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CONSUMPTION PER HEAD OF
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See also:CONSUMPTION PER See also:HEAD OF See also:POPULATION See also:Wine in Gallons . Countries . 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 See also:United See also:Kingdom 0.39 0'38 0'37 0.35 0'37 0.40 0.39 0.41 0.41 0.38 0.37 0.36 0.33 0.28 0.27 See also:Russia .. . . . . . . See also:Norway .. . . . . See also:Sweden . 1 See also:Denmark .. . .
.
.
See also:Germany 0.57 1.01 P89 1'43 1.06 2.29 1.34 0.77 1.03 1.45 1.14 1.14 1.61 1.74 P61
See also:France 23•0 21.0 31.0 24.0 18•o 29.0 22.0 22.0 31.0 40.0 34.0 24.0 22.0 40'0 33.9
See also:Belgium 0.90 0.84 0.75 0.86 0.90 1.03 o•86 o.88 0.90 I.0I 1.03 1.0I I•o8 0.95 1.03
See also:
United Kingdom 1.03 1.03 0.98 0.97 1.00 I.02 1.03 1.04 I.09 1.11 I.09 I.05 0.99 0'95 0.91
Russia 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.95 0.92 o•89 0.92 0.92 I.00 0.97 0.92 0.92 1.00 0.95 •
.
I
Norway 0.70 o•62 o•68 0.73 o•66 0.44 0.42 0.48 0.62 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.62 0.62 0.511
Sweden 1.28 1.30 1.30 1.34 1.34 1.39 1.45 1.56 1.63 1.67 1.65 1.52 1.43 1.34 1.361
Denmark 2.67 2.79 2.90 2.71 2.79 2.86 2.71 2.6o 2.77 2.58 2.69 2.69 2.50 2.44 2.42
Germany 1.67 1.67 1.69 1.69 1.63 1.67 1.63 1.63 1.69 1.67 1.63 1.61 1.54 P54 P43
France 1.68 1.74 I.65 1.54 1.55 I.59 I.63 1.79 1.75 1.77 1.33 P24 I.35 1.50 1.37
Belgium
.
1.87 P85 1.83 1.83 i•94 1.63 1.72 1.63 1.63 1.8o 1.89 1.61 1.OI 1.14 1.10
Holland 1.72 1.72 I.69 1.69 1.65 1.65 1.61 1.58 1.54 1.58 1.56 1.54 I.50 1.50 1.43
Switzerland 1.19 P 2 I I.19 1.08 I.08 I.12 I.14 I.17 I.12 1.06 0.92 0.95 0.99 I.OI
..
Italy 0.28 0.29 0.21 0.24 0.19 0.21 0.23 0.21 0.22 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.25 0.28 0.29
Austria I.98 2.20 I.98 1.98 1.98 I.98 1.98 1.98 2.20 1.98 1.98 I.98 I.98 I.98 I.98
United States 1.24 I.27 I•I2 0.99 0.84 0'85 0.93 0.98 1.04 1.09 I.13 I.22 1.23 P21 1.26
Canada 0.74 0.71 0.76 0.76 0.69 o•65 0.75 0.56 0.69 0.71 0.76 0•8o 0.83 0'95 0.94
Australia 1.13 0.97 o•68 0.75 0.73 o•82 0.78 0.79 0.83 0.89 0.97 0.84 0.79 0.87 0.96
New Zealand 0.70 0.71 0.70 0.65 0.63 o-64 o•66 o.66 o•69 0.72 0.76 0.75 0.75 0.76 0.73
See also:anti-intemperance. its See also:objects are (I) the promotion of habits of See also:temperance, (2) the See also:reformation of the intemperate; (3) the removal of the causes which See also:lead to intemperance
.
Thus it embraces both the moral and the legislative See also:spheres, but the former takes first
See also:place; and this was emphasized in 1909 by the inauguration of a forward See also:movement " in spiritual activity
.
On the legislative See also:side the society supports See also:measures of reform rather than See also:prohibition, and particularly reduction of licences and popular See also:control of the See also:traffic
.
Its activity is many-sided; it carries on an extensive publication See also:department and educational courses, See also:police See also:court and See also:prison See also:gate See also:missions, missions to See also:seamen, travelling vans, and inebriate homes, of which there are 4 for See also:women and I for men
.
