VIGOROUS DENIAL.

Franklin Times, Volume 14, Issue 193, 19 October 1925, Page 5

VIGOROUS DENIAL.

OF LIQUOR ADVOCATE’S STATE-*. rWENTS. PROHIBITION PARTY HITS O.UT. A stirring reply to Mr Fred Burke, an advocate of continuance who recently visited Pukekohe, was given in the Strand Theatre on Friday evening by Mr A. J. Stallworthy, assisted by Mrs Lee-Cowie, of the Auckland East Street Mission, and the Rev. J. W. 01phert, late of Pukekohe. There was a fairly large attendance, over which his Worship the Mayor (Mr J, Routly) presided.

The meeting opened with the singlin of the National Anthem, after which Rev, Mr Olphert offered prayer for tlie success of the meeting and the prohib:“^ n campaign. In introducing ttm different speakers the Mayor said that th * Barge number present seemed to indicate ' that interest in politics in Pukekohe wt?* 5 on the increase. He said that the people of the town had heard one side of the liquor question expounded by Mr Free? Burke, and he asked those present to

give the speakers a patient hearing while they explained their side of the question.

Evidence of Progress.

The Rev. J. W. Olphert, who rose to vigorous applause, stated that he needed no ' introduction to the people of Pukekohe. In Ihe few hours that he hacl been In tfie town, he had been agreeably surprised at the evidence of the progress that had been made during his absence. He was very pleased to see that the people of Pukekohe were as progressive as ever. The speaker said he- was there to- refute, some of the outrageous and wicked statements published and preached by. the.liquor party. Mr Olphert explained how the liquor party had published a letter purporting to have come from Colonel W. L. Butler, of the American branch of the Salvation Army showing the evils that prohibition had wrought in America. The prohibition party had eabied to the SalYaton Army authorities in America and had received a reply to the effect that tlierd was no such person. The officials of the liquor party had been approached and shown the cabled reply, and asked to correct the false statement, but they had refused point blank to do so. “It is statements such as thesS that I want to nail home.” said Mr Olphert. He added that he did npt want to have the people of New Zealand gulled and bought over by such scurrilous statements of which lie had given an example. He said that G2 out of every 100 persons w T ho were convicted of drunkenness in New Zealand were New? Zealanders. For the sake of the mothers, the children, and the young men of the future, he

urged the people of Pukekohe to vote the liquor traffic out, thus closing the places where the beverage was dispensed which*ruined men, body and soul. He pleaded with the people of Pukekohe to strike out the two top lines and let New- Zealand be God’s Own Country. (Applause). “Heading to Ruin.” Mrs Lee-Cowie opened her address by saying that as the liquor question was a woman’s question, she had the right to speak and plead for the abolition of it. The speaker stated that she had been on a world’s tour last year, and she would like to tell some of her experiences and impressions when abroad. She touched on the wretchedness and poverty which was in evidence on every hand in the countries where the liquor traffic held sway. Mrs Lee-Gowie explained how Canada was still only at the experimental stage with regard to the wiping out of the liquor business. Liquor could still he procured in Canada under a system akin to State Control, but. she was quite confident, that the day was not far off when the Canadians would vote the liquor out and not shrink from the cold water cure, which in the past they had been trying to side-step. “Still,” continued Mrs Lee-Cowie, “in the words of Sheldon. ‘Prohibition at its worst is better than continuance at its best.’” (Applause). Referring to England, the speaker stated that “the Peerage of England had become the beerage of England.” and that was the chief reason the drink traffic was

! so flourishing in that country. She i I old the audience of the great sufferI ing and the terrible misery of the mili lions of poor unfortunates in England. | She could not help but endorse the j remarks of Sir George Hunter, the i great shipping magnate, who had said, i “According to present indications Brit- ; ain is heading to ruin.” The speaker went on to explain what a vast difference it ■would make to' the poverty stricken people of England \ if the, people of New Zealand could divert the £10,000.000 that was being sfient

annually on drink, to the production • of wool, etc., and food industries. The ! speaker emphasised the fact that not | one district in New Zealand could say t that it was giving employment to any- ( one, in the production of alcoholic spirits. Mrs Lee-Cowie gave the impressions she had received from a surface view of India and Ceylon, and how these countries desired the abolition of the liquor traffic. ! In conclusion, the speaker pleaded | with the audience to vote for prohibition' in the interests of God. home, land country. (Applause). i “Here to Tell the Truth.”

