(Published by Arrangement.) NATIONAL EFFICIENCY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 302, 10 September 1918, Page 6

(Published by Arrangement.) NATIONAL EFFICIENCY

■ ———«——-— THE LIQUOR ISSUE V I BIG MEETING IN WELLINGTON j .APPEALS TO BUSINESS MEN j . ' A public meeting tinder the auspices I of the Wellington Centre of the . Naj tional Efficiency League was held in the ] Wellington Town Hall last night to ! hear speeches by .Mr. W. D. Hunt, a ' member of the First National Efficiency i Board, and Mr. F. Milner, M.A., pran- ! cipal of the Waitaki Boys' High School. The Mayor (Mfc J. P.* Luke, M.P.) pre;v. . sided, and tho chairman of the league ; (Mr...James Macintosh) was among !,. those 011 the platform. There was a I very large attendance. iThe Mayor, in opening the meeting, !. . said that he made no apology for J-eing I present. He was taking the chair for [. two gentlemen who wished to . discuss ! alcohol r from the aspect of efficiency. I Mr. IJunt had been one of the original •Jiiomhers - of the National Efficiency Board,, and, had assisted in the j reparation of the. recommendation made n v the board on'the liquor question. , Mr. Milner was the' principal of the "\\ aitaki Boys' High School, and would deal\with the question from the pr.int of view of an educationist and an Im- . perialist. ■ / The 'Efficiency Board, i . Mr. 'Hunt said that lie was not an .. i orator, and his wish was merely to ' present a few plain facts in a plain way. The object of the meeting was to urge the electors of Wellington to pi ess the Government and Parliament to adopt and ( put into operation the rocommendations of the National Effi- ; : - cienc.y Board on the liquor question. The boifrd, which was a group of independent and experienced business weii, had been set uj> to study the question of national < efficiency. It had ■inquired with a view to finding out if it ought to make any recommendations to the Government in connection withthe restriction of tho liquor 'traffic dur- . ing the war.: By the time it had finished its inquiry it had been unanimously of opinion that Prohibition was immediately necessary if the nation was to niakg war with , the maximum efficiency,, and that it was permanently Necessary in order to promote future national efficiency. The board had concluded that public opinion was tending very strongly against the liquor trade, and this conclusion had been confirmed later . by the introduction of six o'clock closing, which had been- . forced upon an unwilling Parliament by the pressure of'. public opinion.' The existing legislation, said Mr. Hunt, . providing that in the'event of National Prohibition being carried .at a referen- ■ dunr the liquor trade was to get compensation'in the shape of the right, to continue .trading for four years and a ... • half after the poll. It was in view-of this'fact that the Efficiency Board had considered it right that cash compensation, should be paid to the Trade if immediate, Prohibition was enforced. The board had recommended, therefore, •that legislation submitting the question to the people should he passed at theearliest possible moment, and that the / vote should ha 011 the basis of immedi- : ate Prohibition with compensation on a reasonable scale to the . Trade in the event, of Prohibition being carried. The ' suggestion of the board was that the 'basis of compensation should be tho difference between the market value of , the assets (the hotels, breweries, and 1 so forth) with license and the value of . the same assets without license. The ' .hoard had not dealt with the moral aspect of the question at all. It had ; made its recommendation 011 the ground of national efficiency. It was his in- 1 .; teniion that night to confine his attention to the influence pf tho liquor trade 1 on economic efficiency. 1 ' 1 1 - Productive Pov«r. < Mr. Hunt proceeded to emphasise ' the importance di productive-power to J the welfare and progress of a nation. ; He said that the advance of civilisa- , tion had been accompanied by the in- '" . crease of productive power. The pro- ' ductioii of bare necessaries 110 longer absorbed, all, the energies of the nation,.and there was surplus productive pq.)'rer ( . which, was used in part to raise • the standard of living. Surplus' productive power meant to the 1 nation .the ability to provide for tho. pebplij'better.>houses, better food, better clothing;'more healthy recreations! It'''meant educational facilities, and j more time and• wider : facilities'i'or the j instruction of the youth of thenn- g ; tion-.- Another part of-the surplus was r used in improving the facilities for j, .future production, in breaking in new 'lands, and-increasing the productivity of agricultural lands; in'developing na- , tural resources and improving the 1 means) of'transport. ■ Tho nation with a 8 high , standard, of ; living, well educated, F and well supplied witli.-the most- mod- s cm means of transit, power supply, 0 and -'tiieahsfl of "'production generally, 1 .'