The Bush-Beer
pp. 72-73 · Read in the full issue
Cook Islands
“Prohibition" And
The Bush-Beer Schools
Rarotonga has its own liquor problem. It started over a century ago when some young men from Tahiti taught the Raro tongans how to mix and ferment orange juice to make “orange rum.”
This practice was prohibited by law and offenders were fined, but the manufacture and consuming of ‘bush beer” became firmly estab lished in the Cook Islands —and is obviously here to stay.
Officially, the Cooks are a “dry” area. Europeans and a few selected islanders may purchase a rationed amount of imported liquor and beer on the medical-permit system at the CIA Bond. But the Government run hotel at Rarotonga is un licensed, and it is an offence to give Maoris alcoholic drink.
Even if it were possible for all Cook Islanders to buy imported liquor, only a small percentage of them would do so, partly because the prices are beyond their reach, and partly because bush beer drink ers prefer their own brews to im ported beers, which they consider little stronger than soft drinks.
The term “bush beer” is a general one and covers brews made from the fermented juices of oranges, bananas, paw paw, pineapples, tomatoes—any fruit that is in season.
“Home brew” is a malt beer and is
made from imported ingredients, such as hops, sugar, rice, malt ex tract and yeast, Each brewer has his own ideas about the ingredients to use and in what proportions, and the
1 alcoholic contents are varied to suit ixidividual tastes.
But the real bush beers are many times stronger than imported beers, and the Island custom of having only one glass among a “school” does not permit of leisurely drink ing.
Drunkenness in Rarotonga may, or may not, be on the increase. The numbers of convictions for manu facturing and consuming have in creased, but may be due to increased police strength and more determined efforts to arrest offenders.
It is during the week-ends, especi ■ ally on Sundays, that most drunken- I ness occurs; but the suggestion that Sunday sports be introduced to give the youth some diversion other than beer drinking meets with strong Church opposition.
It has been proved many times, notably in America, that Prohibition causes far greater evils than those it was designed to prevent. Stricter prohibitive measures in Rarotonga will only drive the beer schools further into the bush.
A more realistic approach might solve the problem. In Tahiti, where Polynesians drink openly with Euro peans, one sees very little drunken less. In some parts of Africa, natives can drink beer in Govern ment-run establishments. If trouble occurs, the pubs are closed for a period, and the trouble-makers be come unpopular with their own people.
A similar system might work in Rarotonga. Under Government supervision, a suitable beer could be made by a local brewery and dis pensed at beer-gardens in the vari ous villages. Police would be stationed nearby, and any serious breach of the peace would be punished by closing the beer-garden temporarily in addition to fines.
But before any such system could be introduced to the Cooks the Churches would have to modify their outlook. One thing is certain —the present prohibition system in the Cook Islands is farcical.
Editorial Note:
Unless selected local “brewers” could be licensed to produce beer [or sale, it is unlikely that a local brewery would supply the answer economically.
A brewery, established along the ines of breweries already operating m a 'number of Pacific Islands, frould be unlikely to produce beer it a price the Cl Maoris could afford. , It is a matter of argument whether open-go” drinking laws curb irunkeness. In New Caledonia, where latives may drink all the beer they vant, alcoholism is regarded as a ‘eal problem. Liberalising drinking aws in Fiji has not produced fewer ■ ijian drunks, either.
Bush beer has been a Cl tradition ind an alleged “problem” for at least »0 years. Perhaps, in the absence
of any better solution, it should be accepted as one of the facts of life, and the fining of brewers and drink ers (and according to the local news sheet there are dozens every week) be regarded as a revenue-producer.