WHY CANADA ABANDONED PROHIBITION.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10739, 9 November 1928, Page 7

WHY CANADA ABANDONED PROHIBITION.

MR; T. .M. WILEORD, M.P., . • ■. TELLS v KIS =i EXPERIENCES. (Special Correspondent.) : WELLINGTON, Bth' Nov. - “ 'When,; ‘ih-a. prohibition l country, a j udgo •: in the Court •has -' a bootleg-, ,gqr* himself, and is ..trying; a;/" bootlegger befor'q., a; juryait ifeasC half of whom have* bootleggers,, what can; you - , expect.?’:,,said Judge ;Av©ry to Ane- in' Canada? ■ • Thus Mr. T. M.' Wilford, >MiP., . ’opened an; address before a crowded audience in Wellington on. the subject ~of his • experiences 'of the .State Control of Liquor ;'.', as adopted; in alter that' country- had given prohibition a: thoroiigh, trial.., .

The • Venerable : Arehdesicon Williams, ' President ofi'the. licensing Reform Association, : presided. He' said that;Mr. Wilford had acceded to the Association’s request to make. public his . experiences ~in Canada, so that the _peop.le of New Zealand; might understand why. that Country had abandoned ’ prohibition ■ -a,rid ' adopted State Control.,;. Hqf.wbtild'.urge/the people of New Zealand, to make use of the middle issue. of State Control as an i ndicatio n that they wanted ' ref or mmg legislation. ‘(Applause.) Mr!" Wilford, -who was received with prolonged applause, said h;is personal experiences covered the.'principal cities of the; provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, 1 Saskatchewan, 1 Manitoba, Ontario,. • Quebec, . New Brunswick and, Nova Scotia. He. had not visited Prince Edward Island, which, with Nova Scotia,. was still called a prohibition A province; but prohibition existed there .' only 'in name.- In Nova Scotia he had found that the amount of liquor sold for .’medicinal’ pui'posqs yyoultf lead,one' to believe that the, province .was one great hospital. He haid. investigated matters concerning: the' drink , question "from Victoria on ’the west, Halifax on the, east;" ; interviewing Premiers, officers, writers, business men, shopkeepers, clerks, .•.manufacturers, and mitny. C-N-R- officials,and at the...end of his tour h'adcb'm.e to the definite concrusion ~ that prohibition had. utterly ’ failed. His' first visit in ’British Coluinbili fiafl; been to the home of Dr./McLean, the then Premier, who told Trim ’ that both he and libs wife had been . prohibitionists, that they had done. all they could to get prohibi|ibn carried; but that they hap found,it,; in operation, futile,’ unenforceable, and a fat’be; Young people who }uid ; riot’ thought of drinking;' 1 before.’ had ’quickly Tiecome addicts,' the' Premier had said, and that vile decoctions’,:; Hitherto unknown, had been use 3 when legally manufactured spirriifr*cniild not lie procured. The Promier Had l helped to repeal the prohibition »raw. and to get State Control subatf/uted, for prohibition Hva# not " (ft deterrent. (Hear, hear.) / ‘ PROHIIpION A In Vancouver Mr. Wiljprd had interviewed Jfche heads of file enforcement syfiem of State JS-ontrol and the polief chiefs. Theyjliformed him that th# had voted Jrohibition in the firs# place, and Had originally hoped is would work, Sit- feforejpng found «- impossible M effiforcealent. Bootlegging flourishes, liqu'or dhses whiild; yß'idC-iaC againstf c fi’o rnk’-r s,#aipjp yobpg men and girls as soon is tfq uptownsj«ide ‘•forbidden fruit# startoef’ in fy the law’ any drink as they jprad never drank h#ore. ' Prominent Jcitizens Barns, Mf**-E. B. Cave, and Air. »Atzpa|rick, among others, had- toM mm thA the state of the city uqdefiL proh»itipn had' been'a hlat 'orj methylated ’spirits'- werwebnsiTSEged. ha the old : topers, arid’ vijp and Jpisoy ous liquor was sold, eijfn to bo||s ajpl girls, by unscrupulous H? had also interviewed employees of the Hudson Bay’Stows, and in many shops. They all' agreed that State Control was miles Ifiead of prohibition . "S' At Edmonton, tjjfe capital of Alberta, Mr. Wilfoi'(j/#had interviewed tlie members of. Parliament-, and found one man -'only who said-that he thought that/prohibition could" be enforced.''He "had Spent--two hours with the” Hori. J. E. ‘Brownlee, the Premier, who intiriiated that he had been a life-long prohibitionist; but that public opinion could not be raised in the Province l to-day to give prohibition a chance of success, if a poll or plebiscite was now tabeing State Control was working well. JgKe Premier had stated that the. qj&ftige to prohibition was 'too diqpc' and that he was quite satisfkaT that- no reversion from 'State Cotffrol was now in sight. . • "Jr: At Regina, of Saskatchewan, the had had a long interview,-wijJqMr. Gardiner, Premiej of • 'SaskaflHmwari',. another;' who had ardent 1 'prohibitibnisjf. He witli AH’. • Brownlee' that the change to' prohibition 'was"disastrously' sudden, and that education must precede 'prohibition-. He had'explained’that local'Option was possible in districts under the Saskatchewan Law’,' so that ;113,districts could each, if they , liked; become''dry. But' *he admitted'" that they’ had "riot 'bbC'ome dry;, and’ agreed 1 that "the; people' of the r 'Province! 1 would- not- (vote for pro-hibition'to-day. ’ The f shopkeepers' of Regina had assured Mr. -Wilford ‘that conditions were tetter ilnder ’ State Control than .under prohibition. ,’; • At'the time of Mr. ■WiTfbfd-s- visit the; Premier of Manitoba, Air Bracken, had been ill, hut the’ speaker had ' seen Wrs ! C!luhb, the- Deputy Premier, ,wh;o ;-vthile v '.pers'onally inclined to prohibition lia'd "said fliat‘’Stafe;Contr6i- had - abolished ' boptleggihg and the . u'nspeak'ahle’ evils/ that-;>vent with ; it;' ana had -'agreed-with the -‘other ■ Pihiniefs .that’no ' vote. taken; to-day would 'repeal'-' Control • forJPr’ohiHtibn. ! Tlfe'hpeaker'had interviewed ; twen- - jAYinrlipeg, ;thei capital, -, of 'and ? not | on’Ce ■ did'' he ' hedr - ’a; ’faydrable' 'word for ■pi'diijbifi’oh'.' ;Qhb' vtehian' v 'Hadi' ! .dai'd 'to.’him “Give me Control, not prohibition: Under. Control my husband goes to the store, buys a bottle of good .liquor,--and brings it home. ■ Under pi’Ohbition he went wjith friends to bootleggers and sometimes didn’t retiirn at all/ He-wasn't abte' : 'to.’'’ “

