20 INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL ALCOHOLISM 



5 boys and 2 girls who were left in a public elementary 

 school at the age of 14. Comparing, however, the Edin- 

 burgh Public School ^^ith the ' selected ' school between 

 the ages of 5 and 12, where comparison is possible the 

 difference amounts to about 2 inches in stature and 4-5 lb. 

 in weight — precisely the class differences we are accustomed 

 to between pubhc primary and secondary higher grade 

 schools in London, and not marking off the Edinburgh 

 data as characteristic of a population congregating in 

 " an atmosphere that is foul physically and morally " ! 

 or in any other way as differing from the bulk of the hke 

 population in non-manufacturing towns. It appears to 

 me that the Cambridge economists cannot have dealt with 

 large numbers of school observations nor can thej^ be in 

 the habit of handhng statistics, or they would never 

 especially extract and quote any result based on an average 

 of 2! 



But there is a more serious charge than the above to be 

 made concerning the manner in which the Edinburgh 

 Report is handled, in this case, by Professor Marshall. He 

 condemns the inhabitants of the district dealt with in the 

 follomng sentences : 



As it is they congregate in an atmosphere that is foul 

 physically and morally, where even the sober residents 

 are as a rule weakly in body and devoid of self-respect. 



And again : 



We may assume that with few exceptions they are of a 

 low grade, for stress is laid on the fact that these parts 

 contain some ' old families ' belonging to the ' substantially 

 comfortable and thoroughly respectable working class ' 

 who continue to live there ' despite the degeneration of 

 the immediate neighbourhood '. Possibly some of these 

 old families stayed on partly because, though reputable, 

 they are somewhat lacking in vitality. 