.Tvqu.ldj produce much more per head cf ? ' population than the nation not bo well i 1 equipped. Producing power . to-day 0 was the result of accumulated surplus production handed down by earlier ° generations, and the producing power . of/ the, next generation would depend 'upon the accumulated surplus handed' on to it. The surplus production per head of population, together with the average standard of living, were the n measure of national efficiency. It ,v should be understood that accumulated surplus' production consisted not only ® of material things, but also of the e . ( 'trained'.ability of skilled workers. The f more completely labour was supplied " with capital, mechanical appliances and w technical knowledge, the more it pro- w duced and the higher became its stand- " ard of living. In North America lahour was more fully, supplied with 01 capital requirements than in any w other large .country. The wages paid ' e to;'.labour,there were the highest in' F tlie World, and the annual surplus of ' ,r production over consumption, which meant the accumulation of capital, was j'' there greater than in any other country. Tho workers of China, on tho fi * other hand, were numerous and indus- a trioiis; but they lacked scientific knowledge and surplus production, and , a their wages were almost the lowest in . the world,' v 't Economic. Efficiency. If the war had proved anything, said tl Mr. Hunt, it was that tho leading and finding nations, in the world in the fu- ei tnrc_ would be those 'that wero economically efficient. .Great Britain and the United- States had entered the war unprepared. But they had been eco- C( nomically efficient, and had a high stand- f r ard of living and a high surplus pro- , r ductiou. They had diverted this sur- a , plus production to the purposes of the w war, and had been ( able to creato and maintain armies and war industries, y , and eventually meet on level- terms, \ y per head of population, the Germans J| and Austrians who had been preparing" j] for war for forty years. China and ]| • India had also entered the war. They V : had each more than double the popula- w tion of Great Britain and the United t< States' combined, but their war effort ]i was comparatively small h»cause tlicy if lacked economic power. T - war, an s; inefficient nation must go 'lown before pi an efficient nation; in peae" the inolfi- tl cient nation must come under the dom- la . ination of the nation that was eco- « nomically strong, though tho process w might bo slower.. Another point to le- ir i:;oi:iber was that,tho standard of na- a filial .olficicncy "was continually rising. f s That fact was illustrated by the differ- ir ence between the Napoleonic wars and lii

the present vast war. He had tried to show the importance of surplus-pi 0duction. What was tho effect of drink 011 surplus production. Tho people of New Zealand were stated to be ing more than £5,000,000 a year 011 alcoholic drink, and it cost them not less than another £5,000,000, through reduced efficiency, to drink the liquor. Even these figures, perhaps, did not bringithe position right home. The producing power or economic efficiency of a nation was the aggregate offie'enc.v of its individuals. The weakening of the individual meant the weakening of the nation. A Man's Choice. g The effect of the drink traffic corld . bo seen by studying its economic infiuj ence on the life of a single man. A 5 young man might commence his ivorkt ing career at the age of twenov ytars . and remain at work until he ivas sixty- . five. He might decide to be a nioder- , ate drinker—no man ever decided to be . a..drunkard—and to confine his drink- ) inr, to one. sixpenny drink a day. The ; sixpence a day for the forty-five years. 1 if invested at five per cent, would amount to £1450. Two drinks , a day would amount; to £2900, ! and three drinks a day 1o tifrM). ' If tho same young man elected not to 1 drink and saved his sixpence a. day , until he was twenty-five, and then in--1 vested his savings in some enterprise ' that would give him a roturn on his ■ capital of 10 ■ per; cent., a rate that 1 could be earned by an industrious, careful man of good character and average ability, his capital at the age of sixty-five years would amount to £6750. The sixpence a day. accumulating for five years at 5 per cent, and for tho next forty years at 10 per cent., would produce this sum. Two drinks a day would come to £13,500. The effect of the drink on the young man's carecr did not end there. What about tho effect of the drink 011 his working efficiency and therefore on his earning power? If he kept to extreme moderation, he might suffer no worse effect than the loss of his money. But there were hundreds and thousands of men who drank to excess, and many other men who, though they never got drunk, yet impaired their efficiency ,iit)i alcohol. All the men who drank to excess came from the ranks of the moderate drinkers. It was often said that only fools ■ drank to excess and liinr men who could control themselves could, drink with safety. Any person with experience of men know that the argument mas unsound. The very best moil often fell victims to drink. The young man who faced the drink question squarely could have but one answer to make