LIQUOR QUESTION

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 105, 30 October 1925, Page 9

LIQUOR QUESTION

REFORM v. PROHIBITION

PUBLIC MEETING AT TOWN HALL

CORPORATE CONTROL URGED

There was a large attendance at thoTown Hall last evening, when addresses were delivered on the liquor question by the Rev. G. Gordon Bell, M.A. (vicar of the Holy Sepulchre Church, Auckland), and Messrs. \V. Perry (vice-president New Zealand Moderate League), and R. A. Armstrong (Dominion secretary New Zealand Licensing Reform Association). The meeting ■was held under the auspices of the New Zealand Licensing Reform Association. Mr. M. Luckio presided.

The chairman, in opening tho meeting, said: "No doubt most of you have during the last three or four weeks spent a good many evenings listening to addresses by gentlemen who are canvassing you for votes to secure their election to Parliament next week. But there ia one very important subject which you will have to decide by your votes next week which has hitherto not received at this election any very large amount ;of attention on the public platform, and it will be my privilege this evening to introduce to you some speakers who will submit to you their views and ideas on that most important question which you will have to vote on o;. Wednesday next. It is a truism that no country, or people 1 can be free and bound at one and the same time. It is also true that nothing goes so strongly towards the formation of character, the most valuable asset in. any of our people,, as education and ability to resist temptation, and instruction in moderation and self-restraint. And there is nothing that will assist character in entirely removing temptation from our midst.

"The history of New Zealand and of the pioneers—whose sons and grandsons we ' are proud to be—-shows most clearly that this Dominion has been peopled by strong people—able and ready to resist temptation and immoderation in all respects; and any law which proposes to prevent the exercise of a man's free will or the use of any article merely because it is abused by a very small minority of the total population cannot be a good thing for the Dominion,. op a good thing for the formation of the character of its people. You cannot make strong citizens by keeping them covered by cotton-wool. (Applause.) *» "Now, ladies and gentlemen, you did not come to hear me, but to hear three speakers, who I trust /will be able to place before', you their views .on this very important question—as to ■whether you are going to .be the officers o your own destinies or, not."- The chairman then introduced the* three speakers and bespoko for them a fair hearing.

CAUSE OF TRUE TEMPERANCE

Mr. W. Perry said :—"This meeting is being held under the auspices of N.Z.L.E. Association, i That .-association was formed in 1925, its originators being four members of the Anglican Diocesan Synod, ol Auckland, one of whom was 11 iv Rev. Gordon Bell, who will shortly address yon. These gentlemen, believing that Prohibition is not the remedy, for such intemperance as exists in New Zealand—and no one can say that New Zealand is an intemperate country—and believing that the cause of true temperance can best be served by reforms in the present licensing system, formulated tho proposals known as Corporate Control. These proposals will be explained to you by tho other speakers. Two conferences were held in Wellington early in 1923, and were attended by' representatives of the Licensed Trade in all branches, tho Anglican clevgy, tho Associated Clubs and Moderate League. As a result, the L.R.A. was formed, and now lias brunches all over ,Ve\v Zealand. On almost every committee are to be found representatives of the Anglican clergy.

