The White Ribbon. “For God, and Home, and Humanity.” Wellington, October 18, 1928. OUR DOMINION'S DRINK BILL

White Ribbon, Volume 33, Issue 399, 18 October 1928, Page 7

The White Ribbon. “For God, and Home, and Humanity.” Wellington, October 18, 1928. OUR DOMINION'S DRINK BILL

There are still some benighted individuals in our country who consider the liquor trade as a source of revenue to the Government. \VV would like such people to make - careful study of the Dominibn's Drink Mili H The figures are stupendous. In 1927, New Zealand spent on alcoholic drink £8,831,531. Had that amount been in sovereigns, it would weigh Kfii tons. Picture 15 big si\ ton motor lorries proceeding along Lambtou Quay, all save one. loaded to its capacity with sovereigns. That procession represents our annual expenditure over the liquor bars. Hotels are closed on Sundays, and deducting Sundays and three annual closing days, i.e., 55 days, then on the remaining 310 days we spend ‘JI.IK7 per hour, day and night, on

strong drink. Custom and Excise duties amount to a little over two million pounds. \fter deducting these, the money left would provide work for 21,7 85 workers, giving them an income of Cfi a week. What a remedy for tinemployment. For. assuredly, if this eight million were not spent in liquor it would find its way into other channels of trade. And what an impetus it would give our trade and industries, and how much employment it would provide. Prohibition would throw very few out of employment. It is only the bars that would tie closed, and just take note how many men are employed in the hotel bars in your town. Very few hotels in country towns employ more than one barman, and he usually acts as night porter also, and so would probably have to be kept on when the bar was closed. According to the year book, there are just over a thousand men employed in our breweries. If the eight million were spent in clothing, food, or luxuries, it would provide employment for many more workers. Our education system is starved for want of funds. New schools cannot be built for lack of money. Yet. our Drink Hill would

pay its customs and excise duties, plus the total cost of education from primary school right up to universities. including technical schools and training colleges, plus the total cost of all persons administered b> the Pensions Department, plus an income of £I.OOO per day for a railway, educational or any other kind of expert. Experience Is a xvi.se teacher, even if her fe*-s are heavy. \ What is our experience in No-License districts? Are our No-License areas ruined? Scarcely! Invercargill is admittedly most prosi»erous. Ashburton is one of the richest boroughs in the Dominion, while Masterton is thriving and growing. Has prohibition ruined Finland" Has it bankrupted the United States? Compare the wealthy r.S.A. with State Control Canada. British Columbia’s Control Hoard says: •‘The brewing of brer for private use is a very general practice in our province;” while one of the Hoards officers admits: “To-day there are seven thousand bootleggers operating in Vancouver alone.” State Control Canada has bootlegging on as large a scale as prohibition r.S.A., but while r.S.A. is growing wealthy, British Columbia has more than doubled its provincial debt since Government assumed control of liquor trade. In 1 920, Quebec had a d< bt of over 4 0 millions. In four years under State Control, it lias increased to over seventy-five millions. The only revenue that suffers under prohibition is the revertue of the Liquor Trade. That this revenue is most valuable we can judge by the amount the Trade spends every poll to keep its wealthy monopoly. Better vote it out,- what do we gain for this huge expenditure? Increased votes for charity, hospitals, prisons and reformatories. Prohibition at its worst is better than License at its best.i Give it a trial.