PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18222, 16 October 1922, Page 9

PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN

MR. FINLAYSON'S MISSION.

ADDRESS AT TOWN HALL. INDICTMENT OF THE TRADE. (Extended Keport by Arrangement-) An address in connection with the prohibition, campaign was delivered by the Hon. W. F. Finlayson, ex-Labour member ' for Brisbane, in the Town Hall yesterday afternoon. The Hon. George Fowlds presided over a large attendance. , i The meeting was most orderly throughout, and not a single interruption nor hostile remark marred the delivery of Mr. Finlayson's address. An unusually clear and eloquent speaker, he gripped the attention of his audience from the start, and retained it to the end. New Zealand and Australia, said Mr. Finlayson, were united by very close fraternal bonds; the enemies of the one were the enemies of the other, and whatever developed and strengthened either one of these Dominions of the British Empire affected the other in similar manner. In the matter of temperance reform, theie was a very strong bond. The Victorian Anti-Liquor League had sent both the speaker and a woman delegate to New Zealand at its own expense to help the Dominion in its great campaign. (Applause.) An Age-Long Question. j There was a growing feeling throughout ' the whole world, continued Mr. Finlayson, on the part of the people, versus the liquor traffic. It was an age-old question, and there was no record so ancient but it bore reference to some form of intoxication. " This stain has marred the records of the nations ever since the dawn of civilisation," declared the speaker, " but there has always been a corresponding protest, a few men and women who have been wise enough and strong enough to oppose intoxication and its corruption of nations and peoples. There have been long years of experiment, every kind of fancy scheme has been tried to make the liquor traffic a decent, respectable one, but we have been forced at last to the conclusion that prohib'tion is the only thing that is likely to offer freedom from its evils. " The liquor people profess to be very anxious with regard to the personal rights and liberties of the people as polling day draws near. They are anxious to show how good and necessary a thing it is that they should be allowed to continue the traffic, and by their attitude they are challenging the virtue and honesty and patriotism of the people of the whole country. They talk of upholding the ' rights of democracy,' yet they worked so assiduously that a three-fifths majority at the poll was required for many years, and it was only by most strenuous effort that a decision can how be obtained on a straight-out majority . basis, as it should be obtained in every democratic country." (Applause.) Experiences In America. ' The speaker challenged statements made by the liquor trade with regard to prohibition in America. The true facts were that 33 out of 48 States had by' their own Yi>te adopted prohibition, and that as Congress in 1913 refused to make a Federal law on the question, the people of the country saw to it at the next e'ections that the right men were sent back to Parliament, and these men gave them the law they wanted. If Now Zealand had been as wise, and had returned the right men, this country also would have had prohibition long ago. (Applause.) Dealing with the question of drug-taking, which was another point the liquor trade talked a lot about, the speaker said that one authority frequently quoted was the Allied Medical Association of America, which had stated that the drug-taking habit had increased, with disastrous results, since prohibition was granted there. This body was not an authentic representative body of medical men in the United States, however, but an off-shoot from the Medical Association. As a matter of fact the drug-taking habit, which in recent years had spread throughout the world, had frippea the American people six months efore prohibition was enforced. Statistics showed at that time that drug-taking in America was far worse in the United States than in either Germany or France. He quoted statements affirming that I drug-taking had not increased since prohibition had been granted, one being a hospital report showing that drug-insanity and opium-taking had decreased in recent years. Effect Upon the Revenue. The question of revenue was next dealt with by Mr. Finlayson. "The tirade recently issued a statement that a vast amount of money will be lost in customs duties and licensing fees if prohibition is carried," he said, " but we know well that it would not be lost, that it would go into better channels, and that the Government would not only receive back the amount of its present revenue from drink, but would be saved a large portion of the £2,300,000 now expended yearly upon the upkeep of gaols, hospitals, and charitable institutions. At present £7,500,000 is going out of the pockets of the people every year in drink —nothing to show for it, rot one respectable, worthy industry benefited by it. Well, whatever else is wrong with this country, it certainly ie not hard up. It is no use talking n».,out the cost of living when the people of New Zealand have that amount of money to throw away year by year!" (Loud applause.) Mr. Finlayson's comments upon the liquor traffic were vigorous and outspoken. The word " traffic" was significant, he declared, when one remembered its abominable associations—the slave traffic, the opium traffic, the white-slave traffic, which, with the drink traffic, formed a quartette of the vilest things that had ever afflicted the world. The use of the word "trade" was another point which came in for scathing comment. It was the outlaw of all trades, and not fit to be associated with clean, decent, ordinary trades by which men earned their bread, for its traffic was in human lives and happiness, It had always to be keipt in a class by itself; the regulations which controlled other trades and other industries could not be applied to it, and it was the only trade in the world that dared to defy the law and defile the institutions of the country. A.DDKESS ON "MAKD3TO MEN." THE QUESTION OF CHARACTER. The subject of Mr. Finlayson's evening addlress at the Town Hall "Making Men." Mr. Oscar Mcßrine presided. Mr. Finlayson said the greatest asset of a country was not its natural resources, its material wealth, its possibilities, or its potentialities, but its men, and the greatest asset of a man was his character. Tha world needed men, and men of the right type, who had character, ability, truth, and honour, and he trusted that God would give them as many of these men as possible. New Zealand was to bo freed from the evils of the liquor traffic by the people themselves, who would have to work out their own salvation. In carrying on the work, opposing influences would be met. There was one set of influences seeking to elevate and improve, and there was another seeking to debase, degrade, and destroy. Was the liquor traffic developing and making the character of man, Or was it destroying it? The traffic stood out absolutely condemned as a useless and dangerous thing to the community. It had its raw material, for it took the best the country could give— the young men and women—and by means of its abominable system threw them out on the streets. Thus was God's glorious creation ruined, and one wondered how long the intelligent people of the country would allow the liquor. traffic to destroy these people in such a wholesale fashion. Prohibition, on the other hand, was a grea; man-makiag movement, and helped to make man as God meant him to bo. The traffic would not stand up to a fair criticism; it made excuses and apologies, but never had the courage to stand up to the charges made against it. The speaker said he would say openly that tho liquor traffic was responsible for a, certain definite evil result, and that it

