LETTERS.

North Otago Times, 29 May 1908, Page 1

LETTER S.

■■ ■ >. •■' . SO-LICESSE IN OAMARU. To Hid Editor. ' Sir,—Some gentlemen wero discussing 'the disgusting' revtjlatijbnsi con. tajiid in " Visitor's" letter to your paper, and were, commenting on the fact; that he apparently desired trifceonvey tho impression that no-licenso was responsible for such-a degrading slate o( things. This led- to ono of tho gentlemen staling that almost a similar case occurred in Qp'njoni some years ago, with the difference tfi'ftVii took .place in a licensed house and in the daytime. "A Visitor" would no doubt altributo the affair tq tho of-, feet of license • so might others. Again, " A Visitor " refers to his having visited foun grog shops during tho good time he had in our town. This proves nothing against Do-license, or it is n fact that while, licenso was in force there was'in one locality iilone Hire? sly-grog shops in sight of each other.—J am, etc,

OLD RESIDENT.

CHURCH PARADE. To the Editor,' Sir,—ln reply to " A Member .of St, 1 i.k;'.-.- " we have to tender our apologies to the Rov. Jnmicson .and ids congregation for having iliadvertably interrupted tho tmlco on Sunday morning. Had it occurred to us that the service was still proceeding we should have desisted from creating such " a ronr'" as your correspondent chooses to drsirrnato it. As to his most un-Christinnliko criticism of what to other people may appear finite the reverse, we prefer to leave his most disagreeable judgments in the hands of more capable critics. Tn conclusion, we desiro to state that "A Member of St. Luke's" had no occasion to expose the pd'ets o' a d'sorderod liver through the medium of the ii'Wspnper, ns a complaint, to, the officer coinmnudiiiti tlw district ex (o tlio band would have been ouilo as effectual and much more Christinnlikc than the seurri'oiis effusion with which ' he has occupied your valuable space. --We are, etc.. MFWFRS 0E TITB GARRISON BAND.

HARIiOR BOARD. To the Editor.

Sir,—ln reading Mr W, H. Rose's letter in Thursday morning's paper,headed " Harbor Board." (here appears to 1.0 very little information in it concerning linrbor matters, and a good deal that is' personal in which tho ratepayers are not particularly interested, It would liuiHho pnblib of Oamaru and district much better if. Mr Rose would publish his letter ro tho new loan question in th 6 Leal papers 'before sending it to the Otago Daily Times, Duncdin, shipping prognss is not at all wolccm? ; as wimt Oamaru Duitodin partly gains, If the opinion cf the Daily Times,' reporter .on harbor nutters is of nny value, ho should turn his attention to the, cost of Duncdin's unsatisfactory harbor before connv{ to cri'i'i-eH a neighboring town,-I am, etc., It. K. IRELAND. 2Sth May, IMS. OAMARU UNDER NO-LICENSE. To tho Editor. Sir, —I liavo read with interest some of the letters that have appeared lakly in tho Oamaru newspapers, but cannot say that any-* of them /with one exception) do fall justice to the above heading. Even your contemporary 's remarks on "Visitor" were only what was to be expected i,f the v.r.ual " bark "• from) the echoing wa'h ol contention, and it was a feeble effort to clear the ugly statements made by that anonymous writer. It would iiot do for every correspondent to sign his or her name to tho statements they make public, because they might find themselves in trouble through niisplwiiig other, people's confidtntfal remarks entrusted to them. Nottlier would it pay any tradesman to prejudice his customers against him

