Science in Public Affairs 



very strong, and the Committee were "convinced 

 that the abuse of alcoholic stimulants is a most 

 potent and deadly agent of physical deterioration." 

 Improvement is suggested in many directions, in 

 Public House Trust Associations like Lord Grey's, 

 in more facilities for outdoor life, in larger oppor- 

 tunities for the young to find pleasure and stimulus 

 in physical exertion, but "the Committee are im- 

 pressed with the conviction that some general 

 educative impulse is in request which will bring 

 home to the community at large the gravity of 

 the issue." They suggest we should follow the ex- 

 ample of France, and supplement by State action 

 the dissemination of temperance literature. More- 

 over, teachers should be systematically trained in 

 the laws of health, and municipal authorities and 

 others should organise lectures on public health 

 especially designed to reach young mothers. The 

 London County Council is now doing good work 

 in this direction, and a public placard such as was 

 suggested by the Committee has recently been issued 

 by the Woolwich and other Borough Councils. 



The gradual education of public opinion is no 

 doubt the surest way of combating the drink evil, 

 but something has been, and more might be, done 

 to carry out the recommendations of Lord Peel's 

 Commission, which reported in 1899 (see sugges- 

 tions by one of the present writers in the Economic 

 Journal, vol. x. p. 264). The effect of that Report 

 was spoilt by the split between the majority under 

 Sir Algernon West and the minority under Lord 

 Peel, but the more moderate majority Report, which 



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