TO-DAY'S NEWS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18968, 5 April 1927, Page 8

TO-DAY'S NEWS.

Page. LEADING ARTICLES .. ..8 The Wheat Question. Prohibition. PERSONAL ITEMS .8 GENERAL NEWS .. ..8 CABLE MESSAGES .. ..9 Events in China. America '3 Millionaires., Mr Wells and Broadcasting. Split in Australian Trade Mission. The Budget Deficit. Plea for Industrial Peace. FINANCE AND COMMERCE .. 10 Wheat Problem. Price of Motor Spirits Reduced. Hay and Straw. Parcels by Post. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .. 11 Access to Port. 3YA Capping Ceremonies. The Unemployed. The Wheat Problem (.T. A. Hanley). The' Hokitika Excursion. SPORTING .. 12 Turf Gossip.Westport J.C. Results. Hawera T.O. Handicaps. Wanganui T.C. Acceptances. Australian Notes. Metropolitan T.C. Handicaps. GENERAL— Deserted Wife .. • • 3 The Courts .. ..3 Ellesmere County Sued .. 7 Garden Notes .. .. 7 Hoardings .. - • - 8 Economic Conference at Geneva 8 Plying Tests .. .. 8 Better Roads .. .. 8 Zane Grey .. .. 8 Bitumen Paths .. .. 8 The Unemployed .. .. 9 Herbalist in Court .. .. 10 The Wage-Earner .. .. 10 Bankrupt Dealer .. ..11 Bishop Patteson .. .. 11 Broadcasting .. ..11 Golf .. •• 13 The Pageant .. .. ■ 14 Fraud Alleged .. ..14 AMUSEMENTS . .. ..13 SHIPPING AND WEATHER .. 14 MAIL NOTICES .. „.. 14 WOMEN'S CORNER .., ... 2

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Prohibition. The latent numbers of The Spectator contain the first of a series of interesting and dispassionate articles entitled " An Ordinary Man's Thoughts on the "Drink Question." A Bill introduced in the House of Lords by the Bishop of Liverpool to provide for system of local-option has revived interest in this question in Britain, and the writer of these articles traverses the various schemes for reforming the liquor traffic. Evidently a man-who has had considerable experience of social work in the slums of the big English cities, he bases his conclusions on personal observation and steers clear of impressively misleading barrages of statistics employed by those who can see only one solution to the problem. In an introductory note he remarks on the steady improvement in the drinking habits of the British people during the last few years, which he attributes not to legislation, but to the general rise in the standard of living and a consequent wider view of the decencies of life. Dealing with Prohibition and its supposed benefits to a country's efficiency, he first attacks that old bogey, the "national drink bill" and the false assumption that it is a total financial loss. "In every modern " State," he writes, " a very large part "of the 'bill' is, of course, State "revenue, and if the money required "by the State were not raised in this "manner it would have to be raised " somehow else. Nearly 50 per cent, of " the present price of a pint of beer in "Great Britain is a tax. Nor is the "money spent on the estimated value "of the drink wholly wasted. In the "case of those —the vast majority "after all —who drink in moderation, "the intercourse, the recreation after "the day's toil and so on, which are "involved in the habit of drinking in "public places, have a measurable "social value." Prohibitionists in this country have always weakened their case by hedging on this matter of cost; they have a vague idea that the swing over from beer to cocoa is going to set the wheels of industry whirring at such a rate that the reform will pay for itself in two or three years. Actually, of course, Prohibition means a heavy financial burden by way of decreased revenue and enforcement costs with no certainty that it will be reduced, much less wiped off, for scores of years. The social value of public drinking is conceded by most reasonable people, although it is not much use trying to impress it on those who advance queer medical testimonies to show that every glass of beer a man drinks does him grave injury. On the moral aspect of the liquor traffic the writer takes a. middle course, not denying that some regulation is reasonable and necessary, but condemning Prohibition because it takes away the selfrespect of the people and brings the law into contempt. "Experience has "shown," he says, "that the successful organisation of society requires "that reasonable rules, necessarily im- " posed for the safeguarding of weakness, must be accepted by the "stronger members of society as the "sacrifice they make to the general " good. But I desire to emphasise the "fact that it would never be for the " genera] good that will-power should "be discouraged by being made en- " tirely superfluous." The Prohibition experiment in America is briefly discussed, the writer contending it was the

"What is the loss on these non-stop trips on the Sumner line?" asked Mr John Wood at the meeting of the Tramway Board yesterday, when » letter from the Sumner Burgesses' Association, thanking the Board for speeding-up the service, was under consideration. The chairman (Mr A. S. Taylor) said that the service to Woolston was very frequent, and the non-stop trips were fitted in between them. The idea was to remove the eause of complaint that short-distance passengers monopolised the seating accommodation. Mr Wood said that was all right as long as the long-distance passengers filled the cars on the non-stop trips. The chairman said that, so far, the non-stop trips appeared to be well patronised.