ALCOHOLOGY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 225, 17 January 1911, Page 3

ALCOHOLOGY.

LIQI'OR v. DRAPERY. (Published by Arrangement). "Comparisons arc invidious" is what we■ wrote in our copy books, vet people will make comparisons. It was certainly a strange comparison when the tc.mptations of the drapery estoblishim'nt were compared with those of the bar-room. 1 et this comparison has been made even in Xew Plymouth, and by those who have some repute for learning an:l judgment. hi what respect thev would make the comparison is not quite dear; w.e must make it our own way. Let us lie-•-in »'i_th the outside, ami certainlv the draper's window is a much more pleasiii" sight than the window of the bar is. The former is a display of beautv, utility and comfort. The latter is dull and bare, per■haps a few bottles; very likely it kars some design such as Schnapps"; and in accordance therewith the wolf does snap and .bite, too, very often with poisonous fangs. If we enter, what do we sec and hear? Contrast the two companies, the conversation, t'lio maimers, and it is plainly in favor of the draper. \\ e object ito our women folk goin" to the bar (outside) anil the law now°objects to them inside the bar. And whv? Because they would be in temptation,' if not in actual danger. Contrast, too, THE EFFECTS OX THE CUSTOMERS. The draper's customers go .home with parcels large or small, well or ill-selected, which give comfort or pleasure, or both, and continue to do so for many days—perhaps for years. The good wife may have spent the money too freely, but slw got something for it that may be called a tangible asset. The customer of the Luir is in quite another condition. All lie buys, or nearly all, he carries home inside him, and luts nothing to show for it when he gets 'there but an ill temper and a iheadaohe the next morning; nothing for anyone else in the house as his wife has from her purchases at the draper's. THE EFFECT OK THE PUBLIC at large should also be noticed. Passing by the journey ihome, say, in the 'bus, where her parcels may be rather bulky and inconvenient for the other passengers, but not positively nasty, as the customer from the bar very often is, we will observe how these customers compare in the coming days. She from the drapery establishment appears 011 the street or in the park- with her family in a manner to please the eye of the public. We pride ourselves in Xew Zealand 011 what a well-dr-i'.v-ed crowd we are, ami everyone is pleased (unlets envious) to see his or her neighbor well dressed. He from the hotel bar cuts only a sorry figure; if slightly exhilarated only ho may pass unnoticed, but if his purchases haw been quite moderate the money thus spent at the bar would have improved his appearance .had it been spent with the d raper. (We are only considering the drapery now). Then after all look at I THE iFIXISTIED ARTICLE!

The draper can do so with pride. "All the costume* and ottire of this lady and her family were purchased at my establishment," says tile draper with pride. ''He did not get it «t my house," savs the -hotelkeeper, as a roan known to lie one of his customers stagers down tile a treet, or into the lock-up. This is'a comparison that the merest child can make. The liquor-seller, of all sellers, is the only man who is ashamed of his best lcustoiiKTs. The restaurantkeeper shows the distorting mirror to give you an idea of how t'hin you looked on entering his house, and then ho\y stout you looked on leaving; the saloo.nkeopi r tlocs not want his customers to know how they look when he has linished them oil'. There are so many contrasts, and all unfavorable to the liipior man. THE EFFECT OX THE REVENTE i* what the -advocates of liquor selling are so anxious about. The liqiuor people, both sellers and buyers, think that they are doing much for the revenue, which is quite a delusion. A man goes to the bar | and has a drink for himself uind a friend at a cost of a .shilling, and out of it less than a penny goes to the revenue; if he spent the money at the draper's he would contribute considerably more; in some lines twice as much. It must be remembered, 'too, that it takes all the revenue from the liquor, and a little more, to keep it in order, and .repair, in some measure, the damage it does. The comparison is hv no means complete. From the economic standpoint there is the loss of working time and energy which follows the drinking; then from the moral side as well as the physical

tlvre is a loss. The drinker, unless lie be. extremely moderate—so moderate n» 1 to be the laughinsi-sltock of the ordinary drink*']I—knows 1 —knows quite well that; lie is not at all benciited by his drinks, and therefore has a ieeling tli.it he is on the wrong' track. If only men would ask themselves whether tliey are #rttitv; value for the I money spent at the bar as keenly as they question the wife as to the value she jret's from her dealings with the draper, they would know which was more beneficial to the community—the publicai or the draper. I