THE ALCOHOL MOTIVE 263 



citement, are greater and he feels more the need of the harmonizing 

 action of alcohol. 



Again, we can understand why even the primitive man finds alcohol 

 a relief, for the tension of his life is great as compared with the lower 

 animals and we can understand why the desire increases with the prog- 

 ress of civilization and the corresponding increase of tension. The 

 stress of life is greatest among the Anglo-Saxon people and greatest 

 of all perhaps in American cities at the present time. In this country 

 especially, the intense life of concentration, of effort, of endeavor, of 

 struggle, of rapid development, has for its correlate an intense longing, 

 not for stimulants, — f or our life, our climate, our . environment are 

 surely stimulating enough, — but for rest, for relaxation, for harmony, 

 for something to still temporarily the eternal turmoil. 



Does the fact that the desire for alcohol is increased by the indulg- 

 ence in it and the apparent fact that those who fall victims to its exces- 

 sive use are not always those most in need of its harmonizing action 

 present any difficulty in this theory? Probably not. The desire for 

 relaxation is not necessarily increased by the use of alcohol but only the 

 ever renewed demand for that which produces the longed for effect, and, 

 again, it is not certain that those who fall victims to its excessive use 

 are not those most in need of its harmonizing action. Here the element 

 of prudence and self-control must be taken into account. Excessive 

 users may be those having lesser control or greater opportunity, not 

 those experiencing stronger desire. While the desire for alcohol is 

 increasing with the complexity of society, it is actually true that drunk- 

 enness is decreasing and it is possibly true that the number of total ab- 

 stainers is increasing. These things are determined by custom, by in- 

 dividual environment and education and by the power of self control. 

 But the steady increase in the desire for alcohol is shown not merely in 

 the steady increase in its consumption but still more in the fact that it 

 increases in the face of public and private sentiment, legal statute and 

 social effort. 



We see also why the use of alcohol has commonly followed the law 

 of rhythm. Among primitive tribes drinking was periodic, wild orgies 

 of intoxication following considerable periods of the plodding life. 

 This periodicity is seen in convivial drinking of all times and is a fa- 

 miliar fact in every community at the present. The power of self-re- 

 straint, strengthened by public sentiment and private prudence, deters 

 from the use of alcohol up to a certain point, when the cumulative force 

 of the desire, which is the cumulative need of release from painful 

 tension, overthrows all barriers and excess and complete relaxation fol- 

 low for a season. 



So it appears that the effect of alcohol is a kind of " catharsis." 

 We recall Aristotle's theory of the drama, which, he says, purifies the 

 mind by giving free expression to certain of the emotions. In a way, 

 therefore, the significance of alcohol is that it is an escape. It is not 



