CASE AGAINST PROHIBITION.

Matamata Record, Volume XI, Issue 962, 11 October 1928, Page 4

CASE AGAINST PROHIBITION.

FALLACIES AND FAILURES. ; Mr. F. Burke at Matamata. Despite the extremely stormy weather there was an attendance of some 60 or 70 people to hear Mr. Fred Burke at Matamata last evening. The iecturer gave a brilliant exposition of his views on the liquor question. He was listened to with great attention and was accorded a very hearty vote cf thanks at the conclusion. The chairman of the Matamata Town Board, Mr. J. Buchanan, presided,, and his appeal for a fair hearing was fully complied with. Mr. Burke made the following interesting prediction : “ I have inside information, and I can assure you people that there will be a licensed hotel in Matamata in 1929, provided that you again vote overwhelmingly in favour of continuance.”

In opening, +i;~ »-e.»Ker said the coming poll was the twelfth occasion upon which an attempt was to be made to upset the wish of the people. Surely the clear indication given of the peopled desires was sufficient to force upon the Government tion of the fact that prohibition was not wanted in New Zealand. He accused the »Government of hedging and of giving in to a minority of extremists. Mr. Burke gave it as his candid opinion that- there would be a 50,000 majority against prohibition ®t the coming election.

Quoting from the official Year Book, the speaker pointed out that it was significant that only. half of 1 per cent, of the people of New Zealand abused alcoholic liquor. It was past his comprehension to understand why /any intelligent person should wish to prohibit liquor upon such figures. This was surely irrefutable evidence that the country was not besotted with drink, if such evidence were needed.

The policy of the prohibitionist was not so much an endeavour to care for the drunkard but to abolish liquor. Nq one liked to see a man drunk, only the professional prohibitionist The speaker was an advocate of temperance, He had lectured on this subject. If the people all turned teetotallers voluntarily it would not affect him, -

s Mr. Burkei made a severe indictd ment of the professional prohibitiond ists. He said many of these were a e disgrace to the public platform. They g were either ignorant.' of their subject or guilty of deliberate and vile hypocrisy. If "there were no drunkards these people would have to earn their living elsewhere.' He admitted there were evils in the abuse of liquor, but he blamed the abuser, riot the commodity. If one took the prohibitionists’ stand on other matters there were few things that would not t be prohibited. , The speaker went on to blame the i unstable tenure of licenses for the . lack of facilities and conveniences at I some of the hotels. It was hardly to | ; be expected that licensees would Invest with the three-years’ sword • hanging over their heads. No cine could expect the trade to be what it should be on a three-years’ tenure. The Ecdnomic Side. Dealing with the economic Aspect, Mr. Burke said the trade contributed two million pounds annually direct to the Treasury. If this channel for revenue were cut off the taxation would have to be placed elsewhere. I There were only three avenues—the primary producer, secondary indus- J tries and the cost of living. Regarding the first, the primary producer I was now paying more than his share. ] There were not sufficient secondary 11 industries to add an additional I < £IOO,OOO annually to the State fin- < ance. The effect on the cost of living j c was apparent. The purchasing power a of the pound would be decreased. i The Example of America.

The effects of prohibition in Ame--1 rica were always being quoted by the prohibitionists, Mr. Burke went on. When it was said that the prosperity of America was due to prohibition it was a deliberate attempt to hoodwink the public. It was due entirely to that country’s three years’ neutrality during the war that she had amassed so much wealth. (Applause.) The war cost New Zealand over £100,000,000* Figuratively, if the position were re- i versed, America would be paying New Zealand £7,000,000 to £8,000,000 annually in interest. Prohibition was not responsible for America’s prosperity. The United States was the money lender of the world. The prohibitionists made capital out of this hy a string of half truths. They pointed out that insurance companies had increased their capitalised assets since 1920, that the number of cars per capita had increased, and that the savings banks deposits were materially heavier. But they # did not state that the. capitalised assets of New

The Extremist. Mr. Burke went on to say that he had no quarrel with the iuujtbt pro- * hibitionist, except that h*s views were , narrow minded. However, the ex--tremist offered a study of mental * philosophy. Ah extremist when he '. i changed his views went from one extreme to the other. He was born that way. The danger lay in the at-, tempt of the extremists to secure .the reins of government. If prohibition became law a mental barrier would be set up against it. Curiosity would be created. As a re- * suit the demand for liquor would be even greater. In support of this psychological aspect the speaker pointed out the demand for prohibited books and the rush to see a picture that had been criticised from the pulpit! The Religious Aspect.

