PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 26, 25 October 1918, Page 6

PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN

MEETING IN TOWN HALL CONDEMNATION OF LIQUOR TRAFFIC "DRINK A RUTHLESS FOE." [Extended .report, published by arrangement.] In furtherance of the campaign for the abolition of the liquor traffic on the basis of the proposals of the National Efficiency Board, a meeting was held in the Town Hall last evening under the auspices of the New Zealand Alliance. The extremely unpleasant weather conditions militated against a large attendance, but there was a fair number of people present in the bodv of the hall and in the galleries. The Hon. G. Fowkls, C.8.E., presided, and the speaker for tho evening wero Mr. L. M. Isitt, M.r., and the Uev. R. S. Gray.Both gentlemen received an excellent hearing, there being no hostile inte.rjee-': tioifs of any description, and their remarks were frequently punctuated with, expressions of enthusiasm. . > In opening the meeting, tho Hon. G. Fowlds said that the movement under whose auspices they had met that night was one of tho great factors of the times I in which we were living. Great changes had taken place in the world, and it would be impossible for society even to "go back to the conditions that existed >efore the war. For four years the Allies had been fighting a ruthless fo'e.q The German sword had been rattKng in the scabbard for fifty years, ami tlia German nation had beer, bullying other leople. Some people said that the price Europe was paying to-day was tho result of the failure of Britain to take action when Germany first commenced to haras's Denmark. However, the events of the laflt few weeks seemed to indicate that we were approaching the end of the struggle. (Applause.) For "more than forty years there had bean, a struggle in Ney Zealand to ri<l the country pf the curse of drink. During those forty years they had been fighting a foe more ruthless and more cru-pl than Germany. That enemy was drink. In that forty years people had been bullied and crushed by the people connected with the 'Liquor T.rnde. At last a time had com? when business men could no longer stand asido and calmly look on at the ravages that drink was causing. They had now come to the conclusion that the drink traffic must go-. (Applause.) Some of the business umn had been content formerly to go no further than 6 o'clock closing of'hotel bars, but ultimately they had recognised that the liquor trade must go otherwise it would kill them and tho country, tcfr. Prohibitionists had formerly been against compensation, but now the price to be paid for ridding New Zealand of the traffic might very well be looked upon as a good investment. (Appla nse.) Tho end was drawing near, and if they only held on a little longer victory would be attained. (Applause.)

