NATIONAL ECONOMY.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1916, Page 9

NATIONAL ECONOMY.

To the Editor, Sir,—ln your Monday's issue you have on interesting paragraph about the beer exported frorii Dunedin. There is an error evidently ill saying that "300 tons of which represents over 700 barrels" Certainly a long way over. I think 1700 was meant. But, that is by the way. What I would draw attention to is the fact that in these days of demanded economy so much is wasted over beer. I would point out that last year excise duty was paul on 10,00oj i 4 gallons of New Zealand beer, which is about IS') times tho 300 tons above referred to. There may be a few\ people who still think that there is so/lie food value in beer, but not many in this enlightened country regard it as- "liquid bread," which is a brewer's definition. However it is produced, ostensibly from barley, and barlf.y is a food grain; it might be more to thai: it is. While we are not yet driven to the German necessity to use barley bread, yet we might note how careful people in that country look on it. Quite recently a letter was sent to Chancellor von Bethmann Holhveg b t y Privy Medical Counsellor, Dr. Bonne, iti which he says: "Your excellency's government has reduced the production of beer 52 per cent, since the beginning of the war, but '2IOO tons of grain are still used daily for brewing purposes. This quantity of grain would be sufficient to feed ten million people. . . .

Barley is a bread grain, like rye and wheat, and uv.ist be saved as much as possible. If the Government consider* it necessary to keep the breweries in operation social justice demands that beer should only lie sold to holders of bread cards and that consumers of this beverage shall receive correspondingly smaller quantities of bread. Such a measure, however would be insufficient. In our opinion all danger of a shortage of bread, and grain hunger, can easily be removed by closing the breweries and dis tilleries until peace returns." Commenting on the above proposition of Dr. Bonne, the Frankfurter Zeitung says: "The proposition made to the Chancellor is logical and deserves consideration, Against the demand that beer shall be classed with bread no valid objection can be raised. An absolutely equal disti" tion of bread grain is essential ior th? welfare of the nation, but under the. present system consumers of beer actually not only receive double rations of breadstuffs, but in many eases more. If a man, for instance, drinks three quarts of beer daily he consumes 25.5 ounces of barley, or more than the broad rations of throe persons." Though we sti.'l have bread enough and some to span, for those in need—Belgians, for instance —it would be well for us to realise how much is wasted over beer. Presuming that the New Zealand beer is produced from malt, it took 409,523 bushels ot barley to makt it. This means the product 'from 11,000 to 12,000 acres of good land, laud thai with the labor expended on growing tin', crop might be usefully employed in producing other crops; or, perhaps, to make it more simple still, the grain when grown ought to have been put to some beneficial use. The question is too large for discussion here, but when one reads such a paragraph as gave rise to this letter the question at once arises: What results will follow the consumption of all those tons of beer, contained in all those hundreds of ba:rels, loaded a"; Thinedin for northern ports. It does not need a prophet to say that intoxication and crime will follow; pr, at least, a lot of what some call pleasure, but what observant peo> pie would call introducing the drinkers into a fool's paradise.—l am, etc.. GEO. H. MAUNDER.