PROHIBITION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 25 October 1928, Page 9

PROHIBITION

LECTURE IN THEATRE ROYAL KY REV. I!. «. WEEKS A prohibition lecture composed mainly of a strong indictment of the liquor traffic was delivered by the Rev. K. R. Weeks, of Wellington", at the Theatre Royal last night. 'The heavy rainstorm last night was no doubt the cause of the very small attendance. r lhe Rev. P. N. Knight presided and before calling on Mr Weeks to speak he remarked that from what he could see of the audience few of them needed converting. The visiting speaker would, however, be able to supply thorn with ammunition, to use against "'the supporters of the trade between now and the election.

Mr Weeks said lie was always deeply affected when lie thought of the pitfalls that were ahead of little children to-day unless this terrible thing was got rid of. New Zealand should lead the way in this sociological development, for the speaker was sure that if the liquor traffic could be blotted out it would be an unmixed blessing. Perhaps a few hard drinkers and other selfish-minded men would miss the drink, but 90 per cent, of the people would feel that a weight had been lifted from the shoulders of society. Th;J problem was not peculiar to New Zealand. The Dominion was facing today a great problem which all humanity was meeting. Mr Weeks spoke of the trade as being debased in its business methods, and quoted from a. statement mads by a missionary to the effect that with the natives whom they were trying to influence the most difficult thing the missionaries had to deal with was the liquor traffic. It was harder to. eradicate than the cannibalism and paganism of the natives. • Alcohol was looked upon in chemical science as a poison and one of the aims of the prohibitionists was to have it sold and restricted as a poison. The speaker said that they had been told the saloon helped business Yes, it did help business just as an epidemic helped the druggist or as thieves kept the police force in existence. The only business that the saloon helped was the liquor business. Drink was really an enemy to business. It undermined an employer's staff and increased his risks, and the speaker quoted cases of which he had had personal experience. Would liquor be tolerated in the cab of a railway engine, in a signal box or. in any other place where clear heads were required? Mr Weeks quoted the experience of two similar factories in the United States. One of them insisted on its employees being total abstainers, the other did not. The result was the owner of the "dry" factory had his insurance premiums reduced by half after some years' operations had proved the smallness of the accident risk in his works. It was frequently stated that tho abolition of the liquor traffic would adversely affect a great many allied industries, but the speaker said that when the money was released from the liquor traffic it would be diverted to productive channels for the benefit of the business community of the country as a whole. The revenue from the liquor traffic was £1,900,000 per annum, but to get the revenue £8,500,000 had to be spent on drink. It would be a paying proposition if the £1,900,000 was paid out of the £8,500,000 and the, balance made available for useful trading purposes. Mr Weeks referred briefly to State control in Canada, which, he said, was one of the most disastrous things that had ever happened. In Toronto alone 600 more policemen had been asked for. The speaker referred to the argument of personal liberty with the greatest contempt, and gave details of cases of drunkenness which, he said, were the result of this so-called personal liberty. In conclusion, the speaker summarised the attitude of the prohibition party. Thev proposed to persist and keep on persisting and would meet and match the Trade in the political realm. They were going to insist that the Parliament candidates who sought their vote were men of sufficient calibre and education to march abreast of the times and stand bv the truth of the evil of alcohol as was shown in the laboratories of science instead of sheltering the trade. We intend to challenge those Parliamentary candidates and see where they stand on this question," he said "It they don t know what they are talking about then they needn't come to us and ask lor our vote. We are going to match agitation with agitation: we are going to rob the liquor trade of its respectability and brand it as an indecent thing. A vote of thanks to the speaker for his interesting and inspiring address was moved by Mr R.Watson and seconded by Mr G. P. Russell.