PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 10 September 1921, Page 11

PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN

MEETING IN HAWERA. At the Presbyterian Hall, Hawera, last evening a meeting was heltl in connection with the prohibition movement. The chair was taken by Mr, A. Hunter, and a fair number listened to addresses by the district organiser, Mr. H. Qrinstead. Mr.. W. Dobbs, of Christchurch. and Mr. J. Malton Mur-

ray. Mr. Grfastead outlined the gone rat plan of preparation fon- the poll which ' will be taken in 1922. The platform was adorned with a blackboard bearing this slogan, "Each One Win One," and the speaker dwelt upon the importance and value of the result* which could bej obtained if each prohibitionist won one additional voter over. He said they were calling on the prohibition strong- ] holds to rally, to the attack of the . lsouor strongholds. They were being in- j vited to co-operate in a movement which reached beyond the confines of the j immediate vicinity and visualised 1 Dominion-wide prohibition. He urged them to keep themselves well informed 1 on all aspects, and to stress the advantage from a public health point of view .of the abolition of the liquor traffic. I Mr. Murray introduced himself as one of those "sane and rational" moderate drinkers who had been won to the prohibition side by a fuji consideration of all the factors involved.' He sketched, humorously, a picture of | the United States to-day as presented j in the various, items of misinformation ! which appear so persistently in the Press* He matte it clear that he was nu« j levelling any charge against New ] Zealand editors. He believed thtsj, printed the cable niews as received. But he wnnt on^to show, by actual quotation^, how misleading, and often actually false, was the news printed here as regards, prohibition in the United States. Amongst tfce positive advantages', of which the newspapers appeiir to know nothing, ho mentioned a letluction of crime in 59 of the principal cities in th« United States, with-an ( aggregate population of over 20,000,000. Comparaig 1020 with the decrease in afrresfe For drunkenness was '>ver 200,000, and the decrease in arrests for , all causes over 129,000. This was remarkable in view of the world wide ■crime wave. As <jHusfcraiinjr the constantly growing public sentiment - in , favour of theprohibition law he <mi>h(tioned tfrat when the Volstead Law was originally nassed. 22 Congressmen from JSew York City\ representing over 5,634,000 voters^ voted against it. On July 4 this year a gjreat "wet" paracte of protesters.against the Volstead Law ! was engineered* in Ne,w York City The organiser, a member.of the staff of . 4fle New York World boasted that one I million paraders would march. On the <diL y only J4*922 paraded, and of these 922 were bandsmen and 24 police. That was after advertising for paraders, canjya&sing for them, and generally combang New York City and environs. Thus, ! whereas aver 5 J 600,0U0 /reere (recorded *s against it At the start, only 14,922 could be found to march in protest two years later. And these, it was admitted by the. World, .wane 90 per cent, middle;aged aliens. Mr. Dobbs, Christehurch, said he wished to offer reasons why some .of the newspapers did not publish all the facts in regard to .the success of prohibition in America. J3e stated that several newspaper shareholders were interested .financially in breweries, and compared .'several share-lists of papers and breweries in the sou±h. He quafced many .other facts ne^axding the havoc thadi ;aicohol was working m the liv<es of the iPfople. In the jear 1913 official statistics, for Great Britain showed ihat 7.7,416 people were done to deasSi diseotly- and indineetly by alcohol. It was safe to say that ithese figures did 3qo± represent anything, like the number who died from alcoholism, as doctors, like oiher people, were humane, and if it vwene^possible'-to save tthe feelings of ih& nelasfctves of their patients they would do cc.. Sometimes different diseases in. I tervened and they w&re able to write on the certificate as the final cause of death some other cause than alcohol. It was 6afe to say that within the borders of «ur Empire not less than 100,000 pemhed every year through the liquor traffic; that drink is the root cause ol from 80: too 90 per cent, of the venereal and syphilis diseases; that from 20 to 40 per oeg&t. of those who go into our mental hospitals go there as a result oi brain ppnaoping by alcohol 5 that it. n one of tfce hindrances in the treatment «r*uberculosis. Tfee speakei said that .the issue was between tn<t Church and i% pub. It had been sai<3 hy a liquor -span in lowa th«i thej Should soon *-^»w these temperance «8-anks which wwßlld go furthest—a bar r«S of whisky.©r « bushel of Bibles. 11 W«« a fair, flat issuo, and ifc wag ipoi the conscience of $h& Christian Chtijrci to €&d this traffic. He then made at appeal for funds, wltfeli was generonslj I respofl^ed to.