"As its name implies, the association is out for reform of the present licensing laws, and is determined to get it. During the last three years—in 1923, 24 and 25—it sent deputations to the Prime Minister, and urged the substitution of the issue of Corporate Control for the present third issue ( of State Purchase and Control, aud also urged that in tho meantime important alterations should bo miidfi in tho existing legislation. During tho last three, years the Licensing .Reform Association, true, to its name, has done its utmost, has indeed exhausted every effort to bring about reforms in the existing legislation. During these three years, what has (.lie Prohibition Party done in this respect? Nothing whatever. It has not lilted a little finger in the direction of reforming the present licensing system. At its conference in Wellington in May. 1926, it. ■passed a resolution that it did not ask. for legislation in the 1925 session of Parliament. They call themselves the Friends of temperance. But, as the alleged friends of temperance, they urn not doing their job in not advocating the necessary reforms in the licensing law. WRONG IN PRINCIPLE "We oppose Prohibition, because we arc convinced Hint it is utterly wrong in principle. ("No, no .'") Remember that if f'ruhibitiuu be carried it bocunics the law ol the land, aud it becomes the duty of the State .to endeavour to en force i so far as it can. (''Ueai 1, hear :") Remember, also, that it. is a. penal statute, and penalty for breach is line and imprisonment. (■Hear, henr!" and "Quite right!") That is, people arc liable to bo sent to prison for doing an act. n.inioiy, drinking ;i glass of beer, which, in itself, vtin innocent act. -("Ch !" and laughter.) 11. is not a tiiininnl act, a wrongful act, a sinful art. or an improper act. it is an innocent act, aud a law which attempt? to make an innocent iiu! a criminal act must fa!!. ("No.") FUNCTION OF THE STATE "In this connection it. is appropriate to consider what i.s the function of the Stata in framing ami passing its laws. The fundamental principle must bo thai laws must lie wise laws—i.e.. laws of wisdom, of justice, and of fairness, and which are ;ippaiv:'d to and appreciated by not merely a niinibci of ihr people— nor even a lyrgi- number -,l Iho pcnpln, but the va-t. nia.jnnly ol Hi.- p.:., v .1i.---r>iin ini;:lit iilrnorft say the whole of tin: pen

pie. If it bo otherwise, you -won't get that ready and cheerful obedience of the law, which is essential if it is to bs enforced. In considering this iunda- 1 mental principle wo must understand what are the foundations of law. The main foundations of law ore religion and custom. Rules of conduct grew up almost automatically, and eventually becamo laws. And they became laws for this reason—that these rules ot conduct were universally or almost universally observed and approved. And, for that reason, they had at their back the power of the organised Stato for their maintenance and enforcement. The other olement is force—the force at the disposal of the State to compel obedience. Law is not right alone or might alone, but the perfect union of the two. It is justice speaking to men by the voice of the State. It is for the expression and realisation of justice that., the law is created, and a theory which regards the law as a command of the State, and nothing moro, and which entirely ignores the aspect of law as a public declaration of the principles oE justice, is not a proper use of the term law at all. If there are any of my legal friends here, who are Prohibitionists, I would refer them to the book on jurisprudence by the lato Sir John Salmond, 7th edition, pp. 51, 52, and 53.

THEORY OF THE PROHIBL TIONISTS

"But this theory that the law is the command of the State and nothing moro and that it does not matter whether it is a public declaration of the principles of justice or not is tho theory of law which the Prohibitionists want us to accept. They say: Lot a majority of one ordain that the doing of an innocent act is a crime and ipso facto it becomes a crime. Contend -that no legislation can convert an innocent act into a crime because such legislation would not be ethical, would not be right, would not be just. And unless you have right and justice on the side of your law,' that law must inevitably fail. The Prohibitionists argue, and properly, that all sorts of acts are prohibited by law. So they are. But they are .prohibited for the very good icason that they are wrongful acts. Murder and theft are prohibited because they are wrongful acts. And, to take an extreme case, a motorist may not drivo at an excessive speed because such an act is dangerous not only to other users of motor-cars but to non-users. A motorist may not drive at night without lights for the same reason, and a motorist must drive on the proper side of the road for the same reason. Theso laws are enforceable because public opinion is behind them, and because they arc recognised as just, not only by people who do* not use motors, but by those who do use them, and by the very delinquents themselves. "These things are matters of regulation—not pro hibition. It would be absurd to argue that because a motorist abuses his rights as tho owner or driver of a car that motors should therefore be abolished. (Applause.) And that, to all intents and purposes, brought to its logical conclusion, is the argument of Prohibitionists on the liquor question. RIGHT OF THE INDIVIDUAL

"Do not forgot that there is such a thing, even in the highly-organised state known as modern civilisation, as the right of the individual. The rights o£ the individual havo always been recognised, and, indeed, jealously protected by the-law. The law recognises the right of the individual to uso. his own TvTnerty to the fullest extent,.but subject to the restriction that he must not n^p it in such a way as to invade the rights of others. In other words, ho must not use his own property in a crhiilnal manner, a negligent manner, or an improper manner, so as to harm others.

