BRITAIN'S DRINK PROBLEM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 5883, 1 April 1915, Page 8

BRITAIN'S DRINK PROBLEM

REMEDIES DISCUSSED. PROHIBITION IN THE AIR. COMPLAINTS RESENTED BY WORKERS. DENOUNCED AS LIBELS. (Received April 1, 2 a.m.) London, March 31. The newspapers are giving prominence to the drink problem. The Daily Telegraph states that the Cabinet yesterday discussed drink and the production of munitions. They propose to submit new legislation to Parliament enabling the hours of public houses in all districts to be regulated. Total closing is not contemplated. Legislation will be confined to the duration of the war, the Government being desirous of safeguarding the legitimate interests of the publicans.

The Daily Mail states that the Government practically decided recently to reduce the hours of selling drink. Later information revived the question of prohibition. The Admiralty and War Office supplied startling reports of the loss of time caused by drink. The director of transports stated that it takes thrice as long to get transports away as it did before the war. General prohibition will require Parliamentary sanction. The Government is also considering the prohibition of the sale of wines and spirits and not interfering with the sale of beer.

The Daily News states that Mr. Lloyd George proposed total prohibition during the war, including private clubs. The Cabinet has not yet arrived at a decision. The general opinion in Ministerial circles is that further restriction of hours will not suffice to stop the delays in the production of munitions.

The Morning Advertiser states that the licensed trade is ready to co-operate with the Government in any reasonable remedy of the evil, but prohibition is too big a pill. Shipbuilders state that the defaulters are not drunkards, but take sufficient drink to become slack and disinclined for work. They get high wages, and spend them largely in drink. In two typical cases, attend-ance-sheets in the shipbuilding trade show that out of 900 possible working days 290 were lost through drinking, this being nearly two days a man weekly.

The executive of the Boilermakers' and Shipbuilders' Unions angrily denounce as libellous the statements made in regard to their members, particularly Mr. Lloyd George's statements.