THE COLONIAL DRINK BILL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2029, 9 July 1885, Page 4

THE COLONIAL DRINK BILL.

[By C M. Gray, Clwistchurch.] Tiik public ition in the New Zealand (i /MU- of tin) Cmtom-t returns for the h-ii tjuaiuii of the liiuucul ycai ending 3[«t March, 188"), enables me to ulace be foio your rcadeis a statement of the amount expended in this c-o'ony on in toMuiUiug liquais dm ing the financial year jusl coueliuleil. The lnfonnation cont lined in the CJa<sette, to which I am indebted for the completion of the Colo nial Drink Bill, coimsts of the amount ot Customs revenue derived from the clearance of all dutiable goods intended for consiunption, and also the amount received dining the year on account of tin 1 Beer Ta.. The following table gives pauiculars of the different kinds of alcoholic liijuora cknred foi consumption, togeilier with the amount of money expended theieon. I have also appended, for purpose of comp.uisyn, the totals for ISSO, 81, B'J, and BJS : -

Taning the population of the colony at the end of 1884, to be 364,304, the average per head will amount to about 9f gals, or equal to nearly £4 5* for every man, womru, and child in New Zealand. Viewed as a whole, the drink bill shows a falling-off that cannot fail to cheer the lieirts of all temperance reformers. Spiiit* exhibit a decrease of 37,6. jj gals. ; wines a deciea^eof 4576 gain.; and colonial beet, 101, 178 gals. ; whilst English ale shows an increase of 6401 gals. The total decrease in gallons U 143,709, as against a decrease during the year previous of .V2.>,4.V2 gals. ; the total for Hie two years beiug 069, 1G1 gals. Allowing for the sl'ght l.iciease in En;; iish ale, tiie net decrease is 662,760 gals The monetary saving amounts to £103,.">78, to which has to be added the ■avi'ig of the year before, £KiO,33S, making altogether a decrease in the expenditure on drink during the past two years of £203,916, or about equal to 10s per head all louud. Having, dining the past six years explained the method whereby I am enabled to approximate the cost to the colony of the liquor consumed, it is hardly neces ■ary tliat.'l should be continually going over the same ground. Suffice it to say that the process I have adopted has never, as yet, been successfully challenged, and consequently, for all practical purpose?, is as reliable as any other that may be suggested. With regard to the causes that have led to the decreisc in the amount spent on dunk in the colony, opinions seem to dilTur. Some people asset t that the de pirision in tiadc is the couise; whilst others arc of opinion that the spread of temperance principles has a deal to do in the matter. Possibly the tiulh will be found to lie between the two extremes ■i that tho two cases combined are re mnteible for the falling off. When people ijpptth* pa i chasing power, consumption rftnifof necessity become less. With to'> many people it is simply an illmtiation of tiiocnuplcttiomHudilitas- (?Kabelais ) When the de\ il gut *ick, tho duvil a saint would Iv ; When tlin devil got well, the dr\il a .saint wa<» he." Let us hope, howrvcr, that such case* are an exception to the »ul«\ Let us confidently believe that the tempeiance truths aie winning their w,»y, and that temperance principles, as expounded and inculcated by Mr R. T. Booth, Mrs Leavitt, and others, arc bearing fruit in a diminished drink bill. So may it be.

(inilons ■>Dir>ts . ,">35,4!) 1 iinm . KU.127 Kufflinh Ali-8 . 3!>l,<»S9 Colonial 15cor . . 1,4.17, 142 At ••0; A!l,o7<i,iMN 40 1 3OS,'_»:>l 6s 117,. r >o(> 4^ 8J)1, 428 Total . .V>41,2.;2 LBB3 . . . . 5,(>78,8G0 LRB2 . . 6,204,312 LBBl ... 5,HC),8*)7 LBBO 4,0:^,5G3 . .':2,3!;4,17(» ... £2,497,7.11 . 2,533,1)77 . . 2,13y,507 11. fnrSyn. ..27,311,044 Asero',o . 5,462,208 ... £12,-222,20(> ... £2,4^4,471