VENEREAL DISEASE AND DRINK.
• [To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR.")
SIR,—It has been said, and truly said, that drink is largely responsible for the prevalence of venereal disease. I have lately had an opportunity of seeing at a base in France the disastrous effects of both these evils. Yet it seems to be the last thing that we are prepared to give up, even though fighting for our existence and short of food. We began the war in a fine spirit, and should then have tackled our greatest enemy, drink, instead of paltering with it as we have done. Unfortunately, where the stomach is concerned people do not seem strong-willed enough to give up that to which they have been accustomed—no matter how many thousand tons of food are lacking because of it; and that being so, surely it is time to bring compulsion to bear to prohibit alcohol during the war, and so prevent soldiers and civilians alike from wasting their energy and injuring their health, both of which should be at the highest pitch of perfection if we are to
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