ALADDIN'S LAMP

Evening Star, Issue 17225, 15 December 1919, Page 9

ALADDIN'S LAMP

A TALK TO THE MOTHERS OF DTJNEDI3ST. You remember the old tale of Aladdin's wonderful lamp, by rubbing which he could get anything he wished for To many women the opportunity to abolish the Drink Traffic will be something very like an Aladdin's lamp. If National Prohibition is carried it will mean in numerous homes Plenty instead of Poverty, Comfort instead of Wretchedness, HaDmof eSS Qu"St g ° f Md L °™ inste " d To the man_ the habit of drinking alcoho ic liquor is only an incident in his daily hie. To the mother, at home, it "s something very different; it means " goin<r short and doing without things that are actually necessary to the comfort of herself and the family. Take a typical case of a man with a wage: of £4 10s a week. He confessed that his expenditure on liquor, week by week, varied from 30s to £2. What chance did this give to his wife? Was it ♦W ♦w*' 8 " . Is ifc high time that that sort of thing was put an end to.' This man would call himself a moderate drinker," but his wife had no doubt a very different name for it, Think of all the families you know. You will find that there is hardly one which does not suffer from the effects of strong drink, either directly in regard to some member of the family, or indirectly through the failings of some close relation How many wives ore at their wits' end how to hide the drunken bouts of their husbands from neighbors, whiJp the number of mothers whose hearts are nearly broken by the drinking habits af a dearly-beloved boy are more than we can tell. Ought you not, therefore, to use the. power wh.ch will bo placed in your hands next Wednesday to help in driving out of the Dominion this dreadful liquor traffic? Uo you know any home that is the happier because the husband drinks? No ' but you very likely are acquainted with some where quite the reverse is the case. _ And what about the children ? A question was put to some classes of children the other day: "Where will all the men and women come from when those now hvmg are dead?" Promptly, the youno--sters called out, "From us." The questio°n was next asked, "Where will all tha drunkards come from when those who are now living die? " Equally prompt was the reply, From us." Tho children, probably unconsciously, spoke the truth. Have you a child that you are willing to see growing up to be a drunkard? Quickly your mother-lave replies with indignation: "No; certainly not?' Then are you willing .that this class of persons should be recruited from your sisters, your cousins, your neighbor's family? You can rest assured that if the Drink Traffic keeps going it _ will continue to make drunkards, just as it has always done, and you have no security that your children, when they grow up, will not be among the victims which the Drink Demon will seize for bis own.

_ It is said that because the cost of living is so high, mothers must economise, stint the home, and worry their lives-'out trying to make both ends meet, while all the time the nation is spending about £5,000,000 m drink, and probably another £5,000,000 is lost to the public as the indirect results of the Liquor Traffic. Now, as an intelligent woman, vou to b * toW that if this £10,000,000 were saved-as it would be if the .Liquor Traffic were abolished—the prices of household commodities and'the cost of living would be considerably decreased. To do this rub your "Aladdin's lamp _ on Wednesday by recording your vote m favor of .that which will* bring about the condition you desire For the children's sake Oh, think of that As you eee these dear young fellows —some of them hardly out of their teens—staggering along the streets, remember they are some mothers' boys. You feel sick at the sight, and indignant, too Then turn y°ur indignation into action at the poll, and use the'power you possess to stop this kind of thing ■once all. Prohibition has many enemies, but, with honest administration, it will prove a success. We have given the Liquor Traffic a Long Term of Life, and it has dono nobody any good. \ State Control will make no difference to the mothers—it will matter little to _ her whether her husband or sen get their drink ovor a Government tavern bar instead of at an hotel bar. Your only hope is in National Prohibition. v The women of the Dominion have equal power with the men in voting, so as a mother, in the name of your mother-love and for the sake of the children, help to drive out this great evil, which has blasted and blighted so many homes in ]STew Zealand,