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130
II.—COPY OF POSTER ON ALCOHOLISM.
Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham.
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 of the body.
2. That alcoholic excess reduces the natural power of resistance to disease
possessed by healthy individuals, rendering them especially liable to
many inflammatory disorders, causing them to suffer much 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
frequently 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 many times 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.
6. 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 alwaye produce drunkenness.
7. That alcohol in any form has no value as a food.
8. Parents sometimes give alcohol in one form or another to children ;
it is 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 the expert
opinions placed before them.
The Lewisham 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.
Town Hall, Catford,
London, S.E.
October, 1905.