The Press. MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1902. WHAT "NO LICENSE" MEANS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 11456, 15 December 1902, Page 6

The Press. MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1902. WHAT "NO LICENSE" MEANS.

W* wash, all pi©lttb4ti<m advocate* would stato their case asr'''fsariy and temperately a* the correspondent who replies to-day to our leader of the 8t& inst. on ."What Ko License means." "We cannot accept In their entirety the contusions arrived at by Miss Powell, wut we are boand to admit that there is at least something in her contentions, which are brought forward very clearly, and, if w* may be permitted to say,, in the .spirit in, which suoh a contro- . vewy ought to be conducted if we are to arrive at Hie trpth. ;: , We agree with our correspondent thM itwould be bad finance to pay out £2,902,982 for alooholic liquor merely for the sake of getting.back the £600,000 or # £700,000 per annum in revenue which we at present derive from that source. We" admit ibat if the consuniption of; liquor ab*olirt€ly oeaead in New Zealand tits* people wibo now spend ( the £2,902,982 would have that money to spend in some other direction,, and the t colony would in some way ofcother be able . to find-the £700,000 at pr** sent we derive through; the''liquor traffic. , Our correspondent, however, goes widely astray i» two direction*. In the first place , ah* assumes that . f th« whol* _©f tho £3,000,000 (en round numbers) spent ia alcohol, is spent by wretched drunkards on the verge of destitution, and unabl* to *i* lord decent clothing, let *ioa* ordinary luxuries of life. We say, on the contrary, thato although a portion unhappily is derived ''from sjadi' ft' source, the bulk lof the £3,000,000 is spent by I people in comfortable circumstance* who can very'; well afford jt, *AoV&> not find it necessary to deny themselves other laxyrje* or n*o***aries in oo**»qn*nc*; ;' Mis* Powetf proceeds on the —uniptiob i i*'wrong « bec*u*e it is, •* aba consider*, sneney spent i on a useless luxury. We will not now reopen thto tb*e«d-bare question* a* to tbe • precise value of alcohol as* food, but it ' Is Evident, wo &Ink,' that thi* would b*, < rather a sad-coloured world if we debarred i our*dves < fjont,luxury o£ every } on the gfrufid that it ] valued The }ewtell*r* to abut * up shop,,and th* otopea* J would certainly find the bulk of their trade * s*inpt*«n4f iobaeeo, wfc3cb>wft«itt * ,tha loss 'of -another £400,000 or there- ' ' • -1 sbouta in^the^publio,revenue. £v«u-t*a .would'not escape. Most medical men } would agri* that'll aloobol is' "beitber a ? food afar, a tonic/ th* earns, d*son\ptiofl .would .apply f to,, tea, wbil* at .least on* ' medical man of'some note, Dr./Haig, insist* that tea, even'in smalTquantities, j* i a poison which ought "to be avoided by all > t \ value their health*- We do* not take ,these extreme.view*. ;We.laaVlthat,Wine, 1 bear, *ea, jewSlterK 4 and 'pretty ' dresses Are which, many people' find add to their enjoyment of life, and ( whioh tbey are thaieforV juatlDad fa using ' in moderation, arway* provided that tbey ' allow other.-people the liberty either to use them' or abstain "from their use as they may feel disposed. And jt is manifest that such luxuries afroi*! an excellent means 1 of providing aifcoe'lio on* * is compelled to use Ijpm unless, he chooses, and'therefore the tajation raised througb their agency is thus % purely voluntary contribution. > f 4 f r \ But the chief fallacy in Mnw'PowaU'* letter Itssr in the assumption that if "no ' license*' is carried throughout l£w, Zealand, 'drunkenness* will b« atamped out. The contributions to th* rsvenu* from licenses and customs .duties will c***e, and possibly,*, number of temp*i*is p*opie who do not oar* enough for Hqoor $o go >to any great trouble or risk in getting it, will discontinue its us*. The.peonl* woo really enjoy stimulant*, however, - wilt break" the law if ne6a**ary in order"'to get them, and this will be particularly tns case with those' who hay* lost fee power of ■elf-control where) drink is concerned. It is a fact established-by evidence beyond dispute, that itttbe of America, where prohibition baa been tried | for fifty year*, the amount of drunken--1 ness has not been appreciably diminished. Messrs Rowntrea vtd Sherwell, in their well-known f work, give the following •tanking statistics showing a comparison between prohibition, and- nontyrohibition States of America "and London * a* to the number 5* arrest* for dnrnkeiuiess.and offences . * ' i Arsrag* number of sr- , it . .» ***** 0688*8) per 1000 of the popula- • fion. ~«, . Drnnken- ~ Offence*, ness Three probibition States— HsiKe, KarwaeTlowa, 61.81 2094 Tiuste non-prrihfl)n%ion; 7 . Steftea— If is- 7 nwota,, Nebraska. ...87.07 18.09 JUonoon Metropolitan j. Bolip* Disteiot. ~ ...14.20* 0.08 The author* state"that'the ;fact that a large amount of drunkenness prevail* In the prohibition cities and towns is not disputed. They <par% explain it by ctabmg that prohibitory laws increase the consumption of spirits, instead of beef? on account of their portability, and add that "it " » certain that much of the liquor con- " aumed in (be prohibition towns and cities "is of very inferior quality, and so "compounded as to quickly pro- " duos intoxication." It may bo further added, that the same authorities show conclusively that the ratio of pauperism in the prohibition States is actually higher tbfn the ratio in the non-prohibition States. To sum up, th* of America,

we think, shows' tkminNew Zealand, ire< should indeed de- ■'S prive ourselves of -tome £700,000■ a* -year' Wjm revenue, but we should not appreciably 'i,; dimicfeh the amount of drunkennese or of; poverty or crime. We tbeia* to make tip that £700,000 from some source, and the source'which has been moetfreely indicated )>y prohibition' leaders, woh ■ as' Messrs Ell and T E.; Taylor, is an io- '<§<m crease in the land and income tax. In that, °.''»||S case, as we have previously shown, it would ■'■.j'M be necessary to more, than double thoss import* in order to make up the deficisacv. %~M, Thai wa should not mind if drunkennets :^ :: (rt ins wiped ottt of the land. . Waen we find, ■' 'Wssk however, tJwb in States where prohiibtdoD bae been tried for the longest there ismore ; drunkenness, more pauperism, more crime ■'i%|§ than there is in thie colony, and that, in addition, this eystem has been found to ;|psi lead to perjury and corruption, at present: iinknawn-. in; these fawured isles, is it any - -wonder that we oppose it* introduction inte NewZeahuid? . '" '