It See also:works locally through 36 diocesan branches, of which the aggregate See also:expenditure in 1909 was £41 ,353, exclusive of the central See also:office
.
It has See also:
The See also:total membership of the Church of See also:England Temperance Society in 1909 was 636,233, thus distributed :-See also:General See also:section, 35,901 ; total abstainers, 114,444; juvenile members, 485,888
.
The enormous number of juvenile members is significant
.
The numerical strength of the temperance societies in general, which is often greatly exaggerated, seems to be largely made up by the juvenile contingents, so far as See also:information is available
.
Other noteworthy See also:British societies are the Royal See also:Army Temperance Association and the Royal See also:Naval Temperance Society
.
The See also:special liability of soldiers and sailors to intemperance makes the See also:work of these bodies particularly valuable, and it is strongly supported by the See also: For other countries the number of journals is given as follows: See also:Australasia, to (one weekly); Canada, 7 (3 weekly); See also:India, 5; See also:South See also:Africa, 2; U.S.A . 15 (2 weekly) ; Austna, 2 ; Belgium, 2 ; Denmark, 1; France, 2 ; Germany, 8; Holland, 2; Italy, I; Norway, 2; Russia, I ; Sweden, 7; Switzerland, 3 . The list is no doubt imperfect . In the United States See also:newspapers of all kinds are many times more numerous than in the United Kingdom, and the See also:American Prohibition Year Book names 21 " leading " prohibition papers, of which 16 are weekly and daily . There are probably hundreds of temperance journals in the United States . Erect of the Temperance Movement.-The organized agitation against the abuse and even the use of alcoholic liquors thus briefly described is a very interesting feature of social See also:life in the See also:present See also:state of See also:civilization; but when a serious See also:attempt is made to ascertain its results the inquiry is found to be beset with difficulty . It has no doubt been largely instrumental in procuring the varied See also:mass of legislation described in the See also:article on LIQUOR See also:LAWS, particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia; and these laws are in a sense results . Ardent See also:advocates of legislation, who are always See also:apt to substitute the means for the end, point to them with See also:satisfaction . Those who demand prohibition regard its See also:adoption by this or that community as an end in itself and a See also:proof o " progress "; more moderate reformers view the reduction of public-houses in the same See also:light . Facts of this See also:kind can be stated with precision, but they go a very little way . The real point is not the See also:law or the number of houses, but the habits of the See also:people, and what we want to know is the effect on them of legislation, of organization, moral persuasion and the other influences that go to make up the Temperance Movement . To this question no clear or general See also:answer can be given . There is a good See also:deal of information about the United Kingdom, where the subject has been much more fully studied than anywhere else, and about Norway and Sweden, but for other countnes valid data are lacking to show whether intemperance has increased or diminished . The fullest statistical See also:evidence available relates to the See also:consumption of drink . Consumption of Drink . International See also:Statistics.-In 1906 a return was published by the British See also:Board of See also:Trade giving the See also:production and consumption ofalcoholic beverages in different countries for the years 1891-1905 . The table on p . 581 is compiled from it . Information is also given in the returns for See also:Spain, See also:Portugal, the See also:Balkan States. and South Africa, but it is very imperfect and has therefore been omitted . The only considerable movement during the 15 years covered by the table is a marked increase in the consumption of beer . It has occurred in some measure in the following countries: Russia, Sweden, Denmark, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand . The rise is notably large in Sweden, France, Switzerland, United States and Canada; and the upward movement has been particularly steady since 1898 in the United States, Canada and New Zealand . Exceptions are the United Kingdom and Norway, in both of which the consumption has fallen largely and steadily since 1899 . In Germany it has also fallen somewhat since 1900, but not so steadily, and over the whole See also:period it has risen in that See also:country . It is impossible to connect these various movements either with legislation or with temperance organization . If the fall in Norway is ascribed to them, it must be pointed out that they are much more directed against spirits than against beer in that country, and the consumption of spirits shows no such movement, having risen since 1897 . No one who has studied the subject in the different countries affected can doubt that the general rise is due to the introduction and growing