Fijians Is

Drunkenness Among Fijians Is Causing Alarm

By a Staff Writer

An urgent plea by the secre

tary of the Fiji YWCA, Miss

Ruth Lechte, that something be done to reduce drunkenness among Fijian men, was given

prominence by The Fiji Times in

July. If something is not done,

said Miss Lechte, “a great

tragedy” could overtake" the

Fijians.

ALARM is justified. There has been an appalling increase in drunken ness among young Fijian men since everyone was given free access to liquor bars a few years ago.

The evil will not be removed by new laws and regulations. It is not peculiar to Fiji. It is a growing problem in New Guinea, where re strictions on the drinking of alcohol were recently removed.

A proportion of Fijians are harmless, moderate drinkers; but far too many, under the influence of alcohol, become noisy, drunken hood lums, a public menace and a great nuisance to the police.

Retailers Must Help

A Fiji Times writer said that it would be a waste of time to introduce new rules directed to the Fijians.

Greater control must be obtained either by securing the co-operation of the retailers of liquor in the better policing of their bars, or by re imposing the former restrictions on Fijians, or by introducing some form of total prohibition of liquor sales.

The newspaper advocates an appeal by the Government to the hotel licensees for their co-operation in effectively policing their liquor bars.

Licensees will not like the idea, but unusual measures are needed to cope with the problem.

Most hotel owners in Fiji are good citizens, who must see the growing evil as plainly as anyone. If they all accepted responsibility for controlling the sales of liquor to Fijians, and co operated with the police in that re spect, the menace could be reduced.

Police then would not deal only with drunken Fijians in the bars and streets. They would trace the trouble back to indiscriminate sales of liquor

over the bars or through “bottle sections”, and the licensees would have to answer for it.

The Fiji Times writer says that the alternatives are simple. These are either to keep the Fijians out of the bars altogether, or close them up; or permit the progressive ruin of a large section of the Fijian race.

Why not fine every drunken Fijian found in a public place, including the liquor bars, and make it a rule that the fine be paid by the licensee who last supplied liquor to the drunk?