CHARGES AGAINST LIQUOR

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 10, 11 July 1912, Page 8

CHARGES AGAINST LIQUOR

TEMPERANCE VIEW. EVIDENCE BEFORE COST OF 12VING COMMISSION. A witness at the Cost oi Living -Commission this morning was Rev. John Daweon, general secretary of the New Zealand Alliance. - Mr Dawson said the Alliance executive felt they had some important statements to submit regarding the bearing of the liquor safea upon the cost of living. They desired to ■ emphasise that the cost of liquor was regarded by them as a waste, or worse 'than waste. The drink bill of 1911 showed- that at gallon rates a sum of £3,859,371 was spent on liquor. Mr Fairbairn: Where do you get your viHmdte from? Mr- DatTEon replied that he obtained it from the Customs returns. Mr Fairbairn thought that some of the figures were open to dispute, especially the estimate of beer sold ac 4* a gallon. The witness went on to institute comparisons with previous years. The 1 Cfhairman : Of course, you understand, Mr Dawgon, that the object of this commission is to ascertain the reason for the- increase in the cot>t of living? / " Witness said he understood this. He went on to say that the tables the executive had prepared showed the number of convictions for drunkenness. In 1901 the police report showod that 4456 first offenders had been prosecuted for drunkenness; and in 1910 the number had risen to 7056 offentters. Questioned, Mr Dawson said the figures*, on the point of first ofifncee, couid not bo altogether conclusive, from the method, of their compilation. The ' executive " ako supplied, he said, an argument which showed that there was aloes instead of a gain, on the liquor revenue. They cited the cost of prisons, mental asylums, charituble aid institutions, etc., and the large proportion of the cost of the institutions which must be attributed to the results of the liquor traffic. Mr Dawson referred to the Pakatoa and Roto Roa homes for inebriates, and, though (speaking very highly of their efficiency, said that they were a direct loss to the State, which subsidised them to xhe extent of 10s per person committed there. Another set of figures submitted showed 'how the money spent as the result of the liquor traffic could be turned to productive channels. The Rev. W. J. Comrie (chairman of the Alliance Executive) added further statements to show thai the efficiency and, capacity ,of the . worker were sometimes impaired' as the result of* liquor, and must be 'charged against it. \ The money spent on drink was unproductive. The sub-committee set up by the Petone Borough Council and representatives of the tramway syndicate winch has been granted a concession to lay down a tramway service in the borough have QCftctically come to an agreement on all points, and a draft set of the conditions is now being prepared. This will be submitted for final consideration on Thursday next, and th« council will be asked to ratify the final agreement at a later datej " ' " _