PURE LIQUOR.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 568, 24 July 1909, Page 10

PURE LIQUOR.

■ Sir,—You havo fievor' dojio tnoro valuable' service v to< Now- Zealand than' by" jriiblishing tho conclusions: reached by tho State Liquor Department "of Western Australia, '• in your issue of July 17, inst. No private individual could publish'sticb information without being actionable on ; tho ground that tho - greater tho 'truth' the'greater, is the" libel; ''.The r<S-' port tto'liraada ol Beauitfo-'i'Makj''

only numbered six, white fclio. blended ; or whiskies mixed' 'with'-,cheaper 'material numbered; twonty-six,;' '• '-v - ; •

I will explain' for tho public tliat choaper 'material'"!!!-"whiskies-'generally means con-, taming amyl alcohol (or fusil oil), and I quoto thq latest .and greatest authority, Alfred Allen,,:who says "amyl-alcohol is very injurious. "A few drops will produco'all the intoxicating effects of ethcl (pute) alcohol, with, gidd-iness,. : and - Other unpleasant syniptoitis. --In larger/doses- it is fatal. To: its presenco in now whisky the injurious effects, of that spirit aro attributable." . Now,.whoso business is it to sco that whentho public pay fpr gbod whisky it shall not. bo served with something deleterious? At tho close of the last session of Parliament a report ,',\yas.. .handed- in, stating that sixty samples of whisky tad been obtained from Canterbury, examined, and .all found genuine. -Tho profession generally', as well as tho'publicans, smiled 'oil. tho above statement -becoming largoly discounted through eff usivo expressions ,of gratitude. to merchants and importers for- their, assistance in . obtaining such .samplos. Cancelling licenses will not ensure'tho purity of what liquor is sold, but may have an .entirely contrary effect. : y ■ As 'muoli ignoranco, exists regarding the real value of good liquor as a food, a sustainer, and a preventer of disease; and tho sensational declamations on hundreds of platforms are from persons who don't know tho different qualities of pure alcohol and amyl (or fusil) substitutes. "I will, if, you permit me, .in, a iuture.lettar, concisely. fiOT-islLsome useful and 'irifomation/ and in the meantime, as,, one-who abhors intemperance,. 1 remain, etc., ' ' '' '

F. A; MONCKTON; M.R.0.5., Feilding July 19, 1909. : L