FIRST-HAND FACTS

Evening Star, Issue 12927, 25 September 1906, Page 7

FIRST-HAND FACTS

ABOUT NO-LICENSE IN AMERICA.

tßy & B- Niaaoijcs.]

Heating thai Mr Hamilton, the now Vrell-known missionet of the Church of Christ, had come from.a No-license town in lowa, United States, and judging thai his familiarity with the actual conditions prevailing ift the ".dry" areas there would enable him to give much information of value at the present juncture to New Zealand readers, I waited upon him, and, he was kind enough to answer the following questions. A perusal of these answers will do much to clear the mind of the average reader as to the exact state of affairs in the No-licenSo areas in America at the'present time:—

You resided in the State of lowa, did yoti rt6t, Mr Hamilton ?—Yes. I was born and reared in the township of Leon in that State. •

What is the position there teddy in regard to the liquor trade!— The great majority of the towns and townships in lowa under 8,000; population have prevented the issue of licenses, and have been for many years under No-license by Local Option. So far as I can remember, there are, only twenty-five cities in the whole Stato that issue licenses to saloons. The total population of lowa ia about one and a-half millions, and more than half that number are continually living under the No-license law by their own vote and desire. In what manner is this accomplished?— Every male over twenty-one who has complied with residential requirements is entitled to a vote. When any person desires to open a saloon or a brewery it is necessary that ho first get the signatures of more than half the voters to a petition that a license be granted to them to brew or sell. When completed and lodged,, this petition must be accessible to the public for a period of ten days or thereabouts, and any voter has the right to challenge the presence of any name on the petition. I have known as many as 3,000 names so removed from a single petition because they wore either fictitious, or the parties had not signed,, or other reasons. In the great bulk of the area of the State the brewers and saloonkeepers appear to fail to find onehalf of the men on their side?— That is so, and in the great majority of the '"dry" areas the people are so well contented" Without licenses that no liquorseller or brewer has attempted for many a long year to even have a petition circulated. They know it would be a hopeless task to attempt to get A majority of the male citizens to sign it. Is the sentiment in favor of No-license growing?— Yes, wifhout a doubt. In places where local option bas been tried the opinion of American-born citizens of the better class is almost unanimously against the saloon. New areas are also constantly being added to the " dry " list. _ How is it that the twenty-five large cities in lowa have not followed the example of the towns with a population of 8,000 and under?— Almost entirely because in them there is a large body of the foreign clement. lowa is really an agricultural State.. Wherever a town gets over 10,000 of a population it is because it is either a riverside shipping port or has become a manufacturing centre. Either of these developments causes a large proportion of the foreign element to reside there. This element votes almost solidlv for the granting of licenses. Without'it there is no doubt that it would be a very hard matter for saloons to get licensee, even in the large cities in lowa. This is also true of the cities in most of the other Local Option States. Even as it is, the contest in many of the large cities is already very close, and grows closer each succeeding year.

What class of people reside in the areas under Nodicensc?—Mostly American-born farmers, who have moved further west to get room to spread. Is not the adoption and retention of Nolicense by this class very significant?—lt seems so to me They are a hard-headed and clean-Hying people; the very last sort to bo deceived into retaining No-license unless it were proved to bo the best both for the moral and material welfare of their towns

What is the most striking result of Nolicense decrease in criminality. There is no exception to the rule that where licenses to saloons are refused the police and court expenses are greatly reduced, and crime arid drunkenness brought down almost to vanishing point. About how many police are usually employed in the Nodiconse towns?— Very rarely more than one policeman in places up to 4,000 population, I know a great many towns of abont 4,000 souls with only one policeman, and even then ho usually has little to do as regards crime. What abont your own birthplace?—lt has been under No-license for some forty years, and is well content with its condition. Being purely an agricultural centre, it has only 2,0C0 of a population. We have only one constable, and lie is seldom in evidence. The law is, in every way, a success in Leon.