as far as it concerned himself. He could not tell whether or not the drink craving would get hold of him and take him from the ranks of the moderate drinkers to ruin. But he could be certain that drink would do absolutely nothing for him in tho way of benefit. It would cost him money and give him nothing in return. Any large ctriployer would prefer noil-drinkers to drinkers iu positions of trust. Any financial institution would rather deal with nondrinkers than with drinkers. There was nothing that undermined character like drink. Some people might say that a slight reduction in efficiency was not a serious matter. .The to that was that the difference between success and failure was usually much smaller thaii was generally imagined, 'l'ho difference of ten yards in a hundred was the difference between tho record-breaking sprinter and the secondrater. The increase of expenditure by 5 per cent, and the reduction of receipts by 5 per cent, could wreck a business. Mr. Hunt proceeded to quote some typical profit and loss accounts to show that a relatively small difference in efficiency would make 0110 , man a failure and another man a success. Ho believed that the ratio of earnings to expanse and trading profit : in New Zealand averaged roughly 100-90-10. It was obvious that under | such conditions a slight reduction of • efficiency could produce failure. It ' did'not take much drink to bring about the difference. One man in a 1 responsible position, taking too much j drink, could- destroy tho efficiency of a good staff under him. A small pro- 1 portion of men on a staff drinking to 1 excess could destroy the profit-earning 1 results of a concern even if the head ' and the balance of the staff were cap- 1 able. It had to be remembered, more- ■< over, that the doubling of the surplus, 1 even if that surplus was only a small I margin over the cost of production, 1 would make a- very great difference in- j deed. Capital accumulating at 0 per cent, would double itself in t fourteen years, and at 10 per cent. would doublo in about seven years. The obvious reply to this statement I was that capital or annual surpluses f did not in fact accumulate like this. -I But they would, ii it were not for tho t standard of living, which v tended to rise as capital- or surpluses accumulated. • Standard of Effioiency. 11 It was right that the standard of j, living should rise in this way becauso v standard of living was the object of production. But we must keep&our v standard of efficiency equal to that of r other leading, nations of the world. Failure to' do this must mean that j. sooner or later we would become sub- K ject to other, more progressive nations, j, and would have to do their bidding. ~ The greatest handicap to efficiency today was drink. He did not say it was by any means the only one, but it was the greatest. He might be answered T( that we had kept well to the front in, ] ( the past in spite of drink. This was j true, but the standard of efficiency was continually being raised. What 0 ivas good enough (for to-day would not n do for to-morrow. Fifty, years ago tho j. British people were far' in advance y economically of any other nation. To- v lay they were only one among the leaders. We must- throw off the weights that were holding us back if . ! ivo were to keep in step with the others. Canada had thrown off the Irinlc, and the United States was well :m the way to do it. These people ivere bounding along. Were we to ho " left behind? It should bo borne in c ! nind that it was much easier to keep rl n tho race when running with the eaders than it would be to gpt into ls 'lie race again if- onco we should be a . left behind. As magnets acted 011 e ' steel, so did efficient countries act on -h ible minds the world over. . Efficient R jountries drew able minds to them, and ol 1 country' that was having its best tt wains taken away from it would find ei t hard to keep in the race. The law tl is stated in the Old Book held good H 'or nations as for individuals: "To him c( liat hath shall be given, and from w lim that hath not .shall bo taken away, n< :ven that which lie hath." w The Revenua Argument. /1 It would bo said that the country tl •ould not afford to lose the revenue ir roni drink, amounting roughly to a al nillion a year, and that the country N md siiiking fund on the sum which it 01 -vas proposed should be paid in com-- is lensation—approximately £300,000 a H fear. This £1,300,000, it was said, g: vould upset the national finances. Mr. w Hunt declared that this was absurd. s( Uust we purchase £5,000,000 worth of tt liquor in each year in order to pro- s' i'ide a million for the State? If this is ,vcre sound argument, it would bo better for the State if wo spent ten millions a year on drink, and hotter still if we spent all we had on'drink. To « :ay that this eouiftry must drink to [ r ray its way was. equivalent to saying | u ;hat a considerable portion of the popu- (j ation must be employed to produce sc something the consumption of which tli vould considerably reduce the work- v i ing capacity of the remainder. Such tl 1 statement was absurd. In point of in Fact we would be a lot better oft' if hi nstead of spending five millions on Ik iquor every year and then drinking it, w

