The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-02-27 00:00:00

ONE OF "TWO LITTLE FACTS."

Mr. Beckwith, 79, Great Tower-street, London, wiites the
following to The Times
In your impression of Thursday last, thy Arch-
bishop of York is reported to have made at the
"Liquor Traffic" meeting the following startling an-
nouncement as one of "two little facts '—viz., "that
in this country on an average every man, woman, and
child drank uo less than four gallons of strong spirits
per annum."
As this "little fact "is not only calculated to "seem
amazing," but also to cause much unnecessary pain to
many who read it, may I ask you to relieve not
only his Grace's mind, but that of the public gene-
rally, by informiog them that the actual consumption
of all kinds of stunts in this country is, as nearly as
possible, 29,000,600 gallons, or in other words, about
one gallon only per head—just a fourth of thequantity
attributed to them by his Grace?
It is so common a practice to deal in extravagant
and exaggerated statements when any anti-liquor
meeting is held, that had not the authority been so
high, I should not have considered it necessary to offer
any correction; as it is, I am sure his Grace will be
the first to regret the error into which he has been led,
and his oversight of the rule, that if you wish to ob-
tain the worst possible information on any subject, go
to the secretary connected with it.
I would that, in conclusion, I could myself suggest
any remedy for the evils arising from drunkenness, but
I know too much of the "traffic in liquor" not to see
what a difficult question it is; this much I can, how-
ever, most confidently affirm, that until our poor are
better housed and better taught no tinkering of the
licensing system will make of them a sober, happy, or
contented people.

To the above letter the Archbishop of York replies :
Sir,—l am not guilty of the absurdity with which Mr.
Beckwith imputes to me. I expressed my belief that
the amount of alcohol consumed in intoxicating drinks
of all sorts was about 2 1-sth gallons per head of the
population, "which would be equal to about four
gallons of strong spirits." Mr. Beckwith answers that
the ardent spirits used in the United Kingdom only
amount to one gallon per head. There is no contra-
diction here. He takes no account of wine, of which,
13,500,000 gallons were used in 1867, ranging from 7
per cent, of alcohol to 25 per cent. ; nor of the ale made
from 47,500,000 bushels of malt, eked out with some
sugar and molasses ; nor of British wines, n.r of cider.
The ale consumed in England contains far more
alcohol than the ardent spirits do.
Mr. Beckwith is an able man, and I should be glad
to find he can prove that I have overstated the
quantity ; but he has not done so yet. I did not
draw my information, as he thinks, from the secretary,
but from some printed tables which I held in my
hand, containing, among much else, the very informa-
tion which Mr. Beckwith has sent you. If there is
some error, which is quite possible, enough will
remain to give motives for all right and reasonable
attempts to diminish the temptations to drinking.
I am, Sir, your faithful servant,
W. EBOR.
13isbOptherpe, Feb. 20.

Mr. John Maig, of Hammersmith, also writes:—
The Archbishop of York, in the closing paragraph
of his letter, admits that there may be an error
in his calculation as to the quantity of spirits consumed
annually in this country. Has not his grace mistaken
" gallons of proof spirit" for "gallons of pure alcohol?"
Proof spirit is a mixture of alcohol and water in the
almost exact proporiton of fors parts by measure
of the former to three of the latter, and a gallon of
proof spirit is, therefore, equivalent to four.sevenths
of a gallon of pure alcohol. The spirits consumed
in the shape of beer and wine can only be estimated,
but if we assume that every bushel of malt made
into beer produces one gallon f proof spirits, and
that wine contains en the average 25 per cent, of prof
svirits, we shall, I think, be not far from the truth.
This would give the following result :-47.500,0n0
bushels of malt made into beer <Trials 47,500,000-proof
gallons; 13,500,000 gallons of wine contains 3,375,000
(proof gallons); ardent spirits, as shown by Mr. Beck-
with, 29.000,000 (proof gallons) ; total, 79,875,000
(proof gallons). Or, in other words, 45,642,857 gallons
of pure alcohol, or about l gallon per head of popula-
thin. lum unaware of any means of ascertaining
what spirits are consumed in eider, but the quantity
cannot be large enough to materially alter the above
calculation. The principal portion id the spirit in
British wines has paid duty as spirit, and is included
in the 29,000,000 gallons of ardent spirits.