152 A STUDY IN HEREDITY 



single State has the law been satisfactorily enforced in the urban 

 centres. On the contrary, its successes have been achieved in 

 sparsely populated rural districts, where the problem to be dealt 

 with is notoriously simple and easier of solution. Under any 

 circumstances, the failure of the system in the towns and cities 

 would be important, but its importance is increased by the fact 

 that in America, as elsewhere, the drift of population is in- 

 creasingly towards the cities. 



" It is, moreover, morally certain that for generations to come 

 this growth of urban districts will continue, and that, led on the 

 one hand by a gregarious instinct which persists through all ages 

 and civilisations, and driven, on the other hand, by the force of 

 economic circumstances, an ever-increasing proportion of the 

 people will gravitate towards the urban districts, and America will 

 tend to become — what England within her narrower limits has 

 already become — a network of towns and cities, whose borders 

 expand under the pressure of an irresistible growth. A method 

 of Temperance Reform, therefore, that is applicable only to sparsely 

 populated rural districts, and is inapplicable to towns and cities, 

 can have but a restricted and diminishing sphere of influence." ^ 



If Total Prohibition fails of success what shall 

 we expect from weaker, less strenuous attempts at 

 Temperance Reform, such as Local Option, the 

 Gothenburg System, and the like ? Prohibition 

 seeks to remove alcohol altogether beyond the 

 reach of the drinker — to make him an abstainer. 

 Less radical schemes strive mainly to render access 

 to alcohol somewhat difficult and disagreeable. 

 They seek to make men moderate — a harder task. 

 They may, perhaps, diminish the consumption of 

 drink, just as Total Prohibition does. But do they 



1 " The Temperance Problem and Social Reform,'' pp. 246-8. 



