STATEMENTS DISPUTED.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 September 1938, Page 4

STATEMENTS DISPUTED.

' : (To the Kdito|). Sir.—May I ask..the favour of space, to reply to’the leading article’in 't& “Guardian” f , on; Monday., r. Sieptem'uiijr the 19th,: 1938, .Th«. article is definitely lhisleading and the l'afhicious. and needs, ,1. fqel, to be ahsiyeied,* not from the point of opening ;dis;cuißsion on the pros and cons of Prohibition v. Continuance, but as this' issue -Will be before the public shortly 'that they at least have- the right priiacipies 'before them in making their While tho figures quoted are ihieresting and significant. in some wiiys they, must not.be taken as.a^.hasisXtb,,.

judge whether or not. the alcoholic liquor is necessary . or hot. Zeehariah Chaffee, Profesqsr oi Law at- Harvard University once skid:-> is true that a majority, shall' act. blit it is not the best way. of deciding yvfaat is right.” This I know can hqvb seybral applications but the poirit T wish to draw is that the increase .in numbers voting for n Continuance doeg/not act as a as to the- nghinesk. and wrongness of the Traffic-Jet-us face the matter honestly when we judge. History has proved that ,iji many cases that increased support for and kindred questions has been a sign of the nation’s .decline and evidence,, of moral landslides, as for example fn the 18th century,« The whole reference to the,.financial question is unworthy of the; writer as* our British tradition is- against ._ such argument > . Our policy has U>e n ,-in many notable cases not what revenue was derivable form ,tjje particular source but whether the thing was in itself right or wrong. Amid great and continued opposition ,jfche> : British Parliament abolished slavery..-. where it had jurisdiction, thqugh it .took from 1788 to 1807 to- do so because of its lucrative nature, j. Are, we to let financial matters determine whether or not- a thing is tq- be ■ part of our nation’s life? The,samejquestion can be asked regarding -the reference to the social security scheme. ■,- The statement that the. revenue from the Trade is ‘essen- . rial for- economic reasons? is surely open to plain contradiction. : The third main contention set out is in regard to the tourist traffic. Do we have to prostitute our,.scenery? Do we have to buy the presence of tourists to .see what i s undoubtedly classed with the finest scenerv in the world ?

The point of my letter is, as I said, not to set out a reasoned case for Prohibition but to suggest that in making a. judgment we do not let fallacies and half truths-mar our judgment but that we decide what is right and what is wrong. To do this ; information is available from -reliable authorities. Is it unfair to ask that people look as well as at the debit balance as shown in hospitals, gaols, unhappy, homes, ruined lives, and/; consequent moral accompanyments of the,Trade?, ; : ; Tn this judgment- leti.ua .not count difficulty and sacrifice, a s jhaip'jers but let us afteri making, a,* careful,. qnd s nravful judgment- d O .-whqt., .is' right

regardless of tbe cosb-r-so .s,hall we bo true to the, hie host ;ip our national heritage. I am etc.

W. E. ALLON OARR, Parsonage, Hokitika.