An Open Letter.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18265, 5 December 1922, Page 16

An Open Letter.

To "the Trade" and its Supporters.

Messrs. Bung, Boozer, and Backers, Boodle-builders. Auckland. Dear Sirs, — You quote Sir Robert Baden Powell as advocating the teaching of restraint instead of prohibition as a training for boys. Prohibition is not being advocated as something better than moral training, it is put forward as the only remedy for the pestilence you have brought about by tho abuse of your responsibilities to tho community. You are now dealing with a. mysterious force known as COMMUNITY SPIRIT which you have aroused by your misdeeds. If you could strangle every "wowser" and " kill-joy " in his bed to-night, your ultimate doom would be equally sure. John Brown's body lies a moulderinK in tho grave. But his soul goes marching on. Do you think to appease this force by your insincere and belated appeal for "moderation?" Wo shall see! Milking the Boozer. If you seek to profit by Baden Powell's opinions you must adopt them in their entirety and not try to justify your disgusting practices by selecting what suits you. What about tfTo saiiors to bo frequently seen in Lower Queen Street 9 Do you try to teach them moderation and self-control ? No, you say, "have another" until thoir money is all gone, then you call for the "chuckerout." Now. isn't the man who can quote Sir Robert Baden Powell in justification of such methods a hypocrite, compared to whom the Stiggins ha refers to was a cultured gentleman ? Whose Business is it ? If it is not your duty to mitigate the evils of the trade you are licensed to control, whose business is it? The Church's? The home training! Perhaps the Missioner to Seamen, whom you class as a " wowser" because ho is wearing his heart out trying to remedy some of the evil you have caused. And the "bosses" in the trade, the gentlemen with fine homes and motor-cars, some of whom draw many thousands a year out of the triffic ? Don't you sometimes get hold of a deluded man who thinks there is money in 'a house," and make it impossible for him to live unless ho abuses his

obligation to tho community? "Custom." you say. "No sentiment in business!" Alcohol a dangerous Poison. It was the custom before tho infant life-saving movement originated, for mothers to ignorantly kill their children by giving them unsuitable food. Does anybody complain about this reform and call its advocates fanatics? No, we accept the warning of tho medical ptofession seriously and thankfully. The weight of medical evidence is now aa emphatically against alcohol as a beverage as it is against beef tea as a baby food. It may be said a few medical men are still on the side of continuance, but they don't count, individual opinion on scientific matters has no weight after recognised authorities have given a decision. This emphatic decision is that strong alcohol is a dangerous poison, that it is liable to dogrfde, ruin, and kill, and that IT DOES NOT DO ANY COMPENSATING GOOD. Alcohol drinking, ,_ a beverage is a, condttnned practice, and the only excuses for its continuance are instigated by personal gratification on the one hand and mercenary greed on the other. Will you ignore the Warning? Honest business men (never mind tlio others) who have "no time for such nonsense," who, " want to be loft alone," etc., etc., are you SURE that you are right, or is it possible that your feeling of superiority and contempt is leading you astray? If your auditor says your accounts are in Lad order you listen to him because he is your expert. If the medical profession says the custom you have indulged in so long has been found to be wrong, and not only harmful, h* fatal to many, are yon going to ignore tho warning because you do not like it ? Even if you continue tho custom yourself, are you going to encourage boys and girls to stait it. If you eliminated the factors of scifish gratification and vested "n----torest from this problem and regarded it from the community point cf view, wouldn't your business acumen suggest that an expense of £12,000,000 a year for no benefit must be cut out ? Yours, etc., Anglican, (At his own expense.)