TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Mataura Ensign, 4 July 1914, Page 2

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

[Published, by arrangement.]

—. IS THIS "A SQUARE DEAL"? Hi© t 'Man in, the Street knows that ever since the right- to vote on/ the Jjquor question has been onioyed hv the people of this country, tlie supporters of the liquor traffic .have had an advantage of 20 per cent, over those who favor Np-Liceuse and National Prohibition. Forty pro-liquor votes weigh as •heavy a$ 00 anti-liquor votes by the decree ot our Houses of our Legislature'. \\ hat this difference of 20 per cent, means in lactual Wructice will be apparent to the man who chooses to study the facts in. the light of figures. It means, tor oxamplei, that Wore the votes of the National Prohibition party to Km to.count at ail .for their own side, they have to make a present of no less j than 102,000 votes to the Liquor party.' j Let thait fact he written down in plain , ■words as well as in plain figures: Th» law of the land compels the Prahibitiost pa,rtv to give to thft Lcquor party ono hundred and two thousand votes bsvora iha vite for Prohibition begins to remit far f. mueJi as the vote for Liquor, What has the Man in the ■street to say concerning such a. handicap as that? His first question naturally will 'be, "Why should such a, handicap be imposed ?" "Why should- the.Liquor man have ftll that advantage over the Prohibition man?" The repfy lie will get will furnish him with some reasons tlvat wifcl set him thinkin« hard For one thing, he will be told tlTat the liquor traffic represents the investment of a. large amounti of money, and the handicap is necessary to protect the interests oi Capital. It is quite true that there are other interests that claim to bis considered. It 'is oroved beyond a doubi! that the Liquor Traffic "is responsible for move Crime, more misery, more disease, more wrecked homes, more broken hearts, more blasted lives, than any other cause that can be mentioned. There were more than 11,000 arrests for drunkenness in New Zealand last .year, and it is a very moderate calculation to assume that for every "drunk" who fell into the hands of the police there were 10 who were not arrested. It seem as if th«- claims of health, of morality, of good order, » r social progress, should come, first in the regavd of a Government that is supposed to exist to secure the greatest sj-ood i to the greatest number. But W far Parliament-has said, "No! '\More all considerations of domestic mace, of puiblic health, of good order, and social advancement, regard must bo paid to the interests of tho men and women who have invested .their money in the Liquor Traffic, and so the vote to keep the Liquor Traffic going must be made 20 per cent, easier than the voto to" bring it to an end." What does the Man in the Street think ' n? 1 that as'a square deal? If ]iq , has -boys of 'his own that lie wants to ceo protected from .the liquor curse, what will he think of the law that his vote tf» close the liquor ibar shall be qf oQ .per cejit. less value than the vote of the brewer, who, to put money into his own pocket, votes to keep the'liquor bar open? Is. he willing to have his boys sacrificed in the" interests of Liquor Capital? not, ought he to be willing to sec other people's boys sacrificed to add to the gains of Brewers?

Rut the M«it in the Street will bo. tokl, further, that the three-fifths hanis necessary in the interests of stability. And he will he told tiiac with an, emphasis that is meant' to put an ends to all controversy. "It would never do, you know, to have the Liqvw Traffic in to-day, and out to-morrow, and back again the next day, Prwfcice demands that the vftte to -out' the Liquor Traffic should be sufficiently strong to k«ep it out, and! you can only secure that by imposing the three-fifths handicap." But the Man in the Street "will, do well to note who thoy sy-e A for the most part, who insist the retail* tion of fiiifh J), He will find tjuvi l (ft pf the Liquor Traffic, and the Stability they profess to he so anxious about is the perpetuation of that traffic wherever it .exists.. National 1 inhibition be carried- V-Y <v majority votp, tfwes any one in his istmsts imagine that those who are jßiw clamoring for the handicap ill thtf interests of stability would bo content to allow the three-ftftlw l(an<iio>ap to remain liestoration ? Would 1 tiiey not discover then that their vote in favor of ltestoration ought to be of the same value as the vote for tho Continuance of National Prohibition, and therefore dpmar.i) as their right that ili« question should be settled by a Bare Majority? In view' of an inevitable contingency such as. that, "hwmlmg" too strong a. term to einpfoy with regard to thp present demand of tho Liquor Party that the three-fifths handicap must f>e retained in the interests of stability? When the Liquor man and the Prohibition manchango places, there will be {V pift|ir*> of misery: 'on the LiflUpr iuan*s face, pitiful to behold, aiu'l lie will groan in protest, "I mil blcvwedl if this is a square deal. Parliament has been too good to'the other fellow. Let us both start on equal terms!" The Man in the Street will see that this question (if (stability is one ■ that has tvy-Q sides to it. As urged! by the Liquor side, it is a plausible device to bolster up their trade at the oost of a heavy levy upon the Prohibition side. If 'their trade were abolished by the Prohibition vote with tho three-fifths handicap, they would be the first to ti|i'U round l arid demand that Restoration should Ik? carried by a Bare Majority. All of which goes to show that not only is the three-fifths I'.andieaip condemned on the ground o? its infamous recognition of the supreme claims of tho Brewers' Capital, hut as being a policy of expediency which the Liquor Party will immediately disavow when it no longer suits their purpose. If the Man in the Street, en thinking the. matter out carefully all round, is not! cfjiiviiweit that the Liquor Traffic deserves no favor, and ought to have its existence determined bv the Simple Majority vote of the people in whose in-ti-rests it is! .supposed to exirvt, ho will jjihciw a lac],- <|f flip ( li'iir jiK.lp;mpnt and |M>limi coin mini-muse thai yvi- lci vt- hill! : credit for. A Square Deal would never permit the continuance cf the Liquor Traffic on a minority vote. —(Mupied i from 'Tlit- Vanguarß,') I ''HE THAT HATH. BRAINS TO L THINK.''.,,*