The Feilding Star. Oroua and Kiwitea Counties' Gazette. SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1910. Quenching Thirst.

Feilding Star, Volume V, Issue 1254, 6 August 1910, Page 2

The Feilding Star. Oroua and Kiwitea Counties' Gazette. SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1910. Quenching Thirst.

"if local option lives long enough, it will be the king-pin of polities in Australasia."— J. .Barr in the Lone Hand for August.

BiiKJt and skittles have long been associated with the game of life, and m his ton-pngo article in the Lone Hand Mr Ban- likens the most modern and progressive movement to si game of skittles, and he protests because No-license lias trespassed upon the domain of national politics. "It is fortunate," he writes, "that iv rsew Zealand er> fay that'vote has not hcen organised and ns.ed en bloc to Hood the- Parliament with men chosen primarily to enact or amend liquor laws. That it could be done I for one have little doubt; that it will bo attempted before many years have passed 1 am certain. I believe that at the Dominion elections to be Ijekl 'n 1911 the party behind the Alliance w<.tiki be found strong enough to force- into the House of Representatives sufficient men to command the' passage of the aim of the leaders—Dominion option for total prohibition on a bare majority basis." This is more flattering to the No-license movement and its place iv the national mind than Mr Burr is to be found granting it in the article generally, although lie writes in another paragraph that tho average New' Zealand politician speaks to the No-licenso Party "with his hat off" —IxK-ruise since 1896 the No-license vote has increased by 112 per cent, and Contitiuanee by only 33 per cent. Yet here is how the man writes, as distinct from the impartial, fact-reading journalist: "The oldfashioned methods of advancing the cause of temperance have been swept away in the rush to close down the liquor-selling houses; and precept and example have given place to the legislative bludgeon. Wiint ultimate benefit may be expected to arise from this method is a matter for speculation ; but if its supporters can find comfort in the outlook from the doubtful, to say the least, benefits gained in New Zealand after nearly thirty j'ears, then they are optimists of tho first water. For myself, I can see little to justify the clamour that has erisen from all parts of Australasia in favour of local option. It is absolutelj' certain that it offers no solution of the alcohol habit." It might very naturally be asked, AVho is J. Barr? and because he is unknown the value of his article might be lijeuvjiy d'scotinted. But the writer must n.'jfc i.o held cheaply, for as oue of- tho thrc-D sub-editors of tlie most influential journalistic force-in Australasia, the Sydney Bulletin, Mr Barr commands a jaosition from which he can at least command attention, and lie has a facile pen in verse and prose. He is a young New. Zealarider,. trained on the Evening Post and the Times, in Wellington, and has been cawght quite lecently For Australia, graduating from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's "reporting itaff to the jßttllatSn atttfe Wfc«H-fa»'ir»a'.r»port-.

iilflf:-;-iu'; New Zealand, Mr Barr wa» sent ,-by the Lyttelton Times ;nd other p.iyciv. to investigate tlie effect of prohibition'in Ashburton, anß his report liutterecl the dovecotes of the No-licensee. Therefore, he sp< ;iks with some knowledge of the subj ct. But he must not be taken too srriously, although the numerous i! id interesting diagrams which illustivl: , his article look impressive. We hv.vi

always contended that the man w': ) declare* that a centre of populati i is v:> better off without the pnol! ■ bar than is that which has hotels ia perversa Inrnnn. Where one Baiv writes in such a strain there are lmi: dveds cf business men and homes ii New Zealand that can demonstrate the value i'r.d virtue of a prohibition regime. This point is beyond argument; and cve-i Mr Barr admits that the moVL".n: n'.. advances —it has not gone back anywhere in New Zealand. The reas::n i. simple —no sane people let go a good thing. Mr Barr magnifies" the increasing drink "Tilll and the

:.go'(Kl, li'.'aitl'v curse," the sly-grog e,vi).' The sly-grogger is his own re--ward, and will not and does not score all the time. for the drink bill, how much Vigger would it have teen in New ZfettTajfit during the past prosperoiis//:tWL' : yenrs had not Nolicens© area's—which have grown from three in lOOo'to twelve at the present time—been in. existence? Mr Barr writes his article on the ove of a local option poll to be taken in New South Wales, but as lie supplies his own antidote in his article the chances are that his statement of (lie case- for Xew Zealand will do the No-license cause in the Mother State more good than harm.