THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1892.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 142, 16 June 1892, Page 4

THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1892.

It may not be the case, as the Scottish bard, declared in a burst of national enthusiasm, that " Freedom and whisky gang thegither;" but certain it is that there is a close and unfailing relation between material prosperity and consumption of intoxicants:^ English, nation is the richest on earth, and it spends most money on malt and spirituous liquors; Colonial Britons are wealthier than their stay-at-Horiie 'Brethren,' and; they spend proportionately more money oh beer and whisky. The publican's till is almost as infallible an indicator of the state of and commercial atmosphere of a community or nation, as the barometer is of meteorological conditions. The " drink bill"*'of a country, in addition to providing temperance theorists with material wherewith "to point a moral or adorn a tale," may, therefore, be said ,to serve a useful purpose by indicating' the fluctuations in the spending power of the people.

A glance at what we may call the colonial " beerometer " bears put i» a general way the correctness of the a'boigfe conclusions. During the .year 1891, the expenditure per head bri mtoxicating liquors in" New Zealand wasi 2s 9d■; in New South' Wales it. was 12s 3'dJ. and in ' Victoria it was 14s *5d: w ThY atfi^unt'so spent in the colonies named would appear to bear a more intimate relation to ' the wealth "Qf. the comrnunitV than / tp' the 'stiite pi is the wealthiest colony, and her annual expenditure on strong dnriTc is per head morev than in the United Kingdom; New South Wales 'follows' close up; but the position of New Zealand, 10s per head 'less thin New' $eutl^ Wales,. though fairly indicating" the^ comparative wealth of the two colonies as a whole, cannot be taken as correctly gauging the. comparative degrees of prosperity enjoyed ,by them during the past year, as by all accounts the condition of this colony has"'beeXbetter than that of New South Wales.

When, however, we tak^ the. returns of expenditure on liqudts in New Zealand for the past ten years, we find that the rule applies with almost unerring exactitude, as showing the fluctuations,of prosperity during that ticae. In iBBr, wheo things were " booming ** .famously, our population of under half a million souls spent on beer and spirits. In 1882 . this large amount was increased by but after that came the bursting of the land boom and the collapse of the industrial prosperity that had been temporarily induced by the iiifJated state of things. In 1883 the drink bill had dropped to Aj^p following two years each saw a further drop of ;£ioo,ooo; In 1886 a further -fall of brought'the -^m«aaf down to and it kept on diminishing until in 1889 it stood at This represents lowwater—or rather low-whisky mark, and since . then the " beerometer" has shown an upward tendency. . From 1889 to 1890, it took a big-gurnp of about ;£i20,000, and a further increase of about ;£i4,000 for 1891 shows that the increase,,.though not so marked, is still going on. ," ■

Accepting the theory that the consumption of spirituous and malt liquors is in proportion to the spending power of the.people, the figures just quoted go to show that New Zealand turned the corner of Depression Lane and entered upon the broad street of Prosperiiyrin; the'year 1890. ; T.his isnot far wide of the fact ;• but there is another factor in the calculation that goes to minimise the significance of the symptoms of good times.'

During all these years, the population of the colony has been steadily growing. It has in the past ten years increased by 200,000 or so; hence the decrease in the drink bill of since 1881 means a very large decrease' in the amount expended per head of the population. Roughly speaking, the money spent on liquor in New Zealandin;iß^i was \£s per head; in 18.91 ;i£|was only; Either the pepple'afe becoming more imbued with temperance principles, 'or their spending power has been very largely curtailed. Probably, both causes have operated. The generation of " young colonials" do-riot,-as ;a-rule, indulge largely in the" cur that intoxicates,, and as they constitute the chief part of the increase of population, the dying out of the drink habit in them explains why the quantity consumed in the colony shows steady diminution in proportion to population. ';-;^,,f *

Among the ancient . Roman* it wai laid there were five reasons for drinking ; the modern Briton has probably five hundred, but these may be reduced ,tq four,, viz.:—(i)~Th.e jovial reason, •to get drunk and have what is-called "a high olid time; (2) the "shouting" custom — reason,', habit; (3)'; the Mdrbwn-y6ur«sorrows ". excuse — the reason of the wretched; (4) the " good-creature-of-God " reason, advanced by those who take liquor as a luxury or medical comfort.

