But these
are the very defences which alcohol in her nervous system saps. Every
social worker is familiar with the daily truth that young womanhood
connives at its own ruin under the influence of alcohol, where otherwise
it need not have fallen.
This last consideration leads us to the study of a phenomenon which in
many respects is new and unprecedented, while none could be of worse
omen.
It has for long been alleged that the amount of drinking amongst women
is increasing. When writing an academic thesis on the consequences of
city life, I attempted to discover definite evidence on this point.
Nothing that could be called precise was forthcoming, though the
evidence was abundant that the general assertion is correct. Drinking
amongst women means, of course, drinking amongst mothers. It means
drinking by unborn children. No one concerned with the fundamentals of
national well-being can ignore anything so minatory. Within the last few
years, much attention has been directed to the subject, and the Church
of England Temperance Society, for instance, sent out a form of inquiry
to the medical profession as to their experience in this matter. It may
now be stated, without any fear of contradiction, that drinking has
greatly increased amongst women of all classes during the last twenty
years, and especially, it seems probable, during the latter half of that
period.
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