"To put it in a nutshell, ho is entitled to use his privileges, but not to abuse them. And this is exactly where the Prohibitionists go wrong— ■ they completely fail t^ 'Tistin^uish between the use and tlio abuse of liquor. A man has. the undeniable right to use liquor in moderation. Ho has possessed this right from, the dawn of Christianity itself. He has tho undeniable right tv entertain his friend.-, with intoxicating liquor. This is an act of hospitality, and no one can convince mo that an act of hospitality is a crimin.'ii r.f\, a wrongful act, or an improper act. Such a use of his property is proper—it docs not harm his neighbour, and it docs not harm himself. Yet tho Prohibitionists would endeavour to make it a, crime. But it. cannot bo made a crime, for the simple reason that it is not one. | "Such a law will fail. Such a law has failed already in Now Zealand. I refer .to tho anti-shouting regulations. These were observed at first, but gradually many subterfuges were adopt ed in order to evade: them, and after a. little, l.imo (.hey were not obeyed at all. (Laughter.) Tho force of exj ample is a. great Ihing 'whether fcr good or evil. Those observing the ixgulntio!,B found others not obscrvI ing them. They gradually did likenisf. Tho regulations became a farce, and were eventually repealed. The reason why this law was not obeyed is obvious. It was not obeyed, because of the fund:" -"fal fact that public opinioii ( was not beh'-- ' it. 11. was not obeyed because tho people hira'.l licit tolciTilo' Iho theory that an act of hospitality i.s a criminal

act, ivh'.'t'K'r f'i iiament said so er not. (Applause.) The attempted enforcement of an unjust '■ '"'cincs coercion, ;md a free people will never be coerced. For the reason that the Prohibition 1,-nv is fundamentally unsound in Iliaf. it ignores tho right (if tin,: individual; regards ||u< law as the '■opmm.-i'hl of the Starr-, ;nnl nothing in on-; and i-JiorcH Ihr. a-ipecl, ol' the I;.w a3 a public dcclaraliun of the

principles of justice. For this reason the Prohibition law has failed, and has been repealed in many of the moro important provinces of Canada where it has been tried; and this is tho reason why it has fnilcd, and will fail, in tho United States of America. (Laughter and applause.)

"As far as Prohibition in America is concerned, from nil the mass of information that wo have concerning America under Prohibition, one cold, hard, indisputable fact emerges, and that is that Prohibition docs not prohibit. (Applause and dissent.) The law that was passed pn-;-">vi)y for the purpose of eliminating drunkenness—("Rot!")—has utterly failed in its purpose; and it has failed because that law is fundamentally unsound. Someone said 'Rot!' "That, ladies and gentleman, is an interjection entirely on the mental level of tho iuterjector. "I HOLD NO BRIEF" "I hold no brief for tho licensed trade," declared Mr. Perry, in reply to an interjection ("Question!" and laughter.) "I hear a long, raucous laugh, which I take to bo that of a Prohibitionist; and an interjection that I have shares in a brewery, but I have none. I want to knock my questioner through the ropes—(laughter)—by telling him that a few months ago I was offered by a sharebrokcr in this city shares an a certain brewery. I refused to buy thoso shaves, and lost a considerable profit thereby; and 1 refused because I am on the exeeutivo «f tho New Zealand Moderate League, and I considered it to be inconsistent with my position on that executive to buy those shares. (Applause.) Because I am 'genuinely fearful of the probable results of Prohibition if carried in this country, and because I lovo my country, I appeal to you when you are exercising your votes en 4th November to cast them—(a voice: "For Prohibition," and laughtor) —to voto for the middlo issue of Stato Purchase and Control and save New Zealand from tho hazardous experiment of Prohibition. So that the Government will bring about tho reforin= of tho licensing laws, and so that our temperate country will become more temperate still." (Laughter and loud applause.)