popularity of the light beers originally brewed in Germany and Austria, and commonly called " lager." This is notably the See also:case in France, Belgium, Sweden and See also:North See also:America . It is an instance of the force of popular See also:taste . The increase in beer has not been accompanied by a corresponding reduction of other alcoholic liquor . Wine might be See also:left out of See also:account in this connexion . It is largely consumed only in countries where it is extensively grown, namely, in France, Italy and Switzerland, out of the countries enumerated . The consumption is very irregular and dependent mainly on the abundance of the See also:crop . But the tendency of wine has also been to rise; it has risen in France, Belgium, Italy, Austria, the United States and Australia . With regard to spirits, the only general movement is that consumption has fallen in most See also:European countries since 1900 . But this does not appear to be compensatory to the rise of beer, which extends over the whole period and went on when spirits were rising too . Exceptions to the downward movement of spirits since 1900 are offered by the United States and Canada, and to a less extent by Russia, Italy and Norway . The only country in which all classes of drink have steadily fallen is the United Kingdom; this singular fact will be discussed presently, but its peculiarity should be noted here in connexion with other countries . Attempts have been made to See also:express the total consumption of each country in terms of See also:alcohol by allowing a certain percentage of spirit for wine and beer and reducing all three to a See also:common denominator . The calculation yields a See also:simple and See also:uniform measure of comparison and permits the See also:classification of the countries in the order of their alcoholic consumption; but it must be regarded as a somewhat arbitrary estimate, because the strength of both wine and beer varies considerably . The Brewers' Almanack gives the following table based on the returns quoted above:- Consumption of Alcohol at Proof Strength in Gallons . See also:Annual See also:Average per See also:Head, 1901-5 . Wine . Beer . Spirits . Total . France 7.70 0.63 1.36 9'69 Italy . 6 27 .. 0.26 6.53 Belgium 0.25 3.84 I.35 5.44 Switzerland 3.35 1•1 I o•96 5.42 Spain 4.62 .. . . 4.62 Portugal 4.27 .. . . 4.27 Austria 0.97 1.23 2.06 4.26 Germany 0.36 2.08 1.75 4.19 Denmark I.64 2.54 4.18 United Kingdom 0.08 2.35 0.99 3.42 See also:Hungary ` 0.97 0.12 I.89 2.98 United States . 0• I1 1.23 I.2I 2.55 Sweden .. 1.00 I.46 2.46 Australia 0.32 0.94 o•88 2.14 Holland 0.09 .. I.50 1.59 New Zealand .. 0.74 0.69 I.43 Canada .. 0.40 0.85 1.25 Russia 0'95 0 95 Cape . 0.12 0.75 0.87 Norway .. 0.25 o•6o 0.85 See also:Natal .. 0.05 0.37 0.42 See also:Newfoundland .. 0.02 0.34 0.36 Apart from the gaps in the information, which speak for them-selves, See also:allowance must be made for other defects . In no case is the nominal consumption per head a valid See also:index to the relative temperateness of different peoples unless other conditions are fairly equal . The See also:distribution of the drinking has to be taken into account, and this is conditioned by the See also:age and See also:sex constitution of the population and by the habits of the people . A country in which every See also:person except infants takes a See also:minute quantity of drink at every See also:meal every day will have a far larger consumption per head and yet may be far more temperate than one in which a large See also:pro-portion of the population takes none at all and the drinking is concentrated in regard to both See also:time and person . The Portuguese and Spaniards, for instance, are more temperate than any of the nations below them on the list ; See also:drunkenness is never seen in Portugal and in the south of Spain (the See also:bishop of See also:Birmingham has publicly See also:borne testimony to the sobriety even of such a large seaport as See also:Barcelona) . The aggregate consumption is brought up to a cornparatively high level by the See also:national practice of drinking a little wine freely diluted with See also:water, a beverage which contains less alcohol than many " temperance " drinks . In like manner the See also:French and Italians, whose high place is due to wine, are more sober than most of the nations ranged below them . The writer has made extensive inquiries on this head in France . There is drunkenness, to which See also:Zola's l'Assommoir bears testimony, but outside See also:Paris and the seaports it is rare . Employers of labour in all the See also:principal See also:industrial centres, including the See also:mining districts of the north, agree on this point . The very high position of Belgium is mainly due to a prodigious consumption of beer, which is explained by the general practice of giving it to See also:children . On the other See also:hand, drunkenness is exceedingly prevalent in Russia, which is near the bottom of the list, and is due to the consumption of See also:vodka . The comparatively small amount per head put down in the returns may, if it is correct, be explained by the very large proportion of children in the population . The opposite See also:condition is illustrated by Western Australia, which has a consumption per head nearly thrice that of any other Australian See also:province . These instances will show the conditions that must be taken into account in making international comparisons and the See also:fallacy of measuring national sobriety by consumption per head . Consumption in United Kingdom.