•ELECTION FOUGHT ON TIEPEAL OF PROHIBITION.

' In Ontario, Mr. WiLford'.Ataitfedj lie had met FCTgxifeoh: who had fought his recent elect-ion on the abolition of prohibition and the institution of State. Control. “He von.’' said Mr. Wilfdrd, .“.with-- a • majority of • about' a quarter - of a; million votes.” (Applause.), Premier Ferguson had told ' him liow, under, prohibition, doctors issued' prescriptions for five million dollars’ worth in one year. -Bootleggers, ' defying"-the law; fiburished,: buying expensive mansions and cars', flaunting their woAlth arrogantly in the public", places,’ and selling v thirty-five* million dollar s’ worth •of liquor’; twelve '-months; Smuggling could, not 'lO; stopped. Bad liquor'smashed bomesV'pojsonedi drinker s,and broke, up families.' -Young. 1 men .‘ arid girls! Had sought. forbidden fruit * arid schemed for liquor where formerly they hadn’t: thought) of it. The ease of' manufacture arid huge; profits readily made, . smashed the moral! fibre, of the people. Premier Ferguson had dfeferriiiricd to - bring this state of things 'to an. end, and, the people .pallied to - nis aid .. in' abolishing f prohibition: and setting up State. Control,an" its plaice; (Applause;) V • *

Canon . n . famous, Anglican. Minister, w’ont to Alberta to investigate State; Control; fie came back to Ontario convinced, and said so. Then £>r. McGilvray, a noted Presbyterian Minister, .investigated . State Control in other, provinces, and became converted. Father Burke, of the Roman Catholic Church, joined these two divines in; the movement for.. the repeal of prohibition and the people began to take an interest. Then Mrs. Emily Mutphy, a. Police Magistrate of Edmonton, made a public statement, in which she said she had op/ poiled State Control in Alberta' on platform and by pen before it became law; but /that; after several years administering "’ it "she had found her fears had proved unfounded, for the State Control law was well conceived and well enforced. Premier Ferguson had ; told the ’ speaker that when scores of the leaders in every walk of life throughout the province had joined this movement, and publicly stated’that, the 'responsilility of the home; the - school, and the Church, called for tile repeal of prohibition the people of Ontario followed their Lead. ~ (Applause.)

