NO-LICENSE AND DRINK INCREASES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13938, 21 December 1908, Page 3

NO-LICENSE AND DRINK INCREASES.

Sir, The Presbyterian Assembly has some members who fail to see that they have placed the cart before the horse, and so brought, into existence a mystery which need not exist. Mr. Bagnall appears anxious for us to believe that the increase in the drink bill is in consequcnoe of the increase in tho no-license sentiment. I claim that the nolicense vote. is growing, because of the increase in the drink expenditure, of which the "drink bill is a poor guide. Tho more prosperity in license districts, the more drinking; the more drinking, the more crime and evils arising therefrom, and, as a natural consequence, the more powerful the no-license vote is becoming, an.d the only way*the trado can avert or delay its approaching doom is by .selling less of its com- ' pounds, and so frco the community from the shocking examples and sufferings now so prevalent and patent. It is a very inconsistent thing for the community to take license fees from men for a privilege to sell an article, of which everyone hopes they will not sell too much. I wish to enter a protest against the slur cast by Messrs. Bagnall and Pattullo upon the Waihi' men and women who are trying to protect themselves, their homes, and their offspring from an illogical " business," which has brought most misery to those who use it most liberally, and through them to many innocent sufferers. Surely, sir, these gentlemen ought to be above the trade in its conception that by upsetting an election and reducing the price of beer it can secure enough votes to defeat the will of tho people, who. have for nine years endeavoured to rid themselves of the evil in their midst. Waihi has been most consistent in its opposition to tho trade, irrespective of the price of beer. Nine years ago it was deprived of victory by some peculiar transactions. In 1905 Waihi polled .1453 for no-license against 946 for license, but was deprived by other portions of the electorate. On November 17 last there were only 593 for license against 1573 for nolicense, 279 votes over the three-fifths majority, and. being supported by the whole electorate, succeeded in gaining a victory which is again challenged by the monopoly class. w. J. Macdkumott. Sir,—On various occasions within the last few weeks attention has been drawn to the fact that the annual drink bill for the Dominion lias been steadily increasing for some years in spite of the fact that a portion of New Zealand is now under no-license; the •inference desired to bo drawn evidently being that no-license does not reduce drinking; and I notice that Mr. Bagnall at the meeting of the Presbytery on Tuesday night, said that the figures he thought "appeared to indicate that while the no-license feeling was increasing, the temperance feeling was not.' 1 Permit. me to point out that the increased average consumption per head does not necessarily prove that more people are now drinking. but may indicate that some are consuming 1 more than formerly; and as the official figures show conclusively that in every no-license district in Dominion the consumption has decreased, it follows that the increase in the Dominion's drink bill must be credited (or debited) to tho license area. But what I wish particularly to draw attention to is the fact that while the average consumption per head has undoubtedly been < steadily growing for some years, it has not ' yet. quite reached the point it stood at in 1885; in that year it was £3 16s per head; it then steadily'declined till 1896, when it was £2 19s B£a; from that date it has gra- ' dually risen till in 1907 it, amounted [ to £3 15s lOd. Tho reason for the fluctuation is, I think, not far to seek. Increased prosperity always means increased drink expenditure. 1885 was tho last, year of a boom period, and hence, the high average in the drink bill. The following years till J896 were lean years, with a corresponding decrease in drinking. 1896 marked tho turn in the tide of prosperity, which has gone oil increasing till tho present time, and the fact that the consumption of liquor has likewise increased is only another instance of history repeating i itself. Considering that for the last 12 years i wo have enjoyed unprecedented prosperity i are we not entitled to assume that the drink ] bill would have been much greater but for t tho vigorous action of tho temperance party? 1 W. Johnstone. , ,