simply because ho airs bis own opinions in an open explanatory letter shncd by himself. Only a certain see tion of (he public who canvass the town for signatures to support a biographical sketch of imaginations can place their names will) full initials to letter.! written with crystallise.! watemid afterwards appearing in print. They only can do it because they ' have nothing to lose. Then the letItrs themselves are so compose:! o ( milk and water (convict's diet) thqt his real aim is lost in a motley arrangement cf questions and I will tiding right hen; that the anonymous correspondent who signed himself " Visitor " made one unjpardonable error .in saying, <'l hovo always ' voted for jio:li.ocnso in the past." Now r that practically means ibat'up to the ' timo when those ugly facts and incid- ' cuts camo under "Visitor's" notice be ' was a prohibitionist, Well, I contend ' that once let it happen that a man ' or woman (especially on inhabitant ' of Oamaru) gols it into bis or her ' head ithut, they ought to vote for rro- " bibition right, or wrong, there is ;o 1 hundred chances -to ono you won't shift that idea in this century. Tho incidents stated by"" Visitor" may *' have really occurred or. they may not ;fi but from what I haro seen they ore not far short of tho truth. The real meaning oi prohibition is, as far as I can make out, to prevent people 'from': . buying liquor openly and in-a legal way, in the town or district where the, Act'applies- When tho open bars were ■ abolished, 'what was ihe result? •' Simply tho liquor had to bo procured . elsewhere, and of courso the nearest place was the hamdlosl. Bo'ore the Act camo Into fovco here tho public 'hotel bars wore "a picture to- look at-

clean, well kept, and the, moral .tone as cleat as uystal. Oder was ob81'ivod by cveiy customer, Each limn • bad one or mora drinks, mid walked homo (it ho could), and that was* nil about-it. But now the. present order is a room or n small cottage. In one coiner « keg of beer, on the shelves or tnblcs repose ono or more'bottles of poison labelled whisky, Young men ' (with, respectable parents) are sitting arouml tho table playing curds (sometimes for money); others again, with thocnrdplnycrs'"assistance are trying their level best to effect tho trans'er oi tho contents of tho keg to somewhere within their own epidermis,, pud tho night drags on,'only the scene changing in spectacular effect according to the fifness of tho participants. ] Dawn gradually breaks in on the ' scene, disclosing tho hideousness of tho ' interior. Then you see human nature in its undisguised barbarism and revolting depravity, Young men, who s twelve hours before were sober and in their right mind, now wallow like the ' swine in the grip of intoxicating li- ' 'ijnorej" thoir faces showjng lines o! physical agony after partaking .of n glnes of hecr or whisky for. friendship of sociability's sake, The same thing orcurs next night, until through illhealth and empty pockets they try to -, give it up, hut-no they can't. Like n 1 wet sponge- their brains and systems arc sodden with drink. They, have " lost their self-respect, energy and , mni.linpss; everything, is losit, and only the body carrying n scarcely beat- a ing heart, is left to walk through the streets during tho daytime, and seek solaeo hy'means of mora poisonous '' drink during tho hours of dnrkuoss. Bcforo the open foara were "close;!, if a " person mentioned n»'-wish to obtain a keg ot beer or a enso of whisky ho would be deemed insane for galling such a largo quantity. To buy . one *\ or two bottles of l.orr for co'sump- "' tion outside an. hotel was considered the height of extravagance, Hut now n tho present ordor is nothing lew than " a five or ten 'gallon keg of beer, for '' which you have to send to Dmuxlin ' tho sums of lis) M and 22s Cd respce- "' tively. This will suffice to quench tho " ( thirsts of that saction cf the public s| ' who before prohibition were content " to go and have a glass of bocr, and ! then leave it'T,lonc 4 Tlte only way ns to successfully stop the liquor traffic. " is to'introduce clause nine, and then "' mnko it illegal to bring any liouornt 01 all into a no-lifonso district, But, r.o; EC thai docß-jrot suit- the no-liccnso par. m ty. Why, I wonder ? Their bewailing °i cry in " we only want io shut the op- w en bar." Closing the hotels does not fl stop drinking. The scene simply '>< changes like a pantomime from ono " place to another. A well-kept hotel «' bar, sparkling with polished brass and er silver, sliqlves neat ev and regular rows of bottles contain- «' ing refreshing liquorfl of good brands, «' gives placo to a dirty filthy hovel, " shelves lined with nn irregular array * of dirty bottles containing doubtful brands of poisonous anil inloxicat- g ing lquors, and the occupants, who oi liavo lowered themselves in the sight P of God in entering these places to ob- b tain- that which is 'necessary to feed' a the fire of their drink-sadden bodies. L I don't think tliey will over got li- t .censes back here again, because that. vv taction of tho drinking community q have; 'got so ordained to the almighty g 1 ■krp- that they won't trouble them- v selves to vote ether way. What care v they whether tho town goes to the t dogs pr not, as long as they gel >j enough money to buy a five-gallon v keg of beer or a case of whisky. • Roughly speaking, five-men of ordin.- v nry drinking capacity, can finish in c a night a hog containing Ave solid * gallons of beer, equal to a gallon to a each man, They can get as helplessly ' drunk as- they like, kick up ns much ' row as they 'arc able, blemish the v walls with ns much filthy language ae- V cording to their volume, of voice, and ' ; what is the result? Nobody can say v a word. Nolo tho 'difference. Five men " ..go into a hotel, they have five long I 1 pints of beer; result; they get more ' or less inebriated, but arc quietly per- h suaded to go.-homc. True were the f words of our retired Magistrate when v ho Enid " a drunken man in ' Oamaru was a curiosity, and ho ought r to bo put in a glass ease." What a [ different tale it would be ii the blinds ' on the windows oi a few houses and r club rooms Were lifted; disclosing the I occupants in a stato of sordid drunkenness. Even women could >bo counted among the men toeing the mark t.i the commencement °f n debauch on a

