150 CHILDREN ROBBED.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17624, 29 November 1922, Page 2

150 CHILDREN ROBBED.

If an act of brutality or cruelty were committed upon group of 150 children, and the facts were published, public indignation would immediately rise to a very high point. But when acts of this kind are committed on children scattered in various places in the Dominion, they get through without much condemnation because the public does not realise the enormity of the offence. Yet in the long run the result is the same, the homes where the children suffer may be separated, but the 150 innocent lives are made wretched none the less. According to the State Department's report covering the care of children, the liquor traffic each year causes at least 50 children to become chargeable to the State because of drunkenness on the part of the parents. If prohibition is not carried, then during the next three years 150 children will become chargeable to the State, involving an expenditure of £240,000 because of drunkenness on the part of their f'arents. This means „that one definite effect of continuance will be that at least 150 childresn will be robbed of their rights as regards the care of parents and the enjoyment of a decent home life. Who can estimate the sum total of piteous misery these children will bear before they fall into the hands of the State. Excellently as the State does its work, nothing can compensate a child which has been robbed of its right to care, affection, and happiness in the home. If you want to do something to help these children vote out the liquor traffic. STRIKE OUT THE TWO TOP LINES.—N.Z. Alliance Publicity.