THE REV. GORDON BELL'S 1

SPEECH

"REFUSED TO BELIEVE CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE EFFORTS USELESS."

The Eev. Gordon Bell, who was received with applause, said that he stood before them to claim their attention for the proposals of the L.R.A. for the reform of the licensing laws of this Dominion, because he was one of those clergy who refused to believe that Christian temperance efforts had been useless in the past, would be useless in the future, and did not contain the absolute remedy—so far as a remedy could be applied by moral suasion and legislation—for tho liqour evils which they all deplored. (Applause.) His attitude towards his friends of the Prohibition movement was an' attitude' of pity—(laughter) —of pity that they had been stampeded into a position whicli took it for granted that the efforts which had been mado by Christian forces during tho last century or so in the direction of temperance by moral suasion and legislation had proved failures; and because they had given up that temperance platform for which they originally stood, a platform which, in his opinion, did not deserve the name. of temperance (Applause, and a voipo: "Intoler.ancel"). But, because he and his friends in tho movement had been taken to task, as ho knew they would bo, when .they—few in number as they were—had the temerity to stand up to tho very largo body of . peoplo in the Dominion, religiouslyminded people many of them, who advocated Prohibition, and try to revive in this country the almost forgotten principle of temperance legislation, he wished to give the reasons for their attitude. They had been subjected on many sides to misrepresentation and abuse; and that made it necessary for him, before putting before his audience tho actual proposals for which his association stood, to put before them some words of explanation and defence.

NOT "LIQUOR'S LATEST BLUFF"

Ho would first make Lis defence on that which met their eyes on coming into the hall that night, tho advertisement of the meeting to be addressed \>y Mr. Isitt next week. (Loud applause.) At tho head of that advertisement were tho words, "Liquor's Latest Bluff." (Laughter and applause.) Thai had boon tho attitudo of tho Prohibition Party towards their efforts ever since they started to make them. ("Hear, hear," and applause.) But ho put it to them that included in. the L.B.A. movement (.here wero clergymen of such standing as Bishop Bit-hards, of Dunedin, Archdeacon Williams, of AVaiapu, Archdeacon Taylor, of Christchurcli, Archdeacon G'owie, of Hamilton, and tho late Warden of St. John's (tho Rev. P. T. Williams); Canon James, and many others; and was it a reasonable thing, was it a thing likely to carry weight with people of sober judgment, to ask them to believe that clergymen of such standing

A voice: "They ought to be out of tho Church." (Laughter and loud applause.)

itr. Boll: "Thank you!" (AppUui.so and laughter.) Was it reasonable, lie continued, tc expect soberminded people to boliovo that these men would deliberately or carelessly allow themselves to bo used by the Liquor Party to put forward a dishonest progrnmmo of reform'? (Applause and dissent.) AVa.s he to boliovo that a Wellington audience was willing to accept, this position. ("Yes!" "No, no!" and applause.) T-hcy had launched (his movement bocause they believed that Prohibition was both indefensible and impossible, and because they believed that along tho lines of Christian temperance effort, rind along those lines only, was any solution of the liquor problem to bo found. (Applause and dissent.) lie would go further. He was a . minister of tho Gospel. ("Sl.ami; on you !") He was a priest of the English Church; and he put it to them that he could not dare to stand there to advocate the platform lie did advocate—(a. voice: "You ought lo be ashamed of yourself! ") — if he. did ii.it believe that Iho action lie w.'js faliiiir,r nas coinpaliMt' with I lie will of 111 in In \"Vlh, s ,; service lie had pledged his life, (".Nonsense!"

