DRUNKENNESS. 



lines ; the opinions of most of the military officers examined on this point 

 by your committee being, that the drinking in such canteens is the most fer- 

 tile source of all the insubordination, crime, and consequent punishment 

 inflicted on the men 



" 33. The withholding from the ships employed in the merchant service 

 the drawback granted to them on foreign spirits, by which they are now 

 enabled to ship their supples of that article at a reduced scale of duty, and 

 are thus induced to enter on board a greater quantity than is necessary, to 

 the increased danger of the property embarked, and to the injury of the 

 crew. 



" 34. The prohibition of the practice of paying the wages of workmen 

 at public-houses, or any other place where intoxicating drinks are sold. 



" 35. The providing for the payment of such wages to every individual 

 his exact amount, except when combined in families, so as to render it un- 

 necessary for men to frequent the public-house, and spend a portion of their 

 earnings to obtain change. 



" 36. The payment of wages at or before the breakfast hour in the morn- 

 ings of the principal market-day, in each town, to enable the wives or 

 other providers of workmen, to lay out their earnings in necessary pro- 

 visions at an early period of the market, instead of risking its dissipation at 

 night in the public-house. 



" 37. The prohibition of the meetings of all friendly societies, sick clubs, 

 money clubs, masonic lodges, or any other permanent associations of mu- 

 tual benefit and relief, at public-houses or places where intoxicating drinks 

 are sold ; as such institutions, when not formed expressly for the benefit of 

 such public-houses, and when they are bonafide associations of mutual help 

 in time of need, can, with far more economy and much greater efficacy, rent 

 and occupy for their periodical meetings equally appropriate rooms in other 

 places. 



" 39. The reduction of the duty on tea, coffee, and sugar, and all the 

 unintoxicating articles of drink in ordinary use, so as to place within the 

 reach of all classes the least injurious beverages on much cheaper terms 

 than the most destructive." 



It is hardly necessary to make any comment upon these " imme- 

 diate remedies." Their impracticable absurdity is the best guarantee 

 of their perfect innocence. But why, we should wish to ask Mr. 

 Buckingham, with reference to one of his exceptions, why is the 

 issue of all ardent spirits to be discontinued to the Navy and Army 

 except ax medicine ? We fear this is an allowance to the officers, in 

 the event of their being so unwell as to require a dose of medicine 

 warm with sugar, before turning in for the night. What have the 

 select committee said in an earlier part of their Report of these same 

 ardent spirits ? ec That in no case whatever are they necessary, or 

 even useful to persons in health ; that they are always, in every case, 

 and to the smallest extent, deleterious, pernicious, or destructive." 



We find that the whole of these " immediate remedies," with the 

 exception of one, are based on the restrictive principle ; that one is the 

 proposed reduction of the duties on tea, coffee, and sugar. What have 

 these duties, we should be glad to learn, to do with the question of 

 drunkenness ? They may be too high, or low enough ; but, in either 

 case, they cannot affect it in the slightest degree. These articles are 

 not substitutes for spirits. Men do not get drunk because they are 

 thirsty, and cannot obtain a cup of tea. Even at the present duties 

 you may get a gallon of bohea at the price of a quartern of brandy. 



M.M. No. 106. 3 A 