was responsible for some of the crime of the community. An official New York statement showed that 129,000 persons were committed to the State prison in 1917, while the corresponding figure for a year of prohibition was 26,000. There were over 900 people confined in New Zealand prisons, and he estimated 700 of them would not be there if there had been no liquor traffic. A great deal of insanity was caused by drink. Medical opinion was that drink was the first and principal cause of insanity, and whatever was the proportion of mental cases caused by drink, that proportion would not be there if it was not for the liquor traffic. Then liquor was responsible for a good deal of poverty. He had been told that poverty caused drink, but ho charged liquor with loading the community with waste and economic loss, and worst of all, with debasing men. It had been argued that the liquor traffic paid, for it contributed two million's to the revenue of the country. Did that amount, however much it might be, compensate for the wasted lives of men ? The immortal soul of one man was worth more than the revenue from the liquor traffic. bcveral objections to prohibition were dealt with by Mr. Finlayson. The liquor traffic was the great champion of personal liberty once every three years. He read the following statement from the American Brewers Gazette:—"The socalled question of personal liberty loses more and more of its force. The issue must be fought out on the question of public welfare." The speaker said Australia and New Zealand were the two freest countries in the world, yet they had more laws than anywhere else. People were given liberty to do everything that was right, and not things that were wrong. With reference to the question of unemployment, it was not how many people would become unemployed, but the kind of employment that was being lost. No one would suggest that the war should have been continued so so as to keep the munitions industry alive. As a matter of fact, £1 spent on liquor, if diverted to other channels, .vould lead to the employment of four times as many men. Where 100 men were formerly employed in an Illinois distillery, 400 were now employed in manufacturing foodstuffs. If the money spent in New Zealand on drink was diverted, the country would not have the men, machines, and factories to cope with the demand. After two years of prohibition, President Hardmg said, " Homes, families, life ind business are better. A new race of and women are growing up to whom the liquor traffic will have no appeal." Mr. Finlayson will address an c pen-air meeting at Quay Street East 10-dav at 12.15 p.m.