and loud applause) "I have prayed God," said Mr. Bell, "and I do pray God that, if the movement in which I am ono of the leaders is not a movement according to .His will, Ho will grant it no success whatsoever. I would rather go down absolutely than do anything which I believed to be contrary to the will ■of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." "HAD BEEN ACCUSED" They had been accused, ho added, of coming into this struggle at tho last minute. Well, ho arrived in New Zealand late in tho year 1920; and ho was amazed to discover the temper of mind on this question a temper far removed from the temper of mind which existed in England on the same question. Ho was amazed to find how far Prohibition had succeeded in winning the sympathy of New Zealand. At the same time, he felt that it would bo far more seemly for him as a newcomer not to take any very great action in this matter; but at the samo time tho matter was strongly debated in the New Zealand Anglican General Synod of May, 1922, and a straight-out Prohibition resolution was defeated by tho votes of both the clergy and tho laity. (Applause.) That Synod passed a compromise resolution in which it was suggested that tho people should be urged to vote for Prohibition if no other drastic remedy for the liquor evil was forthcoming. In view of that elialien go thrown out by the General Synod some of the clergy, including himself, got together and began to consider things. Even then they were I'oath to undertake any action, until in tho Auckland Diocesan Synod in tho:samo year one of the Prohibition clergy brought in a motion pledging that Synod to Prohibition. Eor the first time since ho landed in New Zealand he then publicly spoke, and spoke strongly, against Prohibition. ("Hear, hear," and applause.) "PROHIBITION NO REMEDY" From that time to this he had bceu actively engaged in two things—iv carrying on tho fight against Prohibition, and in seeking to persuade the people with whom he had had dealings that in Prohibition there was v not to be found a remedy at all for liquor evils; and at the same time ho had been trying to advocate a revival of temporanco legislation. (Applause.) The fact that that meeting was held so close to the poll was due to many causes—partly to his illhealth, and partly to his time being occupied with Church work, from which he could not get away earlier. Then it was charged against them that they would accomplish nothing for the cause of temperance, and that their programme was merely a redherring drawn across the track. To | him, the wholo Prohibition movement in New Zealand had been, throughout the thirty years of its life here, nothing more than a red-herring across the track of the real Christian way oE dealing with this problem, the way of Christian temperance. People had even had the audacity to suggest—it was put to him straightly at a meetiug ho addressed at Hamilton recently—that they of tho clergy had so little sense of what was right and fitting in them as ministers of the Gospel, that they were actuated in this matter either by motives of personal taste or by personal financial interests. He put tho question to his audience at Hamilton, when ho was asked by a person in tho audience how much the liquor people were paying him for this work: "Do you expect mo to answer that question?" lie was glad to say that the Hamilton audienco was sporting enough to return a straight-out, decided answer, "No!" (Applause.)

NOT IN PAY OF LIQUOR PARTY

But, seeing that some of those then' present wore not gifted with that Christian charity which refused to believe evil of people, and seeing that Ms questioner was persistent, ho answered tho question, as ho was about to answer it hero: From the Liquor Party neither he nor anybody associated with him in the work had received a penny-piece. • Nay, more, until the time of the formation of the Licensing Reform Association, they paid the initial expenses of the work themselves; the only financial help they received at that time being a, promise of £50 from some of their fellow-churchmen at Hamilton, who were impressed by the action they had taken, and were thankful that the Church was coming to light with a new movement in the right direction. (Applause.) As to financial interests, did they know that when the Bishop of Duncdin was addressing a, meeting in Duiicdin recently on this matter, someone, had tho impertinence to suggest to him—a L'ishop of the Church—that ho was influenced by financial considerations.

A voice: "It carries a lot of weight." (Laughter.)