“I count it as a great honour to be able to speak to the people of Pukeknhe. on such an important occasion,” said Mr A. J. Stallworthy in opening his speech. “We are not going to sympathise with you.” he said, “but we are going to tell you the truth. You have heard Mr Fred Burke, of the continuance party, speak, implying that he knows what he is talking about. I say that he does not.” He says he has been to America. I doubt it. Mr Burke admits that there are evils of the liquor traffic, and states that he is-' a temperance lecturer. What temperance society has Mr Burke ever belonged to ? He is purely and simply a paid servant of the liquor party.” “Here and now,” said the speaker, “I might state that I am a free agent, having given my services voluntarily I to New Zealand, the best country on earth The only thing by which we

can hold tofe supremacy of the world is leadership. When we take alcohol into our society and civilisation, leadership is on the down grade. Did you ever see a Chinaman drunk? asked Mr Stallworthy. “They are our flunkeys here in New Zealand, hut across the water they are employeis of labour and I regret to say that many Europeans are employed by them.” The speaker emphatically denied the statement made by the liquor party > that prohibition was defeated in Ontario, Canada. “That statement, added the speaker, “is a deliberate, wicked and unscrupulous falsehood. Ontario has never defeated prohibition and I have the official Year Book with me to prove my statements. (Applause). , ,' Mr Stallworthy then touched on how State .Control had affected British Columbia. “Not only has State Control increased drinking among women, said the speaker, “but it has made the bee!* dearer. A person has to pay two dollars for a permit to buy liquor, and then if he wishes to purchase a bottle of whisky he has to pay from 16s to £1 for it.” At this stage a small section oi the audience started to laugh and interject, but were soon quietened by the speaker saying that they reminded him of Shakespeare’s saying: Oh that men put liquor into their bodies to steal away their brains.” Mr Burke, said the speaker, had stated that prohibition was “put over” in the United States. “I say it was not, said Mr Stallworthy. “It was carried by an overwhelming majority as my official papers will prove to you.” Mr Burke told you that prohibition was a farce in America. "I say that statement is untrue. It travelled through the largest towns, and visited most of the States, and investigated the question, and although I looked for them during my stay there; I saw only two persons under the influence of alcohol. What is true of one city is true of the others. I know drunkenness is not there, in fact. I was astounded at the prosperity ' that is in evidence in America. l also wish to refute the statement made by Mr Burke that America owes her prosperity to her neutrality during the war. It has been a disability to the United States,” said the speaker. Six months after the war she found her seif with five million unemployed. What did she do? I will tell you. She cut out the drink and very soon the number of unemployed started to decrease. It has been proved that prohibition is the leading factor m the \ prosperity of America. (Applause). Eighteenth Amendment. The speaker then read extracts from the official report of the subcommittee appointed by the Alcoholic Liquor Traffic Committee of America / to investigate conditions of enforcemeni. and the results obtained through the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment. The committee, in its report. said: “The questionaires returned from every State in the Union, through the summaries attached in the digest, reveal the most amazing uniformity of opinion as to the outstanding results of the National Prohibition ' Act. We wish to briefly summarise some of these outstanding results as produced through the questionaires. Our economists assert that prohibition is a- leading factor in our present prosperity. The former expenditure for intoxicants now enters the channels of constructive business. Increased productivity of labour, decreased industrial accidents, a multiplied demand for new homes, and for both necessities and luxuries, has accompanied a decrease in poverty. Under prohibition the number of savings accounts in the nation’s banks has increased 400 per cent. The importance of prohibition as a factor in this increased saying is testified by many bankers. Elimination of the saloon is the sole factor which seems to account for the increase in savings, and in the general wealth of the people. The saving in human lives through the decreased death-rate prevailing under prohibition has been estimated at close on a million lives in the last five years. With the saloon no longer affording ap outlet for much of his wage, the worker of to-day has become a part of the investing power of the nation. Labour is becoming a capitalist. The number of holders of stocks and bonds has doubled since prohibition was enforced. In February, 1925, over 41.000 employees of the New York central, lines subscribed for 96.900 shares of that railway roads stock, thus over subscribing the offering of 35.000 shares by. 176 per cent. This subscription means that over one-half of the stockholders of the road are employees. There are. approximately 6.000.000 more holders' of the capital stock of corporations to-day than there were when prohibition was adopted. Great Changes. The whole realty market has been 1 advanced by prohibition. Removal of saloons quickened values in many neighbourhoods. The stores vacated: by the bar-room were quickly occupied by commercial establishments, with the result that larger returns went to the owners. Collections of rents were easier, with the financial drain of the saloon stopped. Slum sections practically disappeared. Those once content with one room became . to demand a flat: flat owners soughtlarger flats: renters became owners. ' There are fewer charity cases, while many county gaols have been closet! and the general health of the nation had greatly improved under prnhibf- j lion. Alcoholic insanity had deercas-j 'ed by 06 per cent, in the first Ihree j years under prohibition conditions, compared with the lasl three “wet” j years.

