England's Drink Bill.

Feilding Star, Volume XIV, Issue 150, 8 June 1893, Page 4

England's Drink Bill.

The National Drink Bill for 1892 shows a slight decrease oa fche prerioufl year. But even now we are spending £140,866.262 in a year on liquor, which is more than bait as much again as it costs to run the United Kingdom. Ot course, the arithmeticians may argue that this, only means au average expenditure of between three and four pounds a head per annum. Unfortunately, however, drinking* is not spread equally over the population. There are vast numbers of children, women, and teetotallers, who never touch a drop; while many of those who do drink, drink & great deal more than is good for them. Perhaps the chief significance of these figures lies in the fact that more than eighty-five millions is spent in beer, and beer is the working- man's beveraee. f Jbis enormous total does not represent the working mana thirst ; it represents about a quarter thirst, and threequarters pelf-itdu'gence, which, to a large extent, is the satisfying of an artificial thirst provoked by " faked " beer. It means that the workman is throwing away far too large a proportion of his scanty earnings on that which neither improves bis p»si» tion nor increases bis comfort. It he could be induced to knock off 60 millions or so from the 85, he would do a great deal toward the solution of the Sphinx's riddle of modern times — fche condition of the lower classes. ..