LIQUOR V. NO-LICENSE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 342, 31 October 1908, Page 3

LIQUOR V. NO-LICENSE.

LECTURE BY MR. CAREY FITZCERALD. ItOWDi" MEETING AT PETONE. , A lecturo was delivered at the Oddfellows' Hall. Petone, last night by Mr. Carey Fitzgerald, organiser for tho Hutt Valley Licensed Victuallers' Association, on "Why YouShould Voto for Continuance, or Facts versus Fiction." The Mayor (Mr. J. W. MfEwan) presided over a crowded audience. After.some preliminary remarks, Mr. Fitzgerald .said: All those ghoulish pictures with which they, have plastered this town ...Mr« ,;Townsend: Quito true. 4 (Hear, hear.) ■ MiViFitzgenild: I have been to three of Mr. Townsend's meeting, and I have never yet been-.- guilty of an interjection. (Applause). • . • * • "Has no moro to do with the promotion of/temperance than had the Deadwood Dick literature"—continued the speaker. ,/ No-License, he proceeded, did not take the liquor from the people, but they got it in unrestricted quantities, and they had to ohoose between two systems of distribution. .The. carriyng of No-License meant the closmg of, the hotels .in this districtr-— .Voice Thank Heaven 1 (Applause.) ; Mr.. Fitzgerald continued that it would seriously injure the rights of the individuals—— ■ Voice: They have no rights. Mr. .Fitzgerald sa.id the money would be diverted to Wellington. . furniture line," cried an interjector.. VWhat if Wellington carried it?" insisted another. Fitzgerald: What if you became Prime Minister of New Zealand? What would happen then?. , * Voice: Shut them all up! (Laughter.) Mr...Fitzgerald: If people would not think by proxy they will know how to vote. Voice: I'or No-License. (Laughter and some .disorder.) The chairman had-to intervene'and appeal for a fair hearing, but he had a difficult task. The.lecturer quoted Mr. C. Sandford, of Meynell and Gunn's Company, as supporting Mr. Harnett's strictures. At this stage the interjections increased, and the 'chairman had again to call order. No-License, continued the organiser, was sapping the moral fibre of our youth. The present system would safeguard them by having the sale and distribution of liquor regulated, and it was tho only antidote of the evils of No-License.

"These deiis of infamy in which young and old are made the victims of other forms of evil," said the lecturer, referring to slygrog shops, and when these things are told to the No-License people they simply laugh. (Laughter.) As to the boy's mother in Ashburton, she said her boy was ruined by the sly-grog shops. (Cries of dissent.) "Is she a liar?" demanded the speaker. A great deal, he continued, .had been said of the alleged -misrepresentation by trade organisers, and a meeting against it was held in Petone. It was opened with prayer, and he felt safe, but he soon found out that a- meeting was opened with prayer' it did not follow that vicious attacks would'not be made on people, and did not prevent tho carrying of smellful fairy tales. (Laughter.) Ho was sure the "baby" (the. movement against misrfepresentatiou) could not. live, and it had died. A clergyman .'was present—he had every Tespect for clergymen .of every description • A Voice: I am sure you will win. (Laughter.) . :• But when they tafie part in these matters they must', be treated as ordinary peoplo. The Rev,' Robert Wilson, of this town, he continued, • wrote a letter to tho press, and had he any right to misrepresent decent men?. (Cries of "No"). At this stage the meeting became very disorderly.

It had been. said, continued the speaker, that Invercargill's morality had greatly improved under No-License, but the police returns showed greater criminality • since that time. , "These are the official police-statis-tics."-. A Voice: "They're not." . Another ' int£r jeotor: Here's the" ' police report.; (Uproar.) • Mr. Fitzgerald: They are supplied by'the .Press Association. ■' , . Voice: Faked by the trade. Mr. Fitzgerald: No. Not paid by tho trade.;. l They show greater lunacy' and a larger number of affiliation cases. Refcrring'to an advertisement, Mr. Fitzgerald challenged Mr. Townsend to prove his ,statement.that Invercargill would have consumed 148,474 gallons more liquor than it did under No-License... (Mr. Townsend: I accept that). (Further uproar and cries of "Lie ( down !") Ashburton had made no progress 1 under No-License, declared the speaker, and rating had increased. A voice: "So long as you speak the truth, that's all right." Mr. Fitzgerald: If the official figures are correct, Mr. Piper must be wrong in his .speech'; Mr. Piper: I'm not. (Laughter.) Mr.'.Fitzgerald: I leave it to the meeting as to who was misrepresenting. Mr. Piper: The Municipal Year Book. (Laughter.) Mr. Fitzgerald: Mr. Hammond was here— (Loud applause.) Mr.'-"Fitzgerald: When ho returns I want you to ask him how he makes - out that if No-License wero carried no police would be required. Ashburton, with a population of under 3000, has five constables and a ser-geant,-and yet l'etone has only three-police-men, with a population of 6300 (Hear, near.) If you carry No-License you will have slygrog shops and the spying that goes on at Ashburton.

' In conclusion, Mr. Fitzgerald said that NoLicense could riot prevent drinking, and was a privilege of the rich and an instrument for destroying the poor. "Some of you are ; frightened ,to hear me, or else you do, not possess receptive brains,, able to understand what I say > but I thank- heartily the majority of the audience for tho manner in which you have listened to me." Tho Rev.. B. Metson moved, "That the heartiest thanks of the meeting be extended Mr. Fitzgerald, and that we, as a meeting, reaffirm our faith in tho No-Liconss cause." Uproar took place here, and no one could be heard. ■ At last Mr. Fitzgerald was hoard to explain that he did not want any thanks, and , lie thought tho meeting could close -with a vote of thanks to the chair. Mr. J. Piper seconded the motion. ' Mr. Newlands proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Fitzgerald for his kind and instructive, address. The mover complained that the speaker did not get a good hearing. Voices: Division. The,chairman: Wo can't. Mr. Towhsend: I rise to a point of order. (Continued uproar.) It was eventually ascertained that Mr. Townsend's point- of order was that the amendment was not a proper amendment to the motion. Tho chairman attempted to put the motion (by consent of the mover, Mr. Newlands), and-after five minutes' indescribable din, the chairman declared the motion carried.