OUR COLONIAL DRINK EXPENDITURE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 3747, 5 October 1886, Page 3

OUR COLONIAL DRINK EXPENDITURE.

to thk uditok of inn timaru hebaid. Sir, — My attention has been callod to n. letter from a Temuka correspondent, which appeared m your issue of tho 21st inst. The writer of thclcttcr offers a little mild criticism on some figures of miner, relating to the decrease m the amount of our colonial expenditure on intoxientir.f,' liquors. Tho figures referred to wero published with tho view of showing tho great change that has taken place m our drinking habits during tho past seventeen years. The totals m each caso represent the nmnunl of liquor cleared for consumption within tho colony, and uro not, :is your I'orri'spondent supposes, tho amounts imported into (lie colony. As tho compiler of '" Our Colonial Drink Hill " for many years, I am fully awaro of all tlio causes tlmt operate m bringing about a diminution m the amount spent on drink. "Hard times" aro without doubt- to be credited »ilh n. position of Ihc decrease. " When the Devil was sick The Devil a monk would bo ; When the Devil got well The devil a monk was he." And it often happens thut people become virtuous from the mere fact of their inability to continue) vicious. Then again, as your correspondent hints, tho percentage of our juvenile population is greater now than it was m 18ti'.). 'ihat fact, will m a measure account for a portion of the difference per head, because it is a cheerful feature m connection with colonial life that lliu rising generation will be more sober than the gem-ration* which have preceded it. But, Sir, when all the incidental circumstances nre brought forward, disc'usso i, and estimated nt their full value, the interesting and cheering fact will still remain that the chief factor m our decreased drink expenditure, must bo credited to the increase of temperances principles throughout the colony. For tlie information of your readers I enclose a copy of a paper I st-nt to tho Tc,,, i ,l-.;i,u-c llcnihl, shortly before) tho publication of tho " Cheerful Contrast." I am, &c, C. M. Gray. Christohureb, September 30th, lSS 1 ?. The following is the paper referred to : — In view of the importance that is attached to statistical information on the " elrink question," I thought it would not prove- uninteresting were I to place before your readers a suminuiv of our colonial elrink expenditure from 1870 to 1885, both inclusive. Owing to the rather confused method of recording the quantities cleared for consumption from the various Customs boiuU throughout the colony, together with the lack of sonic recogniseel" system m cheeking the amounts received as duly, the government figures do not always tally. For instance, m one year the ejuarterly returns published m tho Gazelle, the detailed return contained m the appendices to tho Journal of Proceedings of the House of Representatives, and the abstract of revenuo received, eill differed one from another so as to rend-.-r it very ditlicull. to get at the correct figures. In consequent of this, tho figures I published about six years ago are BOinewhat incorrect. Now, however, that 1 have adopted a uniform system m calculating the sum total of thn annulil " drink bills," 1 am m a better position to furnish (as near as possible) the correct, amount for every year. As the re-ult of v careful revision of all the returns and figures nt my disposal, tho following figures will indicate the amount of the direct expenditure on intoxicating liquor 3 for tho sixteen years ended 31st March, 18SG :— Year £ IS7O 2,207,907 1871 2,131,080 1572 2,302,201 187J 2,0i;5,810 187-1 2,8^5,741 1875 2,9i7,572 1870 2,891,108 1877 2,815,171 1 ****X '* !)85 75*^ 187!) 2,ft75,05f) ISBO 2,-155,11 l 1881 2,571,152 18<2 2,(555,0!12 1883 2,f>r,!),.122 18SI 2,30 hi 7(s 1883 2,289.5 1-1 Gray.d total £41,592,840 The average per year for the first five years was £2,420,756; for tho second five) years tho average rose to £2,005,1)51, an increases of nearly half a million n year. During tho last six years tho expenditure has averaged '£2,495,496 being a decrease of£U2,lHs per annum. Comparing tho last period with tho first five Tears, tho decrease only amounts to £72,710 a year, which, considering the) large increase of the population during the past eleven years cannot fail to be regarded with feelings of considerable satisfaction. The small difference between the drink bill of 1870 and that of 1885, amount ing to » n increase of the coinpnntively insignificant sum of £21607, speaks volumes for the spread of temperance principles during recent years. Tho aggregate expenditure for sixteen ycar3 — £-11,592,840— gives the Din's 1 think, toouo cause of tlio depression which has prevailed throughout, the colony during the past few years. It i3 a trite nnd eipressivc aphorism that " You cunnot eat your cake and have it too ; " and when wo find a mere handful of people spending on nn average two and a half millions of money every year, for sixteen yours, it stands to reason that the inhabitants of New Zealand cannot be so so well off as they would lmvo bcon had the practices of total nbslinenco been more general m the years that have gone by. Ami they are nol. — Temperance Herald.