EARLY CLOSING

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3113, 18 June 1917, Page 6

EARLY CLOSING

Sir,—ln your issue for .fmie 8 a correspondent, signing himself "Abstemious," lets himself'off'at the "nutis" and "kilioys." He appears to know the vocubulary of "the Trade" pretty well, and knows all about "manly treatment" in the matter of plenty of liquor for our soldiers on leave. But what does "manly treatment" mean? Docs it mean that every soldier shall have every opportunity to get drunk if he has a mind to? No one wishes to treat our boys otherwise than a* men. That implies that lieinij men, and very young men at that, das:f 0} .iaipi os JO J : V m H Avon; l m t Mo(j f ; utan4 Joj Suo.qs ooj :)ue,uno apis ai[} piti) pun qi[3iß.i}S. OS 0} usm OH-μ fioq .uio jo esoi|t jo S3i)]\\otnn> ai\\ esi -IBM ~snoiuie}sqv,, sao{[ r ; uo}3uir[aA\ 4« a.n;3l uo , 3mAi. ul! "si-"- 'B!- tt a.n: s.toq .ino iu s|tAO puu ;[uup o.). uoj)V)diub.) i[ans iiqi.tt paaui uaii-a ?\w& s.iii su jo }saSuo.qs uoao )«\\) .;o«j 'k ;i s[ -A'u.t)su p»| J£[istto e.nf A'oi[? straight iimlcr present circumstances takes as much, or perhaps even more, courage than it does to storm an cnomy trench? Is it not the solemn duty of everyone to use every effort to keep temp- j tat ion out of the road of our boys? •'Abstemious'"thinks travel would convince our "littleness" of the folly of our views, if "Abstemious"' had been about in the training camp at ilourmolon (luring the '.li'ranco-rrussiiui War he would have had a good illustration of what "manly treatment" of an army of young soldier's leads to. It was an army of conscripU, many of whom were well-to-do, and consequently well abb to "stand treat." This is what an cyc-witness says ho saw: "Tho placo is full of Paris prostitutes, and tho cafes chunlants licro never made such a harvest. . . . Dissipation is just as Rrcal. and iimusoment M eagerly sought after as ever. . . . Soldiers of every possible corps and arm, all hull', )£ not quite, drunk. I.ho mob, in fact, aro thoroughly in tho ascondanl, and shout, hinp, drink, smoke, and swagger about as they like. It is just on tho cards rhat if ] stay here I shall seo a spectacle dreamt of nowhere except in the Apocalypse, under the namo nf tho Battlo of Armageddon. tor, if tho French aro lieiit'oii in tho next battlo this would be thoMinal slaughter. 1 will not say battle, for one il could not be." Tin , army hero mentioned met its fate a lew weeks later at Sedan. That's wh;ii. nunes of ffiviiig an army "mnnly treatment." " .Wo liegia to icalise that this talk of 4

"manly treatment" really rniw, *Jife-t tho men aro to lift treated, not ut m'« but as angel 6, above tho wcalfßeesas "i ordinary mortal!!, that tlity can nfcilW bo tempted to sin nor ltd astray by «vil companions. A vpry convenient ionlrinn for thoso who wish to exploit mid i'ul'* our boys. What Wβ "antis -, and "killjoy/ , r'tflly. wish is to keep our boys from tli« lwrible temptations that nitet them «/*• arrival jn the iimpiro City, whore, it may l>o truly said, that tb<;y urn faotil with gaming shops to the right of then), houses of ill-fnmo to tho left of them, liquor bars to the front of them, and thq road to Lcll inviting them. Small wonder then that so 'many of ilinin e l "* cuniD. Small wonder that the social and the drink evil, never were irorya than at pre-ent. Tho six o'clock closing is not expected to euro tho nri]. Tho most wo can expect of it is that it will hi some measure diminish the temptation to drink. But something more than that; should bo dono. Could not the many patriotic people of New Zealand tako counsel together and get up a complete* organisation vrhoso busincsj bo to provide a healthier p;i3tiinc than strong drink, sonio counter-attraction 'to tlio haunts of vice. The whole, nation iM morally responsible tor tho moral and. physical wellbeing of these young men. Un tho way that responsibility is dis-' cliarged depends the fate of thousands of our boys. It took a Tanneberg to convince iiiissia. It took a Sedan and a battle of Lorraine to convince France* Are we going to wait for similar diEas-< tors befuro we too alter our waye? it is a lifo and death matter for civilisation tho world over, this "Trade , ' business. What does the trouble in Norway and Denmark mean? It means that a. iargc part of tho food that should have been kept to feed the nation has been, put into the vat of the distiller and tha brewer. Tho nutrient parts of the grain; oud tjio potatoes have been used to feed pigs and horses, while tho strained-olr liquor iias been used to make men, drunk. The unprecedented prosperity has induced a tremendous increase in. tha .consumption, of strong drink, and now, ciiter tiio people having destroyed thon»sands of tons of food in tho brewenea and distilleries, and having wasted their earnings in drink, the country is faced I with tho dread spectre, of famine and possibly civil war. Where is the guaiaiw I teo that our turn may not come next?. Russia, France, Belgium, Serbia, Itumania, and now Norway and Denmark* Who is tho next on the list? This system of State legalised gambling aud drinking will have io go,*br the Empire must—one or the other. It. is high! time we got up and set our louse in, order. If we don't do so eoon eomeono else will come .along and do it for us in a fashion wo shall not like. When, that happens, as happen it must, if wo don't alter our ways, then "Abstemious" will, not as now need to complain, of Wellington being a dull place. Nor is it likely that it will then be the land, of '"song and laughter/' which he assures us is not far off.—l am, etc., H. C. THOMSEN. Carterton.