Prohibition Campaign

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 234, 15 September 1922, Page 2

Prohibition Campaign

MRS. DON'S ADDRESS. PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT. Thro were about 200 present in the Hastings Assembly Hall last evening to hear Mrs. Don. Dominion president of the W.C.T.U., deliver a lecture on Prohibition. Ihe Rev. T. Keith Ewen presided, and in a few words introduced the speaker, who, he said, had devoted years of hard work in the cause of Prohibition. Mrs. Don, who was received with loud applause, gave a lucid, stirring, and serious address, dealing extensively with the work she was engaged upon, and giving a very clear and emphatic outline of the movement up to the present day. She had left her home in Dunedin a month ago, and had delivered lectures almost every evening since. Looking back on the way they had come, Mrs. Don said ’ she remembered when the W.C.T.U. ' was practically a joke. Instead of ! receiving bouquets of flowers, as she had received that evening, they had over-ripe fruit and eggs thrown at them. She, however, was never un- ’ fortunate enough to be struck by the missiles. The speaker remembered the time when hotel bars were open from early morning till 11 o’clock at night. Then they had them closed earlier; i made it impossible for children to be served with liquor, and now they had 6 o’clock closing. Between 12 and 18 years ago. said Mrs. Don, she had travelled over the North Island when towns were not so big as they are now, • and districts were less populated, but in spite of the growth of cities and the larger population, no new license districts had come into being. Speaking of what the liquor traffic > had done to humanity, Mrs. Don said ' she had spent seven years visiting the , gaols in Dunedin, and the stories she » had heard from the inmates were piti- ■ ful. Tho majority told her they were I there through indulgence in alcohol. > Sir Robert Stout, a staunch prohibitionist, had said that two-thirds of I the cases that had become before him were attributed to alcohol. A girl 16 years of age came up before Mr. Wid--1 dowson, S.M., at Dunedin, and her > tale of immorality was dreadful to de- ; scribe. Asked bv the Magistrate the cause of her misdoings, she said, “Got » drunk, sir.” Mrs. Don said she wanted to see New Zealand “dry” at the ’ next election. Alcohol was the greatest crime-producer. 1 Referring to the drink bill, Mrs. Don quoted Mr. Isitt, M.P. He had said in Parliament that £9,000,000 was spent cn the liquor traffc in New Zealand last year, and not a member or Minister of the House questioned the figures. We were getting 8000 arrests through this spending. She did not know of a man or a woman who i was any the better for taking alcohol, . and she was sure no one in the audi- ■ ence did either. There would be such s a revival of prosperity through New Zealand as had never been known ; if the country went dry. Referring to prohibition in America, ' the speaker said three churches lost I 67,000 memebrs through alcohol, but [ since the States had gone dry 600;000 new members had been gained. In conclusion, alter referring to the various ways in which the £9,000,000 • spent in liquor could be better utilised, Mrs. Don said that prohibition would make for a better community, a more prosperous country, a happier people, and with that before them she urged her listeners to vote “dry” for the upliu oi humanity and for the benefit or the children. Questions were invited, but none were forthcoming. Mr. H. R. French moved a vote oi thanks to the speaker, which was carried by acclamation.