Total Abstinence—See [Personal Influence].
TOTAL ABSTINENCE, VALUE OF
Here is testimony from the medical examiners of prominent life insurance companies as to the value of abstinence from alcohol:
(1) I note that you ask whether or not we believe, other things being equal, that the use of alcoholic drinks is a personal handicap and increases the actuarial risk. In reply to this question we must certainly answer in the affirmative. There have been numerous articles written and numerous statistics compiled on the effect of total abstinence, and they show without question that the mortality experienced among total abstainers has been decidedly less than that experienced among moderate drinkers.
(2) This company prefers total abstainers for insurance risks. This is from a selfish standpoint, as we are forced to believe they are better risks for the company. We are imprest by the large number of applicants living in the States of Alabama and Georgia who say they drank periodically or regularly before prohibition went into effect, but do not drink anything now. If prohibition in Alabama and Georgia and the “dry” counties of Indiana has done nothing else, it has made a difference in the answers given by applicants to this company.
(3) We thoroughly agree with all authorities that the moderate use of alcohol tends to shorten life and increases the hazard incident to life insurance.—Prohibition Year Book.
(3261)
Touch—See [Sympathy].
TOUCH, POWER OF