HOW TO DEAL WITH THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6095, 16 June 1892, Page 2

HOW TO DEAL WITH THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

Last week we gave an article on the local drink bill, in which it was stated that at a moderate estimate, no less a sum than £25,000 was spent yearly in Gisborne -in alcoholic liquors. Several residents, who are well qualified to judgo on the subject, havo expressed to us their opinion that the £25,000 estimate was under the mark, ;md that the one showing £30,000 was nearer the actual Bgure. Had wo been dealing with the question merely from a moral and social point of view most probably we would have taken the higher of the two sums us more correct, though at the risk of making this place appear worse than most other parts of the colony in respect to the drink traffic. English statisticians tell us that the national liquor bill swells in times of prosperity and shrinks in times of depression. It one wee to judgo by the amount of strong drink consumed in the Bay year in and year out, this district must constantly maintain a hi«h degree of prosperity. If the money expended in liquor in Gisborne were devoted to affording homes for the people, the amount would be sufficient in ten years to provide every head of a family in town and suburbs with house and land costing £500. And how the building trade — an excellent barometer hs to good or bad times — would boom. That is only one of the side ways of looking at the traffic, but it involves thoughts j\s to the enormous waste of money which might be turned into more profitable and healthy channels. At a meeting of the local Charitable Aid Board on Thursday last, when a reported case of destitution was under consideration, one of tho members remarked: "One would think that the clergy would themselves relievo such a case as tliia instead of bringing it to the Board." If religion were so richly endowed as the liquor traffic by the public, tho clergy could feed and clothe every individual and family in need of help in New Zealand. However, our idea is not to endow religion with the profits of the trade ; but to chain the traffic and make it work for the public good in other directions. We are fully convinced that the adoption of the Gothenburg system would be' the most practical way of solving the drink question, and that it will be adopted sooner or later in these colonies. The sooner the better. It will settle the question with the minimum of hardship and the least clashing of interests between individuals and the community. So far very little attention has been paid to the Scandinavian method of diminishing the evils of intemperance while at the same time conferring large revenues on the local bodies. Not much information has been published on the subject, but fortunately the Gothenburg system is exceedingly simple both in conception and operation. That the plan has proved a success in another country is a very good guarantee indeed that colonists of the British race can successfully carry it out. In the first place, it may be necessary to state that the elected representatives of tho ratepayers or of the community generally do not come into direct contact with the business. The traffic is managed by a public company, composed of citizens who, after receiving a stipulated return on their capital, hand tho balance of the profits over to the corporation of the town la Sweden, we believe, thfa company receive 5 per cent. As money is de«rer here, probablyßorlO per cent, would be required. The interest on the invested capital need not be regarded as an element of much importance. The shareholders of the company would have no interest in doing a big business, owing to the salutary limitation to the return on their capital. How would the Gothenburg system work out in Oisborne ? is a question which we will endeavor to answer in another article.

A general meeting of the Turanganui Football Club will be held at the City Rink this evening, after which practice will be indulged in. The Auckland press agent writes :— Sailed for South, s.s. Tarawera. Passengers for Gisborne : Mrs Kern, Miss Chadwick, and Messrs Levinsohn, Tonilin, Fawcett, Mack, Morracc, and McK inlay. The Gisborne Orchestral Society, under the able conductorship of Mr T. Wildman, intend giving a first class instrumental and vocal concert on the 7th of July, when we are sure Gisbornites will be afforded a rich musical treat. A band of some twelve instruments is in active rehearsal. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agoncy Company have received the following London cablegram, dated 10th June, 1892 : — Wool : The sales opened this day at the level of last sales, except fine medium and coarse greasy crossbred, which are at $d per pound lower since close of last sales. Competition by both Home and foreign buyers is active, and their attendance good. The total quantity available, including wool held over from last series, is 446.000 bales, 51,000 bales of which have been forwarded to the manufacturing districts direct. At the R.M. Court this morning Mr Booth, R.M., heard the following cases: — P. A. Martin v. P. McSherry, claim £1 8a ; judgment for plaintiff by default. Mr Jones for plaintiff. — Mcßretney v. Barron, claim £5 12s on a judgment summons. Mr Chrisp appeared for plaintiff, who was not present. Defendant was not present, and the question arose whether the Magistrate could issue an order without plaintiff appearing to swear that the money had not been paid. Mr Chrisp contended that the word of the solicitor that no money had been paid was equally satisfactory to the appearance and testimony of plaintiff. He pointed out the inconvenience in a case like this where plaintiff lived at a distance, and it would have been a matter of considerable expense for him to attend, there being no opportunity of recouping such expenses. The Magistrate said he would like to ascertain the practice in o her places before establishing what would be a precedent here. After further discussion His Worship declined to make an order. —Harris v. Arundel, claim £31 0s Bd, set off, £19. Mr Day for plaintiff, and Mr Jones for defendant. Judgment by consent for CO.— Peka Kerckere v. Piripi Paliina, him £10 11s. Mr Day for plaintiff. Adjourned to July 28th.