If people wero ready to believe things of that sort of: men of Iho standing of Bishop Bichards, of whom Archdeacon M'Murray, a. convinced Prohibitionist, said in ilio Auckland Synod, the oilier clay, "Bishop KichHrds, than whom there is no more saintly man in the Church of this province" —if people wero ready to impute- false motives to men of Hint calibre, he hud no time to answer them or for argument with them at all. It had also been suggested— and ho could see from the temper of some of the people in his audience that they would bo ready to endorse the accusation —that it was a shameful tiling for any minister of the Gospel to bo found fighting against Prohibition. ("Hoar, hear.") He could only, answer them in two ways. "ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY AGAINST PROHIBITION" Ho was going to quote to them some people who were not in favour of Prohibition. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the. chid: bishop of the Kjigli3h Church, speaking rccoully at tho annual mooting of tho Church of England Temperance Society, voiced his radical and fundamental objection to Prohibition us a suggested remedy for liquor evils. Tho Archbishop of York said sorao few years ago that lie "would sooner sec England free than England sober." The present Bishop of Durham, Dr. HcusIcy, had also spoken recantly ngainst Prohibition. Let mo tell you—

A voice: "Have a. beer?" "Thank you, I never do." ("Oh !" and applause.)

"That gives mo the opportunity of saying something I had intended to say later: So far as my personal tastes are concerned—ami my friends of the Prohibition movement cannot

all say Ihix—(hmd applause')— 1 am practically a Uchilallrr; am.l have. I.ii-tii so all my life. I am liyhlin™ Iliis caubc on ;>. 'mailer >A principle,,

and not on a matter of personal taste. ("Hear, hear," and applause.) And I do not need to wait—as somo of my Prohibition friends have told me they intend to wait—for Prohibition before I give up tho use of alcoholic liquor in my personal life." (Laughter and applause.) BISHOP OF QUEBEC'S TESTIMONY He would give, ho added, one other quotation from a bishop of the English Church, the Anglican Bishop of Quebec, who, having seen Quebec under Prohibition, and having seen the province go back to a form of State control, said, amongst other things, in" a recent letter to a clergyman in Australia, who, without knowing his views, had asked him for his unbiased opinion with regard to the Quebec system, "The law is not perfect, but it is a hundred times better than socalled Prohibition, which cures no evils and brings to light evils which did not previously exist." ("Well done," NO BIBLE SUPPORT FOR PROHIBITION "You know as well as I do that the • teaching of the Christian Church is based on Holy Writ and tho revelation of God," said the Key. Gordon Bell. "We have thrown out the challenge repeatedly—even to men like Mr. Laidlaw, who is well known both as a prohibition worker and as an earnest worker in one of the religious denominations—wo have thrown out the cliallengo to him tbnt it was a remarkable thing that amongst prohibitionistspeople who are willing and accustomed to quote tho Bible in support of everything that they do and say—that there was practically no quotation of the Bible given by prohibitionists in favour of the prohibition cause. (Applause.) That is really not remarkable, because it is impossible. "You will find in the Old Testament, among other things, that there are such things are wine offerings offered to God. You will find that nowhere in the Old Testament is tho use of strong drink forbidden. You will find that the giving of strong drink is, in one instance, quoted as an act of mercy to a person who is down and out; and that, mind you, although the Prophets were absolutely as fierce and as strong in their denunciations of drunkenness as I should Be and am. (Applause.) "I have no timo for drunkenness. I know that the Biblo is full of warnings to drunkards that there is no pUico for them in the Kingdom of God.

THE NEW TESTAMENT "If we turn now to tho New Testament, wo find the samo thing. When the Church went out in the early days to do its work of converting the world to Christ it was faced with drunkenness amongst other things. . . . There is one word you will find through St Paul's epistles. Time and again lie brings it in. It is tho Greek word meaning self-control, temperance. "But if I want an explanation as to what the early Church did and practised, I must go to the Fountain Head ; and I do hope and trust that while I am speaking to you of the life and doings of our .Blessed Lord tbat those people who are interrupting will have the reverence not to do so.

