Against Prohibition.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXI, Issue 3805, 9 October 1905, Page 4

Against Prohibition.

(Published by arrangement with Mr T. M. Smith). BREWING ANI> DISTILLING IN JAPAN. A recent .number of a Prohihibition Journal attempted to draw a moral from the fact —as it stated it to be —that while the defeated Russians were drinkers, the victorious Jap is a teetotaller. The following from the “ Canadian Trade Journal ” clearly proves that to whatever source Japan owes her phenomenal success, it is not to teetotalism : Distilling, as understood in Canada, is practically unknown to Japan. The only distilled liquor distilled in the country is what is called “ shochu,” which is distilled from rice just as the natural beverage “ sake ” is brewed from the same material. The production of “ shochu ” for 1902 amounted to 5,161,000 gallons, but it is rather difficult to ascertain the number of distillers, as the liquor is generally manufactured by the “sake” brewers as a side line. The distilling is conducted in the oldfashioned style. No distilling of foreign spirits, such as whisky and brandy, has yet been started in J apan. In recent years the manufacture of spurious foreign spirits by the mixture of alcohol lias prevailed, but owing to the imposition of a heavy import duty on alcohol, the business has undergone a check.

In 1902 there were fifteen small manufactories of alcohol, the total output amounting to S,SSB gallons. With regard to “ sake ” brewers, there are more than 20,000 in the country, and the consumption of “ sake,” from which the Government derives a large revenue, does not suffer diminution, despite the gradual increase of tax. The output of “ sake ” for 1902 was 160,433,258 gallons. Until about 15 years ago, there were only one or two beer breweries in Japan, but in 1902 the number increased to seven, with an aggregate paid up capital of 2,182,000 dollars. The output of beer in 1902 totalled 3,614,526 gallons. The rapidity with which the consumption of beer has increased among the Japanese is remarkable. At first all the brewers were getting their supplies of malt from abroad, but at present several breweries are making malt from Japanese barley. Tor the year 1903 the imports of wines were valued at 236,569 dollars; spirits, 384,618 dollars; malt, 135,615 dollars ; hops, 57,342 dollars. NATURE DEMANDS ALCOHOL. The Earl of Wemyss delivered a somewhat unorthodox speech in the House of Lords in opposing the second reading of a Bill empowering magistrates to fix the closing hours of public-houses. “A distinguished professor informs me,” proceeded his lordship, “ that overeating causes as serious effects as excessive drinking, and my own medical man endorses that opinion. There are figures showing that the pure waterdrinker lives an average of fiftyseven years, while unmitigated drunkards like Jane Cakcbread live two years longer, and the moderate drinker twelve years longer. Nature more or less demands a little alcohol.” His lordship was obviously referring to the startling figures which were published by the British Medical Association and reprinted in our columns last month.