Mr DeLautour lectures at the Presbyterian Literary Society meeting this evening on " The Astronomy of tho Bible." Thehillsaround Waerenga-o-kuriand away down towards the Mahia have a very thick coating of snow to-day. The higher peaks it the back of Ormonil are also snowcapped. The weather is very cold. Tho cable-repairing steamer Terranora will be ready for aea about the 18th inst. Twenty tons to the acre is the return of potatoes from about 15 acres of land in the Oainaru district. There have been* many ,'ood yields of potatoes this year. A statement Bigued by 0000 clergymen uul officials of the non-Kpiscopalian churches in Ireland, to the effect that the Roman Catholic priesthood will dominate the Irish I'u.i'liamcnt, has been forwarded to the d^s.unting clergy in England. Although this is Mr Snazelle's first visit to Gisborne ne cannot be regarded as an utter stranger here, inasmuch us we had an opportunity of listening to a " record " of his melodious voice — "The Heart Bowed Down," with variations — through the medium of the phonograph, exhibited here some time ago by Professor Archibald. Mr Snazelle has the reputation of being an accomplished vocalist and brilliant orator and auocdotist, and that his season here will be provocative of pleasure to his patrons and profit to himself is pretty well assured. The Auckland Bowling Club, in anticipation of the bowling tournament which is to l.c held in the city next year, are arranging for four additional rinks on their green, which will then afford as much accommodation as the Napier green. They also intend to make a recommendation to the Northern Bowling Association to see if the date for holding the tournament cannot be changed from Easter to the Christmas and New Year holidays. The reason advanced is that the weather early in tho year is more settled and wanner than at Easter. The latest fashion in ladies' dresses has been discussed in the Hungarian law Courts. The Supreme Sanitary Board (says the London correspondent of the Age) has opened a campaign against trained dresses, and the press of Vienna and Pesth has seconded this attempt to convince the women of those cities that by following this foolish mode they are helping directly to increase the spread of tuberculosis, of typhus fever and other maladies. By the sweeping up of the dry dust by ladies' trains, contagion is constantly being spread from street to street. Tlic Hungarian Sanitary Board has petitioned the Home Minister to forbid the wearing of this pernicious and sweeping apparatus by ladies in tho public street, and the prohibition has actually been carried out iv Mcrau. Something unique in the way of fancy costumes was worn at a recent fancy dress ball, held in London under the auspices of the Haydn Musical Society, by Mr G. M. K. Mnnro, of Edison House, who, by the way, is a nephew of Mr A. Sutherland, of Pleasant Point, near Timaru. By the votes of those present it was awarded the prize for the most original costume, out of 750 competitors. Mr Mnnro appeared as "Electricity up to date." His coat was covered with magnets, intertwined with flashes of lightning to represent electricity. The headgear was composed of an immense electric bell, connected by wire to a dry battery concealed in the coat, the connecting ends being attached to a push button mounted as a stud in the shirt. The button-hole of the coat was adorned with real and artificial flowers, artfully concealed, in which was a tiny electric lamp, which could be made to glow at the will of the operator, producing-tt most novel effect. The light was produced by a small portable dry accumulator, with a switch for handy manipulation. On the coat were mounted telephonic transmitters and receivers, phonographs, batteries, and braided wire, the whole presenting a striking appearance. A singular case of child desertion is being investigated by the Wellington police. Constable Harris reported that about 8 o'clock on Saturday evening a woman went on board the s.s. Mahinapua, which was lying at the Queen's Wharf, and deposited a cliilu on the deck, saying to the chief cook, a man named Goddard, " If you won't come home with me, there's the child," and she then ran away. The cook also