Nine Million on Liquor

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 175, 27 July 1939, Page 2

Nine Million on Liquor

FIGURES QUOTED FOE. N.Z. MEETING OF TEMPERANCE COUNCIL A disclosure that last year Britain spent £300,000,000 on alcohol and New Zealand £0,350,000, and that every lifth cow in the Dominion goes to pay for the Consumption of liquor was made at the' annual meeting in the Metiiodist Chinch at Pahiatua of the Council for Action Against Alcohol, which was attended by representatives of various churches. It was pointed out that while tho Minister of Finance, lion. \V. Nash, had a hard struggle to raise a £9,000,000 loan in England, New Zealand spent more than that amount on liquor in 19 3*. In his annual report the president of the council (Rev. A. A. Armstrong) dealt with the anti-national effects of drinking alcohol. The evidence against the degrading and destructive use of alcohol continued to mount up, the president declared, adding that the loss of life directly due to consumption of liquor by motorists was a scandal and an-offence against intelligence and humanity. Despite appeals by the Ministort)f Transport and severe court penaltiei, the death-roll on this scoro was risinfi, and all this proved that, as a judge recently said, “What we want in relation to booze is not more jaw but more law.” It seemed that a callous section of the motoring public was stubbornly rebelling against all appeals for sane and decent behaviour, and considered their selllsh indulgence in liquor more than the good of the rest of the community and the lives of innocent people. Because of the open dcliance of many licensing laws, there was great difficulty in preventing disasters due to alcohol. “We urge that tho hours of the licensed trade should at least be brought into conformity with thoso of other businesses, which at present suffer severely from the unfair sale of liquor on Saturdays and holidays,’’ tho president continued. Our manhood was soaking more than £9,000,000 worth of insidious alcohol poison into their bodies annually. The Kaiser had said, “The next great war will bo won by total abstainers. ’’ Now the world was faced with another possible conflict. The president also quoted Mr. Lloyd George, who remarked during the war, “Wo aro fighting Germany, Austria and drink. Drink is our greatest enemy.’* New Zealand was giving away butter for alcohol, Mr. Armstrong concluded, but Hitler was giving away butter for guns. At the meeting matters were finalised regarding a delegation to the New Zealand Alliance conference, while encouraging reports were received regarding the Band of Hope and other temperance educational work. It was stated that the year’s work was highly successful.