THE DRINK BILE

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 170, 19 July 1915, Page 8

THE DRINK BILE

iTo the IMitor . 1 S-i: —< in Thursday. .Inly S. you puh- j 'li-hed a letter under the noni-dc-plume I I "Moderate." which I tmd was also pub- j ii-hed by Ihe "Lvtte'ton linn-.'' ill; j Christchurch. undei the pen-name of j"I rili. ." The writer accuse? mc ol | numerous errors in the computation ot j Hie -Drink Bill" for I'.'ll. A- usual with anonymous writers. "Moderate re- I 'marks are couched in somewhat offensive language, to whjoh I should in ordinary ! icircumstances decline t c> reply. But the j I Drink Bill is a matter of public ;n!ere-t. ani an exception mu-t therefore be made. ' j "Moderate" charges rt'e with carc'.es.-- J In.---. Before publishing tlie quantities of the various liquors in the "Annual j ' Drink Bill" I have in every ease t.ikcn the precaution of obtaining a -pecial | .return, compiled by the Customs Department. and signed by the < omptroller ; [ri i ustoms himself. Thf,-« returns gv j full details, and ought to be ac.epted as entirely reliable. I>iiTerenre* tif any i I : between them and the "Year Book" are j probably clerical ruors. A copy of the ■ return for 1014 is published in the . "Vanguard" oi ,luh 3. and anyone can refer to it there. 1 have in every ca-e j scrupulously adhered to the signed •return for the year in question. The 'charge of carelessness i.- thcrclorc without foundation I But what about "Moderate's" figures? He says: "It is in New Zealand -nude j Ibeers that Mr. Adam- makes the mo-i fJmrrant mi-take. In 1913 the quantity 'was 10,300.416 gallons r'Year Book." ■tag,- 290 i." etc. L'nforlunately for your correspondent, he has not had *utfiaent experience to avoid the pitfalls ot statistical compilation, and so has blunderrd bndlv. A reference to the Drink Bill will 'how th..i the trgures for ,nir»orle,i beer, and beer brewed in New Zealand, ore there given separately. The "Year Book" doe- not give them sepsratelv. but. instead, give- the total ~i beer consumed, including both miponed and locally-brewed beer. In the "Drink B-.H" for liHo the figures arc given thus: — Gallons Imported lieer ■ ■ S?'Hoo ' itecr 1.r.-weti in -N.-a Zealand. .. 10.001.J00 I These ntlUcU lo = ether (rive the Veur Book flpures 10.300.410 •Moderate's" second charge is therelore disproved. The -'carelessness" and the "mistake' arc both Ins own. "Then, as to price-." say- your correspondent, "Mr. A. >. Adam- is con- ' Isiderablv out. He puts spirits down at ' £2 per" gallon, when he must know, it ', he knows* anything at all about buying 1 whisky, that" that figure i- irom 20 lo .30 per cent toe, high." Now, 1 readily I concede to -Moderate" the experience ' iiu buying whisky, which 1 cannot claim. S But t.he Comptroller's return show- the net value of spirits (duty paid i in store. This works out at il li per gallon. lo '♦bat is in be added ill the importer* ! !-ros- profit, i-' the publican's or ' retailer's gross profit. Deducting 20 per 'I cent from £2 leaves .12 . whveh gives fi 101 per gallon lo divide between the importer and the publican- It the importer takes 2 ti only, the poor pubaican would get 4 41. In bar sales a gallon at 32/ would have to be divided »t° j 4 _f,4 sivpennv drinks—and all for a " profit of 32 pence That would surely c ruin the publican! Forty shil'.ines per gallon has been ? taken for many years as a fair average retail price, including sales by bottle " and by the glass, and. bearing in mind r that the spirits are frequently "broken ' down" by addition of water or other s liquid, it" is impossible to cio more than * estimate the actual retail cost of liquor |to the consumer. * The last paragraph of "Moderate's" r letter is grotesque. He there pays: "Mr. 3 Adams' conclusion is that there has r been an increase in tbe quantity and - value consumed equal to £ 100.T04, c spread over an increase of population '- of 30.682. But when Mr. Adams gives r the total consumption ... as £3 13, l r s for the year 1014. the increase ot i- v- 105.704, ' spread over 30.652 persons, i- only gives £3 10 10*. an error in this n j .connection alone of 3, per head." Tlnt I exhibits gToss inaccuracy in quotation d and utter incapacity to understand the c question. To use his own phrase, "any is Uchoolbov could have detected this n 'error" "The total value of liquor eonIt sumption for the year ( ".246.3571 is r- of course, spread over the whole popu •r'hation of 1.149,171. The expression vi'spread over" is not mine, an tei "Moderate" must accept resi»ons.bili is for any confusion he has introduced In in its use. ue' To bring the problem within Moder of'late's" comprehension, we will suppos, avkhat in 1913112 geese laid 144 egg*. Thai a']'would give an average of 12 eggs pc If then, in 1914. lo geese laid 10. !n I eggs, actual average of eggs per goose vein but increase of geese 3, increwe o ;!„ ms 3] according to '-Moderate th. '"''"*■ '„„,t ncr "oose 7. If he caiino ,le average esils per goosi '' . n o „i«ee that, let him ask one o. the geese. nvi Consideration for your space forbid he further reply.—l am, et-c., ALEX. S. ADAMS. 1 Dunedin, 12tb July, 1915.