departed, and as all the hands on the vessel had been paid off, the chief steward went to the Police Station and asked what was to be done with the infant. Sergt. -Major Ramsay promised to get it placed in charge of some reliable person until the woman who had deserted it could be found, and after some difficulty a Mrs Lewis, living in Dixon Btreet, was prevailed upon to take it. The child, which is about eighteen months' old, is still in her charge. A warrant has been issued for the apprehension of the woman on a charge of child desertion. The Weathkk : — Weather forecasts for 24 hours from 9 a.m. to-day : Wind between south and east and north-cast at all places . barometer fall overywhere slowly soon ; sea { heavy on Eastern Coast between Kaikoura and East Cape. Telegrams to expect frost have ceeu sent to all places and for unusually low tiTles to all sea ports. Synopsis of last 24 hours : A rising barometer everywhere, and it is extraordinarily high on all parts of the counry, especially at the Bluff where the remarkable pressure of 3074 at sea level was observed at 9 a.m. There has been a heavy southerly gale on the coast between Kaikoura and East Capo and hard frosts have been experienced generally, The demeanour of the audience at Mr Valentine's meeting on Saturday evening (says the Tuapeka Times) made it very clear that Brucu is not the only place where the name of Mr James Allen makes the popular pulse beat faster. Every reference by Mr Valentine to the recent victory of that gentleman at Bruce was the signal for an outburst of applause, spontaneous, loud, and prolonged There are very few public men in tho colony to-day, and certainly none of his years, who have so completely succeeded iv establishing themselves in the public mind as Mr Allen, and with his abilities, his leisure, his ambition, his mental vigor, and force of character, it will certainly be strange if ho does not yet, and in a not very remote future, find himself in possession of those honors which are the legitimate as well as the laudable ambition of all men who are worth their salt .n public life. In the course of a conversation with a well-known cash storekeeper of this city (says the Wellington Press) our reporter elicted some particulars of an interesting character. The cash trade, " pure and simple," our commercial friend thinks, is an unattainable ideal in the present condition of affairs and with our limited population. He further thinks that while a reckless credit ay stein is ruinous to the trader, it is possible to establish a wellEayinjj credit system, and the margin of ad debts is, within, his experience, very small. The population, and the conditions under which people live appear to him to be unfavorable to the establishment of a rigid cash system. He puts it strikingly from one point of view. He says : — " Iv the first place, if you do a purely cash business, you must charge the very lowest prices, and in a small community the only people who patronise you come on Saturday,, nights. Then you have a rush of business which you must meet by the employment of a number of assistants. In business of this aort, you must discriminate, and while you receive cosh with thankfulness, you must not despise the credit of the right sort of people." 11 Society " in Dunedm, or the fringe o it, is again engrossed with the records of another scandal. Rumor says that three well-known colonists, one a professional man, and each of the others hailing from north and south of Dunedin respectively, met in a well-known hostelry, and by the purest chance, or r«ther mischance, proceeded to amuse themselves by a friendly game of " Yankee grab." The gentlemen from north and sonth of Dunedin were reliered of between L3ooand L4OO, and suspecting that their confidence in thehonesty of the professional man had been misplaced laid him on tho floor and proceeded to go through his pockets. They found a set of loaded dice, and no doubt the money they had lost, which weie confiscated in the interests of msrality. It is said that the professional man is no? • trying what change of air on an ocean voy ige can do for him. At all events, he is nbsent from his usiul haunts. The nbovt is the latest DuuciUu scandal.