LICENSING ISSUE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 14 October 1925, Page 4

LICENSING ISSUE.

“THE CHALLENGE OF .THE HOUR.” A BRILLIANT ORATION. A remarkably fine oratorical effort was. the address given by Rev. L. B. Fletcher to further the cause of prohibition in the Opera House last night. There was a good attendance, and the Mayor (Mr E. A. Pacey) occupied the chair. Before the address was given a short programme of musical and elocutionary numbers was provided, the performers being Mrs Cate and Miss 0. Gnndrod (songs), Mrs and Mr Cate (vocal duet), and recitation, “Be a Sport,” by Miss Joan Tonks. Mr Herbert Taylor played the accompaniments. All the items were much enjoyed. The speaker was briefly introduced by the chairman, who said the address would be the “spice of the programme,” and that Mr Fletcher had made a great reputation as an orator. Mr Fletcher said that than the challenge of the hour there could be no greater topic for young men and young women. He would remind all thinking people there was a problem facing everyone in the world. He said that ever since the war an effort had been made to find peace, but there was none, and actually another world war would have occurred last year had not the nations been bankrupt. He referred to the opinions of General Smuts, a man whose words were always considered and of the greatest weight, and also to other statesmen, all of whom considered there was a great danger facing civilisation and an impending peril menacing humanity itself. Conan Hoyle and many others believed that a crisis was threatening the world which might break at any time. He said the position was vital to this country, which had been so blessed by nature and had risen in a comparatively short time to a position of prosperity such as would have been hardly dreamed of by the pioneers of the Dominion. The people of to-day had to acknowledge that the efforts of the pioneers laid firm, the foundations on which had been built the cultivation, the educational institutions, the railway systems, _ the beautiful churches, and all within a comparatively few years. He asked what the people of the present day were doing for the next generation, and whether the _ latter would glory in us as we did in the pioneers of the past. He urged all to prepare for the future in which, as was believed by many great thinkers, and expressed by a writer in Public Opinion, the Pacific was destined to become the Mediterranean of the future. He graphically sketched in eloquent language the glories of the great nations who lived round the shores of the Mediterranean who grew to magnificence and passed away—Greece, Rome, Egypt, and the little country where was born Jesus Christ. It was, he added, the highway of the commerce of the world. In picturesque terms he showed' how the Pacific could be likened to the Sea of the Ancients—the AngloSaxons in the north, the Latin nations of South America, and then across to Japan, China and India, with their teeming millions, all adopting customs of the West. He traced the rise and progress of Japan and her wonderful success on land and sea against one of the great Power 6, the first time in history when Japan “stepped on the platform of the world.” Referring to recent events, he said that the PanPacific Institute at Honolulu was a happening of which all must take note, when 120 thinkers and statesmen, representing practically all the Pacific nations, discussed trade, immigration, and other great questions, and where there seemed an understanding amongst them all to make ’ war impossible. Prominent among the great men were the Chinese representatives, from a nation which had a complete .system of philosophy, religion, art, and sciences “when Abraham was a boy.” And, he added, it must be remembered that the Mongolian had’ the finest type of brain in the world, and that China had the largest iron and coal deposits of the world untouched, 450 millions of people, a quarter of the population of the world, and that when her industry was properly organised she would be able to flood the world’s markets more cheaply than even Germany. The danger there at present was the machinations of the Russian Bolshevists, by which they hoped to build up a new order .of things. The effect, he said, of unlimited manpower being let loose in the world could readily be imagined. In Australia, too, there was the germ of a great problem because of its vast unoccupied spaces inviting Asiatics to fill them. By them or by our own people these areas must be filled. He said it could therefore be readily imagined that the Pacific might be the Armageddon of the future, and therefore the strategic position .of New Zealand might make this Dominion the centre in an era of peace or of war. He added he was convinced that New Zealand was to he the Great Britain of the South, and drew from the lessons of history the fact that the small nations had affected the history of the world more than any others. He believed, he said 1 , a world crisis was coming, and that within 10 vears there would he such changes l as had never been seen before.

In this crisis, he added, he asked the question whether liquor would help or hinder. If it could, as he believed, be shown that harm was being done, to humanity, it was up to all to step out and take a stand for the good of the people. ' He referred to the statements made in the liquor papers and posters,, and said that nearly all of them had been proved to be absolutely false by incontrovertible. documentary evidence. Going back ten years in history he sketched in vivid language the harm done 'by liquor nationally and individually in the great war, and quoted the opinions of leading men on the subject.'' He gave a recital of the many pathetic and heart breaking sights he had seen in England during the war and the intense sufferings of the poor people, which were greatest before che days of rationing. He referred also to the wonderful " work and outspoken courageous words of Arthur Mee, editor of My Magazine and other papers. He said that during all that time the brewing industry was helped and protected and was able to secure supplies of sugar and coal and other products while the people were starving arid hungry and went cold. In the words of one of the great statesmen, Lord Rosebery, he added, “If they did not control liquor, it would strangle the nation in time of crisis.” And he pictured graphically some of the sad sights lie had seen, the direct result, he said, of liquor, and added that “we could have licked Germany without the aid of America, and two years earlier, but for the liquor traffic.” Therefore, he added in an eloquent peroration, “there were wonderful possibilities if tho people would say before God they would vote out liquor, 'which was spreading like an octopus over the country and was eating out its heart- like a cancer.

Let us, therefore, make New Zealand free and bone dry,” was his concluding appeal.

The address was followed with dose and keen attention, and its conclusion was greeted with loud applause.

On the motion of Mr. L. A. Bone a very 1 hearty vote of thanks was accorded the speaker with reclamation. Mr. Bone urged all to make the greatest effort of their lives in tho fight, for prohibition. He said lie had been working for many years and would continue for as many more to achieve the end desired. He referred also to the prosperity experienced in no license districts and said that it should be an inducement to all to vote for prohibition.

Mr. Fletcher briefly acknowledged the compliment and urged all to work hard and to spare no effort .in the good cause. The singing of the National Anthem concluded the meeting.