CABLES ON LIQUOR.

Evening Star, Issue 19760, 10 January 1928, Page 3

CABLES ON LIQUOR.

»0 THE EDITOR. Sir,— Recently in your columns much was made by liquor traffic correspondents of a cable from New York published in the New Zealand Press on October 28, 1927, staling that “ the Church Temperance Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church announced that the return of a second nation-wide poll of Episcopalian clergymen showed that they voted two to one that Prohibition was not the best solution of the liquor problem.” An official of the Temperance Society stated- that a questionnaire had been sent to 7,U00 members of the Episcopal clergy throughout the U.S.A., and it Is on the strength of replies received that the above-mentioned announcement was made. According to a cable published in the Sydney ‘ Sun ’ of October 28, the number of replies received was 1,138, and 626 of those sending in replies said they did not think Prohibition was the best solution of the problem. This means that the societv received back a little over 1,000 out of 7,000 questionnaires sent out. In other words, six out of seven of the Episcopalian clergy did not trouble to reply to tho society’s inquiry, and only ono in every eleven of the clergy replied favorably in the terms of the above cable. The voting was 620 for the terms of the cable and 512 against, and this 114 majority was referred to as “a two to one majority.” Such are liquor trade cables and facts.It is quite admitted that there may bo a divergence of view amongst the Episcopal clergy and laity in tho U.S.A. with regard to Prohibition. The ‘ New York Times,’ however, reported that twenty out of twenty-five of the bishops were unqualifiedly in favor of Prohibition, and in any case it is misleading to suggest that majority opinion in the church is opposed to the Prohibition law. If it were thrashed out it would be found that there is a large body, if not a majority, of sentiment amongst the clergy and laity of that church in favor of Prohibition. Once again tho cables have been used with the object of misleading public opinion concerning Prohibition in the U.S.A.—T am, etc.. Citizen. January 9.