WET CANTEENS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 251, 5 August 1941, Page 6

WET CANTEENS.

IN TERRITORIAL CAMPS. TEMPERANCE UNION’S PETITION. A protest against the establishment of wet canteens in Territorial camps is contained in a petition to the Prime Minister and House of Representatives which has been lately circulated in Ashburton by the Women's Christian Temperance Union. The petition has be«:n widely signed hero and lists of signatures were handed in at a meeting of the Union this afternoon. The petition is as follows: We, the undersigned electors of New Zealand, emphatically protest against the establishment of wet canteens in Territorial camps. The majority of those in camp are under the age of 21 years and cannot legally be served with intoxicating drink at hotel bars. They are being trained for physical fitness and the defence of their country. “Alcohol is a narcotic drug” and has no place in the promotion of health. Sir William Willcox, Medical Advisor to the Home Office of the British Government says—- “ Alcohol acts, upon the nervous system and the brain, impairing one’s higher faculties—judgment and control—long before the least symptom of drunkenness is arrived at.” We urge the establishment of milk bars as aids in building and maintaining a high standard of physical health among our youth.