NO-LICEENSE AND LIQUOR.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14324, 14 October 1910, Page 6

NO-LICEENSE AND LIQUOR.

!To the Editor oi the "Timaru Herald.

Sir, —Mr Hughe> is greatly he imagines that the caluulaiioiij ioi tzy first- letter, w to the saving oi in our annual drink *-»«? •,vas based 011 the supposition mat* only -the amount of liquor iiotilied parses into a, no-license district. Had I onl\ reckoned that amount, of liquor tliw saving in the drink bill Las given b} Mr Hughes) would have been more than £3,000,000, as the amount of liquor notified as passing into the nolicense districts is only about onesixth of that consumed in license districts. Double the amount notified, which is a very liberal allowance, and the proportion is as stated, 3 to S. In arguing against no-license because of the increase in the total amount ot" tlie Dominions drink bill there -re several things which Mr Hughes seonis to forget. He forgets that the brewers firs the most uncompromising opponents or jio-iiCL-nsc. jjoes Mr Hughes mean to suggest that the bxewera would spend the amoaiit they do in resisting no-license if thought the carrying of no-iicense did Bot mean greatly diminished drinking £ those electorates -in which, it prevails? If he does very few of your headers will agree -with liini. Mr Hughes also seems to forget that since Clutha carried no-license in 1394= our population has increased by about 350,0&0. and that thousands of people annually come to our Dominion from countries where the people are cursed tnth far worse drinking habits than our own. Mr Hughes also seems to forget that until last year the open bar. "the greatest of all tempters to drink. rr had been busy at its evil work in 70 out of the 7G electorates in our Dominion, and that ftJr the past year our drink bill shows a diminution of several shillings per head of population.

ITr Hughes also seems to forget- that ] the tendency of the open bar is to demoralise our youth, and To make the victims of drink more and more besotted. Drink creates an appetite for itself, and thai appetite in many eases continues to grow up to the purchasing power of tha individual. Otir contention is that among a large section, of oar community, including many of our young men, drunkenness is greatly increasing in our license districts, jlere in Timum we have more drunk men in three months now than we had in sis months two or three years ago, and our population has not increased in anything i-.ke the same proportion. The drinkers and drunkards constitute the minority, and the position is just this, that, had it not been for the influence of the Temperance party, and the strong no-license seiitimant created, there would have been an enormously greater upward movement in our drinK bills. Y\ e have not yetreached half the amount which much poorer countries spend in drink. It is easy to account for the increased drink bill in Xew Zealand, ,'u earlier days _ the more strenuous life and ths desire to get on in the new land were safeguards to many. There wc-re not the same facilities for travel, find temptations in most ei'.ses were fewer and farther away from the early became easier. >md facilities for travel multiplied, and temptations increased, Xew Zealand showed a tendency to approach the older established nations in the mat-' ter o t drunkenness. Drink, this curiously insidious tiling. was goinn- to I!ln of Xew Zealand what it nad Made cr other lands. Had it not been SOT ice work done bv the no-license party, I am convinced that Xew Zealand. with the high average scenaing power or its people, would haVe had a crmrc (nil as large in proportion as that, ot tlxo- T T nitf>d Tv:rttrt!om * ncl cfVrp nations where the no-license sentinK-nt if mfc so strong. At the pr--nt tine the countries with the sr:e , '-bt countries wh—e strongest no-license sentiment pieva'.'s and Xew Zealand is among the number. My position is made ~rii ar a table taken from a return presenter! to the Imperial Parliament by the Board or Trade. This i'ctiirn was prepared for no partisan pursues, ani ip_shows the effect of ro-l»^ i *:se m keeping down the amount '.f : "eobfl consumed in a country. tafcls gives the average consu-nptior,

per liead or alcohol, expressod in its equivalent of uroot spirits. The countries where no license is in force, in greater or less measure, are as follows: , Norway. 1.01 gallons per head. Canada,' 1.32 gallons per head. New Zealand. L.7'J gallons per head. United States. -j: gallons per head. Sweden. 2.59 gallons per head. Compare these with the counti ie* where license altogether prevails: ■Switzerland. 3.7U gallons per head. United Kingdom. 4.01) gallons head. Germany. 4.-jo gallons per head. Kranee. o.t>4 gallons per head. Belgium, 8.11 gallons per head. It wiil thus be seen that- no license tends to keep down a nation's drink bill. To judge the effect of no license one has to estimate not merely what has been accomplished but also what has been resisted.

Liquor advocates are hard put to in order to account for the very favourable Police Court returns from no-!i-ccnse districts. Mr Hughes has had another try. and his explanation is about- the most absurd and amusing we Jiave seen, and scarcely needs a reply. According to this latest explanation the police do not arrest men for drunkenness in the daytime in no license districts, and no-license •"nthusinsts are always on the spot to shepfierd the ' drunks" out of the way. V, li it a happy thought! What an original idea! What an inspiration! How worthy of the cause Mr Hughes cli.iiu p:ons! It is worth cabling over to New South Wales. However, tie Mayors of Invercargill and Oainaru tell us that a drunk man is rarely to he seen in their streets or at their /Treat public gatherings, either in daylight or by night; and Dr Findlay, in a letter dated Stli October, a copy or which, is before me —writes. "I may add tjiat with the exception of Inspector ICiely. all the Inspectors of Pol.'.e in Xew Zealand report substantially i nfavour of no license from the point of view of law and order."

Whatever men like -Mr Hughes mav write ike people aro tlie best judge's of the effect of no license, and as the result of experience the no-license sentiment is rising. the world over, and is going fe prevail. Finland has abolished intoxicants by a vote of it.' Parliament. Iceland adapted national prohibition in September last. The Duma of Russia ordered the removal of the Royal Eagle from the vodka, bottles, and the substitution of the skull and cressboucs (the symbol of death), and the word "poison'' written in large letter beneath them as a warning to ihe people. And the American "Review of Reviews'' for May tells us that in the United States the saloons are being voted out at the rate of ll.fVO a year. Let the Democracy of Xe \v Zealand have the chance of voting out the liquor business, on the same iust and democratic principles which prevail in America, and 3.011 uilj seg the final settlement of the liquor question in our Dominion. —Tain. etc.. THOIIAS STTXSON. Tifnaru, Oct. 12th, 1010.