-Statistics of consumption for a longer period of time than that covered by the table given above are available for the United Kingdom, the United States and Scandinavia, and they are of particular See also:interest because these are the countries in which the Temperance Movement has been most active and productive of most legislation . The United Kingdom is distinguished by being the only country in the list which shows a distinct fall in the consumption of all three kinds of liquor since 1899 . To estimate the significance of this interesting fact it must be placed in See also:historical See also:perspective . The following table, compiled from the See also:official returns, gives the annual average consumption per head in decennial periods from 1831 to 1890, and subsequently for each year to 1909 . No continuous See also:record of beer was kept until after 1856 . United Kingdom: Average Annual Consumption per head in Gallons . Year . Wine . Beer . Spirits . 1831-40 0.26 .. I•II 1841-50 0.23 .. 0.94 1851- io 0.23 23.5 1.01 1861-7o 0.42 27.5 0.94 1871-8o 0.51 31.5 1.17 1881-90 0.38 27 7 0.99 1891 0.39 30.1 1.03 1892 0.38 29.7 I.03 1893 0.36 29.5 0.98 1894 0.35 29.4 0.96 1895 0 37 29.6 I•00 1896 0.40 30.8 P02 1897 0.40 31.4 I.03 1898 0.41 31.9 PO4 1899 0.41 32.7 1•o8 1900 0.42 32.2 I•18 1901 0.36 31.4 I.10 1902 0.35 30.6 1.01 1903 0 37 30 2 P03 1904 0.31 29 5 0.99 1905 0.2 7 2 8.4 0.93 1906 0.2 7 2 7.9 0.91 1907 0.28 27.8 0.91 t 908 0.27 27.6 0.90 1909 0.25 26.4 0.87 It will be observed that the consumption has oscillated up and down during the whole period of 79 years . More spirits were drunk in 1831-40 than in the three following decades, and more wine than in the two following decades . The decennial period of greatest consumption was 1871-8o; and the highest points reached were: wine, 0.56 gal. in 1876; beer, 34.0 gals. in 1874; spirits, 1.29 gals. in 1875 . Since then the consumption has always been See also:lower, though with fluctuations . The up and down movement is always associated with the state of trade, and the connexion is well marked in the last ten years . The progressive fall is striking, particularly in regard to beer, which is the See also:staple drink of the people; but the period is too See also:short to See also:warrant the inference that it represents a permanent movement which will continue . The fluctuations shown by the decennial table given above suggest the See also:probability of a subsequent rise with a revival of trade . Chronic depression and See also:unemployment have prevailed in many See also:industries since 1900, and these conditions always cause a diminished consumption . Nevertheless they do not fully account for the movement here shown, because the fall in consumption has been progressive, whereas the state of trade has fluctuated considerably; the curves do not coincide . Some other See also:factor has been at work, and there is See also:reason to think that it is a See also:gradual See also:change in the habits of the people . The facts of consumption agree with much other evidence in pointing to this conclusion . The expenditure in drink is not so high as it used to be in the past, whether periods of prosperity or adversity are taken . The calculation of annual expenditure prepared for the United Kingdom Alliance, and commonly called the National Drink See also:Bill, points to that conclusion . It is based on an arbitrary estimate of the cost of drink to the consumer and must not be taken to represent established facts; but it has some comparative value . The following table gives this calculation for the last 26 years:- National Drink Bill, United Kingdom . Expendi- Expendi- Year . Total tune per year, Total tune per Expenditure. head . Expenditure head . £ £ s. d . £ £ s. d .. 1884 144,734,214 4 1 o4 1897 174,365,372 4 7 6 1885 141,039,141 3 18 34 1898 176,967,349 4 8 o 1886 140,550,126 3 17 44 1899 185,927,227 4 II 8 1887 142,784,438 3 18 0; 1900 184 881,196 4 10 44 1888 142,426,153 3 17 24 1901 181,788,245 4 7 84 1899 151,064,035 4 1 34 1902 179,499,817 4 5 64 1890 159,542,700 4 5 II 1903 174,445,271 4 2 4 1891 161,765,291 4 5 74 1904 168,987,165 3 18 See also:I14 1892 161,527,717 4 4 94 1905 164,167,941 3 15 111 1893 159,020,709 4 2 84 1906 166,425,911 3 16 3 1894 158,932,134 4 111; 1907 167,016,200 3 15 9 1895 163,133,935 4 3 4z 1908 161,060,482 ~ 3 12 3i 1896 170,426,467 4 6 42 1909 155,162,485 1 3 8.114 The table begins and ends in two periods of marked depression, with one of marked prosperity in between; but it is to be noted that in the earlier See also:term of depression, although it was very acute, the expenditure never sank so See also:low as in the later one .
