Page images
PDF
EPUB

of the

UNITED STATES BREWERS'
ASSOCIATION

CONTAINING THE REPORTS DELIVERED
AT THE 54TH ANNUAL CONVENTION
HELD IN NEW ORLEANS, NOVEMBER
18-21, 1914, AND ADDED CHAPTERS ON

[blocks in formation]

NOT COPYRIGHTED-
THIS BOOK IS FOR PUBLIC USE

AND SERVICE

THE TROW PRESS

NEW YORK

W

FOREWORD

HILE the Year Book of the United States Brewers' Association for 1914 covers the important developments of the current year in relation to the brewing industry, there are several chapters which should be especially mentioned because of their sociological interest.

The most notable is the summary of Dr. Ulrik Quensel's monumental work on "The Alcohol Question from a Medical Viewpoint," which is herein presented in a translation for the first time. The book is a scientific companion piece of "Alcohol and Society," issued by a committee of the Swedish Medical Society, a translation of which appeared in our Year Book of 1913. In his studies in the pathology of alcoholism, the author takes up the question of the moderate use of alcohol and shows that "the study of the effect of strong doses tells us nothing about the small or moderate doses. A demonstration of the injuriousness of large doses does not justify the inference of a similar effect from small doses." Apparently he questions the use of statistics from certain English life insurance companies to prove the injury from a moderate use of alcohol. In his conclusion he deals with the subject of temperance education in schools. "I have shown that the customary text-books in the socalled 'Alcohology' contain many incorrect and unreliable statements and assertions in regard to the pathology of alcoholism, and I therefore regard them as unsuitable as text-books; they should, as soon as possible, be supplemented by others."

Dr. Quensel's work comprises two volumes of 941 pages. It was completed through pecuniary assistance on the part of the Swedish Government, and is characterized by Dr. Scharffenberg, who is an ardent absolutist, as "a standard work in the great literature of the alcohol question."

Another important chapter in the Year Book is the one which deals with the "Sociological Aspects of Recent Legislation in Norway Relating to Alcohol and Alcoholism," by Dr. Jon Alfred Mjoen, Director of the Chemical and Race Hygiene Research Laboratories of Kristiania, who has been the Director of the State Control of Alcohol in Norway.

Other important subjects are the progress of the movement, for

V

« PreviousContinue »