The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1912-03-29
DRINK BILL IS Big
New South Wales Spends Mil.
lions for Spirits.
Figures Are startllng-canon Boyee
Presents Statistics Showing Ex-
penditures by BeopIe for
Liquor In 1910.

Sydney, N. S. WIN his annual re.
view OF the drink bill of New South
Wales for 1910, self-appointed task
which he has been carrying out with
praiseworthy perseverance for nearly
30 years, Canon Boyce draws attention
to some interesting points. In the
first place the bill reaches the ..enor-
nous total of 95,724,9S4 ($2S, 1924, 5000
an Increase on the preceding year of
S407,302 ($2,036,500), due in a great
measure, of course, to the increased
prosperity Of the people. OF this tre-
mendous sum more than half was
spent on spirits, which shows an in
creased consumption of 12S,470 gallons
as compared with 1909. The sum of
92,231.922 GILES, 5000 was spent on
colonial beer, the "workingman's bey-
erage," showing an increase of consid
erably over 100000 gallons as COM
pared with the preceding year.
Out of the total sum of s1,41s,s14
G,069,500) or less than one-fourth.
went to the revenue, either in the
shape of license fees or customs and
excise. Against the. revenue obtained
from the drink traffic Canon Boyce
places q huge debit balance amount
ing, he thinks, to at least $4,000 900
$4,000, O00), through the maintenance
OF our reformatories and jails, asylums
for the insane and various other insti-
tutions which are rendered necessary
to large extent by the abuse of in
toxicating liquors, an expense which,
OF course, has to be borne in mind
when considering the question as it
should be considered-from a moral
as we'll as financial point Of view.
The cost per head of the population is
placed at e3 los. Cd. (s1713), or SET
Us. Cd ($3709( for a family of FIVE
persons. This is very vague way of
reckoning it, and children, for the
most part, and large numbers Of adj
ults never touch intoxicating liquors
at all. Still, it is the only way sta
tisticians have of making the expendt-
ture clear to the intelligence Of the
people.
One years expenditure sounds bad
enough, but when We reckon by the
decade it becomes appalling. The drink
bill of New South Wales, for example,
during the ten years since federation
was established amounted to nearly
95O,000.000 (s250,000,0O0). Why, the
debt for the whole state only amounts
to eS7,600,O0O i$437, 500, 0OO), which,
therefore, represents a drink bill of a
little over IL years. The annual inter-
est and charges on the public debt
amounted in 1908 to 93,413,62S ($17,-
O6S,1OO), or 92 IS. sd. ($1056) per
head; SO that the drink bill for one
year is within million Of double the
amount named.
However, We are not singular in this
respect. There are Others. and they
are very nearly as bad-some of them
In fact are worse. Among the lat
ter are Queensland with 93 los. 1Od.
(s1S.42) per head; New Zealand, e3
lbs. Id. (s17.74) and England, s3
Us. I'D. ($17.5S). The United Kingdom,
on. the whole, however, is Is. Sd. go
cents)' per head below our standard,
Scotland and South Australia being
about on a par-e2 13s. I'd. ($12.92),
and e2 las. Cd. ($!3,22) per head re-
spectively. Victoria is also below us
with e3 rs. Cd. ($16.4S) per head, as
against our 93 los. Cd. ($17.13).
Canon Boyce draws special attention
to the fact that the drink bill in the
no license districts of New Zealand is
only les. 4d. ($3.92) per head, a sig
niicant fact If the figures are correct.
We do not wonder at Queensland
heading the list, because the climate is
so hot in the summer months that
liquor vending of all descriptions must
be roaring trade.