h Of these reasons we believe that the "first and the last are those that, most powerfully operate. in New Zealand. There is not here a ckss of wretchedly' poor people, whbse condition is so abject and hopeless that they take to alcoholic indulgence as a sort of nepenthe. The "shouting" custom has also largely fallen into desuetude,' and there is not now a tenth part of the drinking from that cause that there was in the early days. Jovial souls there always will be, we suppose, who love thei stimulant for the Igood fellovvship and uproarious mirth associated with-it, and these are jesponsible for a large proportion of our drink bill. The class who believe in drinking in moderation—taking beer as a stomachic beverage, wine as a cheerer, and spirits •as."nightcap" or medical comfort—is, we fancy,'on the,increase in,the colonyj and is likely to increase still more as imoderation and common-sense gain the .ascendency over foolish habits and etroneous ideas.;-, ' ■•'».;.., In timfer «" pf-^pefity !the, jovial spuls have a " spree"" perhaps twice a w,eek, instead of the once that they have to be content with when tirntfs are hard. WPen money is more plentiful the lovers of malt tonics and spirituous, comforters take deeper and more frequent draughts of their favourite tipple. •> These are the classes whose.expenditure causes the rise: arid fall in a- country's drink bill. The slaves of the drink . appetite—"who form but a small proportion' of consumers—drink steadily, in, good times or in bad, so long as they :can by any means, however desperate, obtain the needful cash. Observation of the state;of the streets in New Zealand towns and the records of our Fdlice" "Courts go' to confirm the opinion* which we..have expressed, that drunkenness is dying out, though the consumption of drink is still verygreat. : . . Temperance Societies and Bands of Hope have, no doubt, done Kiuch to alter the habits of the people Tibe growth of intelligence vand > the ■ disr semination of -■ rational 1. and - medical • literature Tegarding the use and-effects of beer and^pirits have prbbably'done most to correct excesses of a bibulous indulgence. : The- time will perhaps comei when we: shall all; drink much less than we do now-- y New &afaMers certainly appear to be leading the way Saxon race, and a symptom of our progress in temperance 'is^to' be found in the frequent bankruptcies of publicans in nearly, every. city ian(i -t&wn. .-icu, t\Ht colony, f StiHj the expenditure of ;:over j^2,000,000 a year,.by little over half-a-million of people^ shows that we are yet very far from the Teetotal Millennium; " ' j ,

Captain Edwin wired at 1.30. p.m. : U . ''Indications for frost to-night, and foj poor tides in twenty-four boura from noon to-day." , ~.,. . t A change is to' take*place in the Inipee. tor's Office at the Police-station. Constable; Bfeele, orderly clerk, has been transferred to Otorohanga, and hi« place will bo;fiUefl " by Constable' Gordon. Daring the thret years Constable1 Steele has been in Auaf' land he has made many friends by his uui< form urbanity. . , . " A correspondent) sends the following' remedy for-the-extermination of antit^ <(Boil a piece'of liver add eoak same lav medicinal solution of arsenic, place what* the ants frequent, changing the liver daily fora week,-care being taken to prevent t£» 1 poisoned meat beinf,; consumed by any $«• eon or domestic animal." " , The average New Zealander is far tco" busy an individual to have leisure at hiig.? disposal for the examination and explore tion of the beautiful spots which have beer so bountifully scattered over these islands,' There is, however, 'but little doubt that our exquisite scenery is a.very valuable asset; Europeans are beginning to tire of Switiar.i land, the Riviera is becoming.vulgar,4t^" even' Egypt- the aristocratic,.: is: being py^ done. To the wealthy lounger, with plenty* of money to spend and a taste for romantic and1 picturesque scenery, 'New Zealand-ii 5 becoming a positive haven. Unfortunately,' the people at Home are so grossly ignoranV of New' Zealand as; a civilised country,* '::• they will' jpereist in regarding us allla^ Maoris'—and men eating Maoris at- tiia^f ■ Iffe therefore^ a very valuable assistance tq the advancement of the colony that.tha "' "New Zealand Graphic " is giving in its ad? miriable'series of articles, " New ZealaW Illustrated." This week WhangarpaHju*. bour is'chosen. The views given-are, numerous and1 admirable examples of the art" of'illustrated- journalism. : The ac»;. count'Of the ♦• Boyd Disaster!' iß^6jW(j?v that has been published. **;' Jr . The Reason of Wirth Bros.* combined, pirpu^^n,:Auc^aßd^clpSßs^pn Saturday. ■ evening, liheTlasti riighfca of the performance being announced. The proprietors/ti#e' done ; excellent business in Auckland,during ' their stay here, 'the Bhow being an atcsp'tionally good one. . Quite a number- <£ novelties have been introduced into '■• tfiflperformances during the three weeks the 'circus has been before the Auckland pnblic, and throughout the feats of the equestrians and the other varied attractions of the show have been uniformerly excellent; The • mafcijlee yesterday- afternoon and the usual circus performance in the evening were both well attended. In the evening a> tug-rof-war contest toojr place betweenv,the Newton and City football Club; teams. ■ After' a very exciting half-hour's struggle tb« City Club were declared the winners. This evening another tug-of-war will take place, the City-team being announced to- • pull the North • Shore ■- football»rejfrev seutatives. The final day matinee take! place oh Saturday afternoon. ■ •

