38 THE ALCOHOL PROBLEM 
two or three hours, and can usually evade the Govern- 
ment patrol boats, though these boats have a higher 
speed. So widespread is the supply of liquor that it 
is said¥* that a bottle of quite passable whisky can be 
purchased for about ten shillings, and a visitor to the 
bigger restaurants can obtain a whisky and soda with- 
out difficulty. Nevertheless, it is admitted by the 
severest critics of prohibition that it is unlikely that 
the law will be materially changed. 
The real test of the efficacy of prohibition, both 
in Finland and in America, will come in twenty or 
thirty years’ time, when the present generation of 
young people has reached maturity and power. Has 
this generation less opportunity of learning to drink 
alcohol than its predecessors ? Taking America as a 
whole it is highly probable that the opportunity has 
been distinctly less, but the reverse appears to hold for 
Finland. A questionnaire was addressed to a large 
number of competent persons throughout the country, 
and the replies suggested that the youthful population 
now drink more than in pre-prohibition times. 
Alcoholism is more particularly increasing in the country 
districts, though it may be on the decrease in towns. 
Should the younger generation fail to acquire a liking 
for alcohol, and the dry members of the community 
increase in number, they would impose their will 
more and more on the remainder. Smuggling and 
moonshining would diminish and ultimately die out, 
and the consumption of spirits would cease. Whether 
this condition of things will ever be attained without 
the legalisation of wines and beers, or at least of beers 
containing too little alcohol to render them intoxicating, 
is very doubtful. 
* Observer, September 5, 1026. + Koller. loc. cit.