d Ave purchased five millions worth 0] 1- liquor and then throw it into the sea It If we did this we would lose the fivi f millions, but wo would save the loss - of efficiency caused through consuming 11 tho drink. If the five millions wero 1101 t to be spent 011 drink, it would have r to be spent in somo other way, or in- -. vested, and if there was any other waj t in which so much money could be speni j or invested without affecting taxation 110 had yet to learn it. And moiuy ! that was invested came up for taxation f every year, and was not taxed only [ once like the money spent in drink. Whers Revenue Comes From. I if it should happen that more revenue from other sources would haro to bo obtained, experience of the past ; four years showed from what quarters the extra revenue would have to come. \ Four years ago' the revenue of this country 'was £12,239,660. The war came and brought a sudden demand for ' largely increased revenue, and the re- | suit was that additional taxation was imposed which brought tho revenue for the last financial year up to £20,206,222, an increase of nearly eight millions. Where did this increase como from ? £ Stamp and death duties increased 670,044 Railways increased 639,490 Land tax increased 618,257 Post and Telegraph increased 578,719 Income tax increased 5,065,391 Making a total of £7,571j901 leaving only £394,661 additional revenue to be provided from all other sources, including liquor. The bulk of the revenue had been taken from tho pockets of the wealthy, and where tho State had gone once for revenue it would go again, should the abolition of the drink upset the national revenue. Men in chargo of big business and financial concerns knew this, hut these men wore supporting this movement to abolish liquor. These men wore of the sort that did not come to conclusions without examining questions fully. They knew that the abolition would not mean increased taxation. They, knew that it would mean larger incomes for everybody, and an immense _ increase in the number of taxable incomes. This was the wa.y by which New Zealand would he a Wo to bear, the heavy burden of taxation and debt which would bo here at tho end of the war. country could not afford to carry in the race 1 , of nations after the war the heavy handicap of the drink. Nations' Weaknessos; . Ibis war was testing nations, searching out their weak spots and forcing tUem to. remedy their faults or go under. Every nation engaged in the war had had to take hold of tho liquor problem and deal with it, because liquor hampered the prosecution of the war. • The effect of tho restrictions in the schedule areas of Britain had been striking in the reduction of the numbers of convictions for drunkenness. The effect was to reduce by more than one-half the number of. convictions in those areas within a period of two years, and ill 1917 and 1916 figures had been almost halved. In New Zealand, also, the ( effect of the partial prohibition which existed in Invercarg'ill, was most remarkable. A Fair Proposal. _ There was nothing unfair' to the Trade in the proposal now being made. 1110 people said to the Trade: ''Your calling is damaging our country. In tho past it has been recognised as a legal calling under our laws, and because of this wo will compensate you for your loss in going out of it." The National Efficiency Board estimated that the cost of compensation would be £4,500,000; but, supposing the cost were to be five or even six millions, tho country would not feel it. The saving in the cost ol drink, and the inefficiency caused by drink would pay tho whole thing twice over in the first year. The people wore now paying two millions a month and giving tho lives of their best young men, to preserve their political liberty. Compared with this the payment proposed to put out drink was a mere nothing. There were some who objected to tho payment of compensation, while they were strongly in favour of Prohibition. He would appeal to those not to do anything to split the party now. He did not think there would bo a reasonable chance of getting through Parliament any proposal to alter the existing law-to provide for the immediate operation of National Prohibition in the event of a. poll being carried. The alternative to the payment of compensation was therefore the existence of the' Trade for a ; period of four and a half years after the carrying of the poll. The Liquor Party's Scheme. The Liquor Party had recently brought forward a now proposal that 1 a third issue be submitted on ' ballot-paper—National Ownership. This was merely an attempt to introduce a 1 three-cornered contest, and . spjit the 1 votes so that no issue would bo car- ' ried, allowing continuance to remain i in operation. ( He had 110 objection to ' the people voting on the question of 1 national ownership provided .that those 1 in favour of it could show by a publio ' petition or otherwise that a large sec- 1 tion of the community, wanted an op- ! portuuity of voting on this question, for < the State should not be asked to give a < referendum 011 any issue un- 1 less there was a large, . popular. 