The Drink Bill.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6541, 9 May 1889, Page 4

The Drink Bill.

« NEW ZEALAND'S EXPENDITUEE. Mr C. M. Gray has just published in the Temperance Herald his annual " Drink Bill," i.e., the amount expended on intoxicating liquors in the Colony during the year. It is compiled from the Customs returns for the financial year ending March 31, ISB9, and should be very satisfactory to all, whether abstainers or not, who desire the diminution of drunkenness in New Zealand, as will bo seen from the following extracts: — " The following table gives particulars of the various kinds of alcoholic liquors cleared for consumption, together with the amount of money expended thereon : — Spirits, 469,938ga15, at 40s, .£939,876; Wine 3, 101,838gft16, at 40a, .£203,676; English ale, 268,391ga15, at 6s, .£80,517 ; Colonial beer, 4,084,160ga15, at 4s, £816,832. Total, 4,924,327, .£2,040,901. " Totals for six previous years: — 1882, 6,204,312ga15, £2,658,092; 1883, 5,678,860 gals, .£2,497,754; 1884, 5,541,452ga15, £2,394,176; 1885, 5,475,762ga15, £2,289,514 ; 1886, 5,103,333ga15, £2,130,356; 1887, 5,017,194Lra15, £2,060,543 ; 1888, 4,924,327 • gals, £2,040,901. " The . foregoing figures contain the cheering information that the New Zealand Drink Bill of 1888 has beaten all previous records for upwards of twenty years. Compared with 1887, the diminution amounts Ito £19,642. If we go back ito the year 18S2, and compare the amount spent dur- ! ing that year with the amount expended i during 1888, the falling off amounts to the very substantial sum of £617,191. As a result of the steady and continuous falling off in our Colonial drink expenditure for the past six yeara, the average last year only amounted to £3 2s lOJd. This is a considerably smaller average than those of Victoria and New South Wales, and is also slightly lower than that of the United Kingdom. The latest figures to hand show the average to be — Victoria, £5 53 per head j New South. Wales, £4 19s 6d per head ; United Kingdom, £3 6s Sd per hoad ; New Zealand, £3 2a lOJd. "Ten yaare ago— in 1879—1 published the fir3t ' Colonial Drink Bill/ dealing on that occasion with the year 1878. The population of the Colony in that year was 432,519, and the expenditure on intoxicating liquors amounted to £2,586,095, which was equal to £5 19s 6d per head. Since then the population has increased to 649,349, equal to 50 per cent ; whilst the amount spent on drink has decreased 22 per cent. Supposing the drink expenditure to have kept pace with the increase of population, the total for 18S8 would have been £3,896,000 instead of £2,040,901. Whilst, however, the expenditure on alcoholic liquors hoB been steadily decreasing during the past ten years, the consumption of tea and sugar has been rapidly on the increase. In 1878 the quantity of tea consumed amounted to 2,596,7201 b; last year the total was 3,962,0001 b, an increase of 1,065,2801 b, or equal to nearly 37 per cent. In 1878 the consumption of sugar amounted to 30,764,7201 b; in 1888 it had risen to 51,024,9601 b, an increase of 20,260,2401 b, or equal to nearly 66 per cent."