During the four lowest years (1885-88) the mean expenditure was nearly 4s. a head more than in the five lowest years (1905-9)
.
At the other end of the See also:scale the high-water See also:mark in the table, which is the year 1899, shows an expenditure of £4, IIs
.
8d.; but the previous high, water mark comparable with it, namely 1876, showed an expenditure of £5, Is
.
9d., when calculated on the same basis
.
The figures, there-fore, rather confirm than contradict the general belief that the people have grown more temperate during the last 30 or 40 years
.
With regard to the expression o national drink bill," which tacitly suggests so much See also:money thrown away on drink, it must be remembered that a large proportion is devoted to public purposes and would have to be found in some other way
.
In the year ending See also: 581 . The discrepancy is too great and too See also:constant to admit of any explanation, but that the two sets of returns are calculated from different bases . It illustrates the defects of these statistics and the need of caution in using them . The American figures show a far larger consumption in the United States than the See also:English . The most noticeable fact here shown is the continuous and large increase in the consumption of beer . Every year shows a rise down to 1908, when for the first time in 70 years a fall was recorded . It was continued in 1909, and being accompanied by a fall in spirits and wine also is no doubt mainly attributable to the See also:financial state of the country . Down to 188o beer was to a considerable extent taking the place of spirits, the consumption of which had previously been very high; but after that the steady increase in beer was not accompanied by a See also:reverse movement in spirits; and from 1896 to 1907 all three kinds of liquor See also:rose together, though not with equal steadiness . The rising consumption of beer has been accompanied by an enormous increase in home production, the See also:capital invested in breweries having risen from 4 million dollars in 1850 to 515 million dollars in 1905 . The consumption of spirits is at a much higher level than in the United Kingdom, and two considerations add greatly to the significance of the fact-one is that drinking takes place more between meals and less at them, and the other that it is more confined to men . Women, other than prostitutes, Consumption per head in Gallons, United States . Year ending See also:June 30 . Spirits . Wine . See also:Malt . Total . 1840 . . . . 2.52 0.29 P36 4.17 1850 . . . . 2.23 0.27 1.58 4.08 ,86o . . . 2.86 0.35 3'22 6.43 1870 . . . . 2.07 0.32 5.31 7.70 188o . . . . 1.27 0.56 8.26 io•o8 1882 . . . . 1.40 0.49 10.03 11.92 1884 . . . 1.48 0.37 10'74 12.60 1886 . . . P28 0.45 11.20 12.92 1888 I.26 0.61 I2.80 14.67 1890 . . . . 1.40 0.46 13.66 15.53 1892 . . . . 1.49 0.43 15.17 17.10 1894 . . . . I.34 0.32 15.32 16.96 1896 . . . poi 0.27 15.84 17.12 1898 1.12 0.28 15.96 17.36 1900 . . . . 1.28 0.39 16•oi 17.68 1901 . . . . P33 0.37 16.20 17.90 1902 . . . . 1.36 0.63 17.49 19.48 1903 . . . . 1.46 0.48 18.04 19.98 1904 . . . . 1.48 0.53 18.28 20.35 1905 . . . . 1.45 0.42 18.50 20.38 1906 . . . . 1.52 0.55 20.19 22.26 1907 1.63 0.67 21.24 23.53 1908 . . . 1'44 o•6o 20.98 23.02 1909 . . 1'37 .. j 19.79 .. do not frequent the See also:bar as they do in the United Kingdom, and children not at all . The expenditure in drink, so far as it can be calculated, has fluctuated somewhat, but shows a general tendency to rise . The following table has been prepared by Mr G . B . Waldron, an American statistician . It is taken from the Prohibition Year Book, with the American currency converted into English on the basis of 4S. to the See also:dollar, omitting fractions of a penny, for purposes of comparison with the British statistics given above . Annual Drink Bill, United States . Total Expendi- Total Expendi- Y~• Expenditure. tare per Year . Expenditure. tore per head, head . s. d . s. d . 