five gallon keg of Leer. An argument used by Rtrong female advocates 'oi f prohibition >". oh, wo want to stop tlio husband from spending bis money over the bar in drink." Far better that way, than the husband (etching the drink home and placing il as a terrible temptation to his wife and family. Worse still, would it be for a wife or daughter to sink themselves into the lowest depths oi degradation and shame by getting drunk. What a novelty it would seem, to the husband, who," unable to get liquor from a .hotel, comes home with tho express intcnllon of having a " drunk',' from hia stock of liquor, but finds to his dismay that Inn "larder" is empty and bis wife and daughter dead to tho disappointment* of an empty cupboard. What would he do ? Borrow from his noighbor, and stnifl/rom "scratch, the chances arc that ho.would run a good finish. Hcwlt, next morninn; found themlclvcs lying side by side, eoro heads, beer nil finished, and each with as much pity as would han? •o buteher. Escape inn tor referrm? every' timo to five-trails !<c?R, but that is the smallest quantity that is 'procured-nowadays, so T did not want to thW anything unduly. WpoMstog for using so much space.-! am, *" ' RESIDENT. KO-LICENSE IN JSVEBCARGILL. "To tho Editor. j Sjr.-Inveroorgtli under no-license js , cvon in o worso condition than is [ Oamaru. Recently. 100 persons, totii fiod -to tho groat benefits of prchibi-' I tion, but somehow tho Beamy side keeps showing above- tho surface dc , epito oil'prohibitionists' efforts to " tramp it undef. Tho following appear- . Ed in tho courso of a polieo court ro- ' port of-a disgraceful prgie in the Queen's Park, Invorcargill, and was published in-thp.Soutlrlaiul '/lines on

May 22nd: " The Bench renlis.'d that this custom ot drinking in 't!:o' reserves was becoming a veiy .sci'iouu matter in Invcrenrgill, so mudi so Hint .waging iu tho paib'Jnta at night was unsafe." This is i-wahid ing Invcrcnrgiil, where, iince.; rohibition hasi been canicd life id in u.'.'l;.turned dream of pkusiiro : .iho ii, temperate use of, language by prohibitionists seems to indicate thai iky all become lilir.'.lly "nelm-ujd Vvl.en dealing with their pet subj-'ct. 1 am forwarding you a copy ..f ;«e ]..-,! or. You will see the report oi the caS'! on pago 15, column 1. On col nun four of the same page, and exactly nt tho corresponding lino ns the .'xtiy-tt .1 hnvo made, the follow ng itraugc stntdmenti appears, The. statement 1 should meniion, is made by ilr . r . B. M'Kinney, general secretary oi tho Invercargill Y.ill.CA.-" 1 must say that lam greatly pleased with tho sobriety nnd orderliness of this city, H Is a great advance on any tnwn of similar sixc that I have ever se-ni."—] am, etc,, r

who is winr?