. STATE CONTROL. BETTER. “At Ottawa,’’ continued Mr. Wilf’ord, “I was the guest of tlie Speaker of the House of Commons, the Hon. Randolph Lemieux. 1 met all the principal men in tlie Parliament there,, and had opportunities of discussing this matter with some of those who had been prominent in the prohibition movement oi‘ the past. I never found one who approved the operations of so-ea.led prohibition. ’Speaking of the prohibition regime one lady said that she had gone to a University where she was astounded to find that the- students had a special bootlegger who supplied< them with liquor.” All were agreed that open dealing within the [aw was better than prohibition and illicit dealing, with bootleggers. Another lady - Had- said that no doubt {the trouble at the polls m New Zealand was ,that -peop.e had not- experienced the- evils of pi ohiibition as had been the case’ in Canada. (Hear, Shear.) i 1 (PROHIBITION CORRUPTS YOUTH

S “On every hand,’’ said Air. Wil{ford, “evidence was forthcoming, that {under prohibition drinking amongst young people had reached alarming {proportions.” A leading police offi{cer told' him that under prohibition jibe • pocket flask brigade, or as the {police called it, ‘The Alickey on the ;Hip Brigade’ had been a sorry sight, j'fhe people hqd been led to believe jthat when prohibition came the old {boozers would die off, and the yonngler generation would never know the •taste, of it. This police officer had jsaid: “The exact opposite occurred. A’oung.boys and girls got the habit iof drinking, and the scenes at public jsocials and dances were indescribable,” and had concluded by saying: “Everyone- who had the welfare of ;the young people at heart should {fight against prohibition for it canmot be called temperance.” (Apjplause.) The same story could be heafid from coast to coast iMgCanada. The speaker’ had asked Jp* Henry Thornton, of the CanadiajgfNational Railway, what he thoughfjttf prohibition, arid his reply had Wen that it was a sham and a delusiojf and could, not lie enforced, that jfo county having had prohibition# and «rthen State Control Jfould e.i®- return to prohibition, aUf that op statement ’that prohibit® - wouktffie beneficial to tho«yoving|Pould oifflf lie accepted oeople wSjfehad n#« -experienced Jrin tlie gp)|lnce the fine »a&, cojxingw.24 .CQu doljfrs ]>Jr jffilejp had Jteen out of |he plbfiip detivedrunder tne GovernSientjcomrol Iffiuor; Premier Tasjfher#LuJfed the sneaker that She %Jtem was working splendidly fand Imw. proved a real measure of 'temperance reform. Premier Tasohereau led a House of seventy-five members in which the opposition : party only‘numbered nine;-thus pro--1 ring" that the Government had the ..whole-hearted support of the people. Premier Baxter, of New Brunswick, had endorsed tlie opinions, of the other Premiers. After experiencing prohibition iie had felt that the only thing for a man of honor to dgJ* was to put into effect a law vd#cn, although not claimed to .could be observed. . <;Apg^w?e.) ’ SO-CALLED PMHIBITION IN AjpTlO-N. lvaehed the Province of said Air. AYilford, “I saWfor the first time what is called in action.” He had interviewed Air. Rhodes, the Premier, who, when Nova Scotia carried prohibition, sent for the prohibition leaders and asked them to name a ■ chief inspector. They had named the Rev. D. K. Grant, and when that gentleman had asked for two deputies '.the- Government had given him eight, and t-jacked this with the {machinery for law enforcement. “What have they done?” said Air. ■ Wilford. “I inteiwiewed the Rev. D. K. Grant, the chief enforcement .official. He admitted he coukl not ; enforce prohibition. The coast line ’ made it impossible. Their revenue cutters were too slow and had no search lights, and no guns except. ; one Ross rifle. The fast speed liquor boats could not be caught.” When Asked what- he intended to do he had replied that he' had written to the Prime- ADnister asking him to try to obtain, from the British Government some fast revenue cutters and have '-.hem manned by ex-naval men, and . (iso see that t-liey were provided with proper searchlights and guns. The speaker had asked, “Will you get them froin the British Government r An'd the chief enforcement oflicer, After hesitating, had said, shrugging bis. 1 shoulders; that lie hoped so. (Laughter.) The .Rev. Grant had adAntted that tremendous quantities of liquor were sold by the Government stores ostensibly as medicine, butthat some doctors gave prescriptions too readily. ~ , ,- r , . “j left the Rev. Grant,” said Air. 'Wilford, “realising; that he himsolt h'adjbrit little hope, of successful enforcement, and wlierq I made enquiries':, outside I 'understood why. In one street alone in the town of Hali-