"Victory Is In'this Airs" The first speaker wn.'t Mr. Leonard Isitt, M.P. "Victory is in the air," he said. "They could now see that victory was near, and it would be unpardonable to be otherwise than joyous. . In the dark days of the war wbjy had they been confident of victory? Because they said: There is a God above us. God would never permit tli.e unscrupulous Hun to prevail: Their cause was good, and that was- why their believed they would win." In regawl to Hhe Ijquortraffic also, the speaker was confident that victory was near. Their opponents knew that. "I have been talking to some of them to-da.y," continued Mr. Isitt, "and they kncnv i,t." (Laughter and applause.) For yoms it seemed as if they could never wjin the fight againstthe Traffic. They .had been held up to ridicule by tho .'Press and men of business, but they ,'imew that victory would ultimately come their way, bccauso God was with • them. Wretchedness, squalor, and misery followed in the trail of the Trade. ' A man had sneered at him the Other day that Prohibition was his relihion. Ho gloried in the fact that they 'had causes such as Prohibition in the category of their religious beliefs. "I/: anyone is disposed to doubt tho righteousness of our cause, the sanity, the lo;pc, and the reasonableness of our position, we should find strength in the methods of our opponents," added Mr, Isitt. "I don't want to be too hard on the Traffic, but I want to say this: Tljat the methods of our opponents^doea not seem to show any great confidence on their part in the righteousness of their cause, and the strength and truth of their creed. Thev (Inn tmeet us in an above-boord fashion " J. nose connected with the Trade made a great point, respecting the liberty of the subject, kit their methods wore in direct contra ft to their professed be-' if s T'-fM ,/lca<l - In Messing this point Mr. Isitt ga.vo.nn instance which had been related to him of a man who had lost customers because he had refused to dismiss rin employee who was a member of a temperance orgnaiisation. Tho business nmnjind formed an association to fight the, liquor traffic. "I notice this about the business men: They started mildly, bill they are getting their teeth "m, noW| 6ftitl Jtr - Isitt. amidst applause I hey are'getting to understand what it means to fight the liquor traffic." The liquor truffle was crying out for fair £ y, c'W , Hleir methods resembled those of the Germane. Was not the liquor party's petition a case of crying luimeradl Kamerad!"? There was one? significant fact m connection with the Trades campaign. To-day the Trade dare no'; face them in public debate so tar as the liquor question was concerned, They wet the Prohibition Party in an undcrlmid fashion, and would riot come out into the open and meet the Prohibitionisui in a straight-out open chivalrous fight. To any thoughtful man-mt-notism must spell the prohibition of'the liquor traffic. There was no Rottinc awav from tljfit. Lloyd George hod said Hint every sixpence was a bullet, and M>. Massey had said that waste was a crime. J. here was no greater crime than wasting money by spending it in drink, indulgence in whisky at this time was an especial form of waste. He wanted to empLiaeist this point in tho strongest way he could During the war the brewere .and distillers hnd destroyed in the manufacture of beer and whisky as much flour and sugar as would have rationed the whole population of Great Britain for one year. • , After Mr. Isitt had concluded his midress a. collection was taken up in aid of tlip sailors nf the mercantile marine. The Kev. W. J. Comrie then announced that to-day at Ml a.m. the petition in favour of the abolition of the liquor traffic :n accordance withthe National Efficiency Board's propolis would be presented to tho Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance. Tn reply to a question, Mr. Comrie said them* were over 200,000 signatures to tho petition. The Trade's Patition. The Rev. l<. S. Gray slated (hat on a previous occasion hu had prophesied that tho liquor trade would have to put up a fight for its life. That prophecy had been fulfilled. Tho Trade had done this timo a thing which it had never done before—it had promulgated a petition. When it could not get that signed it simply had tho name written in. It put over the petition,,so that any trivial offences liko that 'might be condoned, great words, such as "For Patriotism Freedom, and Democracy," and then pro' cceded to deny them by the manner in which it got the petition signed. Tho Alliance petition was the. biggest petition that hnd ever been signed in this country, and tho liquor trade was the dirtiest that had ever been digued. "We have, a list of 301) or -100 people who signed it under a misapprehension. All over the Dominion people lave been induced falsely to sign it by.irepreseiiln■tivos of the Trade. They have declared that their petition was a Government petition for one thing, and an Alliance petition for another thing, and (bat the Alliance petition hnd ten withdrawn, and that they all meant Hie same thing. They had also said it was a wildiers' petition to get fair play for the soldiers." That kind ,of Iliing had been going on all over tho place, and for that reason the Liquor petition would bo practically worthless. Tho Alliance petition was tremendously worthy, and if it had not,

been for the Alliance petition they would not lute con in tho position they yyere that night. They hud brought tho :oiiemy out into the open, for ono thing. The Trade was discrediting itself just as much by its advertising us it was by its petition.. A Challenge. Tho Trade was professing to havo tremendous interest about tho patriotic funds, aboui the Ued Cross Society, and other patriotic funds, and it was alarm4ed lest business men who were putting ■money into tho Prohibition campaign (shouhs. not bo subscribing to the patriotic limuLs. "1 want to thiow out this chalk (rigo to tho Trade," Jlr. Gray went on. "I challenge tho Trade to producea- list of subscriptions to,tho lied Cross Fund and the Patriotic Funds in this count ry made by brewers, wine- and spirit mere! itints, and prominent hotelkeepers, end V. will undertake io set over against it a jist of subscriptions made by some of the men who arc at the head of tho Efficiency "League. I will tell, you of five >jf them who gavo each to the Bed Cross Association.' (Applause.) 1 i will tell you of one of them who has given .£IO,OOO to patriotic funds in this Dominion, and I will tell you, moreover, that) in tho district in which tho gifts wore juado there were no decent gifts at till mado by the representatives of the brewing and liquor trade." Bint, tho Trade was worse than that. Mr, Gray compared the liquor trade with tho Kaiser. Tho trade's work of devastation was going on een now, but it was in the last ditch. The Trade had put up the white flag, and knowing that it I could carry continuance no longer, it I was out for State control. ' Though'the Trade knew it wus beaten, it was continuing its deadly work. It was ruining tho soldiers just as much as it had done before.. Sentence of death had been pronounced against the Trade, however, and the handwriting was on the wall. 'In Wliakaiano a suggestion hod been made that, as there was so much crime and so much drunkenness as the result of the granting of tho license—illegal in spirit, although legal technically—th.it it would be necesary to change the lock-up into a gaol. _ In Canada they were closm unp their gaols—(applause)—but in tho King Country they had to open them. Like the Kaiser, the liquor trade was getting an attack of piety, a'nd a bad attack of piety. It was becoming concerned about the churches. (Laughter.) It was concerned about the decay of religion and it wanted a revival. The Trade said it was a matter for regret that ministers had forsaken tho Alliance;.that many hundreds Inul turned awuy from the Alliance and resigned membership, on account of tho abandonment of Christian principles by the Alliance. Jlr. Gray ridiculed this statement of the Trade. The excuse of piety on tho part of the Trade was a sign of the times. The Kaiser was going mad and so was the Trade. (Applause.) The representatives of the Trade could not argue in favour of their business because there was no argument in favour of it. The war demonstrated that thero were no arguments which could be advanced in favour of retaining the liquortrade in a civilised Dominion.

