statements of tl 'C opi onents of the temperance party he contends that 'it has been repeatedly pro\ed by police records' rpt/'.irrs of medical commissions and life assuiance statistics that of all the e\ils that beset humanity a'coht>l is by far the most potent.' The writer then quotes from an article by Dr. (Jarnier, of the Paris Prefecture of Police, in which it is .shown that alcoholism in a most formidaible agent of deigeneracy, and that the great majority of precocious criminals, mental imbeciles, etc , are the offspring of drunken parents, lie then trees on to stow that members of temperance societies aie accepted at a less rate by many life assurance companies than moderate drinkers, and: that the use of alcohol does not tend towards longe\ity According to Sir George White, Governor of Gibraltar, the records of illness among regiments sent to India showed thai out of cnery 1000 teetotallers, only 19 3 were received monthly in the hospitals, whilst the figures for the nm- abstainers were 92.37.