In the House of Commons on Wednesday Mr. Leif Jones
proposed the Prohibition of drink. We have seldom found ourselves in agreement with Mr. Leif Jones, but so far as his advocacy of Prohibition relates to the war we are absolutely at one with him. He pointed out that the expenditure on drink in 1916 was the greatest on record. No doubt the price of drink was higher than before. We do not want to exaggerate. But the fact remains that when we want every available penny to beat the Germans this appallingly wasteful expenditure, now higher than ever, goes on. The Government have told us that if we do not cut off every- thing which is not absolutely essential (vide the speeches of Lord Curzon and Lord Lytton) we run the risk of losing the war. What is the answer' of the Government to Mr. Leif Jones ? What can Al it be ? Sir George Cave deprecated the idea of raising a temperance controversy ! But on the Government's own showing the whole matter is not a temperance controversy but a war controversy. The issue, if we may believe them, is nothing less than that of making sure or not making sure of winning the war.
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