America's Decision. The magnitude of the decision of the American people was not properly understood by the people of New Zealand. They had inserted in their Constitution, subject to ratification by vote of the State, an amendment which would make America "dry" for all time. (Applause.) The annual revenue of the United States was ,£100,000,000, and the people had said that the war had demonstrated that liquor was such an enemy of the people, and of the nation, that they could not afford to have liquor there at any price. For all time the people of America had dona away with liquor. (Applnjige.) i Speaking of tho constitution of the National Efficiency Board, Mr. Gray said the members of tho board -had been chosen .because they were considered to bo the most level-Jieaded, keenest, and most capable business men in the whole of the Dominion. They went into the inquiry without bias, and after hearing evidence from all sides, they hnd come to tho conclusion that they could do no other thing than recommend that prohibition, should be adopted permanently in the interests of tho Dominion. (Applause.) It was Government of me country had sufficient moral backbone to say that it would have no more whisky imported into the country by tho ships which brought tho soldiers back to the Dominion—(hear, hear, and applause)—and by the ships that ought to bring goods out. He wanted the Government asked at the present session of Parliament whether it was a fact that a vessel which had just reached here brought 50,000 casks or cases of whisky. A voice: Cases.

Mr. Gray: Well, I was told to-day that they were casks.

Continuing, Mr. Gray wanted to know if it was.a fact that the cargo had been broached, ami that some of the firemen and crew got so drunk that tho ship was held up for about three days, and some of the passengers had to take a turn at stoking. It might be answered that the ship had been delayed because of an outbreak of influenza. Ho knew that that was so in the early part of the voyage. He wanted to find out if it was n fact thnt rivets had'been taken out and access obtained to where the whisky was stored. Also, he wanted to know whether whisky had been concealed amongst the coal, and tho firemen rendered absolutely incapable of stoking. He wanted the Government askcM. how much 'whisky had been brought into this country during the war. and how much whisky was stored in the country now, and what was the grade of that whisky—whether it was cheap whisky that was going to debauch the people. Those were things about which information was required. ■The Government should say that it could not allow any more cases of whisky to come into the country, because of the lack of sliipoing accommodation. Mr. Gray added that the business men of the country were not only out for efficiency in business, but in their movement for the abolition of the liquor traffic they were inspired by an intense moral enthusiasm.

Mr. Gray concluded by stating thnt there was iio doubt about the result of the fight. They hnd the strongest reason for believing that they would get a poll on thequestion, either at tho end of this year or early in the coining year. If the 'Liquor Party tried in any way to obscure, the issue, and did not accept the Efficiency Board's proposals, then the Alliance would demand the inclusion of tho issue of immediate prohibition without any compensation at all. He repeated that warning with much more portinence and with deliberate emphasis. The Prohibition Party was committed to the. Efficiency Board's proposals, and they demanded thnt the issue should be settled on 'that basis. His candid opinion was that before Mnrch 1 next the country would have decided to do away with the liquor trade for ever. (Applause.) To accomplish that end they must raise the movement to the mighest moral plane possible. (Applause.) The meeting enndudod with the singing of a verse of the National Anthem. Mr. Temple White acted as accompanist on the organ.

Tho second of the New Zealand Alliance's current trio nf mas , ! meetings will be hold in the Town Hall ot 's o'clock to-nijht, when ll>. Jnmes Simpson, a well-known Canadian, will bo the chief sneaker. His compatriot, Mr. George Bell, M.P. for Victoria, British Columbia, will preside.