NEW ZEALAND DRINK BILL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10751, 26 April 1911, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND DRINK BILL.

DOES NO-LICENSE DIMINISH DRUNKENNESS? (By J. M'Combs.) In a former article it was shown that the drink bill per head of the population was: ; £ s. d. . Dominion... ... ... 313 \\ License areas ... ... 4 3 14-No-license areas ... 0 18 0J That the arrests for drunkenness per 1000 of the population were: 1901. 1906. 1908 Provinces "wet" 11 . 12.3 13.5 ; Provinces partly \ "dry" ... 9.6 7.1 6.9 and the increase in the total number of arrests for the Dominion, periods 1901 and 1906, was made up as follows: — Provinces "wet" ... 1771 increase Provinces partly "dry" 618 decrease

Dominion ;... 1153 : increase A special return prepared for the Minister of Customs tells practically the same tale as the above tables. The Customs return shows the aggregate amount of duty paid on spirits and beer at the several ports of New Zealand for the two three-year periods—July 1, 1903, to June 30, '1906, and July 1, 1906, to, June 30 1909. Every province has shown an increase, but by far the smallest increase has taken place in the provinces where most no-license areas are to be found. Here are the figures: Oamaru, Duiiedin, and Invercargill are the three ports of Otago and Southland. There were prior to July, 1909, four no-license areas in these two provinces. The duty paid on liquor at these three ports combined shows an increase! of only £11,057. The increase for Auckland alone was £59,788, while Wellington shows the huge increase of £77,553. When the increases in population between the two periods are taken into account, we find that' the duty paid in Southland and Otago decreased by 2s 7d p ; er head, while that in the other provinces increased by 3s IOJd per head. The total value of imports for the three southern ports for each of the two periods, 1904-5-6 and 1907-8-9, was £7,864,639 and £8,896,603 respectively, an increase of over one million pounds sterling, which shows that the decrease in the amount of duty per head paid on beer and spirits was not' due to trade depression. . If further proof is wanted to show that no-license reduces drunkenness and that license as -snrely promotes it, it can be strikingly" shown by separating the figures of Otago and Southland for the year 1909, This.is: the first year in which the,re were five no-license areas in the two southern provinces. Taking the . population census figures ofc 1906 and; allowinglß.ls per cent, as giving the mean 1 population of "1909, it will be found that the arrests for drunkenness for the two southern provinces were 5.2 per thousand of population, while for the rest of the Dominion they were.l2.B; per thousand. Clutlia, the oldest noJiqense electorate in the Dominion, is situated in, Jthese two provinces, .and its influence for good on the surrounding electorates has been enormous. Its own record of arrests for drunkenness, calculated over a period of five years, was only .51 per. thousand of population annually, or one in every two thousand. There.are altogether fifteen electorates in Otago and Southland, five of which are "dry." Bruce, the last of the five to go "dry," was "wet" until the middle of theyyear (June 30-, 1909). The fact of the: matter is that drinking is increasing so rapidly in the "wet" districts that the influence of the few dry districts is barely noticeable until the returns are carefully analysed. The new no-license district of Masterton, in the North Island, tells the same tale as the no-license areas in the South. No-license has almost abolished crime in Masterton, as the following Court records will prove:—

With regard to the above figures for drunkenness, it was proved in Court that '26 of the arrested persons were drunk when they arrived in town from adjoining license electorates. These figures appear to he conclusive, and if local no-license, under disadvantageous circumstances and with all its limitations, can accomplish so much, what may New Zealand not expect from national prohibition 'i

Last year. This year. Under Under License. No-license. Drunkenness .. 287 41 Vagrancy .. 25 2 Obscene language - :. 21 ■-'-Si-' -'v.: Theft .. 44 .. ,V8,' ; - 'v Indecent exposure. .. 3; ■ -"\0V-:i Injury to property. .. 5? "' Obstructing police. .. 12^ ■ ■J-i2J i :-i' Totals ... .. 397 56 -