PROHIBITION COLUMN

Evening Star, Issue 19924, 21 July 1928, Page 18

PROHIBITION COLUMN

(Published by Arrangement with the Fnited Temperance Reform Council.] PRIME MINISTER’S COMPLIMENT la hia address to the deputation they waited upon him Iroru the Alliance annual meeting, tho Prime Minister stated, that whilst there are two bodies of opinion with regard to the liquor question, ho teas always aware that tho force behind the Prohibition movement represented an important section of the best elements in our national life. Our opponents in tho conflict are rather fond of deriding and , belittling the Prohibitionists, holding I them up°as a miserable, narrow-minded set of fanatics. Tho Prime Minister secs us in a somewhat truer perspective, and recognises that our movement, which is represented on polling day by 319,4d0 voters, is one that u representative of those citizens w-ho take the keenest interest in the welfare of tho dominion. WHERE WAGES GO [By Juk Lom-ton, Special Peprcsenta- ’ tive to tho Sydney ‘Sportsman in America, for the ‘Vanguard.] Where Do the Working Man’s Wages (io Since Prohibition ? —firstly, they go into a homo which calls lor lumber, which employs carpenters and other wood workers that, employ lumbermen ii tho woods- 'fho lumber employs seamen to man the ships that convey it. The carpenter buys a hammer that emplovs a tool-maker that works non that comes from a. inuva that employs iron miners. Coal provided by coal miners (after railroad men carry the coal to its destination m cars made by locomotive engineers, trom non, that ships built by shipworkers, and trains, carry from the mines where everything from a wire cable that calls for cable-makers to tho pick handle and shovel-makers and lamp and lampwick makers) melts it. The nails used, employ men to make them, and tho handle in the hammer calls for a man that uses a lathe that u made by a big machinery concern that employs a lot ot men in its makiim. The window glass employs Us quota of glass workers, who get thensand from pits that employ men, and work horses that eat feed supplied by a fanner who supports agricultural machinery workers. The merchant in the ironmonger’s store sells tho hammer and tho nails. Tho farmer tills tho soil, and the nation gets the benefit of a good prosperous farmer. THEY ALL GET JOBS, The roofer gets a job; so do plumbers, painters, gardeners, bricklayers, latfiers, cement layers, and the men that make the chicken wire that pens tho fowls. Tho automobile m the garneeds an automobile factory that employs men. Tho electricians, decorators, floor workers, and the mcicliaut who sells tho fixtures come into their share. The paint factories and wallpaper concerns get busy employing men the home trade calls lor,, and the grocer,' butcher, baker, clothier, shoemaker, dress goods factory, seamstresses, and kitchenware maker, ct al., come into their own as well. This is only an instance of one cog in endless chain of prosperity that one workman brings about, and, as every workman—when alcohol docs not :,lf,im his money—calls for the same imouut of energy, my reader _ can visualise fur himself what Prohibition does for the security of national welfare and the promotion of a nation’s growth, the eradication of unemployment, and the eomlort of citizenry. WHERE DO WORKING MEN’S WAGES GO UNDER LICENSE? Alcohol blankets the universe with unemployment and extreme abject poverty, and men _ aro idle —banging around—with nullified senses, trying to mix a ravenous appetite for alcohol with prosperity and happiness. What men have wages—where the Battalion of Death exists—spend their money over a bar for alcohol which they put into their stomachs; “There is where working men’s wages go, where there is no Prohibition.” UNDER PROHIBITION. Without the brewer, distiller, vinter, and publican, men aro busy answering the call for what an endless chain of prosperity demands. Working men and women aro their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Each individual creates a demand. There is a saving in tho time that drunkenness costs a drunkard, and in that saving the sober man is creating that much more demand which others aro paid good wages to supply. Good wages come into existence, living conditions become stabilised, every merchant can sell Ins goods and order more, the craving for alcohol passes, tho intimidating influence of the Battalion of Death is voted out and kept out, tho influence- of liquor money is felt for a considerable time, the money that went past the merchant's door to publicans’ tills is diverted into cane and safe channels, the legislator gets a sober vote and tho legislator becomes a sober man, alcohol becomes a memory previous to being forgotten, tho court forgets its drunkards’ problem, and the boys and girls of to-day that are to become the fathers and mothers of to morrow are raised beyond the pale of degrading circumstances, while the merchant sells, the industrialist manufactures, the fanner supplies, and everybody works and earns and creates a demand for more necessities. All denominations and churches benefit by Prohibition, as sober minds bocome better prepared lor- the acceptance of religion. REMEMBER. In those Prohibition days—even though we have had only eight years of Prohibition —I see the nation’s mo;ala improving beyond recognition, f observe where tho ecclesiast has improved also, and where ho is getting better results than eve? from tho sowing of his seed. 1 observe great churches arising. 1 see better clad, better fed, better caredfor clergymen receiving better pay, and the recognition that good honest clergymen have been denied in the past, whan the curse of alcohol had been working a “dead horse.’’ I see more broadmindedness in every phase of life, and I see the great influence of the church in front—not behind—the masses they have always aspired to lead. Prohibition has benefited everybody and everything. It lias given men and women and children a better chance to accumulate. It has given the poor a chance to hold what they obtain and become stronger to accumulate more. It has given everybody a new lease on life. It has provided a greater measure of safety, comfort, and convenience to ■everybody. WANTED IN NEW ZEALAND. RECORDS IN REAL ESTATE. According to the presidents of the State Tax Commission, the real estate transactions in New York for the fiscal year ended June 30 constitute a record. The transactions amounted to more than 5,500,000,000d01, which did not include cash transactions. Prominent men in the real estate business have pointed out that since Prohibition properties have greatly increased in value, which is just exactly the opposite to the predictions made by the liquor traffic, who alleged that the value of property Would be destroyed.