1878 90,655,754 18 1898 208,312,573 2 17 I 1888 163,617.545 2 14 7 1899 214,137,995 2 17 8 1889 168,176,169 2 14 I I 1900 234,445,322 3 I 5 1890 180,529,173 2 17 8 1901 243,999,598 3 2 10 1891 195,916,560 3 I 4 1902 269,556,728 3 8 3 1892 202,978,872 3 2 4 1903 282,122,043 3 10 2 1893 215,896,634 3 5 I 1904 292,735,706 3 II 7 1894 204,924,298 3 0 7 1905 293,180,332 3 10 6 1895 194,189,466 2 16 4 1906 321,604,383 3 16 4 1896 192,418,995 2 14 9 1907 351,461,570 4 I ii 1897 198,640,711 2 15 6 __1908 335,167,639 .3 16 11 Comparison with the British table shows at a glance an opposite movement in the two countries . While expenditure has steadily fallen in the United Kingdom since 1899, it has as steadily risen in the United States; and whereas in 1888 the expenditure in the former was 41 per cent. higher than in the latter, the two had See also:drawn equal in 1906 and since then have changed places . Moreover the different See also:system of taxation brings back a much larger proportion of the whole expenditure into the exchequer in the United Kingdom (see LIQUOR LAWS) . The comparison is of much interest in view of the very different laws and regulations under which the trade is conducted in the two countries . It may he objected that the statistics are merely estimates, but both sets are put forward by the advocates of prohibition and are of equal authority, so that they hold good for comparison . Norway and Sweden.-The statistics for these countries are imperfect, because there is no record of wine, and in See also:recent years the use of spirits has been supplemented or replaced to a considerable extent by artificial wines heavily loaded with spirits . But, as they stand, the statistics derive special interest from the See also:peculiar conditions under which the traffic is conducted . The Scandinavian See also:company system was started in Sweden in 1865 and in Norway in 1871 (see LIQUOR LAwsi . Consumption per head in Litres, Norway . Year . Branvin . Beer, 1851-60 5.9 1861-70 4.6 1871-80 5.2 18.2 1881-90 3.2 16•o 1891 3.7 2I.7 1892 3'2 20.6 1893 3.5 20.8 1894 3.8 19.8 1895 3.5 17.7 1896 2.3 16.2 1897 2.2 17.8 1898 2.6 21.6 1899 3.3 23.2 1900 3.4 22.7 1901 3.4 20.0 1902 3.4 17.8 1903 3.2 14.1 1904 3.3 13.1 1905 2.7 13'7 Consumption per head in Litres, Sweden . 10.9 16.1 21.9 30.9 30'8 31.6 33'0 35.5 42.4 45'0 50.0 58.1 56'4 60.4 56.6 58.7 52.8 The difference between these contiguous countries is remarkable . The consumption of spirits has always been much higher in Sweden than in Norway . In the old days before any legislation the estimated consumption was in Sweden 46 litres (1829) and in Norway 16 litres (1833) a head . In recent years, under the company system, the figures for both countries are vastly less, but the See also:Swedish consumption has hardly ever been less than See also:double the See also:Norwegian and sometimes three times as great . This difference, observed over a See also:long period before regulation and after, points to different conditions and national habits; but such constant differentiating factors hardly explain the strikingly dissimilar movements shown by the tables . Both countries arc obviously affected by the state of trade . The high-water mark of spirit-drinking in See also:modern times for both was the same period, 1874-76, as noted above for the United Kingdom; Sweden then averaged 12.4 litres a head and Norway 6.6 . Both show also the See also:influence of the 1900 See also:boom in trade and the subsequent decline . But in Sweden the increase of beer-drinking, which in 1871-8o was less than in Norway, has been enormous . If the two drinks are put together it cannot be said that the consumption in Sweden was appreciably less in 1896-1905 than in 1871-8o, whereas in Norway it was distinctly less . This may in See also:part be explained by the substitution of the made wine, called laddevin, to which reference has already been made . The marked fall in the consumption of spirits which occurred in 1896-98 is attributed to this cause (Rowntree and Sherwell) ; the importation of wine rose from 2,320,300 litres in 1891-94 to 5,876,750 litres in 1898 . Subsequently importation was checked by heavier duties and reduced consumption followed . In 1886-90 the quantity consumed per head in litres averaged 0.88; in 1896-1900 it was 2.49, with a maximum of 2.75 in 1898; in 1905 it had fallen again to o•88 (See also:Pratt) . A careful study of the foregoing statistics of consumption in the three countries-United Kingdom, United States and the Scandinavian See also:peninsula-which have paid most See also:attention to the problem and have for a long period applied forcible but widely different methods of control, does not permit any confident conclusion upon the comparative merits of any particular system . The United States, in whose multitudinous liquor laws prohibition plays the most prominent part, has most conspicuously failed to check consumption . Norway and Sweden, both of which combine the Year . Branvin . 