I Dealing with the religious aspect, the speaker said emphatically that no clergy had a right to ,preach politics from the pulpit. He wished it to* be clearly understood that he did not [ approach this aspect from any particular angle of sectarianism. Mr. j Burke said every prohibition parson was to be pitied, inasmuch as lie was looked to as a teacher who should instil the Godly and conscious con- .« trol of all temptations of the mind and flesh. The moment he called upon the Government to make people sober he was unconsciously admitting the bankruptcy of his own theological profession. V

Six O’clock Closing. . j The speaker expressed the view that to carry prohibition would be an admission to the world that New Zealanders lacked self control and required sumptuary legislation to enable them to live respectable lives. The result of 6 o’clock closing was in increase of 320 per cent, of bottled seer sold. It also had the effect of placing a false value on liquor. Then again there was another evil. 2ev. Fletcher had mentioned it at Yhangarei recently, but everyone mew that the hip flask appeared to ie the necessary accessory to nearly very dance. He asked if anyone ould truthfully say that with 11 >' ’clock closing in the past '■there was s much drinking among young eople as there is to-day. The pro-

hibitionists were responsible. What would happen then if liquor was done away with altogether ? Every teetotaller was a living proof that self control only was necessary. As for the liquor manufactured in New Zealand, the brewers were prepared to give £IOOO to any hospital if one pint of poisoned liquor could be found in their stocks in New Zealand. liquor had to comply with the Pure Foods Act, but with prohibition the bootlegger-manufactured product would not be' under control and any poison could be given the public.

Back to License. Ten years ago the prohibitionists were attacking the liquor trade, and to-day they were compelled to apologise for the lamentable failures of prohibition wherever tried. Of 17 Governments which had tried prohibition in the past decade 16 had repealed the law. Every Australian State had definitely and irrevocably refused to experiment with it. New South Wales had killed its political

Zealand insurance companies had increased at four times the rate of those in American institutions, that more cars were sold in New Zealand per capita than in America, and that, whereas U.S.A. was the twelfth on l the list as regards savings bank deposits, New Zealand led the world with £8 12s per head, man, woman and child. These figures placed New Zealand generations ahead of Ame-\ rica. And in humanitarian legisla- , tion America was aeons of time behind the Dominion. In America there was no old age pension, no Arbitra- / tion Court, no basic wage. How could it be . claimed that prohibition was a !; ’ J . success? to • “A Laughing Stock.” The people of America had never had a vote to make America dry, and the speaker challenged anyone to deny the statement. The U.S.A. was - to-day, under prohibition, the laugh- / ing stock of the world. Many of the “dry” leaders, <i!whom he named, / were bootleggers. Mr. Burke cited cases of alleged “ drys ” fighting the taking of a referendum. Many of these were interested in the nefarious sale of illicit liquor and wefe . making huge profits under the pre- - sent system. “ The ‘ pussyfoots ’ will tell you about America,” said Mr. Burke. “America is the laughing stock of the world. It is significant that of \ the two candidates for the Presidency Mr. Hoover says he wiilMieip to enforce prohibition and Mr. AI )y . Smith that he will repeal prohibition if elected. One; admits that it has so , . 7 far not been enforced, and is there-, fore a failure, the other admitting . that it has not the support of the,/ . people.”

•existence by over half a million majority, while Canberra, the Federal territory, after years of no license, overwhelmingly voted to have li- . censed hotels opened.

The prohibitionists pinned their ■ “banner on sentimental “ twaddle,” "whiph would not stand the test of accurate political history. When the -prohibitionists talked of the effect on -thei coming generation they overlooked the fact that the past and present New Zealand generations had * always had licensed trading, yet they compared most favourably with any xace in the world. Far from abolishing the demand for alcoholic* liquor prohibition merely substituted an uncontrolled illicit traffic for the present licensed trade. A feature of sly grog shops was the

licentious sidelines. It was- owing to . this that 16 Governments had repealed prohibition to clean up the immoral traffickers. In . concluding, Mr. Burke appealed ' to his audience to take a commonsense . jview of every angle of the question and not'a prejudiced ond. •

'[(Extended Report by Arrangement)