ABSOLUTELY TEETOTAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11359, 10 April 1915, Page 4

ABSOLUTELY TEETOTAL.

RUSSIA UNDER PROHIBITION.

AN EXAMPLE TO BRITAIN.

(By H. HAMILTON FYFE, in tlo "Daily Mail.")

PETROGRAD, February 4. ; I wonder if you realise in England, that Russia has really become a teetotal country. Try to lmgaine all the pubhohouses in London and in all the towns aaid villages throughout the British Isles closed.; all the shops which now sell wines and spirits filling their windows with Perrier and grape-juioe and nonalcoholic champagne; all the restaurants putting away their win© cards and offering with lunch, dinner, supper, nothing stronger than cider or ginger ale. • t . That is the state of things in. Russia. Strange it seems indeed, yet there ia one thing stranger. Nobody makes any audible complaint. If such a suspension of the sale of all intoxicating drinks were to be ordered in England, think of the newspaper war there would be about it. 'Flunk of the numberless letters which Iwould be written. Think of tho meetings which the members of the trades ■affected would hold!—brewers and publicans, hop-growers and wine merchant?, bar-keepers and restaurants. Hero there are no meetings, no letfers to the newspapers, no controversy. » Breweries are idlo, beer-shops stand {shuttered and cheerless. Wine shops, ■if they keep open, keep open at heavy loss. In the famous and fashionable restaurants, tho Bear, the Cafe de t Paris (managed by a former chef to the Czar), tho Astoria, guests drink nonalcoholic " levass" at a shilling a jug, and profits dwindle to vanishing point. Yet there is no agitation. Those who grumble, grumble behind' closed doors. Partly this is because Russians accept anything that may bo ordered as •a decree against which struggle is usoJe&s. But fatalist obedience does not tully explain the readiness of the nation to give up its vodka ajid its sweet champagne, its light Caucasian wine and harmless, refreshing beer. The truth is nine-tenths of the nation nre convinced of the benefit of giving them up. Some believe that God is pleased with them and will favour their armies. Others are glad to have put out of their way temptation which they lack strength to resist. Others, again, who never drink too much are happy .to feel that they are called' upon to sacrifice something when so many arc sacrificing all. Add to these the teetotal party , which hopes never to see the suspension repealed, and you have a solid block in favour of., at all events, temporary prohibition, a block against which the forces of opposition fight in vain.

BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OP PRO- ! . HIBITTON. The prohibition argument is strong. Crime has becomo rarer. The records of the Courts prove this. Savings bank deposits haive increased enormously. The number of patients in Petrograd hospitals has fallen in a surprising degree. There are fewer accidents, as well as less discus©. In tho towns, workmen who used to spend their wages a»s soon as they got them are sotting up ia business for themselves. Peasants who, in vodka days, never put by a cof»k are buying good ploughs and drills and harvesting machines. There is work for all, and wages a.ro rather higher than they v.'ere before the war. In all ranks there are many (women as well as men) who are the better for their enforced abstinence, Brightness has come back to eyes dulled by overindulgence. Cheeks which were grey *,nd flabby have colour in them again. The owners of these cheeks and eyes would pay a ridiculously high price i'or vodka or whisky if they could get it. J .have heard of whisky changing hand •> lit thirty shillings a bottle. But the stocks which were laid up in cellars or cupboards aro mostly exhausted. Private vendors are very hard to lind nov.. rand to buy otherwise than in secret Js out of the question. There are no '"blind pigs," as in Canada; and the 'druggists who in the united States will Usually "oblige" with spirits sold as medicine aro so terrified hero that, if van take them a prescription with alLhol in it they ring up your doctor to make sure you ar© not a fraud. Possibly I underrate the inconvenience'caused by prohibition for the reapon that, it makes no odds to nK ,^ h< :" <l,or I drink " kwu» " or .elan f-whiskv-amkwla,, or irolden Russian t< a.

Kvass, by the way, is .something like our ginger-beer. It is made by some mysterious process from blaok bread; a pleasant drink and a wholesome. Possiblv, also, I ought to feel more sympathy with tho mnkera and sellers of drink. Some certainly deserve help in addition to pity. But so many, among them have waxed fat upon the degradation and misery of their unfortunate follow-oroatures that, as a class, they seem to be meeting with just retribution. Better that a few hundred of them should suffer, even beyond their deserts, than that thousands of soldiers should lose health and self-respect and millions of the people waste tnedr substance in war time as they did in time of peace. Scarcity of alcohol there is. then, in Russia. Save in private houses hero and there, one never sees it. But there is scarcity of very little else. Lemons, it is true, cost sixpence a piece .and dessert, raisins five shillings a pound. Figs are dear and oranges. Flowers, since the supply from Nice is cut off, are beyond the reach of any but the rich. But these are luxuries and come from far awaj. I heard a woman the other evening complain that the war was forcing her to pay two shillings each for cauliflowers and eighteenpence a pound for Brussels sprouts. But another ivoman, who has lived here longer, laughed and said these were the usual winter prioes in Petrograd. The size of loaves has, I am told, deoreased a little, but they are no dearer, nor made in any different way. When wo read that Vienna bakers must now make rolls from <: half and half" flour containing 50 per cent of potato, rice, or maisK), and that Berlin households are not allowed to buy more than four and a half pounds (two kilograms) of bread a week, wo are truly thankful for both the quantity and the quality of our supply.

RISE IN FOOD PRICES. Lately certain prices have risen. Of jams, for example. Last summer the fruit crop was a poor once. This sent up jams from 10 to 15 per cent. Retailers have raised them during the last few weeks 50 to 60 per cent. Lighting and heating materials, too, have leapt far higher than conditions warrant. Oil and wood both cost more than the maximum prices which the town council fixed a few months ago. This affects all classes. In Russia heat is as much a necessity of lifo as food. In the yard of every hous» there stands a huge wood pile. Some of thom are twenty fee„t high. To choose between having less warmth in the house or paying more for it is to many people a painful embarrassment. Indignation is growing against greedy, merchants who are .said to have taken advantage of the war to force prices up, just as in England .shippers are blamed for tho higher cost of foodstuffs. If privations were necessary, they would be borne with patience. But no one cares to pay more, or consume less, when there is no real need. Even easy-going Russians are moved to protest. They are demanding that prices shall l>e lixed again and this time maintained. One effect of the disappearance of vodka will be regretted by many who aro in the habit of visiting Russia. Tho custom of taking ;; zakouska " before dinner has been checked and may never revive. Zakouska aro what we call " hors-d'eevres," only far more varied and numerous and appetising than oars. Both in private houses and in restaurants they were eaten in an ante-room before dinner, and with them were drunk liqueur glasses of vodka, few or many, according to taste. Without vodka zakouska do not seem to attract. If the suppression ol" tho national spirit persists, as most people hero believe ifc \vill, a distinctive feature of Russian life looks like passing away.