HYPOCRISY

Evening Star, Issue 17921, 17 March 1922, Page 3

HYPOCRISY

THE TWO VOICES.

Tho anti-Prohibitionists say that Prohibition in the U.S.A. breeds lying, hypocrisy, deceit, and crime. What did license breed, and what did the liquor traffic know about what it bred?

The liquor traffic in America spoke with two voices. It held conventions and issued one kind of report for the public to read and private reports for its members to read. In October, 1915, at tho fifty-fifth convention of the U.S. Browers’ Association a speaker said: “As a matter of fact, tho American saloon is performing more social service and performing it more efficiently than the churches and the charity organisations put together,” That appeared in tho report issued for tho public to road. But earlier in that same year there had been presented to the Brewers’ Association at a special meeting a report from an investigator they had employed to find out what tho public complained about in tho saloons, and this is what tho report said : “ foiling in prohibited hours, gambling, selling to intoxicated men, rear rooms, unclean places, invading residential districts, prostitution, selling to minors, keeping open at night, brewers financing ignorant foreigners who are not citizens, brewerycontrolled saloons, cabarets, Sunday sellings, treating, free lunch, sales to speakeasies, bucket trade, signs, screens, character of men.” Two years curlier, in 1913, Mr Nagel, addressing the Brewers’ Association; said; “ A certain percentage of tho brewers do riot care where tiro money comes from. . . . This talking (of reform) at conventions has been done for twenty years ... it has no effect.” This, of course, was not issued for the public to read. Now there is surely some lying, hypocrisy, and deceit in protending that the saloon was doing moro and better “social service ” than tho churches, when for twenty years tho brewers knew that their establishments were social, moral, and criminal plaguo spots. No wonder Mr Hugh. Fox, secretary of the Brewers’ Association, said: “We have got to realise that the public is intensely concerned in this question, that the public is going to settle it for us whether wo want it or not.”

License always breeds the samo things. Tlie public did settle it in the U.S.A., and made a good exchange by adopting Prohibition in place of license. Prohibition in N.Z. is worth a trial.—N.Z. Alliance Publicity. [23]