1856-60 1861-70 1871-80 1881-90 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 9.5 9'7 10.9 7'5 6'4 6.5 6'7 6.9 6.9 7.2 7'5 8•o 8.3 8.5 8.4 7.8 7.4 6.9 7•o Beer, principle of disinterested management, though not in the same form, with a certain amount of prohibition, show markedly different results . The British licensing system has been at least as successful as any of the others . The most probable conclusion to be drawn from the facts is that the movement in each country has been mainly determined by other forces; the rise of consumption in the United States by the rapid and progressive urbanization of the people and the great increase of See also:wealth; the diminution of consumption in the United Kingdom by a change in the habits of the people due to many causes, to which further reference is made below; while the difference between Norway and Sweden is largely due to See also:differences of national See also:character and habits already noted, though some influence must be attributed to the See also:superior system and greater stringency of control in Norway . But if we go back to earlier periods there is no doubt at all that an incomparably worse state of things existed in the United Kingdom and in Scandinavia when the spirit traffic was under little control or none at all . 1 neemperance.—Police statistics are the best evidence we have of the prevalence of drunkenness, which is the most visible and direct result of intemperance . Like other statistics, they must be used with due regard to the circumstances of origin and compilation . They vary according to (I) the laws See also:relating to drunkenness; (2) the See also:administration by police and justices; (3) the method of compiling returns All these vary in different countries and towns and at different times, so that the statistics must not be used for minute comparisons . But properly handled they are of great value, and the discrepancies are less than might be supposed, because it is found on inquiry that the actual behaviour of the police towards drunken persons does not greatly differ . Neither exceptional zeal nor exceptional laxity lasts very long . The general practice is only to interfere with those persons whose violence causes disturbance or whose helplessness creates obstruction or annoyance . The mode of compiling returns is the most serious cause of See also:error . Many countries have no returns, and in others they are incomplete . Those available, however, throw considerable light on the subject . The following quinquennial table shows the movement in England and See also:Wales since the drunken period 1874-78 . The important See also:act of 1872, which increased the number of offences, vitiates comparison with the earliest returns, which are, however, given in the article on DRUNKENNESS . Drunkenness, England and Wales . Number of Persons proceeded against per Io,000 . 1874-78 81.2 1894-98 • 60.4 1879-83 . 69.7 1899-1903 . 65.5 1884-88 . 63.6 1904—08 . . 62.4 1889-93 . . 61.4 There has been a marked improvement since 1874-78, and on the whole a progressive one, though interrupted by a moderate rise in the period of prosperity about 1900 . The figures for the most recent years would be considerably lower but for the Licensing Act of 1902, which altered the police See also:procedure and caused a sudden rise, as shown by the following table, for the last 10 years: 1900 . 63.4 1905 . . 64.2 1901 . 64.5 1906 ` . 61.3 1902 . 63.6 1907 6o•I 1903 69.o 1908 59.3 1904 . 67.4 1909 53.2 When allowance is made for the act of 1902 it is seen that the movement of drunkenness corresponds broadly with that of consumption, but the decline of drunkenness is more marked; the level is lower than it used to be whether good or See also:bad times be taken . This plainly shows a large change in the habits of the people, which is further emphasized by the fact that police procedure has become more stringent and the returns more See also:complete . The exceptional figure for 1909 (estimated) is ascribed to the heavy increase of spirit duties in that year . The change has been accompanied by a continuous fall in the number of public-houses in proportion to population . Between 187o and 1909 the number of " on " licences was reduced from 53.3 to 26.3 per to,000 of the population; but the See also:correspondence between the two movements is not exact . The number of public-houses has