fax, every third house was .a ,’fily .• gi’og shop. That was admitted by the police,/and not; denied by Mr-Grant;’-’ The speaker described how the fishing towns on thp sea coast. ,mri a large number of schoonera' in. Ithfi ' liquor trade. When 1 a schooner was built they floated stock on the share plan, half to the public and half to the promoters. By the tame there were a hundred or two schooners running there was a pretty strong combination of interested people in the illicit liquor trade. Mr. Wilford related an amusing incident that occurred just after •he arrived at the principal hotel at Halifax. The bellboy had brought beer and whisky to the speaker e bedroom, and when informed that it had not been ordered said that he must have got the wrong number. (Laughter.) In order to test the system of prohibition he had asked .a policeman in the street of Halifax where he could get a whisky. The officer told him to go to the Govern! ment vendor’s store in Bedford Row. On Air. Wilford asking, was it not necessary to have a doctor’s, prescription the officer had smiled and told him just to mention his, name, which he gave him. _ (Laughter.') * “When I got into the building,’’ said Air. Wilford, “I found it to be a bag store filled with liquor. There were seven men at the counter waiting their turn. They all got liquor and I never saw one of them put -down any prescription. When it came to my turn I said, “A flask of gin, please.’ The man answered, ‘One dollar seventy.' (Laughter.) I put down two dollars. He gave me thirty cents change and put a small square flask on the counter. He asked me no questions. I waited and asked him' to wrap it up. He said ■put it in your pocket.’ I -did daughter), and brought it back to New Zealand, paid 3s -5d duty on it here and have it now in my possession unopened. A shipmate of mine, when I told him the story, lost no time in buying a bottle of whisky at the same place. (Laughter.) * And they call that prohibition.” . The speaker continued that right throughout Nova Scotia the bootlegger with his smuggled liquor, by evading Customs duties, was selling his illicit wares’ more cheaply than could lie done under a legal system. Prohibition in Nova Scotia had failed to destroy the liquor traffic. It had effected no moral reform. It had not imposed abstinence on the people, nor had it stopped economic waste in any way. It was. in effect, hypocrisy masquerading as sincerity. Even the Rev. Grant had' admitted to the speaker that a great deal of bootlegging was going on, that there were many stills, and that he had knowledge of a' bootlegger, selling liquor to boys and girls at school. This chief enforcement official, nominated by the prohibitionists, and himself a prohibitionist, had admitted that certain magistrates would not convict in liquor cases. He had said, “It is no use talking these cases before juries, because juries will not convict.” CORPORATE CONTROL A SOLUTION. Air. "Wilford summed up his eon-, elusions derived from his investigations in Canada as being: (1) That prohibition is not temperance.

(2) That prohibition cannot be enforced, and that the only way to eliminate bootlegging is to give people who want liquor a system, whereby they can obtain it within the law.

“I am satisfied,” said Air. "Wilford, “that only education and the force of public opinion will make for a sober people. Comparison of the conditions of twenty years ago with those of to-day indicate that'we are advancing rapidly to that stage when public contempt- and disgust will end the abuse of liquor. The speaker concluded by saying that he did ’ not claim that State. Control was perfect nor the only solution. Corporate Control with abusiness board and a preponderatjjse'of Government represent a tiqpv might prove a' better sysi that scheme the limitatiXsh of private profit and the distriTiution of all earnings over ten per cent, to public purposes was an attractive proposal. There was no doubt that Corporate Control would make for better accommodation, better service, better liquor, and would lead to temperance. That proposal would certainly seem better suited to the conditions of New Zealand than complete State Control. The -people, however, had left to them on the bal-lot-paper a middle issue at the approaching poll, and -they should use it to express their desire for better conditions. “Whatever is done, said Air. Wilford, “at least I am conduced that- this country will do harm to itself, and to its young people especially, if it ever carries prohibition.” (Applause.) V