DRINK—£4,757,000

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 165, 10 July 1918, Page 5

DR1NK—£4,757,000

THE BILL FOR 1917

(Evening Post.)

The annual computation of the . money spent by Now Zealand on al- . oohohc liquor has just been completed by Mr A. •S. Adams, barrister,, oi I>unedin. This year's figure indicaW the cost of "added water" in spirits--142,500 gallons of water at 48s »..€»*- lon £342,000. The statement of Mr. Adams is as follow*:-- for the year 3917, the estimated direct expenditure on drink in New Zealand, calculated on the pre-war basis of valuation, was £4,474,872, but the prices' charged to the consumer have been considerably increased on the plea that this ww necessary to cover Che increased cost, freight, and duty. Imported spirits (except case spirits) are "broken down before sale by the addition of -about 25 per cent of water. This is a recognised and legitimate practice, but ttu*. bulk is thus increased by 25 per cent, without any added cost, and the dilut ed spirit is sold at the current .pricrf.- . Probably three-fourths of the spirits are imported in bulk'. The result-of this breaking down process is tha« while the Customs returns show '69,118 gallons of spirit® consumed dining the "vear 1917, the actual quantity paid for" 'by the consumer is Tipwarr-s . of 900,000 gallons. The water added, has not been taken into account in pzevious estimates. , "During the vear many of me -retailers increased* the of spirits over the bar from 6\. per glass P** - per gal.) to Sd po; glas*. (72» ;:«i ffa..jThis" increase wa? at different periods in different parts of the Dominion, and was for part of the, year only. It would be safe to assume that-the aver age cost of all spirits' to the consumer throughout the year was not less than ■ 48s per gallon (including the added), and ■on that of importrd. b'.er was at least 10.? per gallon. . On S-'ijs . basis the direct cost of alcoholic h- • quors to the consumer for the ye;ir is estimated at £4,757,085. The d : rcct and indirect cost was probably well over £10.000,000. It app:ars f ron: . t]te , returns furnished by the Comptroller of Customs that while the' fair value of the spirits, duty paid, was a..fraction• over o'6s per gallon. in 1916. .this value in. 1917 was ' a*Traction less than 31s 3d. The price has there fore:' fjeen raised Toy 50 per "cent, while the value duty was reduced by over 16 per cent. The reduction in cost is'donjbtlii-f-s due to the importation of spirits of. .an: inferior quality, but the cost to tlie consumer has been raised *ki the 4 grounaT of an alleged increase in .the' cost. "WTifix the usual 25 per cent, .of water has 'been added' to the imported spirit, the cost is reduced to 255. . At 6d per glass., this* would yield a gross profit of 23s per gallon, G2 per cent. At 9d per glass the. gross profit is £2 7s per gallon or 188 per.ccntl ,

THE ASSESSMENT. The folio win ir table of expenditure is" estimated on a basis of value adopted before the war.— £ Spirits, 759,118 gals., at 40s i(decrease 20,580 gate) 1.518,236 Water added s3y 142,500ga1s at 40s. 285,000 Wines, 142,859 gals., at 40s (increase 4101 gals.) 235,718 Beer, imported, 80,630 gals. at 6s .(decrease 148,690ga15. £4,189 Beer, N.Z., 11,335,845 gals. at 4s (increase 88,120 gals) 2.267,169 , Total £4.380,312 Estimated expenditure, taking into account the increase in price: £ • Spirit®: -759,118 gallons at 48s (decrease 20,580 gals)' 1.821,883 [Water added say 142,500 gal- ' lon s at 48s 342,000 Wines: 142,859 gallons at ' 40s (increase 4,101 gals.) 285,718 Beer imported : 80,630 gallons at 10s (decrease 148,690' gallons) 40,315 Beer, N.Z. : 11,335,845 gal- -. lons at 4s (increase 88,120 \ gallons) 2,267,169 Total £4.757,08" Estimated total for 1916 4.750,000' Increase 7,085 FIGURES PER HEAT). Estimated European population at 31st December, 1917, 1,097,615; Maori population, 49,776; total 1,147,391. £ *. d. Estimated expenditure per head 4 2 8£ Estimated expenditure per Ihead. in . igi7 4 2 11 Expenditure per household of five persons 20 M 7 The consumption, per head of popu> latibn, on a gallon 'basis.' was:— 1916 19.17 'Spirits 0.68 0,-r 3 6 (Added water not taken into account.) Imported wines 0.12 0.1? A Imported beer 0.19 0C 7' N.Z. beer 9.8 9.q Quoting- from the New Zealand' Year Book, Mr Adams gives estimates of the achievements possible if tha liquor money was diverted to other USTS'.