THE LIQUOR TRADE IN WEST AFRICA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6521, 26 June 1899, Page 1

THE LIQUOR TRADE IN WEST AFRICA.

BISHOP TUGWELL'S STATEMENTS. THE LIBEL CASE. United; Pres3 Association— By Blectrio Telegraph— Copyright. i . . • .- LONDON", June 24. The.. Public Prosecutor has declined to (proceed with the case against Bishop Tug.well, of West Equatorial Africa, who was* committed for trial on a charge of criminal 'libel. . ■

A few. weeks. ago Bishop Tugwell was committed for trial on a. charge of criminal • libel in connection with allegations, as to the drunkenness of Europeans on the west coast of Africa, which the Bishop made in „ •, a, letter published in, the "Times " 'last March.. The following • extracts from the ; Better will show the nature of .the Bishop's ".; statements':— \ Enormous quantities of gin, rum, etc ' continue to pour into British West Africa through Lagos, Akassa, Bonny, ,arid "other ports in this and the adjoining protectorates. During the past few days thousands of cases • <« gm and demijohns of rum, have been stacked uppn the wharves of our "merchants. ..... Licensed gin-shops and drinking ' saloons are being multiplied the town, without any regard to the' wishes or objections,; of the itibabitiants . of" the districts affected. Drunkenness is. greatly 0n- ... _ the increase., not only amongst the heathen arid Mahommedans, but amongst the better '.-.', educated classes of Africans, e.g., Govern- ; inent officials, clerks,. traders, etc. The following is the testimony of, one of our native - barristers who has < lately, -been speaking ■ upon the subject : — " Habits of drinking ; spirits and drunkenness are greatly on the increase amongst the young men of our town. On all festive occasions, brandy and whisky, and what are known as 'better-class spilits/ are largely consumed; ' In these days It is useless to call your friends, provide' . what .delicacies you may, if you do not freely supply whisky j etc. ; without these things your entertainment is pronounced a failure. Indeed, nowadays you , cannot. call ? upon a friend or entertain a visitor without taking" priofferingrdrink." tlj' enclose a price list .which is being' circulated through the town, calling attention to a further reduction In" prices in spirits:— -Whisky is quoted at' 27s 6d per. cage of twelve bottles. Brandy* is quoted. at .'i'Ba 6d per. case of twelve bottles. "Soy is the African the only victim of this iniquitous system. Of the. deaths which occur amongst- Europeans' on the coast' probably 75 per cent are to be attributed to haDits of; drinking at all hours, of -the day and drunkenness, these habits .being directly' fostered and encouraged by the .cheap fate at which spirits can be purchased. Anagenti WE one of the Lagos firms' : states :'—" An agent bf ( afirm,can obtain wines a^d spirits for his ;own consumption at cost • price, no limit being placed -upon, the quantity allowed ; thus .in agent can procure ipnes arid spirits at Is 6d per bottle'" Many -of those who come out are mere boys. They. quickly contract habits/of drinkirig, and^are eithW invalided and sent home or ! die; ■* " English traders seldom; if ever, meet at any hour in the day without indulging in! spirits." V Native clerks are becomingj 'very 'much" 'addicted to the same habit."! The following' statement is from another -English' agent in • XiHgos ;" — " When i entered into an -agree- • '-Tnent with my firm' in England,. l was under ; the impression that I should' be called upon to trade- in cbttop go^ds, etc; ; I.' now. find 'that I -have to deal in spirits; and spirits constitute the bulk of the trade. The attention of young men in England should; be directed to this. Had I known tsie nature of the trade, I would not nave entered into .);,=? my agreement. Many, I believe) would decline to be bound upon such, terms as now exist. I have recently concluded a journey of 1000 miles, extending through a, consider-' abie portion of the diocese".. At every centre, in response to my inquiries, I ascertained ' that drunkenness' is on the increase. On the upper reaches of the Niger, where hitherto spirits have been excluded, Imperial officers' . tell me that they have considerable difficulty in excluding' 'spirits from th« "forts. Further, pure ' alcohol, in tins the size of a kerosene tin, is being imported .in increasingly large quantities. This is a frightful . evil. When Sir Henry M'Calhjmj latelyGovernor of the colony, discovered this, he. 'undertook to take steps to check this import, "but nothing has; been done, nor am I aware, that any '"action is i pr6pbsed on the part ,of \ the Governirient. Thequestion which, concerns the . Administration is' the revenue;, let this be forthcoming, no inquiry will be instituted as .to" .the source from which it is, derived. Attention; has repeatedly been called to these evilsj but apparently with-, "out avail ; the evils grow arid yriil grow. : An enorinbus revenue is realised ; we congratulate ourselves upon our colonial statesmanship, but refuse to recognise the moral degradation wrought throughout: the length an 4 breadth of the country by; the means; •we employ. It is a shameful arid horrible hypocrisy to boast of our 'Imperial .sreatness and suffer such evils to go; unchecked/ I again most earnestly appeal to, Christian England to take some prompt and definite . action in this matter. . . . It is the bounden duty of England, if she is to be true to her heritage of a glorious history, to deal immediately ; and effectively with this question : — (1) By prohibiting the importation of spirits in districts as yet unaffected "by the trade ; (2) by raising, the duty on Vi "trade spirits " until the price is practically prohibitive ; v and (3) by. fixing the duty on " better-class spirits at 10s 6d per gallon, this being the duty in the United Kingdom. It happened every night when father fell asleep, His little. kid awoke to cough and sneeze and weep, . . Then father swore out loud and wished his kid was dead, And tore his new pyjamas, jumping out of bed; ! . , He dimmed the cold linoleum stuck to feet like glue, As in his arms the child was howling all he knew, But mother found a charm to make their rest secure, . ' Tnekfd now thrives and sleeps on Woods' ' Peppermint Cure. . 6 The inquiry into the Rakaia railway acoHent, will beheld a* the Provincial Council Chambers on~ Wednesday or Thursday next.