CAIRO'S POISONOUS LIQUOR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2448, 29 April 1915, Page 3

CAIRO'S POISONOUS LIQUOR

UNDER NEW REGULATIONS

FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE PUBLIC AND THE ARMY The unspeakable quality of the liquor purveyed an some quarters .of Cairo lias led to a great reform beiii" effected, and one which it is thought will in time have a far-reaching effect, not alone on visitors to Cairo and British troops who are stationed' there, but on the Egyptian and Arabic population, many of whom submit to being slowly poisoned, and are willing to pay for the process. A letter received by a Wellington resident yesterday from Cairo refers interestingly to the matter. It reads as follows:—

"Since England has taken this country under her large wings the question of the sale of liquor is receiving much attention. You have not the slightest conception of how liquor is sold in Cairo. Liquor—some of the most poisonous stun that one could conceive— is 6old by every native who has a shop or an apology tor one. Of course there are many cares where all kinds of drinks are sold, good, bad, and indifferent, but the cafes run by the lower class of Greeks, French, and Italians sell slow poison only. The natives do likewise. Everywhere you go, you can see large notices outside hundreds of low dens m the poor'part of the city:

"SPECIAL PRICES FOR THE MILITARY!" "Among these j;pu will see "The Australian Bar. "The New Zealand Bar," "The British Soldiers' Cafe," and other such signs, all places for the purveyance of the'worst drink on earth —the cheapest and vilest of raw spirit, doctored with colouring matter. The worst phase of, the whole question is that this liquor is (or. was) consumed freely by the coloured troops. The medical men accompanying the troops have condemned all such liquor, and incidentally' have made discoveries too beastly to mention. Following on these discoveries a licensing law was introduced, with csrtain rules wherrfby.it was made difficult for the native to keep & shop open for the vending of -liquor. Following this a notice was promulgated in the Sudan, making it an offence for a native to sell liquor on a Sunday, but .there has been little evidence that the edict has been effective, and, I think, that the authorities have been slow in taking more drastio. action.

"However, to-day the final word was given out by means of a proclamationissued by General . Sir John which absolutely prohibited the sale of adulterated liquor and appointed inspectors to tale the matter in hand. Tne proclamation, which has_ been published in Arabic, French, Italian, Greek, and English, has been posted up' in conspicuous spotß ,al! over Cairo, ' so that all may read and heed. The proclamation reads as follows:—

"CONTROL OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS. ' "The following proclamation has been issued by General Maxwell: — "1,. John Grenfell Maxwell, in exercise of tho powers vested in me as General Officer Commanding in Chief His Britannic Majesty's Forces ,in Egypt, hereby order as follows- — ' "Art. 1. —Until further orders, special officers appointed under the authority of the General Officer Commanding in Chief -shall have power in the Governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, the Canal and > Suez, and elsewhere within a radius of five miles of any place in which any of His Majesty's Forces may be Btationed, to enter and inspect any public establishment,- a ; s defined by Article 1 of the Public Establishments Law of 1904, in which there is reason to suspect that alcoholic liquors are being offered for sale. They may take samples of any such liquors found on the premises and. submit them to the Director of the Egyptian Government Laboratory.

"The said, officers shall forward their report, together with the report, if ahy, of the Director of the Laboratory, to such officers as may be appointed for the purpose. "Art. 2. —Any person who, inany district mentioned in the preceding article, shall, in a public establishment, sell or expose for sale or | shall in anv way bo knowingly concerned in selling or Exposing for sale any alooholio jiquor which is adulterated or which is sold or offered for sale as being of anature, quality or origin, shall upon oonvictiou by a. military court be liable to imprisonment not exceeding six months or fine not exceeding L.E. 100. "Every person so sentenced to fine Bhall in default of payment, be liable to imprisonment for such period not exceeding six months as shall be fixed by the sentence of the court. "The court may, in any case of conviction, further order that the prisoner, shall not, during such period not exceeding one year as shall be mentioned in the sentence, be concerned as owner, manager or otherwise,- in the conduct of any publio establishment in which alcoholic liquors are offered for sale. "All liquor found oh the premises which is adulterated or which is not of the nature, quality, or origin of which it purports to be shall be confiscated and destroyed or returned to the owner on such conditions as to its treatment aB the -Court may in its sentence direct. "Art. 3. —Every person who, without such license as is required by the Public Establishments Law of 1914, or in. breach of any sentence of a Court passed under the provisions of the last preceding article, shall, within any district mentioned in Artiole 1, be concerned either as owner, manager, or otherwise in the conduot of any public establishment in which alcoholic liquors are offered for; sale, shall, upon conviction by a Military Court, be liable to the penalties specified in the last preceding article. .

"All or any liquor kept upon thei premises for purpose of sale may be confiscated and destroyed by order of the Court. ' ■ . "Art. 4.—Any officer appointed, to N deal with reports of offences against this Proclamation shall exercise all the powers of a Commanding Officer holding au inquiry. . 1 "And any such officer may, if in his discretion lio shall think fit,, order that any oflenco so reported l to him shall be referred for disposal to the civil authorities instead of committing the accused for trial by a Military Court." Cairo, March 18, 1915. On the control of the liquor trade he paper "A 1 Ahram" (Cairo) says:— . "We published yeserday the decision of the military authorities to control liquors, and if ive noiv say that the publio ha.vo always wished this control to be universal we would not be wrong or exaggerating the case. There are in Egypt liquor factories which do not sell to the rich but to the poor, the Egyptian workman, coachman, donkeyboy, artisan, who sees the wealthy frequent the bars and consider that liquors are the paradise of life. But as their means do not allow tliem to buy the liquors sold in bars and cafes they go to what is called 'factories,' where for half a piastre or oven less they can buy a largo glass of their favourito drink. "Liquors made of grapes and other articles are ospensivo; the owners of bars therefore cannot sell them at tlio prices paid by the lower classes. As Egypt is not a wine-producing country all the liquors sold here are therefore imported. What kind of liquors, tlion, do„ these 'factories' pi-odnca? We hav.e often answered this g.uostion* and

asked the Department of Public Health to turn its attention to the poisons they produce, and behold, the military. authorities have now confirmed what we said and supported our demand, and by the decision taken thoy_ have paved the way for the administrative authority to put an end to this plague. The owners of 'factories' neither buy wines nor import alcohol, but make of spirits what they call 'drinks' by colouring and flavouring them with the colours or flavours of the genuine drinks."