THE SOBRIETY OF OTAKI.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 544, 26 June 1909, Page 6

THE SOBRIETY OF OTAKI.

AN INDIGNATION MEETING. ME:- BYRON BROWS EXPLANATION. An indjgnatioin meeting;was held in. the OtakTTowii Hall on Thursday night, the building being crowded in all parts. Tho nxwting, ..whidh ,waa convened by Messrs. Herbert Freeman, W. Tompsitt, W. H. Simcos, A. Skerman, 0. V. Bwaboy, and F. C. Jones,' was held by war of protest against recent utterances made by Mr. Byron Brown at the Ohristehurch No-Licenso Convention concerning drunkenness in Otaki. Mr. Simcox occupied the chair, and explained why the mooting had been called. In Mr. Brown's opinion, said the chairman, Otaki showed more drunkenness than any other town of its size in New Zealand. He referred also to tho oxtensivo circulation of The Dominion (m which tho telegraphed statement appeared), which was the means of, scattering tho paragraph broadcast in all carta of Now Zealand. Mr. Brown, being a, No-Licenso advocate, had boon carried away, otherwise he would not have, made tiro statement. Tho largo attendance present that evomiog went to prove tho strong feorLag of OtaH at being misrepresented. - Mr. Brown would have the liberty of addressing the mooting, and it was hoped that he would do so satisfactorily. At this stage, Mr. Tompsitt moved that tho statement mode by, Mr. Brown be given » denial. ' Mr. Freeman seconded tins,' and m doing so,added was a resident of some 20 years' standing, and was astonished to, hear of Mr. Brown's utterances. The statement not only misrepresented the district, but the hotelkeepers and police'. / Ho (tho speaker) had'sat on the Bench for many yeara, and never remembered any complaint ' by the police against the hotolkeepors, tho five hotels in tho district comparing favourably with any hotels in. Now Zealand. Mr. Freeman'further added that out of nine convictions for , insobriety lately 'eight .were non-residente. ' Tho chairman hero read tho record of conI viotions shoo 1904, which was as follows :— 1 1904, .9; 1905, 8; 1906, 14; 1907, 15; 1908, 25; 1909, 16; and made tho statement thai tho moat' of the ' convictions related to strangers present during race week. ■*■.Mr. Brown, on mounting.tho stage, received K mixed reception. Ho thanked 'the chairman-for-his fair remarks, and-said that' ho had been accused of,a serious matter. That matter was decrying his own town,' and a "man had vory littlo excuse for such an action. On his return from Christehnrch he found tho township all agog; and ho fully m- • tended to publish 'an explanation, but hearing .that; a certain section intended to boycott his - business, his pride was aroused, and he rgade up his .mind that he would show no evidence of crawling At Christehnrch ho Bpoko plainly, and, £ the warmth,, of, .his-enthusiasm, ho com'bated the' J arguMents made by ''the trade" against' No-License... 'He had contrasted Otaki with- Lovin, and pointed out that.' while the former had four hotels, the latter had only two, and was more progressive. He admitted saying that there was more drinking in Otaki than in any other country town in tho Dominion. The Dominion was correct, and he would plead guilty to tho statement. He had usually praised Otaki—a statement which even his onomios "would admit. However, the public hafl como to "indignato,"' and ho deserved all", he got, but ho' had kicked himself (metaphorically) moro than any ono .in tho community had done for tho remark which he Christehnrch. Ho had been a J.P. f6r "fifteen years, and had tried moro cases of drunkenness than any one in Otaki. Ho continued:—"Why should wo be for ever lulling ourselves to sleep in a fool's paradise? Let us cope with the evil as it exists, and not indignato when wo are told of our faults; The population of tho Dominion is 990,000, and the population of this district over which tho Otaki Court holds jurisdiction is about 2000. Now 2000 is a 495 th of the Dominion's, population, and if wo take the convictions for drunkenness for tho last yoar, that tho Year Book gives us, we find that they totalled 9346. Our normal share of. that, should bolßJ,.but at the Otaki Court for last year we convicted 32 drunkard^ —nearly double as many as our share. Then the prohibition orders granted for tho Dominion for the year 'were 2189. Our fair share should-havo been 4J, bnt, as a matter of, fact, 19 wore issued at'the Otaki Court for the rsame period—more than four times our share. Then, take tho convictions for crime. The Dominion total was 32/866. Otaki's 495 th part of that should have been 66, yet wo convicted 157 cases for the year ending on March 31 last. Do these,facts which I havo carefully taken from the Otaki Court books prove mo to have spoken an untruth?" Having'mado tho foregoing points Mr. Brown went on to say, that the, statement made by him jin Christehnrch 'Was ar exaggerated one,-' and he would confess hi; fault. Had'it not been for his enthusiastr ho would not have made tho allegation. Mr. Tompsitt wanted to know whal amends Mr. Brown would mako. . Mr. Skorman, another of the convenors remarked that as Mr. Brown had mado ai .apology, he would movo that the', meotinj accopt it. This was seconded by tho Rev i Cecil Smith, and carried. Mr. Brown thanked all present for th< patient hearing accorded him, and proposec a hearty vote of thanks to tho chairman. -