In concluding ils report, tin- coin- , slates: “These results of pm- | liihii-ion securer! with inadequate or- ' •ranisn lion and law enforcement machinery. show what can be expected kvheii Ihe Federal and Slide Govern-I j,i,.;)ts use Iheir full power to enforce j Wind, the President of the United ! Slides has characterised as the Arne- 1 riran policy of government relating to j prohibition. If it took 50 years for j the pioneer prohibition States to per-: feet their law enforcement machinery, so that they could secure llm present effective results, why should we be discouraged at the end of four years

in attempting- to enforce national' prohibition. There is no evidence to justify any hope that the Eighteenth Amendment will be repealed.” Question Time. The speaker brought his address to a close by stating that without doubt prohibition in America was one of the greatest triumphs of civilisation. (Applause). A voice: Do you know anything about the new Bible Mr Burke told us about, in which the word wine has been altered to raisins.” Mr Stallworthy: “Yes, I know all about it. The Prohibition Party had nothing to do with it in the remotest degree. II is purely and simply the work of a certain society of American scholars.”

A voice: “Do you think that the average American is a better man than the average New Zealander?” Mr Stallworthy: “Certainly not! If you knew America as I do you wouldn’t ask such a question.” The same voice: “I might know more about it than what you do!” Mr Stallworthy: “Your question doesn’t indicate that you do.” (Laughter) . A voice: You say that a million lives were saved during the last five years. You mean between 1914 and 1917, don’t you?” Mr Stallworthy: “That’s one of Mr Burke’s jokes, and if it’s told many more times it will become a chestnut.” (Laughter). A voice: “Didn’t British Columbia carry continuance in 1924?” Mr Stallworthy: “Yes, through the influence of the brewers and with foreign money. The wine manufacturers of Paris claim to have supplied the money and literature that was instrumental in bringing about the desired result.” A voice: “In the event of. another war, would you suggest cutting out the soldiers’ rum?” Mrs Lee-Cowie: “I would not give him anything that would tend to affect his brain cells.” A voice: “I was Iherc and I know we needed it." Mrs Lee-Cowie: “Do you mean to say that the hoys of New Zealand would never have had the courage to go over the top unless they were given a nip of rum.” (Cheers). After the prolonged cheering had subsided, the Rev. ,T. W. Olphert proposed a hearty vote of thanks to his Worship the Mayor for presiding. The j singing of the National Anthem | brought the meeting to a close. I