WALLACE AND STRINGER-CUM-GLEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10034, 27 April 1894, Page 3

WALLACE AND STRINGER-CUM-GLEED

ON PROHIBITION IN KANSAS. TO TUB EDltOn.

Sir, —The fi^ht between the liquor trade and the Prohibition party would, I thought, have ended with the recent election, and the oontinual friction been removed by the large concession given to thu latter body by the Alcoholic Liquors Silo Coutrol Act, but it ib evident that thtro is no guoh thing as satisfying the clamours of tho water party bo long an they have, as is stated in a report published by you a few days ttgo by the Licensed Victunller&' Association, " a number of adventurers who pose as Chriatian leaders in social reform" making a living out of tha agitation. I am prompted to wiite thus by a letter which appeared in your supplement yesterday from A H. Wallace, forwarding one from Mr J. W. Gleed, of Kansas, the object being to show that Mr Gilbert Stringer told falsehoods when he reported on th,e failure of prohibition in that State. I do not know Mr Stringer, and have no intention of vouching for his veracity, but have a lively recollection of a seriei of papers running through the columns of one of your contemporaries |by Charles Willsie, who liko J. W. Qleed, is a I member of the Kansas bir—3o said the heading,—and Mr Willeie singular to my, corroborates Mr Stringer's statement? regarding prohibition in Kwsas; and again, eiogularly, another lawyer, referred to in your columns a short lime ago, takeu from the London Weekly Mail, I think, viz.—G. L. Faoshnwo, of the " Inner Temple," who devoted eight months to observations of the working of prohibition in the United States und Canada, and, like Mr Stringer, pronounced it a failure. The old, old saying that none are so blind as those who will not see is very applicable in the case of tho Gleeda, the Dowes, and St. Johns of the United States, who will not observe the baneful effects of a continuation of their fads. We have tho counterparts ef those gentlemen here ia New Zealand. Let me give them some facts recently quoted by an eminent authority, which I hope you will find space for in order to show moderate men and women the folly of allowing one-flfth of the electorate the power of forcing upon us such disaster as the following will show.—l am, &c,

Dunedin, April 22. Moderation.

Dr John Beny Haycroft, M.D., D.Sc, F.R.S.E., recently lectured before the Royal College of Physicians of London. The occasion was one of tho Milroy lectures, and the subject was "Darwinism and Race Progress." Dealing with the subject of alcoholism, Dr Haycroft Bummed up the results of scientific inquiry on one important branch of th« subject by saying : " In Maine a prohibitory law was enforced in 1851, lapsed for two years (1856 and 1857), but continuedißinco that time up to the present date. We have, therefore, an expflriment on liquor prohibition lasting 40 years. In Maine the manufacture and sale of alcohol in any form is illegal, and punished by imprisonment and fine. The law 1b enforced, and, wa are told, has so influenced manners that whatever share in the result ought to be assigned to tho effect of prohibition, it ia a fact that the demand for liquor or the desire for it in largo quantities or sm»U proceeds only from a limited section of the population. If now we turn to the statistics of crime, pauperism, and insanity, we Bhall find a result which may appear startling. " The statistics of the Insane Hospital show a groat and progressive increase of patients—from 75 in 1850-51, to (iS"> in 1891-92. In regard to indoor paupers, the ratio ia slightly lower than that of the neighbouring State?. Ratio of paupers per million of population :— 1880. 1890. Maine ... ... ... 2,319 I.7GS Other States, non-pvohibiUvo ... 2,339 .1,700 "In regard to outdoor paupers, the census attaches to Maine a number very considerably in excess of the average. As regards prison population, Maine has a low, but decidedly increasing, ratio, which comes out especially clearly in the case of the juvenile offenders in the reform schools. Ratio per million of population in reform schools:— 18S0. 18flO. Maine 176 256 Average in other vine Northeastern States 469 455 "In Kansas—another State in which prohibition dates from 1881—the -United States census tolls us that there were more prisoners in its penitentiary and county gaols in proportion to its population in 1890 than it had in 1880, and that, of all the neighbouring Statoa, Kansas had in 1890 absolutely tho largeat ratio of prisoners to population. " In lowa, tha third State in which prohibition has been mo3t effectually carried out, we are told that opium dens are found »b the alleged result of prohibition, and that 'in one Bmall-town where prohibition was so cffectually/mforcedthat, whan the bishop of the diocese visited it, an intended celebration of the sacrament had to be abandoned because ng wine could be obtained. My informant,

whoso testimony was unimpeachable, was told by a phyßicJan practising here that the use of opium in the place was a positive curse; he had 20 or 30 caaca on his hands of persons suffering from the habit,.both men and women.,'

"The above data strongly suggest that any lasting prohibition, other .than the dictates of a man's own conscience and sonsa.of self-respect, may do more harm than good, for when not a fashioD, excessive drinking can only be looked upon as a symptom of a debilitated or depraved nature, which, without access to drink, will show itself in other ways, and, if artificially kept sober, will tend to perpetuate and widen the circle of its depravity.

Special to Ladies.—Mcllison and Co. are offering twenty-five dozen ladies' tan 4-hook kid gloves, slightly spotted, at Is li& per pair ; also a lino of fifty dozen slightly spotted 4-dome tan and black Ititl gloves, Is ll£d. ■

— Lobengula does not seem to have been a success as a Sunday school ochplar. The missionary who gave him his Biote lessons says that he went through the Old Testament Sime after time with the King, but when he came to the peaceful teachings of the New Testament Lobengula would aot listen, although he revelled in the accounts of the battles of the Israelites.