LIQUOR REVENUE.

White Ribbon, Volume 47, Issue 6, 18 July 1941, Page 8

LIQUOR REVENUE.

Canada considers the value of Liquor Revenue in contrast to the cost of the liquor traffic to the taxpayer:— 1. Is it true, as many claim, that between 80 and 00 per cent, of the money spent for liquor goes back to the Gcwernment in the form of liquor taxes?

No; this statement is false. The Dominion Bureau of Statistics shows that the receipts of all Governments, Dominion and Provincial, including municipal grants, total in the last year of record (1938), $54,040,769. This is 31 per cent, of the estimated cost of the liquor legally purchased in Canada, Or-taking Mr. R. B. Hanson’s lump climate of $200,000,000 (presumably’ covering legal and illegal sale), about 27.4 per cent. 2. Are the liquor taxes sheer gain t«»r the Government without any increased co>ts to the country, due to liquor consumption? No. According to the Toronto Star, crime costs Canada about $160,000,000 annually. And drink is responsible for al»out 85 per cent, of all crime committed. In the year 1937 Canada bad 37,13 ft convictions for major crime. Of those who were engaged in these crimes, 32.828 are reported as moderate drinkers, and 3,637 immoderate drinkers and 673 are unknown. Of these figure**, over 98 per cent, of the crimes were committed by drinkers. ' 3. Who pays these increased public costs for increased crime, due to liquor ? The taxpayer, not the brewer or distiller. Joseph Chamberlain said: “If I could destroy’ tomorrow the desire for strong drink, we should see our jails and workhouses empty. We should save more lives in twelve months than are consumed in a century of bitter and savage vvariare. We should transform the whole race of this country’.