After a stay, of little over a week the Eng« lish auxiliary'steam yacht, St.. George has resumed her voyage hence on a cruißß round" the: world, .leaving heire yeßterdji^--' afternoon for Valparaiso,' her' next pptfTbf :, call, 1"' D uring her stay iii "port a'- gpod: deal ; of, money has been spent among local tradespeople < for fresh -pro.visipns, .etc.,.and > the yacht also| went^ into the big Ca)|ipp| Dock to receive^ an overhaul and cleanin^i : Sl^^was not^ro^gn opeji, tt^-yis|fcor's"*rfi;l«|i iii porb, that kind of tning being .cpe 6;f the owner's.pet aversions; but many peopio have admired.her lines and shapely appear* . an.cc as she lay at anchor in the streamy barinje, yesterday the. yacht shipp^l. a\.large quantity v pLcoal a^Msh^a^ g and also proriaiotis, tne- lattßr''sconitßtv-. ing of fr«?h..,meate,.^ t witb^^Jc^ Jfor^p ' ■ 'freezing chamb6rs^a^i^Ve^»»«^!Wßl ' pork, game, fdwls, pptatbes, onions, egglt : yegetabjes, and fruits. The St» George left ; port under steam, but will get under sail. when'.clear.ptJiheharbour, and keep sofojc th©!jrßs,t.of -the $ripr'' ;-Some;.niailß for-, Sbut^, Aia»|r,ica were forwarded on by^ the yachv ' aa the Post Office officials do not often M a chance of direct communication with thai) coast, ~-, ".-.,-' ;', '•

There was again a long sitting of tfa^ Duriedin. Presbytery yesterday, toconsidet bbc proteatr and appeal from- the Firib Church. When the nominations for;?* church vacancy were made, a Mr Moore ■was again nominated as elder, after resign* ing, bub the Kirk seasion decided not to submit his name to the congregation. Th« Presbytery, after a long discussion, decided" by 13 to 5 to. leave over* the legal questfoft for the Synod to determine, and in the interests of peace recommended the sessipo, |. to recommence the election, and submit all the. names to the members of the congregJK .tion. -..' ~. ; ~..■ .<■•■■<■, . .•",■ : - ■?."•!-■■.'.' ■ St. Andrew's Church recital of'.■■sacttS4 j :-: music, with organ and orchestra, tak«i place in the church this evening, /cpTsmenoing at 8 o'clock. The prpgramme appeared in our yesterday's issue. Theadr; mission is free,- bub a collection will p« taken up in aid of the building fund. .. Our readers interested in the fruit export tradMrje reminded that Mr Hanlon desirti them to meet him in Che Chamber of Comnjerce at .1.30 o'clock to-iaorrbw, in order to' discuss what. stepß should: be taken'to;, have Ifew Zealand fruit carried safely em

To-morrow evening two 'busea will leavf : the Academy of Music, Lome-street, fof the Foresters' Hall, Panmure, with Amjp ; Vaughan's Amazon Burlesque :a Coi!npsny« where they ar& announced to play the bur* lesque " Black-eyed Susan." The following are/ the 'ladies and gentlemen of to* Company : — MUses Amy and Annift Vaiiahan, May Travers, Annie WynißW* Daisy'Thornton, Elsie Moir, E. arid a. WilllanJS, Messrs Harry. Cowan, A.JJran. don-CremetV^W. Grey, J. Hyland, R. Elton, T. Newman* Aubrey Maitland, HarryMaW, Master Cresswell and little May Mogridg* A dance will be Riven after the perform* . ance. which will be kept up until 2 a,ni.# when the 'buses will leave for Auckland. For particulars sea advertisement mi amuf* meat column; . . ~ ■~ ;.:•>,-