THE DRINK BILL AND A WATER SUPPLY.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 170, 25 February 1902, Page 3

THE DRINK BILL AND A WATER SUPPLY.

TO THE EDITOR. Fib, —“Behold bow great a matter a little fire lc;ndh-th ” ; a column and ft naif produced man an,exceedingly mild statement contained irr Mirer lirec. and made at -i temperanc, 'Reeling ! ! I mil at tint meeting and hoard the etatoment, but consider it no much below the f„,ct that I am surprised anyone took run ice of it' Lsa me repeat ibsi 'sUt-'m mt as corrected by the Chair mm, “ The man -y spent in Waimate in three (or four) yiv.i woal 1 be sufficient to place a pipe of water in every house in the b irongh ’" New Zealand's drink bill for 1901 was £2,747,170, which, on the estimated population, gives £3 S; 4,1 per head for every man, wonv.m and child in the colony. Taking the two mile limit us ths area suppled by the Waimata, liquor dealer?, we have an annual by the 2,200 loffil-mts of £7516. It w-"uKl, however, lie under the mark to reckon the p-.puliation of the actual area supplied by cha Waimate liquor dealers at 3,000, therefore the tin never is not less than £10,030 a je-.r, according to the Liquor Bill. Now, the Liquor BUI is calculate lon the Custom? and ‘.Sr,Pin) returns, and sin el v no one believes these g ve a full account, of the amount of liquor paid for b the consumers? Anow-.nces ought tv be made for the fnliowing'uncaicujiit.ed items. ,(l) Spirits imported in hulk arc necessarily “ red Head ” by the addition of water before going into consumption ; (2) There is not wanting evidence that a considerable quan-:ty of colonial beer is retaiLd on uiiich no duty in paid and is therefo,e not included in tin* Liqnorß.il; (3) There is raaaon to he’d, ve that quantities of wine and liquor b. are “manufactured” and go into consumption in tin* colony on which no duly is collected ; (4) T.o Liquor Bill makes no Allowance for the product of illicit stills. It will not be que.tinned by snysae who keeps Ida eyes open th it a very moderate allowance for thes? four little details would easily bring , the L'quoqßill up to £-1 per head of the ■population. Assuming ihi.t lha drinking in said around Wairvi'itv is no more than the average for the colony, it wid bosom that the amoum passing through ilia bunds of the Waiimus liquor daalora •„*nnnt, bo lots than £12,00(f a year. That Clubman would have prospect of u r«'pHUUib!e profit if in* contracted “ to pliter, it w«t.-I - pipe in every house in the borough” for tin; money *.aid for liquor in tne borough in two years, let alone four.—i am, etc., Ekcera.