fallen steadily from year to year, whereas drunkenness, like consumption, has fluctuated with the state of trade . The facts, therefore, demonstrate a connexion, but hardly establish one of cause and effect . The principal causes which have brought about the general decline of drunkenness are wider and deeper . The See also:standard of behaviour has gradually changed with See also:education and the See also:provision of alternative recreations in many forms, among which the See also:chief are See also:games, theatres, locomotion, public See also:libraries, institutes, See also:tea shops and eating houses . At the same time great social changes have taken effect and have tended to remove class barriers and See also:foster the aspirations of the working classes, who have more and more adopted the standard of conduct prevalent among the more highly educated sections of society . The old drinking habits of the latter, which were notorious at the end of the 18th See also:century, began to give way to greater sobriety earlyin the 19th century; and the movement was greatly promoted, as a feature of social life, by the influence of See also:Queen See also:Victoria's reign . Drunkenness went " out of See also:fashion," and the social standard has gradually permeated downwards . All this has no doubt been stimulated by temperance organization and teaching, which has constantly kept the question before the public and exercised an educational influence in spite of ridicule and abuse . The change has been very gradual, but far greater than can be shown in figures . It can be better realized by contrasting the present state of things with that described in the past, as in the evidence given before a select See also:committee of the See also:House of See also:Commons in 1834, when witnesses described the scenes that regularly occurred on See also:Sunday See also:morning in See also:London—the See also:crowd See also:round the public-houses, women with babies to which they gave See also:gin, and people lying dead drunk in the streets . The evidence given at this inquiry and by contemporary writers reveals a condition of things to which modern times afford no parallel; and in particular it disposes of the current belief that See also:female drunkenness is a comparatively new thing and increasing . The practice of frequenting public-houses and drinking to excess in England has been noted for centuries and repeatedly denounced . It was described at a See also:meeting of the See also:Middlesex magistrates in 1830, when the chairman said that of 72 cases of drunkenness brought up at See also:Bow See also:Street on the previous See also:Monday the majority were women " who had been picked up in the streets where they had fallen dead drunk." At the inquiry of 1834 Mr Mark See also:Moore gave the number of customers counted entering 14 public-houses in a See also:week; out of a total of 269,437 there were 108,593 women and 18,391 children . Of See also:late years the proportion of female drunkards to the whole has been perceptibly diminishing . In 187o the proportion of See also:females to the total number proceeded against for drunkenness was 25.9 per cent . ; in 1890 it was 23.4 per cent . The percentage of convictions credited to women in the last few years is: 1905, 20.42; 1906, 20.60; 1907, 20.26; 1908, 20.13; 1909, 19.79• The foregoing observations on drunkenness apply only to England and Wales . The returns for Scotland and Ireland are less complete, but they show the movement in those parts of the kingdom . In Ireland a diminution has taken place in recent years, but in Scotland an increase . Number of Charges of Drunkenness . Year . Scotland . Ireland . 1890 36,293 100,202 1900 43,943 97,457 1901 .. 88,295 1902 91,276 1903 36,930 85,502 1904 41,852 81,775 1905 43,518 79,968 1906 55,408 77,262 1907 58,900 76,860 1908 55,104 . . It is worthy of See also:note that police drunkenness is higher in Wales, Scotland and Ireland than in England . The respective number of proceedings per Io,o0o in the year 1907 was: England, 59.8; Wales, 65.2; Scotland, 123.3: Ireland, 175.6 . The figures for . Wales are strictly comparable, those for Scotland and Ireland less so; but the coincidence is striking . The greater prevalence of spirit drinking as a national See also:habit, particularly in Scotland and Ireland, may account in part for the discrepancy . Other points which distinguish the three countries from England are their See also: |