Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XII. The suppression of vodka
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
THE SUPPRESSION OF VODKA 159
annually drank themselves to death in public-houses ; that
hundreds of thousands of alcoholic sufferers filled the
hospitals ; that innumerable public-house keepers allowed
countless peasants to drink away all their substance, even
to the extent of selling their furniture and the roof over
their heads to buj^ vodka ; that the number of victims of
delirium tremens was so great that over 27,000 insane persons
had to remain at large for want of sufficient accommodation
in asylums, which were filled to overflowing with these
drunkards. This picture of physical, moral, and economic
ruin can be matched by one equally appalling, portraying
infantile mortality and degeneracy due to the curse of
alcohol.
Between the years 1894 and 1914 not less than four and
a half million children under the age of five years died
annually from the want of natural nourishment, and as the
result of having parents addicted to alcohol. In the general
hospital of the town of Yaroslav, out of a total of 2014
patients, not less than 908 men and 24 women were admitted
for complaints which were inherited in each case from a
drunken father. Such and analogous statistical figures
show to what extent this mortal evil was sapping away
Russia’s vital strength. By the suppression of vodka
Russia had overcome her worst enemy, and created for
herself a new life and a new future.
If a child is induced for the first time to taste alcohol
his face shows disgust, because he feels, instinctively, that
it is injurious to health. Indeed, it may be scientifically
proved that its use is not in accordance with the natural
conditions of the life of man. The action of the child
clearly shows that alcohol is an acquired taste brought about
by the depravation of humanity. If alcohol be taken in
small quantities its harm is not so easily discernible, and
there are many who, being convinced of the necessity of
avoiding drunkenness, are still of the opinion that alcohol
should not be entirely discarded as a beverage. The entire
suppression of vodka, however, is due to an appreciation of
the necessity of introducing not only freedom from drunken-
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
