Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-30

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time participate in the privilege of
| being wet.
The drys will state that the public
| debt is increasing since the Quebec
| law went into effect, and that taxes
are going up despite the promises of
| the government that both would be
| lowered. The public debt is variously
estimated here by experts to be from
/ Si2 900, 600 to SS7, 600, 900. according to
I ones political complexion. The gov
| eminent statement puts it at So .000,-
| Of. From the drys one would infer
| that the increasing public debt is due
| TO the present liquor law. Representa-
| tives of the government, however, will
J tell you that since 1913 $4,000, 900
/ has been spent on good roads in the
province that schools and agriculture
are being assisted, and that much of
| this money was borrowed from the
| government for road building by the
| various municipalities at low rate Of
| interest, and the government, at the
same time, borrowed it from the peo-
pie. Therefore. the public dept is not
considered alarming except in the eyes
| of those who belong to a political party
which does not happen to be in power
at this time.
L. S. Enforcement More Rigid.
The drys will say that more money
| is being spent on liquor in this prov
| ince than on education. That is pos
sibly true just as it is true that more
money is spent in the United States
| on tobacco than is spent on education,
| but that fact could hardly be used to
convince a man that he should stop
smoking Concerning the good roads,
| the dryS intimate that the govern
ment is building good roads to attract
the people from the United States to
buy government liquor. All one has
to do to start a riot, however, and
barrage of statistics on Canadian
scenery, weather, fishing, hunting
and historic points, is to mention this
at the local tourists bureau
The drys declare that statements
that drinking of hard liquors is de-
creasing are a lot of tommyrot. They
maintain that the government has
deliberately transferred drinking from
saloons into the homes. The govern
ment Spokesman, however, will declare
that what the government has done
is to abolish the evil of public drink
ing of hard liquors and has left,it up
to the individual to decide whether.
drinking will be carried on in the
home.
n In Yesterdays letter mention was
made Of the fact that figures show
a decreased consumption of spirits
and an increased consumption of
wines since the law went into effect.
The drys take this as an argument in
their behalf to show the efficacy of
prohibition in the United States.
The drys show that in 1924
there were 47,55O gallons of spirits
sold in the town of Valley Field,
which lies close to the American
border and that last year this
amount decreased to 22,245 gallons.
In the town of Sherbrooke, which
lies II miles from the American bor-
der, the sales of spirits decreased
from 30,019 gallons to 1882. The
decrease in both cases, according to
the drys, was because the American
border patrol frightened up to such an
extent that smuggling liquor into
the United States was made more
difficult.
Wine Consumption Up.
The drys says the French Ca
nadians are drinking whisky as freely
as ever. The representatives of
the government will reply to this
theory crowded they do not know
they are arguing the easel by stating
that the decrease in consumption Of,
spirits is noticeable throughout the
province, while a corresponding in
crease in. the consumption Of wines
is taking place. Last year this in
crease in the consumption of wines
was very marked, and the present
year thus far indicates an increase in
the consumption of wines and de.
crease in sale Of spirits greater than
,l1 LII
in advance of this years annual re-
port on the subject, the increase in
wine sales in 1926 has been such that
where one bottle was sold last year.
six are being sold this year. The
commission also states that 1t Is no
easier to Smuggle wine across the
border than 1t is to smuggle whisky
The drys attack at every opportu-
nifty the liquor advertising, which ar
pears everywhere. The drys convey
the impression that the government
is behind this advertising and en-
courages it in order to better its
sales.
In the first place, the Quebec
Liquor Commission will not be drawn
into any prohibition argument In the
second, it is simply carrying out the
provision of the law which requires
it to sell liquor. The opinion of it's
spokesman, therefore, is very sane
sort of an opinion. AS / said yester-
day, this commission cannot be justly
termed either wet or dry.
Would Bar Brands.
On this advertising question, 1 was
told by an official Of the commission,
II cannot speak for the commission,
but l know the opinion Of the COM
mission is against advertising. What
we would like to do would be to cut
out the different brands altogether and
to make liquor available simply as
liquor. Anybody can tell you that one
brand is as good as another. The
distinction in quality can easily be
indicated by difference in cost. What
we woiild IKE 10 do would be- To sell,