Drunkenness Reduced in Great Britain
The result of the control of the liquor traffic in Great Britain is shown by the following figures of convictions for drunkenness in the years named, the upper line of figures referring to males, the lower line to females:
| Greater London—Population, (1911,) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7,486,964 | ||||
| 1913. | 1914. | 1915. | 1916. | 1917. |
| 48,535 | 49,077 | 35,866 | 19,478 | 10,931 |
| 16,953 | 18,577 | 15,970 | 9,975 | 5,736 |
| ———— | ———— | ———— | ———— | ———— |
| 65,488 | 67,654 | 51,836 | 29,453 | 16,667 |
| Boroughs, (36,) England and Wales— | ||||
| Population, (1911,) 8,406,372 | ||||
| 41,380 | 38,577 | 27,041 | 17,233 | 9,870 |
| 11,399 | 11,258 | 9,959 | 6,097 | 3,679 |
| ———— | ———— | ———— | ———— | ———— |
| 52,779 | 49,835 | 37,000 | 23,330 | 13,549 |
| ———— | ———— | ———— | ———— | ———— |
| 89,915 | 87,654 | 62,907 | 36,711 | 20,801 |
| 28,352 | 29,835 | 25,929 | 16,072 | 9,415 |
| ————- | ————- | ———— | ———— | ———— |
| 118,267 | 117,489 | 88,836 | 52,783 | 30,216 |
In England and Wales the deaths due to or connected with alcoholism (excluding cirrhosis of the liver) fell from 1,112 (males) and 719 (females) in 1913 to 358 (males) and 222 (females) in 1917; deaths due to cirrhosis of the liver, from 2,215 (males) and 1,665 (females) to 1,475 (males) and 808 (females); cases of attempted suicide, from 1,458 (males) and 968 (females) to 483 (males) and 452 (females); deaths from suffocation of infants under one year declined from 1,226 to 704.
Germany's Population Declining
A careful study of the vital statistics of Germany and Great Britain reveals the fact that the population of Germany is declining, while that of Great Britain is increasing. The German Empire, which in June, 1919, at the previous rate of increase should have had 72,000,000 people, will have no more than 64,500,000. Germany as a whole will have 5 per cent. less population than when the war began. Of those who have been killed the greater number were men in the prime of life and energy, whom Germany could least spare. By deaths in the battle zone the empire has lost at least 3,000,000 men.
The birth rate has sunk to such a figure that by next year the number of births will have fallen short of what they would have been had there been no war by 3,333,000. In the same period the annual number of deaths among the German civilian population, owing to the stress and anxiety of the war, and sickness, which has been aggravated by hardships and food troubles, has increased by 1,000,000 over the normal.
While by next year the German Empire will be 7,500,000 lower in population than it would have been had the war not taken place, the vitality of the peoples of Austria and Hungary has suffered even more. The peoples of Austria will be 11 per cent. poorer in numbers next year than if the war had not taken place. They will be 8 per cent. lower in numbers than they were in 1914. Hungary will be still worse off. It will have a population 9 per cent. lower than before the war, and 13 per cent. lower than it would have been if there had been no war.