1 demand for it. And even if a 1 referendum was to be taken 011 national ownership it must not be taken in the manner asked for by the Liquor Party. If three issues were to be put before j the people there should be preferential j rating, or if no issue was carried at the first ballot there should be a second j ballot between the issues first and secDiid at the first poll. ■ * Cood Times to Come. / "Astronomers tell us," said Mr. [ Bunt, "that now suns are born by the ( collisions of two dead suns. The ter- c rific heat and energy credted by the i contact lasts for millions of year's. It t s much the same with mankind, but on 0 )•_ smaller scale. At tho end of tho 1 nghtoent'h century Europe was suffering r rom dry rot. Then camo tho French r Revolution, which became the centre n if tremendous energy. . Napoleon then j :00k charge and put such tremendous |] mergy into the execution of his plans [ -hat he overran the bulk of Europe. [lis success set up such an enormous ■] :ounter-enorgy to meet him that the T ivholo world was electrified and given r lew life, and tho result is that tho r vorld has progressed more during the j nindred years that have passed since a -hen than it did in the previous two ihousand years. The energy being put f nto the present War is greater "beyond j ill comparison than that employed in Vapoleon's time. I feel certain that v me of the results will be that tho world t s being energised to such an extent ]• ;hat, startling as has been the pro- | »ress of last century, it will bo small j vhen compared with that of the pre- j ;ont. Let us hero and now resolve „ ,hat' Now Zealand shall take its full j, ihare in tho work and in the glory that r , s coining." Mr. F. Milner, M.A. [ Mr. Milner'took for his subject r ' 'Alcohol and Efficiency, National and mnerial." 110 said that .Mr. Hunt 0 lad spoken on tho liquor question from ri lie economic point of view. Ho him- 1 j' ielf wished to attack the subject from ; ti he educational and scientific point of h r iew. lie could assure the audience ti ihat lie - v u , iar t; p n a great public campaign. He would u lave prelv: , siusiu his holidays, as '« io generally did, reading and studying P vith his own family. But he had been ti

af 'told that it was his duty to expres a. his_ opinions publicly on a question o •o which ho had strong opinions, and h 38 Imd willingly come forward. Thor ig were some people who thought that th )t present campaign was , just an insta' re ment of what they called wowser el i- fort. These people drew melanehol ,y pictures of New Zealand living undo it a 1 kind of beautified wowserism, in «■: n atmosphere of restriction and gloom y But the plain fact was that the demani n for the prohibition of the liquor trafli y had become world-wide, and was sup ' ported by thinking men everywhere oi grounds of humanity and efficiency The liquor traffic was recognised as pre senting a fundamental social probloi that had got to be solved, and Net , Zealand, in attempting to solve it. wa ' simply doing what all other civilisei ( countries were doing. The people win " were supporting the demand for tin s abolition of the traffic were not men r extremists, and the sound commoi r sense of the nation would prevent tin happenings that the opponents of re s form affected to fear. Prohibition li:u r been placed on a new footing bv re ■ ceiving the imprimatur of the.eonnner - I cial community, and the accusatioi e that it was a demand raised by fanatic: simply recoiled on the quarter frou which it came. The issue was 110 longei insular or local. The traffic was beitif. 1 attacked as a scourge of mankind b.i 3 all the foremost nations. Canada anc 7 the United States were becoming Pro 3 liibition countries. Italy had put spirit; L away for the period of* the war. Franc< - had dealt drastically with the liquoi L trade. Russia, at the outbreak of .th< . war, banned vodka altogether, and sac. r rificed .some £'50,000,000 of State roll' venue in order to get lid of the cause , of national inefficiency. Some people j seemed to have an idea now that it was l the banning of the vodka, that brought j about the revolution in Russia. A voice: Of course it was. , . Mr. Milncr: Some people have minds ! like the eyes of a cat. The more iight J you shed upon them • the more they contract. _ (Laughter.) The facts ' about Russia could 1 be learned by any--1 body who would read Dr. Dillon's description of the conditions that had brought about the revolution in Russia. _ Those conditions had their be- ■ "innings long before the liquor traf- | lice became n State monopoly, and long before the supreme need of the war made the Russian Government decide 1 to_ abolish the liquor. ■ The man who tried to make capital ' for the > liquor trade out of tho revolution ill Russia simply wrote himself down an ass. A Matter of Fashion. He had often thought that the consumption of alcohol was largely a matter of fashion. That view had: been forced upon his mind hy reading the writings of Sir Frederick Smith, who recently went to