§ MR. SHAW LEFEVREfor Sir LYON PLAYFAIR (Leeds, S.)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the steps taken to stop the use of ether and methylated spirit as intoxicants, in Tyrone and other parts of Ireland, have been successful?
§ MR. GOSCHENAs regards ether, I am informed that the effect produced by 1385 scheduling it under the Sale of Poisons Act has been most beneficial. Its use as a beverage is said to have decreased greatly, and is alleged by many to have ceased entirely. It is further stated that the sales of the wholesale chemists in Belfast have fallen off about 90 per cent. I hope that the drinking of methylated spirits may be prevented by the means taken to render it more nauseous, and by stricter regulations, which have been approved by the Board of Inland Revenue.
§ SIR W. LAWSON (Cumberland, Cockermouth)May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether there is any evidence that ether does any more harm than whisky?
§ MR. GOSCHENYes, Sir; I believe it is so.