DRINK SCANDAL IN SYDNEY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 60, 12 March 1942, Page 3

DRINK SCANDAL IN SYDNEY

NIGHT CLUBS AND SLY-GROG RATIONING ADVOCATED Sydney. March 9. Commenting on the announcement »y the Premier of New South Wales . ’ hat certain night clubs and sly-grog dens in Sydney would be suppressed •the Sydney Morning Herald in an aditorial article on March 5. under the idle of “Checking the Drink Orgy/' Though it might well have come ! earlier. the Premier's decision will be iv. njconied by a community whose > onsciem e has been shocked hv oxI ensures of the conditions prevailing in citv and suburban drinking dens, .sometimes dignified by the name nigh: [Hubs. A clean-up of these malodorous haunts is overdue. Industry's Lack of Discipline. Tlie sly-gieg traffic, however, is • nly oi.- a.-net I of the liquor question as it affects the nations a 1 wai. It will not be sufficient for public at-;-ntio,i dn : official action to be con- • cenliated upon this most obviou ; |abuse, to the neglect of the genera! | nrobiem of checking an increase in ■the consumption of alcoholic beveiaq s which has become a national •scandal and danger. Failure of the liquor industry and trade to discipline their own members is a sure means of encouraging prohibitionist sentiment, in spite of the disastrous experiments in this .solution of the problem abroad. Wei-? there no such failure to-day. the sl.v- • jrog shoos would not be able to obtain supplies as freely as they do. nor ! would there be so extensive an afterhour.' trade among a section of hotels, I particularly in the sale of bottle ! Drinking in the streets and park-; (after closing time, in which men in uniform are prominent, is one of the i worst features of the present deplorable state of affairs, it is high time for the military authorities actively •to interest themselves in the whole question of liquor consumption as ■affecting the morale and well-being of the men on whom the safety of the I country depends. ' Drunkenness is the enemy of discipline and alertness. Apart, however. • from remedies available to the Service ‘departments and State Government', 'it is impertivp that the Fedei d Cabinet should intervene to reduce ■the flow of liquor at its source by the • of rationing. It is anomalous. to say th° least, that while so ’many other commodities are being I rationed to meet the war emergency, hhe output of liquor should be increasI ing. FEDERAL RESTRICTIONS SALE OF BOTTLED BEER Canberra. March 5. The Federal Government may soon jrestrict manufacture of bottled beer. ‘ ?.lr. Dedman, Minister for War Organisation of Industry, is conducting a ‘survev of many industries, including [brewing, to see where production can [be cut down or diverted for war purposes. ■ Both Commonwealth and State Ministers have expressed concern recenilly about excessive drinking. ' Courses being considered by Mr. ■Dedman include restriction of production. more rigid enforcement of Stat*’ liauor laws (particularly laws on after hours trading), and prohibition of lounge drinking. It is believed that restrictions or ‘prohibition of bottled beer sales would • be the most effective measures. EXCESSIVE DRINKING NEW SOUTH WALES ACTION Sydney, March 11. As in Victoria action has been taken in New South Wales to check excessive drinking. i. Regulations introduced by the Premier. Mr. W. J. McKell are directed particularly at low nigh! clubs and slv-grog shops, but they also prevent the delivery of liquor by hotelkeepers and licensed grocers to private houses or other unlicensed premises. They also restrict the amount of liquor which may be sold to any one person on any one day to two gallons of bulk liquor or two and a-quarter gallons of bottled liquor.