For the law concerning drunkenness the reader is referred to [Inebriety, Law of]. Its prevalence as a vice has varied considerably according to the state of education or comfort in different classes of society. In considering the extent to which intemperance has prevailed, the statistics of prosecutions upon which such comparisons are usually based are far from being completely satisfactory, but, inasmuch as they constitute the only possible data for such comparisons, we are compelled to accept them. The following table gives the average number of persons per 1000 of the population proceeded against for drunkenness in England and Wales for quinquennial periods, dating from 1857, the first year of the Judicial Statistics:—
| 1857-1861 | 4.28 |
| 1862-1866 | 4.78 |
| 1867-1871 | 5.47 |
| 1872-1876 | 7.83 |
| 1877-1881 | 7.25 |
| 1882-1886 | 6.90 |
| 1887-1891 | 6.19 |
| 1892-1896 | 5.84 |
| 1897-1901 | 6.42 |
| 1902-1906 | 6.51 |
The figures, it will be seen, show a steady decline from 1872-1876 (when the consumption of alcohol was quite abnormal) to 1892-1896. After that year, however, the figures again rose. The increase was especially marked in 1899, when a tide of exceptional prosperity was again accompanied by great drunkenness. It is also disquieting to discover that the average number of prosecutions for drunkenness in the three years 1897-1899 was 51% higher than the average for 1857-1861, and 35% higher than the average for 1862-1866. That the increase was partly due to more efficient police administration is probable, but that this is not a complete explanation of the figures is made evident by an analysis of the general statistics of crime during the same period, from which it may be seen that, while crime generally (excluding drunkenness) decreased 28% in England and Wales since 1857-1861, drunkenness increased 51%. Speaking generally, it may be said that in the United Kingdom drunkenness appears chiefly prevalent in the seaport and mining districts. If a line be drawn from the mouth of the Severn to the Wash, it will be found that the “black” counties, without exception, lie to the north-west of this line. The worst counties in England and Wales in the matter of drunkenness are Northumberland, Durham and Glamorganshire, while Pembrokeshire and Lancashire follow close behind. The most sober counties, on the other hand, are Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. Averages based upon the returns of entire counties do not, however, afford a complete guide to the distribution of drunkenness, inasmuch as offences are not equally distributed over the whole area of a county. A heavy ratio of drunkenness in a small district may often give a county an unfavourable position in the general averages, notwithstanding favourable conditions in the rest of its area.
Analysis of the prosecutions for drunkenness shows that about 24% of the total number of offences are committed by women. In the larger towns the proportion, as a rule, is higher. In London, 38% of the drunkenness is attributable to women; in Manchester, 36%; in Belfast and Glasgow, 32%. In Liverpool, on the other hand, the proportion is only 24%. The much-controverted question as to whether intemperance is increasing among women can hardly, however, be decided by an appeal to the criminal statistics. So far as these statistics throw any light at all upon the question, they suggest important local differences. A more direct clue is afforded by the registrar-general’s annual returns of deaths directly attributed to intemperance. The figures are given below. In order to eliminate accidental variations, the comparison is based upon the average mortality during consecutive periods:—
| Years. | Average No. of deaths (England and Wales). | Males per cent. | Females per cent. |
| 1877-1881 | 1071 | 69 | 31 |
| 1882-1886 | 1320 | 66 | 34 |
| 1887-1891 | 1710 | 64 | 36 |
| 1892-1896 | 2044 | 61 | 39 |
| 1897-1899 | 2577 | 61 | 39 |
| 1899 | 2871 | 60 | 40 |
For the ten years ending 1904, out of 26,426 deaths from alcoholism, 59.34% were males and 40.66% females.
The figures are certainly striking. They show, it will be noticed, that out of every 100 deaths from alcoholic excess in England and Wales women contributed nine more at the end of the century then they did in 1880. If, instead of taking the total number of deaths, we take the ratio per million persons living, the increase is seen even more clearly:—
| Years. | Males per million living. | Females per million living. |
| 1877-1881 | 60 | 25 |
| 1882-1886 | 67 | 32 |
| 1887-1891 | 79 | 42 |
| 1892-1896 | 86 | 51 |
| 1897-1899 | 103 | 63 |
| 1899 | 112 | 70 |
It appears that, while the ratio of mortality from alcoholic excess increased 87% among males during the last two decades of the century, among females it increased by no less than 180%.