"I turn to tho supreme revelation of God as we have it in our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And I am no modernist. I have no doubt whatsoever not only of the Divinity but of the Deity of our Blessed Lord. To me, Jesus is God. His words aro tha words of God. His acts aro tho acts of God. And I put it to you, in all reverence, that this is what we find in His life when Ha came to reveal God to us. To begin \vith, He is not, as His predecessor was, an ascetic. St. John the Baptist came neither eating flesh nor drinking wine. Of Jesus it was possible for His enemies to say blasphemously : 'Behold a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber,' proving at least this: that our BJesscd Lord adopted the customs in which He found c himself, and made wine His usual and accustomed drink. When our Blessed Lord began His ministry, His ministry for the saving of human souls from degradation and sin, He began His ministry at a marriage feast., in which, as though to typify that fulness of Ufa and joy that tfe was to bring to the world through tho Gospel, He makes for human consumption more wine :it the marriage feast; and that, mark you, not for the alleviation of human suffering, but simply to add to human pleasure and human enjoyment.

"Finally, our Blessed Lord instituted —and in view of the temper of some few of tho audience I really hesitate 1.0 give you this argument, although it is crucial to my ease, and 1 do appeal again for reverence—Our Blessed Lord, in view of His sacrifice of Himself for us, gave to us a Sacrament in which an alcoholic liquor must be used. Mark you, I know there are. people who claim that tho liquor Our Blessed fjord uscrd in tho institution of the blessed sacrament was not strong drink. But as against that, I put it to you that Our Blessed Lord gave the promise to His Church that it should be guided by the Holy Spirit; and acting under that guidanco and depending upon the, guidance of the Holy Spirit—with, the exception of a tew people in modern times who take the prohibition view of the matter—the Church has always throughout tho ages interpreted Our Lord's cninrnaud in such n. way that the Church has always used wine, which is wiuo in the ordinary accepted sense of the term.

"Now, I put it to you: If that sort; of teaching and that sort of practice is what I find when I turn to my Bible, and to the example and teaching of my Lord, then I say that thoro, at any rate, is a fundamental basis upon which I stand. (Applause.)

"Xo man in this world has tho moral right to make that sin which God has not niaclo sin."

WHAT SCIENCE TAUGHT

Tho speaker tlicn dealt with (!ic scientific aspect of tho question. The scicntilic backing, lie- said, which Prohibition had was this: That aleoliol was termed in science a uareolic irritant poison; and tho argument was put forward, therefore, that a thing wliich was a narcotic irritant poison must inevitably bo a damago to (ho human frame. II: lliat was so, ho could only say that it waa ouo of those cases in which the findings iv cold blood of science hail to bo tested against that wliich was the crucial tost of all scientilic findings, namely, human experience. Besides, even poisons had their use. .If lie were run down, it was quite likely that he would be prescribed by his doctor a tonic containing strychnine, which, administered iv proper doses, although it was a deadly poison, was not dangornuH to the human frame, but was a benefit. One of our must prominent modern scientists, Professor Starling, had worked out scientifically tho amount of alcohol which could he ro'iismncid in beverage form without any drlo- (■ ",hik clTi'd. to flu: linnian'conslilu-

Apart frum that, Lhurc was tke

fact of human experience. There were people who throughout their lives had been moderate drinkers, and who had lived to a good old ago as had any other people. His opposition to Prohibition went ono step further than that, in that he believed that it was undemocratic. Majorities had no more right to legislate without any regard to tho wishes of important minorities than had tyrants. His opposition to Prohibition was that it was entirely lacking in any principle, unless it was tho principle of coercion. Human history was full of ghastly wrecks caused by tho attempt to use coercion to secure moral ends. Believing what he had said, and speaking with the utmost sincerity of conviction, he had no option but must vote against Prohibition. (Applause.) He must vote against it or bo untrue to his own conscience, and ho had to answer in the sight of God for the way in which he spent his life. Except in a few minor respects, Prohibition had not given its backing to licensing reforms. It had really blocked reforms. Tho Primo Minister had given a promise that if he was returned as, Primo Minister ho would introduce reform legislation.