Articles in Common Use.

Manawatu Herald, 5 July 1900, Page 2

Articles in Common Use.

This is the time of year we obtain n< end of statistics compiled by Government to keep a check upon, is it, oir •^rowing appetites or the custom^ luties ? Anyhow we get the statistic md can compare how far the effort. }f the Prohibitionists have beet 3ffeetual iv restraining that appetite for alcoho ie liquor wbich is 3: general. The result do? 3 not an pear satisfactory, as for tba year 189S the people spent 68s l£d in spirit %le, and wine ; last year they sp9i t 64s 3|d in the same way, so that wt lave gone back 14d per head I ■:-ue rising generation is drinking lcsi ua clderd must be striving hard t the country We are rathe airprised at the results, and th; Prohibitionists will bave to clam .hat the .decreasing birth-rate i uiswerable for the present increase n the rate per head. It appears it is not only the drinkers of alcohol who have developed increased thirst, as the consumption of tea and coff. c has risen from 2fJ per head to 4d, and the question to be determined is how we became so dry It was net from shouting at our victories in tht ' ransvaal, as up to the end of 1899 we had nothing to shout about, but t may have been occasioned by sending the Contingents off, which is in unsatisfactory way of arriving at 1 conclusion. Money appears to have bsen more plentiful, and whil t some chose alcohol and tea to spend their spare cash on others invested in tobacco, which rose twopence per head, whilst the aristocratic cigar was smoked to the increase of fourpence per head. Recklessness or at any rate expenditure increased in the ad va orem goods, comprising clothes, ladies finery, and jewellery, which in 1898 was 16s B}d per head, last year rose to 17s I£<l. It is evident that we all did better than we expected and we shall be lucky if a similar return next year will show as goon an increase in the well-being of the people that the last return does.