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74
METROPOLITAN BOROUGH OF FINSBURY.
Alcoholism.
It is conclusively proved by the Report of the Departmental
Committee presented to Parliament by command of His Majesty:
1. That the abuse of alcoholic stimulants, whether in the form of
spirits, wine, or beer, is largely responsible for physical deterioration;
it leads to disease in most tissues and organs in the
body.
2. That alcoholic excess reduces the natural power of resistance to
disease possessed by healthy individuals, rendering them especially
liable to certain inflammatory disorders, causing them to
suffer more severely from any illness they may contract, and
making their recovery slow.
3. That intemperance predisposes to consumption.
4. That children of intemperate parents are seriously affected; they
not infrequently suffer from paralysis, epilepsy, and idiocy, which
lead, if not to death, to their permanent disablement. From
statistics obtained it was found that the mortality among children
of intemperate parents was much greater than among children of
sober parents of the same class.
5. That the increase in lunacy is largely due to intemperance, and
that there is also an increase in the number of cases of general
paralysis from the same cause.
(5. That alcoholism is a disease or chronic poisoning, resulting from
the continued and excessive use of spirits, wine and beer, even
though such excess or abuse does not always produce drunkenness.
7. That alcohol has no real value as a food.
8. Parents sometimes give alcohol in one form or another to children.
It is likely to be decidedly injurious to them, and should in no
case be given except by order of a doctor.
9. That, finally, alcoholism is a relentless enemy to family happiness,
to personal health, and to national prosperity.
The members of the Departmental Committee are impressed with
the necessity of widely disseminating the conclusions arrived at from
expert opinions placed before them.
The Finsbury Borough Council have decided, therefore, to publish
the above facts in order to bring home to men and women the disastrous
results of alcoholic excess or abuse to the health and life of
individuals and their offspring, and to the efficiency of the State.
Finsbury Town Hall,
Rosebery Avenue, E.C.
December, 1905.