Report of the Committee on Intemperance for the Convocation of the Province of York, presented and received.
- Church of England. Province of York. Convocation. Committee on Intemperance.
- Date:
- 1874
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report of the Committee on Intemperance for the Convocation of the Province of York, presented and received. Source: Wellcome Collection.
25/394 page 3
![numbers are being led into them. Then- returns show that tlds is especially the case in the large towns, and in the mining districts of the North ; and the Sunday-schools, as a natural result, suffer very seriously. The labouring class is that most addicted to this vice, the The eiasBOi agricultoi'al labourers contrasting favourably with artisans and dictedto'thii miners. Intemperance, however, is by no means confined to them, for the farmers, in proportion to their numbers, are an intemperate class; and a vast amount of drinking exists in connection with trade and business transactions generally. The higher classes are not nearly so free from this vice as is currently stated, the facihties possessed for evading public notice disguising the real facts of the case. Although intemperance has largely increased during the last inerets*or ten years, this increase is not of a general character, but exists intemper° principally in the great centres of manufacturing and commercial theCenbUBof industi-y, and inviii-ia])ly Avhere a high rate of wages prevails. In fact, the returns from the agricultural districts show almost uuivcrsally a decrease in di'uukenness, possibly resulting from the action of many landowners in closing the drink shops on their projjerty. There is a difliculty in obtaining a very comprehensive opinion as to the prevalence and increase of intemperance among Fcm^^ females of the middle and upper classes, but the information, nd upp'^r where obtainable, leaves no doubt of the fact. We may also add that Avhenever anything connected with the moral character of the clergy gives rise to public scandal, it is generally iu connection with this vice. II.—Conducing Causes. The multiplied facihties for obtauiing diink may be regarded Thb as the greatest conducuig cause of hitemperauce. The returns S?5«^or invariably show that when these facilities ai-e increased, di-unken- ti^aJ ness increases also; that when they are lessened, there is a ^...... . ancing omise corresponmng dimmution m intemperance ; and this rule seems °' intumper- to operate with all the force of a natural law. In the 1,273 parishes and districts of the Southern Province (states the Report of the Southern Convocation) where there are no houses for the .-^alc of intoxicating drinks, drunkciuicss, pauperism, and criun;](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20404530_0025.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