North America as one of the representatives . of the British Government. Sir Frederick Smith was an outstanding personality in the legal world. He was' a wonderfully able and keen man,' who had from £12,000 to £15,000 by the practice of his profession, in London. fje was asked to go to America in order to present to the people there the ideas of Eiigland about tho war. Ten per cent of the people of the United States were of German origin, and .these enemy sympathisers had been spreading tales against Britain.a They had said that Britain was waging the war by means of tho colonies, tljat she was sacrificing France and making no sacrifice herself, and that the United States would be placed in a similar position'. The articles that Sir Frederick Smith ' wrote while travelling in. America showed an interesting .change of opinion. Ho was entertained in New York at a great gathering of prominent business men, and he noticed with amazement that no liquor was served with the meal The lack made the same sort of impression oti him that the lack of serviettes or spoons would have made, and he commented upon it satirically. But ho found as he journeyed through the United States and Canada that the business men everywhere were against liquor, and that Prohibition was a permanent part of the social life of the people, and lie- became a convert to the principle. He applauded where previously he had scoffed; The Weight of Evidence. The members of the Efficiency Board, said Mr., Milner, were business men of the very highest standing in this country. They investigated the liquor traffic thoroughly and without prejudice. They examined sixty witnesses, including the chosen representatives of the liquor trade. The trade employed | smart lawyers, and presented its case to tho- best advantage. After hearing all the evidence the board came to the conclusion that the weight of evidence was overwhelmingly against the Trade, and. tljat it ought to be swept away altogether. The business men of the Dominion 'were supporting the Efficiency Board on this point. Ho had travelled through New- Zealand, and what he hid seen convinced him that the board's proposals were roing to sweep the country. The people were looking at prohibition from a new point of view. They had Realised that the demand for the abolition of tho drink traffic did not come from s- narrow "wowserism," but from the trained brains of the community. The board's recommendation had created a now issue. The people were being given a chance to end the traffic at once, without waiting four years and a half for their decision to become effective, and without the handicap of the threefifths majority. The Traffic Entrenched. New Zealand should sweep away Mie traffie before it became ontrenched, as it had already become ontrenched in the United Kingdom;" In' 1914 Mr. Balfour's Government had put through a measure that had mado a liquor license in the United Kingdom a piece of property, beyond the control oi tho magistrates, and so had put £300,000,000 into the pockets of the people concerned with the liquor trade. The list of the liames of the owners of the breweries and distilleries showed why that had been done. The list contained the names of 1200 clergymen, mainly Anglicans, 880 titled persons, 167 members of the House of Lords, 129 members of the House of Commons, and 13 out of the 18 members of the Balfour Government. What chance had the democracy to deal with tho liquor trade in England now? The people could not even get local option. That had been the position when the war came, and broiv;ht overwhelming ■' proof that liquor was impairing terribly the fighting efficiency of the ration. Britain could not fight and drink at the same time. Tho members of the Shipbuilders' Federation and the Clydo shipbuilders waited upon tho Prime Minister of Britain and told him ; that if ho did not check the havoc : wrought by drink among tho workers i they could not get the ships built quick- ■ ly enough to meet the urgent needs of t'lio nation. They pleaded with Mr. Lloyd George to sweep away tho ( drink. Evidence came from othei i quarters. Lord Jellicoc stated that i his fighting ships were delayed in the ' repairing yards because the workers 1 were in the publichousos. Ships fell victims to the submarines because their crews were not efficient. Tho Director of Transport and the Director of c Munitions had to tell Ihe same story ! of essential work di"t:"V(l owinnr to the c ravages of the drink i-nfllc. His Ma- t jesty the King ordered the coiuunnp- j tion of alcohol to cease in the Ho.val t households as an exnninle to the na- ( tion. The nation was brought to a r pitch of determination to face and rc- (' move tho evil, and it appeared that 1 some great reform was to be achieved, f But the end was bathos. The liquor c traffic was too firmly entrenched. There f

