RUSSIAN LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14889, 31 January 1914, Page 11

RUSSIAN LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

A STATESMAN'S MISTAKES. (By Cable.—Pi»» A«soci*Uo_.— Copyright) ST. PETERSBURG, January 29. Count Sergius Witte, formerly Ministor of Finance, dramatically appealed to the Council of the Empire to correct his mistakes regarding the liquor laws. Ho now recommended tho limitation, of the spirits monopoly, and devoting tho surplus revenue therefrom to help the crusado against drunkenness. The best minds in Russia stand aghast at the ravages wrought in Russian society by the abuse of vodka, tho national spirituous drink of the lower orders (says the New _ork "Literary Digest"). The Government at ot. Petersburg has maintained a monopoly in the manufacture and sale of this commodity, and has promoted with, great energy its production and use. The Army and Navy that fought with Japan were supported by the revenue that came from this monopoly, ana Kussia, we are told, has replenished the privy purse of its sovereign from the sale of a drink that is actually tending to the demoralisation of the common people. • As far as we can learn from the opinion of the Russian P*^*, ev °J since the Russian Government declared vodka a State monopoly, and assumed the role of the saloon-keeper, the liquor business there has been making rapid progress, and has : -become one of the main sources of income of. that country. Last year (1912) the Government of the Tsar realised froth the sale of liquor 412,000,000 dollars, and for the first six months of this year (1913) the proceeds exceeded those for the corresponding period of last year by. nearly 23,500.000 dollars, which figures, perhaps, tend to show that the Russian bureaucracy has been successful in .one branch of endeavour, at any rate. It may be recalled here that Mr Maklakov, the Minister of the Interior, said in an interview with a French journalist some time ago that the "severe climate of Russia, makes alcohol a vital necessity to tho masses." But somo Russians do not agree with that, statesman's view, and have very different ideas about the i-esulU of the Government's activity ro that direction- "Public drunkenness has been trrowing to extraordinary proportions," savsthe "Ryeteh" (St Petersburg), anil tho increase in drinking "has assumed a really threatening character." The Radical Press, and even somo Conservative organs, have been conducting a vigorous campaign against the liquor monopoly.