THE PROBLEM STATED 5 
moderation throughout their lives, a by no means 
negligible fraction of them gradually acquire the habit 
of drinking to excess, and not having sufficient moral 
fibre to pull up, they drift into a condition which often 
ends in social disaster and premature death. He is 
confident that he himself will never be numbered 
among these degenerates, though he is not absolutely 
sure. In any case, the thoughtful man can scarcely 
help speculating occasionally whether he is entitled 
to indulge in what is after all a luxury, when he knows 
that a certain proportion of his fellows, perhaps as 
many as I in 10, are destined, sooner or later, to do 
themselves irreparable harm in consequence of over- 
indulgence. He usually decides that he is so entitled, 
for he is not his brother’s keeper, and is not responsible 
for his weaknesses of the flesh. Still, out of con- 
sideration for these weaknesses, he would generally 
agree to submit to a certain amount of restriction on 
his liberty if it was calculated to reduce materially 
the number of these sad cases of excess. Also he is 
prepared to admit that, quite apart from excessive 
drinking, many men spend far more on alcoholic 
liquors than they can afford. The average non- 
abstaining family now spends about 13s. 6d. a week 
on drink, which represents a fourth or fifth of the 
family budget, and most men would admit that if a 
portion of this sum were spent on better housing, 
more food, and better clothes for the children, it would 
add materially to the health and happiness of the 
community. There is good reason for thinking that 
amongst the industrial classes the least well-paid 
workers spend the most on drink. In Bermondsey, for 
instance, which consists almost entirely of an industrial