-SS was a great meeting in Ireland, where on public men said that brewing and dishe tilling wore the chief industries of to their country, and that Irish soldiers h® would fight against any .interference with those industries. The Govern'j~ ment could not cope with tho influence y of the Trade, and had to bo content or with placing certain restrictions on 1111 the manufacture and consumption of c j liquor in Great Britain. *• lic Liquor and War. Mr. Milner quoted figures to show what'the .liquor traffic cost the United ,' Kingdom in money, fuel, transport, , n j and foodstuffs at the period when every !W ounce of the national energy wfts rca3 quired to cope with the enemy.- The ;d manifesto of the Strength of Britain 10 Movement, demanding that the coun!ia try should be freed from the debasing re and threatening incubus of the liquor >n traffic, had boen signed by many lnmle dreds of the foremost men of the Eme- pire. It had been pointed out; that id the liquor traffic was using stupendous e- quantities of cereals for the production r- of alcoholic liquor at a time when little >n children lacked food, that tho liquor ss traffic was using a fleet' of ships at a m time when millions of bushels of AusL ' r kalian wheat lay rotting because ves'S sels were not available to carrv tho 'J strain to Britain's hungry population. But the Trade had been actuated, as always, by regard for its own interests and no other consideration, and it had 3e resisted successfully the attempt to )r break its hold upon the British nation, le c- Instruction for the Young. He wished to refer to the need for j temperance instruction and temperance education for the young in the schools. lt For over twenty years ho had been handling boys in his school, and ho knew from his experience how groat l s an impression , could be made upon jj. them m the plastic years of youth if the scientific facts were given to them : s about the effects of alcohol. Tho *.1 leading thought of the world was moving this way. The fact that the f ] United States had its present public 3 . sentiment on the liquor question was du9 to the temperance education that f. had been given to the youth of' the „ nation in the schools. The same sort £ of instruction ought to be given in the | e schools of the United Kingdom and 0 New Zealand. Why had it not been , e given in the schools of the United n Kingdom ? In 1905 10,000 medical n men of Britain signed a memorial tothe Government, among them all the leaders of the profession, asking that hygiene andi temperance should be i- taught in the schools. They asked > specially that the dangers of moderate n drinking should be ■ taught to the e young! The memorial was duly preo sented to the Government, and the e Government said that "the matter 11 would be taken into serious considerali tion." (Laughter.) The 'Jovorne ment pigeon-holed it and passed it by. v The political will of the brewers" was ii so strong that they were able to pref vent the Government from takiiig.any s action whatever. The brewers knew 0 that if boys were taught what were the s effects of alcohol on the human mind r and the humaii body, their beer bars rcls would soon go clattering down to 3 the limbo of forgotten things. In New - Zealand the Minister of Edncation 1 (Mr. Hanan) had sent a memorandum r to the education boards asking them s to see that proper temperance lnstruc- - tion was given in the schools. Tho 5 other day tho Minister had said that . alcohol was a- great impairment to tho i education system beoa.v.ne of the man- - ner in which it upset homes. Ono of . the effects of Prohibition in Manitoba t was a great improvement in tho at- - tendances of scholars,-and an all-round ■ improvement in the educational eflii ciency. Hero in New Zealand, aU s though the Minister sent this memo- ) randum, nothing was done, and nothing ) would be done until it was insisted ; upon that tho teachers passing through • the training colleges were tliomselves I trained that they might be able to • teach the subject, and until the in- ; spectors were asked to repart on the " teaching of tho subject equally with • the teaching of other subjects in the j currioulum. An Enemy of Man. In 1904, when the British Government set up the Inter-Departmental Committee to report on the causes of the physical deterioration of the race, of 68 witnessed examined by that committee 57 referred to the use of alcohol as perhaps the greatest factor in bringing about the evils to which the committee had reference. Startling effects of the "use of alcohol were shown when recruitß came to he examined for war service in England at the beginning of this war. The Liquor Control Board, when it was first constituted, set up a committee of nine experts to report on the effects of alcohol. This committee consisted of absolutely unbiased experts, and all of them men eminent in the profession of medical' science. Their report was to the effect that the claim that alcohol had any food efficiency was sheer lrambug, that the benefit of the carbo-hydrates in the alcohol was much more than compensated by the deleterious effects of the poison on the nervous system. They pointed out that the amount of alcohol that could be oxidised and so assimilated by the human body during the twenty-four hours was one and a half fluid ounces— about as much as was, contained in a pint of beer. And how many men stopped at a pint of beer in a day? The