Tight Little Island?

Last winter the British press reported that war had greatly increased drunkenness in "a northern industrial town." Dr. Harvie K. Snell of Liverpool Prison promptly decided to see whether that was true. Last week the Lancet reported Dr. Snell's findings.

"Not everyone who gets a little drunk lands in gaol," said the editor, "but Liverpool prison serves a wide area in North-West England and North Wales . . . and so may be regarded as fairly representative of the country as a whole." According to available prison statistics, there was an appreciable fall in the amount of drunkenness during the first four months of the war. Dr. Snell's reasons: ". . . Resolute acceptance of the present situation in contrast to the wild enthusiasm manifest in 1914 ... a heightened sense of social responsibility . . . and the static character of the war itself during its early months."

The Lancet had no data indicating whether drunkenness increased with the recent tempo of the war. It wondered "whether, in fact, we are becoming a tight little island in both senses of the word."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.