Do you think a boy's will power Would bo weak and he would fall more easily from being reared in a place such as your village?— Certainly not. 1 think such a boy Would be far less likely to fall than one who, from familiarity, had no dislike to the business. I was fifteen .years of age before I saw a sa.loon at all, and "when I did see one looked upon it with hoffot. We had always been taught bhat the town was a great deal better without saloons, and so loathed and feared the whole business, and did not feel tho least inclination to start drinking. It is one bf tho strong points of No-license that it lafgelv prevents hoys drifting carelessly into the habit of frequenting bars. What is the rule about importing liquor into "dry" areas in the States, Mr°Hamilton?—ln lowa it is not legal to import it at all. There arc delivery organisations there similar in. character to your New Zealand Express Company. These carriers sometimes deliver the liquor to consignees "cash on delivery," but run considerable risk in doing so. Any citizen has a ridit to take out a search warrant entitlhitr bini to thoroughly examine all the goods in their store If he finds any liquor, this is' seized and held by the police. The carrying company are then called upon to justify their illegal possession of the liquor. They never appeal- in court, and ae! the stuff is almost invariably shipped under bogus names, the matter ends bv the liquor oeing pouted into the gutter. The fact that con* ssignees are careful to have the liquor sent to bog;i3 names shows that drinkers are ashamed to be known as such. The educative effect of the law is good, then?— There is no dotibt about that "As time goe3 on the sentiment against private drinking grows stronger. In many place, such a practice puts n. social ban upon all who indulge in it. Private drinking has certainly not replaced public drinking. The amount of drink consumed is .neatly reduced. The fact of first-class femperaoco teaching being compulsory in the public schools has also a great deal to do with bringing about a public sentiment adverse to drinking. lii all your travels in State Prohibition, or No-license areas have .you ever found that, when legalfeed liquor-Eelling has been successfully abolished, there k Any greater tendency to attack other enjoyments of the people, su6h as smoking, 1 , theatre-going, dancing, sports, or racing?— The absence or presence of licenses does not affect the attitude of the people to these other things. The Anti-saloon League is purely an antidrink association, and does not "turn asid* to attack other evils. Those amusements you have mentioned are not considered a crime against the State. Liquor-selling is so considered. There is still plenty of amusement to be had in the Nodicense areas.

Do they teach moderate drinking in the schools?—By no means. The temperance teaching is up to date—i.e., health is a state that can only be injured by alcoholic liquors as beverages. As a medicine it is taught that it is a powerfud drug, and should only bo used under the direction of a physician: Other drugs of a similar nature and classification to alcohoi, Bitch as opium and strychnine, are not self -pre<• scribed. It is taught that alcohol should be treated in the same way. Now* said Mr Hamilton, if jUa.

havd finished your creations I should' liko to speak a word to the people of this City. I regard these grocers' bottle licenses that you issue here as something peculiarly subtle and; dangerous. Every time a woman goes into a grocery store to buy tire "weekly jsrovetider she is faced with the silent but eloquent tempfca> tioil to buy alcoholic liquors. Any time she is upset or but of sorts the Devil whispers "Buy a -bottle or two for medicine ;■ it Traill sot you ujvor enable you to forget your trouble." Thus is the habit of private nipping easily started by many n woman, and the end is often neglected homes, ruined liappiness, and children brought up fn such a way that they become criminals and a charge upon the State. Yes, said Mr Hamilton, emphatically, these grocers 1 licenses are just about the very worst thing for the demoralisation of the family life of a country that I have struck in all my travels. The money you get from them for license fees is a very small thing. compared to what they will eventually cost you in ruined lives and the manufacture of criminals. Because you in New Zealand are in the best position of any country to give the world an example "of a nation Without alcoholic liquors, either in the politics or life of the country, there is a very heavy call upon your voters to give Up the little luxury of drinking, aiid vote to clear this thing out. Experience tells me that the resu'lt Would bo a people bo high in the scale of prosperity and so low in the scale of crime that the up-to-date nations of the World would hasten to follow that example. Providence has placed in your hands a great destiny in this regard. All over the World the eye 3 of thoughtful men arc fixed on thi.« question of alcoholic liquors, ns one urgently requiring settlement. There is no feed to wait for a colonial vote to make tbc whole of this colony a "dry" area If only those who want *" colonial option" will vote at next election for " local option v the colonial resu'lt will be an accomplished fact New Zealand having no large ma. £ of foreign population, but being almost \ wholly peopled by British-born people, who ! nave a natural and inborn respect for law need have no fear of the success of a Nolieenße or prolubitory enactment by the frill of the voter. It will brini? nothing in its train but blessing, and will release p large number of your people from the worst kind of slavery the world lias ever I