TEMPERANCE COLUMN.
[Bt AskimhbomtO ANOTHER LEADER FROM THB QUEENSLAND ' WORKER’ It gives me gie» pk««ao to pnblieh another virile and harddrittiug leader from that well-known Labor puper tbo Queenslaiitl * Worker,’ of Juno 2a hot- It is a, remarkably ooaviiwditg piece of writing : from the Labor print of view, and it is, siiufrcly to he Raped that the great buU of the Labor voters, will noon see as clearly where their tm» interest* lie as does the Queensland ‘ Worker ’: THE MEMBER FOB BUNG. The Brisbane daily papers published l special supplements * ecu taming jut ex-, treroely lengthy " repurt" by Mr \ - (L J. S Let-nu on tt» liquor of New j Zeataod j A report m the work, of an agent acting fur a principal. It implies a person or body reported to Nov;, to what person 31 - ImxJv was Mr Losina’s report addressed? The document itself does cot sajr. It is, on this point strangely a}*m.. There are, however, strong internal evi-' d-rues to show for wijom the work was done, but if these should not suffice to cen- j vince, the 1 Worker' is in a position to; inform the public that- the principal for} whom Mr Leri r. a acted ns agent was the; Queensland Licensed Tictualkrs’ Associan. That is the body the report was made to, Hid that is the body, we presume, that р. for the publication oi tbo report in the daily Press. Mr Resina, would have ns believe that he w, t:t to New Zealand ns an independent in- j (purer, us a patriotic legislator, anxious to , a ■ quaint himself with first-hand iafotma- 1 t;•>!! on this question, which is likely soon , t-i l»e the subject of legislation in the Queensland Parliament. " To acquit- mysoii tor a thorough understanding of the proposed measure of legis-1 lation.” he says, "it vv* necessary that I s'.mnKl examine, imp irtially and without prejudice. the leg’s’ -.live experiment in No- j iiet-itse being coudui ted in New Zealand." j I low " impartial ’ cud "without pre- I jiclicc” hk iuquines were the public may ' infer when it learns t’.nit lie went over to] New Zealand as in; emissary of the Li- j urii.-ed Victuallers. j The report itself 1- full of inaceuracies,! ill-digested sUtsiios. whirling imlcvancies. i and contradictory arguments. In the wild attempt to please hk masters the member j for Clermont even gs.es out of hk way to 1 appeal to the Jingo sentiment, to gird at the women's franchise, and to belittle the principle of majority rule. ' The general tenor of the report is summed tip in Air Lesir.a’s declaration that NoKeense does not mean no drink ; that, indeed, under the No-license laws of New Zealand the, consumption of alcoholic liquors has increased, not only in the ag- j ’.reg-ite, hut per head of the population. ( Now. let any sensible man ask himself : this question : If that is so, why ate the s. hers of alcoholic liquors crying out against legislation that improves their trade and enhances their profits? I if if is true, as Mr Lesina says it is. that No-liccnsc causes more grog to be consume.!. why don't the grog merchants vote ; f.g No-license, instead of spending their money fighting it, instead of employing agents like the member for Clermont to work up a case against it? ! Mr Lesina harps upon this alleged in- 1 crease of drinking tinder No-license all through !ik report, and uses masses of figure* t.) verify the statement. Hat the question is one that can be dc- ' cidtd without reference to statistics at all. Granted there has loan an increase in the tirog billot the Dominion, that it is not due to No-license if. we hold, conclusively proved by the fact that these who are interested in increasing the sale of grog tie furiously fighting Nu-Ikense. Statistics are not needed here, and threef mirths of Mr Le-ina's laborious hut iilс. report can therefore he tossed in the rubbish bins, to be carted away as matter injurious to the public health. * It stands to reason, we submit, that no Uade will oppose that which swells the volume of it* business and augments its prosperity. And the single fact that the grog-seller.- are so bitterly hostile to Noli tense is sufficient to convince any reasoning Icing that it is not to No-lieense that 'he increased consumption of grog in New ZuMn-nd is attributable, hut to the growth ■; the grog habit ouVa&c the No-license ire as. It may be said that it k the licensed bark—qtc'is who .lie opposing this legislation. uoiujr it takes the trade out of their hands and divert.' it to the siy greg.leaiets. But tub- argument hinges ujwn a. tail.icy. Tim licensed bar-keepers arc for the : part merely the employe.,*, i.f the big breweries, and what does it matter to the latter who sells the liquor so long as it is sold.’ If they win jo-11 m-.re by letting the licensed bar 1 : t go—and that is what Mr f.esiiia's " a. g’nner.t ” aim-tints to —can any person of b'dan'id mind imagine them battling lieicviy. and flinging their mo-icy about lavishly, in order to prevent their business from ini leasing ? Unman credulity in. a fearsome and wonderful thing, but is it capable of nicking any sane man believe trial Bung would thus kick the bottom out of his o. barrel? I Patriotism is answerable for a good i deal, but wbiii did it ever move the: brewers to take up arms against their I own interests, and deliberately embark : on a campaign to reduce their own trade? , Vet these are the things that Mr Lesina in h.is report tries to stuff into the public n-.dd!e ! That is what his hotch-potch of figures amounts to. when he tells us that N .-.-license makes people drink more, and that Hung is opposed to No-license. It is true that more liquor is sold in the Dominion. But not the slightest, attempt is made to show that this increase , has taken place in the No-license districts. As a matter of fact, there has been a; •.rernendons diminution there. Though j urrounded on all sides by drink districts, j ,nd though desperate efforts are made by . lung to evade the law and promote sly 1 loosing within them, there has been an immense shrinkage in the consumption of , alcoholic liquors iu the No-license areas, i That. k the reason why Bung hates No- i license. That is the reason why the Trade ! in Queensland sent Mr Lesina to New : Zealand to work up a case against its in-j t reduction here. | We fret out no statistics, though we could deluge this paper with them if necessary, but we appeal to the intelligence of our readers, and ask them to compare the logic of this position with the absurd and self-contradictory “ arguments ” <>f the Lesina report-. There were, up to within a few months ago. only six No-license districts out of c;.vty-t.iso in the Dominion. How could •Micli relatively small areas be expected to pull down the drink bill of the country to ’any appreciable extent? Especially with grog areas all round than, and those who wax fat oa the drinking habits of the people doing all they can to push an illicit trade within their borders. The ‘Worker’ is dealing with this mailer from the stand point of a Lahor journal, aiwl we pass on therefore to the reasons which lb Lesina gives whv Labor p<*ople should oppose No-liceass legislation. He states, as one clinching argument agaiiist voting for the suppression, of the uTis.i indastn. , in scum No-iit^nse town? in Zf*g barmd tltc l is not bat is cn th» hajoUs of pricoop smss> who change exorbitant prices :ar tha gas. Wes anything <pdt» mo ridicolcua erw advanced before tm mo argument on any serious -meaetion ? ~ Why, 8 that *ort reasoning is to prevail, you could wipe out the Labor movement » Queensland with it. It might l.e gravely pointed out that in many towns ■which return Labor members the gas is monopolised by private enterprise, who bleed the people by the high rates they impose.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Star, Issue 14116, 20 July 1909, Page 3
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1,350TEMPERANCE COLUMN. Evening Star, Issue 14116, 20 July 1909, Page 3
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