BREAD VERSUS BEER.
(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."'
SIR,—There are two mutually contradictory agitations in course of promotion : (a) The total Prohibition of the sale of intoxicants during the continuance of the war, and (b) the total and immediate Purchase of all liquor interests by the State. Now it is impossible that both these movements should succeed, for you -cannot purchase what you have already destroyed, and still
lees can you destroy what you have already purchased. As usual. the path of sanity and safety lies midway between these two violent extremes. Tura your guns, then, on to the original factories of perdition.
The brewers and distillers are proclaiming with unctuous rectitude that, as makers of munitions, they are the saviours of the people. Three-fourths of their product, they scream with ever-increasing persistence, are employed for the synthesis of high explosives, for the feeding of mulch kine, for the fattening of pigs, and for the fermentation of broad. Take the breweries and distilleries at their own valuation, and forthwith urge the Government through an instructed public to take them over as "controlled establishments " for the sole purpose of the manu- facture of the munitions of war. Leave the Licensed Trade, whether wholesale or retail, to the tender mercies of the existing Licens- ing Authorities, the Liquor Control Board, and the police. By the way, is there any other honest trade in the country which has to be committed for the sake of public safety to the police? I trow not! Let the drinkers during the continuance of the war content themselves with the existing stocks of beers, ales, and spirits, which, we are told, mellow with age and improve with keeping— in the cellars, certainly, but not inside. The following figures from Russia may well give all patriots " furiously to think ":—
OFFICIAL FIGURES OF THE RUSSIAN STATE SAVINGS BANE.
(a) Last seven months of vodka net loss of £2,000,000 (b) First five months of Prohibition saving of £12,000,000
(e) First complete year of Prohibition saving of £53,000,000
(d) First half 1916 under Prohibition saving of £60,000,000 (e) First nine months of 1916 saving of £100,000,000 Incidentally, the commandeering of breweries and distilleries by the Government would bring an abrupt end to the destruction of wholesome foods for the manufacture of unwholesome drinks, and banish all those faked, doctored, and adulterated beverages and medicaments wherewith the public is first poisoned, and then impoverished. Here is a policy upon which all patriots and tem- perance reformers, whether they be Nationalizers or Prohibi- tionists, whether they be moderate drinkers or abstainers, whether they be Liberals or Conservatives, whether they be Socialists or Individualists, can alike join forces for the dethronement of Bacchus, and for the deliverance of our country from the dominion of Strong Drink.—I am, Sir, &c., ARNOLD V. HILLS.
[We disagree profoundly with Mr. Arnold Hills. Purchase is an instrument, not a policy. As we show elsewhere, it makes the nation master in its own house and leaves it free to turn the tap off or on as it chooses. The proposal to abolish the Trade without first giving them the option of Purchase is unjust. It shows, however, how great are the dangers to which the Trade will be exposed if they do not seize the opportunity now presented and get out on reasonable terms. If the shareholders do not force their directors to work for Purchase they will rue the day. Of this we are certain. Though they will scoff at the notion, we are in fact the shareholders' best friends.—ED. Spectator.]
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