THE DRINK BILL

Observer, Volume XXI, Issue 1196, 30 November 1901, Page 3

THE DRINK BILL

The Rev. E. Walker's Statistics

OF all the difficult questions which beset the path of those

who desire to render good service to their fellow men, there is none in which the multiplication of statistics has a greater tendency to confuse the average mind and distort the views of both abstainers ami non-abstainers than the figures from time to time evolved with regard to the great drink question. Abstainers, prohibitioners and others endeavour by their figures to prov*j that this or that country id going to ruin on account of tie a'might./ alcohol, while, on the otter hand, those holding contrary views endeavour to show that ,-uch is not the case. We get mountains of figures, columns — yea, even reams — of statistics to prove this thing or that, and, at the present moment, we are just where we were years ago. Whether we look at oul* own colony, or cast our ty<;fl all ovor the realm of western civilisation, we find that the great Drink Bill goes merrily on increasing by leaps and bounds.

We aro not here discussing the moral question, nor even the . thica; one, but simply the value of such information and data as come t.) the hand of any ordinary reader of newspapers. Hitherto, there does not seem to have been any sound basis to make a reliable calculation upon. It is all very well to say that in a certain ecuntry the average consumption per Bead of the population increases by a certain sum per head, but that gives no clue to tbe question as to whether those who drink, drink more, or if the number ot consumer^ of alcoholic liquors has increased. The increase of the great bill may arise either from ouc or both of these causes. No country, we believe, possesses the information to which we allude, and, probably, if such a column were added to a census paper, it would not furnish reliable data upon which to found any valuable and decisive judgment. One fact alone seems patent universally. The pulse of prosperity beats for the brewer. There is no getting away from this fact, look at it how we may.

The latest addition to the compilers of figures is the Rev. E. Walker, who has been doing a t.vnvel round to investigate jaattere He points out that the " per head amount of alooholios consumed in this colony has gone

considerably up, and attributes it to " material prosperity and the generally demoralising effects of a period o c war," but, " hot to a fa?ling-oi? in the progress of tLe temperance movement." Now, if tl.ere is one thing that is more piain thun another to the man in tho street, it is that progress in temperance means diminution of consumption of strong drinks: The contrary, therefore, holds good, viz.. tha-j an increase in the consumption means a corresponding retrogression in the propaganda of tk. Rev. Walker. We do not here, wi repeat, contest the right or the wrong of these propaganda, >ut argue straight out from the data stipplied. If it can be proved that th.j number of abstainers (eycludiuy. of course, children) increases, then the weight of the charge lies wholly on thoso who are not of tin-; category.

What we should like to ascertain is this : — Allowing for the increase of the adult population, doeyj the number of teetotallers increase or not ? If it does in-oi-ase, then th« non-abstainors must, of necessity, spend more in tho.ir refreshments and, if it does n< I . increase or diminish, then we crtn assort that the cause of .omperance retrogrades If we consider for a moment the condition pi the Old Country, we find that prosperous years make prosperous brewers and distillers. But a time of slackness turns the tables. The facts seem to lead to the conclusion that the moderate man in adverse times takes nothing, but in favourable times is able to afford himself i\ little latitude. Which cve i" may be the correct view of the question, one thing, at least, is certain : That- nothing even approachino' a satisfactory alteration of whatever the state of things may be has yet been discovered, and that if some indisputable tables w<;ro mack; public, something useful might be done.