A ONE-TIME PROHIBITIONIST

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 71, 17 December 1919, Page 11

A ONE-TIME PROHIBITIONIST

WHY HE WAS CONVERTED. HIS EXPERIENCES IN AMERICA. SOME FIRST-HAND TESTIMONY. A REMARKABLE STORY. (Published by Arrangement.) Among tho arrivals at Auckland from aotivo service by the Mnheno last week was Mr. Don C. Hamilton, M.P.S., P.S.M.C, onanist, of tho Bluff, who is a very well-known Southland athlete. Mr. Hamilton lias a wonderful record behind him, having won over 100 prizes in nmatour events in football, cricket', tennis, shooting, rowing, nnd all manly sports known to the young New Zealnndor. Ho hag the imintio honour of having been, in 1908, a four limes representative for cricket, Rugby,' Northern Union, ami soccer, nnd lias now just completed a good record at tho great war game. Mr. Hamilton-was demobilised shortly after the annistico, and in company with Mr. .T. B. Thomson, tho well-known Southland merchant, and Mr. J. G. Quin, chemist, of Gore, Southland, travelled for' three months throughout tho United States and Canada. New York Under Prohibition, Mr, Hamilton was interviewed on Saturday, and was naked for his opinion on prohibition as existing in i'-ho-n nountries. Ho was straight out with his opinion, and said thai he voted for prohibition in London at tho referendum held in April last. Tilids is his story. "I' arrived," he said, "in New York at midnight on August 6 last. After gettin<i ashore I was astonished and surprised to see such alnrgo number of drunken men. I do not exaggerate when I say that wo passed more than fifty in two hours subsenuenfi to my arrival. "Arriving at my hotel, we found that wo could gist practically nny beverage wo nsked'fof at a price. My oh-inf reason in visiting America was to inquire into the. conditions of the pharmaceutical profession nnd drusr trade srenerally.^ "In tho course of my travels I visited all the la.tee ceitres between Now York and San Franciico, including the chief cities in Southern Canadn. .Several peculiar incidents happened to mo in relation to. prohibition.

Going Through the States, "At Detroit I visited the Soldiers' Club, and in the evening I was boiling some water in tho buffet to dress Mr. Thomson's wounds. An. American officer asked me to give him a glass of the hot water, and "taking trim his pocket a twoounce phial (wliicih was full of fortified tincture of ginger—9o per cent, alcohol) he emptied-the contents i into the water, and with a "Hero's. luck, stranger," ho quaffed the lot. As the contents of the phial were equal to lour good Now Zealand 'pegs' I- was.iuoro tthan surprised. "Tho same evening about 9.30 I vaa approached by a lady and,- gentleman, the latter in a decidedly unsteady voieo inquiring the nationality of my uniform. In the course of our conversation with him, I remarked that he seen\ed to be rather joyful, considering that Prohition was in vogue. The lady (who Droved to bo his wife) explained that bay'rum was the cause of his hilarity! Crima Increasing Under Prohibition. "I was tho ■ guest •of Mr. Raciuo (manager for Messrs. Steam Ltd,, tho well-known chemists at Windsor. Canada). Ho astounded me- with his criticism of existing Prohibition conditions. A few days previous to my arrival a gigantic snries of burglaries had tnkßn placo in tho city. In every case liquor was the booty,' other articles of much greater valuß boing left by" the culprits, liis 3wn home was entered, and'his stock of wines, etc., was .•ompletely dopl.il.ed. "Ho drove mo through the city, anil I was shown the extensive display made in tho drug stores' windows of Bay Luui, Eau de Cologne, and other prop.iJUiry lines containing large proportions of alcohol. A Temptation Roslsted. "I called on all tho' leading.chemists in all tho centres I visited, and was informed without exception that the demand for exhilarating, stimulating, and narcotic drugs was enormous, i vas advised by tho management of. all ths wholesale drug stores 1 .visited to place a large order for sucti articles, for, it vas explained, in tho event of New Zealand carrying Prohibition I was bound to reap a rich harvest. "I saw with my-friends tho awful effects of this trade on countless occasions, and refrained from .placing the solicited order. The Other Side to Prohibition Cables, "My attention was drawn a few days ago to a series of cablegrams purporting to bo from Governors of various States. They give testimony to tho reduction of the gaol' population. I would like to hear the opinion of the medical superintendents of tho, Stato hospitals regarding the overwhelming number of alcoholic and drug-poisoning cases they now have to contend with. I would sincerely ask my fellow-citizens of iS'ew Zealand to gaiti reliable information before doing anything drastic next Wednesday, even if it necessitates the sending of a commission of unbiased business gentlemen to the Slates and Canada to study their alleged Prohibition firsthand, and with tho same open mind as I ha«.

"I am glad to be hoina again, and have returned a rabid Anti-Prohibitionist, and from what I have seen and experienced (of which I liave given only one or two examples) I shall use nil my ondeavoui'6 to get my family eircb and friends to vote Continuance,or Stato Control."