HOW CANADA HAS SOLVED THE LIQUOR PROBLEM
Sing a Song of Montreal,
A barrel full of rye;
Four-and-twenty Yankees
Feeling rather dry;
When the barrel was opened
They all began to sing,
“Oh, to hell with Mr. Volstead--
And God save the King!”
The Dominion of Canada has solved its liquor problem, for the most
part. It is interesting to note that in those Provinces which are
technically dry, a wretched state of things exists, as in the United
States; and those Provinces which have government control are well
ordered. For instance, Nova Scotia has absolute Prohibition. I went
there in May and June, 1922, and, as in the States, I never lacked for
a drink when I desired one. Practically every chemist is a bootlegger.
To show you how badly the system works, let me tell of a personal
experience. I found myself one week-end in a little village which shall
be nameless. I inquired of the inn-keeper if it would be possible to
obtain a bottle of whiskey. “Certainly,” he said. “Simply go to the
drug-store, tell him you are a guest of mine, and I think you will
have no difficulty in getting a good brand.”
I was surprised, to say the least. It chanced to be a Sunday morning.
The church bells were ringing, and as I got to the door of the shop,
the druggist was just leaving it--he lived above it, I believe--for
morning service. I told him my errand; and immediately, without the
slightest hesitation, he opened the door, took me in, and sold me what
I wished. He hadn’t the slightest idea who I was; yet perhaps it was
evident that I was an American traveler. No questions were asked, and
openly I carried my bottle through the streets back to the inn.
In New Brunswick I obtained ale openly in a hotel; and the waitress
told me that almost on every other corner of the city in which I was
stopping, a bootlegger could be found; and if I made my wishes known
there would be no difficulty in purchasing anything I wanted. As it
happened, I wished nothing there; but it was good to know that it could
have been bought any time of the day or evening.
But in the Province of Quebec and in British Columbia quite another
state of affairs will be found. The Government controls the liquor
trade, and guarantees the quality of the alcohol sold. Neat little
Government Liquor Stores, as they are called, are in every city and
town, and a vendor has charge of each one--a regular Government
employee who is “responsible for the carrying-out of the Government
Liquor Act and the regulations so far as they relate to the conduct of
the store and the sale of liquor thereat.”
Everything is done in a most orderly and systematic way. If one
wishes to purchase whiskey, he merely applies to the vendor in his
neighborhood. A small fee is charged; and it is a gratification to
know that this fee goes directly to one’s Government, and not into the
pockets of bootleggers. Supplies are delivered in sealed packages, duly
inscribed; and again it is a gratification to know that one is in no
danger of drinking poison, with the added fear of death or blindness.
There are restrictions--a great many, indeed; but they are wise and for
the best interests of the Province. For instance, it is against the law
to drink in the Government stores; but one may, of course, in an inn
have a supply of liquor in one’s room, or drink light wines and beer in
the public dining-room. Drunkenness is taboo, and one sees very little
of it. The people are prosperous, and everyone is as happy as one can
be in this troubled world. Canada had enormous war debts. I was told
that British Columbia had paid her quota, and in addition had made many
improvements of public highways--all through the revenue derived from
the Government’s sale of liquor.
In British Columbia, great care is exercised that no spurious permits
are received at the stores. The law provides that “no permit shall be
delivered to the applicant until he has, in the presence of the Vendor
or official to whom the application is made, written his signature
thereon in the manner prescribed, for purposes of his identification as
the holder thereof, and the signature has been attested by the Vendor
or official under his hand.”
Permits are not issued to corporations, associations, societies or
partnerships. Therefore the opportunities for fraud are diminished.
And on polling days all the stores are closed. In pre-Volstead times
in the United States the law distinctly said that our saloons should
remain closed on Election Day in many of the big cities; yet was this
regulation--a very wise one--ever enforced? That is one reason why we
have Prohibition today--we simply would not obey even those moderate
and salutary laws enacted for the welfare of the community. The
saloon-keeper paid not the slightest heed to them; in fact, he scoffed
at them; and that is why he has no sympathy from the rest of us, now
that his foul places are gone forever.
One would not be so foolish as to assert that a state of perfection
has been reached in the Government-controlled Provinces. Bootlegging
goes on--but principally because this country is dry. If the States
were also under Government control in the matter of the liquor
traffic, there would be no temptation to transport stuff illicitly
over the border. I imagine that the Canadians are quite as guilty
as the Americans when it comes to these secret transactions; for if
it takes two to make a quarrel, it is equally true that it takes
two to consummate a sale of any kind. There would be a cleaner slate
if we had the common sense to do as, say, Quebec has done. There
are no swinging-door saloons; but there are tidy shops where one is
not ashamed to go. No one is drinking on the sly, pretending to be
consuming coffee out of a cup which really contains a high-ball. “In
vino demi-tasse” is not the motto of Canada, as it is that of the
United States.
It is significant to note that in British Columbia, when that Province
was completely dry--even without beer--141,057 prescriptions for liquor
were issued; yet in the fiscal year which ended March 31, 1922, only
6,568 prescriptions were issued.
And while our own Government continues to ask for mighty appropriations
for the enforcement of Prohibition, the reports from the Province of
Quebec state that for the fiscal year ending in June, 1922, a profit of
$4,000,000 was realized, and that the regulations have proved quite as
successful morally as financially.
Can we say that, in the matter of morals, the Volstead Act has worked
advantageously? It has undermined the whole country; and under
fanaticism, we have shown ourselves to be a total failure. The New York
_World_ says:
“The Quebec law is a good law because it has city and country
solidly behind it and it can be enforced. It provides for local
option, it restricts the purchase of spirits, it allows the sale
of wine and beer in cafés and it creates no enforcement problem.
It affects every legitimate reform advocated by the professional
Prohibitionists of the United States, but quietly, sensibly,
profitably and without friction.”
If we could but come to the sanity of Canada, in her
Government-controlled Provinces!