committee found .that alcohol did not assist, but greatly reduced muscuiar power. The,old myth that the strength of England came of her men having been raised on beef and beer •had been exploded. Many people spoke of these matters by reference to a few carejess generalisations; of tho truths of science on the subject they were j|nite ignorant, Alcohol Had been definitely proved to be deleterious to muscular power and to staying < power. There was not a physiologist in ] the British Empire who would say that , alcohol added to our power mentally or ( physically. Sir Victor Horsley had < said that alcohol acted first on tlie'hrain ] and nervous system, of a man taking ' it, and furtlior that it tackled the , brain in its most sensitive parts. People accustomed to taking alcohol , thought that they were taking a stimu- < lant or a tonic. Medical science had 1 proved that_ alcohol was not at all a 1 tonic, that it was on the contrary a • narcotic, a paralyser, and that it should 1 be classified with such drugs as opium * or chlonl. Wh<ni'a man took alcohol f lie became excited. This'was not tlm c effect of stimulus, but the first symp- J jfbm cC: paralysis. The highest of the " 'brain cells of a man were those that had to do with self-control, and these J were the first to bo attacked ,by alco- 1 hoi, and the first to be paralysed.. It !' might be said that, these manifesta- ' tion.; were tho result of the excessivo " use of alcohol. _ This was not the Series of investigations had been made as to the effect of minute doses of alcohol. Men might be under the impression that under the influent of a \ tot of alcohol they could do more i: work, could work more quickly, but in s. every case the result showed deteriora- a tion in the quality of the work. These " investigations had shown that there '1' was a greater percentage of error after fl taking alcohol than before. n is The lnifior.'al Asnect, ii Thero.was an Imperial aspect to lie f ( considered, added Mr. Milner. Britain „j stood before the wd'rld as the protag- 1 onist in the Hit fn- freedom and d"- S' mocracy. Britain had expressed her '■ ideals in the constitution and administration of her Emp'-e. Th" fmnerial Government had told the Government ' of India, that whe'o 'he interests of Tndia conflicted with the interests of the s j! United Kingdom, India was fo be given H first consideration. But there was an li= exception. India was not allowed to so ban the importation of alcoholic liquor, ' sp

e Britain continued to send gill to tin !- native races of Africa, regardless ol if the protests of many of her best citis zens and of travelled men, who told ol :b the terrible ravages that the spirit wai i- causing. .The liquor trade with the nae tive races was a blot on Britain's Imt perial escutcheon. What was New Zean land's position? The Dominion had f spoilt over £17,000,000 on liquor during the war period. Whisky had been pouring into the country. Some 400,00 C gallons had. been imported in five months of the present year. Much of that whisky cost 2s. "6d. a gallon f.o.h. at Leitli. and was retailed in New Zealand at 725. a gallon. There were\men in the Dominion making huge fortunes out uf the liquor traffic, and the people ought to wake up to the fact and destroy the trade before it had become the master of the Government and of the .Parliament, Tho trade was no friend of the workers. It was no ; friend of the youth of the nation,. or of the soldiers. The liquor trade had been responsible for an unhappy scene at the Anzac dinner in Wellington, and there was need to prevent further, happenings of that kind. The Future. In conclusion, Mr. Milner said it was a, ground for hope and pride that the business men of New Zealand were associating themselves with tile light j against the liquor evil. A group of business men had financed the. prohibition campaign to the extent of £30,000 or £40,000, and iu making that patriotic contribution they were represent- ; ing the feeling of the best portion of j the commercial community. The war, ' terrible though it was, had given a [ touch of/idealism to tho nation. It j bad brought to tho surface some of the . best motives in the national character, [ and had made firm and definite a de- ; termination that morality and humaii- [ ity should not be buried beneath the j grim materialism of Germany. The , people of New Zealand had an oppor- ( tunity to strike a blow at home for . the principles that underlay, the stand 5 their nation was making in' the field. ; They had a wonderful country, with a ! sturdy populatiou, and with immense ; possibilities of progress. He was not , one of those wh.o believed that humau- [ ity could not continue to advance. He believed that the nation had but bei gun _to tread the path to the higher ! civilisation, and tjiat the people of toi- .day and the generation to couio would . have a better chance of happiness and , advancement if tlie menacing evil of the i liquor traffic were swept away once and fo:r all. (Applause.) i Mr. J. Hutcheson moved a vote of i thanks to the speakers. The motion - was seconded hy Mr. M'Eldownev, and i carried with acclamation.