PRIZE ESSAYS.

White Ribbon, Volume 22, Issue 264, 18 June 1917, Page 10

PRIZE ESSAYS.

N.tgerc School. Standard 0. Una Clark. An Essay on Temperance. Temperance really means moderation in all things. Now when the word is used it is used to mean moderation in the use of alcoholic drinks, such as beer, wine, and spirits. Alcohol belongs to a class of drug known as narcotics. The effect of these drugs upon the system is depressing and weakening. Alcohol also tends to retard the growth of the body. If in a nation the people could do without alcohol, how much stronger, happier, and wiser the nation would be. In little New Zealand alone enough money is wasted on alcohol to pay for all the boots and clothing of all the New Zealand children. Alcohol is not a food .is milk is. It does not make the body grow, nor repair worn out tissues. Sometimes alcohol is used as a stimulant, but a healthy body is better without a stimulant.

People who have to undergo great strains or hardships as soldiers, athletes, and Arctic explorers find it best to abstain from the use of alcohol. It is found that alcohol lowers the power of the system to resist disease, thus a teetotaller is more likely to live a longer and a healthier life than a drunkard. If no alcohol was used the judges say that three-fourths of the prisons could be closed. This shows us that a great deal of the crime committed is caused through drinking alcohol. The effect of drinking alcohol quickens the beating of the heart, thus sending blood volently over the body, causing a bright-red colour on the face. In the stomach an excess in the flow of gastric juice is caused. The power to digest food is weakened, and indigestion may follow. Through constant drinking of alcohol many diseases of the heart may result, and cancer, inflammation of the lungs or consumption. Many cases of insanity ate caused by drinking. The best drink to quench one’s thirst, besides being the cheapest, is water. It does not create a desire for more as alcoholic drinks do. In Russia now no alcohol is sold. Before the War the Government had

command of the workshops, so immediately on the outbreak of War, they closed the hotels, this of course meaning a loss to the Government, but a benefit to the nation* Alcohol is really a poison. In rum, whisky, spirits, etc., it is contained to the extent of about 45 to 50 per cent. In the Polar regions it is found that a person who drinks cannot stand the cold like a total abstainer. Insurance companies offer more favourable terms to a person who does not drink than to one who does. In the home, if one member drinks it seems to act as a dark stain upon their prosperity. Much poverty may result in a home where the husband drinks.

In England it is found that on a Monday the workers are less energetic than on other days. This may be accounted for because they take the liquor on Sundays, and it acts as a drug on their minds on Monday. The State will never be a ven prosperous one if it has to pay for the upkeep of paupers who might not be poor if there was no drinking. The minds of people who are drunkards can never be as free or as clear as if they did not drink. Men in very important positions should not be thcie if thev use alcohol to excess.