The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1898-04-13
Some statistics ON Nations Drinking.

Tno country owes thanks to Sir Courte-
nay Boyle. Most blue-books are dry, and
few OF us care to master their contents. Sir
Courteney Boyle has succeeded, however,
in producing one that almost might be de-
scrlbed as fascinating-the drink statistics
of the civilized world, or, to give it its
official and rather long-winded title, "The
Production and Consumption OF Alcoholic
Beverages" (wine, beer, spirits).
A study Of the paper leads to one con-
clusion, namely-that not only will people
drink as long as they can afford to pay for
it, but that they will drink. France pro-
duces ten times as much wine as Germany;
IL also exports ten times as much; and yet
more German wine is imported into the
United States than French wine. The
answer is obvious: There are in the States
many successful German settlers, and they,
having the money, will have the hook OF
the Fatherland, no matter what they pay
for it, Thus also In prosperous Belgium
people put scarcely any limit ON them
selves in the matter OF drink. and whether
it be beer or spirits Belgium stands at the
head in the matter OF consumption per
head, while even as regards wine, although
1t is not a wine producing country, the in
habitants consume as much as do the Ger
mans, whose country is wine-producing.
One point that is brought out very clear
~ in these tables is the fact that the drink
trade is almost everywhere home indus
try, /. e., that by far the greater portion Of
the drink consumed is made in the country
consuming It. We in England import so
much wine and brandy from the continent
that we are perhaps not altogether In q
position to realize the fact, aud yet even In
England by far the greater part OF the
drink consumed is homemade. This is
proved by the relative proportions OF the
customs receipts from imported and the
excise receipts from homemade liquors.
The customs receipts amount to 20, 800 600,
and the excise receipts to E27 900 900, or in
the proportion OF seventeen per cent. to
eighty-three per cent. in favor of the home
made. Perhaps very few realize to how
great an extent France is the great wine
producing, and also the great wlne-con-
suming country of the world. The state
ment that the quantity Of wine annually
drunk In the United Kingdom, Germany
and the United States, which, taken to-
gether, have population OF $4,000, 900
souls, barely exceeds tenth part of what
is consumed in France, with its $4,000 900
OF inhabitants enables .us to more fully
realize the fact. Many, moreover, will be
surprised to find that the consumption per
head of beer in this country exceeds that
of Germany, for while the German drinks
twenty-five gallons per annum, the English
man drinks thirty gallons. In both coun-
tries the consumption Of beer is distinctly
on the increase.
The following is an interesting fact taken
at hazard: Seventy-seyen gallons Iof beer
are consumed in this country fer every gal
Ion OF wine that is drunk; could any clearer
proof be wanting that it is the masses who
drink, not the clasces2 Scarcely the seventh
part OF bottle OF champagne per head is
drunk per annum by the inhabitants Of this
country; in the United States scarcely the
twentieth part.--Pall Mall Gazette.