NEW ZEALAND ALLIANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21225, 4 July 1932, Page 11

NEW ZEALAND ALLIANCE.

AUCKLAND CONVENTION. AN EDUCATIONAL AIM. The moral aspect of the fight against alcoholic liquor was stressed by the Rev. J. R. Blanchard. Dominion president of the New Zealand Alliance, at the annual convention of the Auckland area of the alliance on Saturday. Mr. J. W. Court presided, and Mr. J. Malton Murray, general secretary, was among those present. The movement against liquor had no vested interests to defend and no profits to conserve, Mr. Blanchard said. It was totally dependent on the moral conviction and spiritual passion of those who believed in the higher liberty. Every day in New Zealand on the average at least one person was convicted of being drunk while in charge of a motor vehicle, every hour of the day some man was punished for drunkenness, and every 18 hours some woman was similarly dealt with. Every 28 hours the hospitals received for treatment somebody .whose malady was described as "alcoholic." The damage being done to youth by cocktails was beyond calculation. Only those who put what they wanted before the needs of the country denied the pressing necessity of a movement against the beverage use of alcohol.

Some people opposed the use of liquor because it was bad economics, some because it was bad physiology, and some because it hampered efficiency, and all were right, Mr. Blanchard said. It was, however, only when the people became convinced that great evils were morally intolerable that they were vanquished. Mr. Murray reviewed the position of the alliance from the standpoint of organisation and finance. He reported the progress that had been made in bringing the alliafnce to the point where, free from debt, it could develop a sound educative policy of a progressive nature. The annual report recorded the work done, and proposals for educative work during the ensuing year were adopted. The election of officers resulted in the unanimous re-election of Mr. J. W. Court as president, and Mr. L. E. Falkner as secretary and treasurer, and a strong executive. Very high appreciation of Mr. Court's services to the movement and of Mr. Falkner's work as secretary were expressed, Miss J. B. Donald being included •in the tribute of appreciation to the office.