THE DRINK PROBLEM 
125 
and traders, missionaries and chiefs are all unanimous 
that the importation of cheap spirits should be stopped. 
Why, then, is it not stopped ? Because it is so profitable 
to the revenue. The import duty on rum produces one 
of the biggest items in the receipts of the colony, and 
if it ceased there would be a deficit. The financial 
position of the African colonies is well known to be 
anything but brilliant, and the duty on spirits has a 
second advantage, that it can be increased every year 
without diminishing by a litre the quantity consumed. 
The position here, as in other colonies, is that the 
Government says : “ Abolish cheap spirits ? Willingly — 
to-day rather than to-morrow ; but tell us first what 
we can find to cover the deficit which that will cause in 
the budget.” And the strongest opponents of alcohol 
have not been able to make any practicable proposal. 
When shall we find some way out of this idiotic dilemma? 
The one hope is that some day a governor will come who 
will put the future of the colony above the financial 
worries of the present, and have the courage to banish 
rum at the price of having to carry on for some years 
with a deficit.* 
It is often asserted that alcoholism would prevail 
among the natives even if there were no importation of 
spirits. This is mere talk. Of alcoholic drinks pro- 
duced in the country itself palm wine is the only one 
which has to be considered in the forest, and that is no 
great danger. It is simply the sap of the palm tree 
allowed to ferment, but the boring of the trees and the 
taking the necessary vessels to them needs a good deal 
of labour, for the work has to be done on the quiet at a 
* In the year 1919 the Governor actually ventured to try this 
policy to the great joy of the whole colony. 
