234 THE ALCOHOL PROBLEM 
The effects of indulgence in alcohol are strongly 
suggested, though not conclusively proved, by the 
records of absenteeism. It is stated,* for instance, 
that at an engineering works the time lost by the men 
was so considerable that the employers made total 
abstinence a condition of employment. The lost time 
fell to o-5 per cent., as compared with the figure of 
about 10 per cent. experienced at other engineering 
works. The same authority states that the General 
Manager of the Shipping Federation, who sought 
information from forty-eight large shipping offices 
about the time lost by seamen through indulgence 
in alcohol, obtained a positive reply from thirty-three 
firms.. Five of the firms stated that one or two days 
a week were lost from this cause, whilst fifteen firms 
put it at six to eight hours. The men were specially 
inclined to a debauch shortly before coming on board, 
and they thereby imperilled the safety of the ship. 
Amongst coal-miners absenteeism is specially marked 
on Mondays and Saturdays. This is well shown in 
the absenteeism data published in the Report of the 
Coal Commission.f They relate to the week October 
12-17, 1925, and in the present Table are recorded 
samples of these data from various coal-fields. They 
relate to the whole of the men, both underground and 
surface; but the surface men (who are paid at a 
time rate and on a lower scale) showed much less 
absenteeism than the coal-face men, as is shown by 
the sample data recorded on the right side of the 
Table. 
* T. Oliver, “ Alcohol in Relation to Indust. Efficiency.” Roy. 
Soc. Arts, 1922. : 
1 Report of Royal Commission on Coal Industry, 1926, App. 316.