New-York tribune., 1900-10-07
SPI -TUOUS BEVERAGES
THE KINDS AND QUANTITIES WHICH
ARE DRUNK


Statistical So
ciety' n. bence-Jones points out that although
almost all people indulge in some form of intoxi
cant the majority drink the liquor that their
own country produces. The nations Of Southern
Europe drink wine; even the peasant has his
mask Of thin and rather sour ordinaire T,h0se
OF the north drink beer almost as lIniversalIv
thouSh IN the bleakeSt regions the preference is
Tor more ardent forms of alcohol But every-
Where II Is the drink that can be produced at
nome That IS the favorite drink of the people
The amount of wine that is drunk q head
IN VINE consuming countries is amazing In
france the consumption per capita is twenty
lour gaIIons year, while the average Italian
drinks twenty gallons annually and the average
Spanlard eighteen But in mere quantity the
peer drinkers far exceed the wine drinkers
Ihus, tie annual consumption of the United
hLsdon is nearly thirty-two gallons a head;
that of Germany is twentv-seyen gallons. tbai
OF the United States, where the Saxon element
predominates, is thirteen gallons The general
impression is that Germany is the country par
excellence of beer drinkers but this is true only
OF parts CT the Empire. Bavaria leads the world
IN the consumption of beer, it's inhabitants
drinking at the rate of fifty-six gallons a head
year w urte!nDurg makes good second with
forty-three gallons a head. while each fnhab D.
itant OF the Grand Duchy of Baden may be reck-
0neu as drinking thlrty-s six gallons in a year.
But this indulgence is balanced by very mod
crate rate OF Indulgence in other parts Taken
as a whole Belgium leads the world in the
matter Of beer drinking, its rate per inhabitant
being forty-hve gallons. In fact Belgium seems
TO be a self-indulgent little country for in ad-
dluon 10 this large amount of beer, its inhab-
ltants drink, per capita, twice as much wine and
spirits as the English do. Belgium drinks more
other
OF europe (of which statistics to be had)
with the possible exception of Denmark Den
marx IS not so much Of a beer drinking coun-
Try though It's twenty gallons a head
nualy is pretty large average; but it has the
pre-eminence-affix to it what adjective you
hke-Of drinking more spirits than any other
nation-no less than three gallons head No
other nation consumes more than two gallons
q head. The countries which take even 60 TnTcb
are France, Germany, Austria, Holland Bel
GUM and Sweden. In the United Kingdom TIE
russian Empire. the United States and Swift
erland the average consumption is about a
gallon per inhabttant- OF course the spirit thus
consumed is for the most part manufactured in
the country where it is drunk How little liquor
is imported may be understood from the fact
that only little more than per cent Of the
sum which the national revenue of Great Britain
derives from the taxation Of alcoholic beverages
comes from imported spirits.
very interesting part of Mr.. Bence-Jones's
paper deals with the consumption of intoxicants
IN our colonies. It may be said in general terms
that our children among the nations are much
more temperate than We ourselves. Austria
liza Is the most Sef-indulgent, and there the peO-
pie drink approximately one gallon of wine,
ten gallons Of beer and three-quarterS of a gal
Ion of spirits head annually. The wine is
NOME grown "hlch may account Tor the con-
sumption of it being twice as great as that OF
Britain for everywhere imported articles are the
luXurieS OF F1cher classes. Australia IS unique
among the nations, however, for the large pro-
portion OF spirits which she imports less than
50 per cent of her consumption of this form Of
alcohol coming from abroad. chiefly from our
own country. There is, indeed, very little manu-
facture of spirits in Australia nor does il seem
:
able statistics of the consumption of the various
intOxicants at Cape Colony, the official infor-
nation Obtainabie being scanty. From four
to six gallons of wine is produced annually. but
IS a great part of this (it is believed about two
nfths) IS made into brandy, il is impossible
I to estimate with any eXactneSs the amount that
Is drunk. There used to be considerable ex-
port of Cape wine to Europe. and about seventy
thousand gallons still sent abroad, but the
greater part of the wine made in the colony is
I sent up to the TraEsvaal and other inland
parts. The consumption OF beer is very small
something under two gallons a year head;
| nor is il increasing Spirits are consumed at
the rate of about one gallon a head. but it is
not known how much Of this is genuine brandy,
and how much is the mysterious and unwhOfe-
some compound called Cape smoke"
OF all our colonies Canada has the pre-en,
| inence of being the most sober; indeed. il may
| be doubted if a abstemiOus nation exists
than the Canadian. Moreover, the consumption
of alcohol is steadily decreasing. Spirits
pecially are falling into disfavOr. In 1890 the
Canadians consumed spirits at the rate of nearly
a gallon a head in 1898 the consumption per
capita had fallen to little half gallon.
OF wine not more than tenth of a gallon
a head is drunk OF beer the consumption IS
only three and a half gallons a head annually.
! The satisfaction with which temperance en-
thusiasts Will regard this state of affairs may
be tempered by the way in which they regard
! the increasing consumption of coffee both in
! Canada and in the United States, where also
/ the consumption of spirits is diminishing. IN
| Canada, while the consumption OF spirits has
! fallen by nearly One-half since 1890 the con-
sumption Of coffee has in the same period nearly
! doubled, though the absolute amount, U.9I Of a
pound q head cannot be considered large. In
! in 1890 III Of a gallon head: in 1898 il had
/ sT1Dk 10 during the