Hawke's Bay Herald. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1895. CAUSE FOR CONGRATULATION.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 10093, 6 September 1895, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1895. CAUSE FOR CONGRATULATION.

According to a roturn tabled to-day, of 4465 convictions for drunkenue.ia (inriDp 1894 only 421 ot the persoas convicted were New Zealand born Europeans, whilo of a total of 565 prisoners now in Rnol 135 are New Zenlnnders, bcinp equal to 24 per ceafc. At the consne ot 1891, out of tho total population over 15 yenra of age 33-89 were New Zealand born. Ihe above Is a c!frr> n K from our Wel'lnjjton correspondent's message of yestcr'lny, hut it will bear repetition, for therein lies cause for rejoicing. At the last census 5861 of the population were New S

[ Zealand bom, Bat this includes a very I I'irge majority of the children of the 1 colony, who cannot fairly be counted iD I dealing* with criminal statistics. Om I correspondent therefore very properly I states the proportion over what la technlI cally known as the " criminal age "—thai lls over 15. Were our native bora popuI lation as mnoh given to crime as those I who have immigrated to onr shores one I third of those in onr prisons should be I New 2ealanders. As it is, they form lees I than one-fourth, that la the mote I noticeable oa onr ''foreign" popnlallon I wus to a large extent pltked. Few, if I any, belonging to the regular criminal I classes paid their passages to the colony, I while even over these brought! in free I supervision was exeiclsed. Bnt there I has been no snch selection of the I native - born population, save so far I as heredity may dispose them to lead I honorable and upright lives. The figures I relating to drink are still more Btriklng. I Even making every allowance for the I comparative youth of the natlve-'iom I population, the fact that they iurulahcd 1 less than one-tenth of tbe total convlcI tlons for drankennees is a striking testiI mony to their sobriety. I We recently c-tme across some rroit I telling figures, prepared by Mr Mulhallso I far as relates to Europe and America, and I by Mr Cnghlaa us far aa relates to the I Australian colonies, which shonld cause I the hearts ot temperance reformers to I rejoice. The expenditure per bead on I alcoholic liquors is often quoted, but that I is utterly misleading as any guide to the I comparative sobriety of a community, <w I tbe price varies so largely. A glass of I beer, for which sixpence is commonly paid I here, can be hnd for a pency at borne, and I wines and spirit! sold by retail are quite I twice as dear. Bat Messrs Mulhall and I Coghlan feave taken the official figures of I each country aa to the quantity of beer, I wlnea, and spirits used, and have then reduced them to their equivalent in proof I spirits. Here are Mr Mulhall's dedue I tions, which may be taken as approximately accurate ! — Country. Gate. Country. Gale.

The colonies comprising tne Australasian group are given as follows :— New South Wales 267 Victoria 3i24 Queensland 2"46 South Australia 2-53 Western Australia ... 368 Tasmania 2'oo New Zealand l - 77 To hear some very intemperate temperance lecturers, one would think that New , Zealanders were soaked in alcohol, save a ssleob few. And it would not be a matter for great Burprlso if more intoxicating liquor were coasumed here, seeing that, even in depressed limes, the pnrohaelng power of the classes most given tn excess is greater than in any European country. Yet we use per bead less than half bb mnch alcohol as the popnlotlon of Eogland, and Hbtle over one-third as much as the population of France. In fact, we come onb nob only as the most sober community in Australasia, but in the whole civilised world.

United King- Portugal ... 3'oo dom 357 Holland ... 4-00 Franca ...5 10 Belgium ...4 00 Germany ... 308 Denmark ... 500 Russia ...2 02 Scandinavia— 436 Austria ...2 80 United States 265 Icaly 340 Australasia ... 2-65 Spain .- ... 2 85