A LOCAL TESTIMONY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11191, 13 August 1898, Page 8

A LOCAL TESTIMONY.

' ' TO THE EDITOR: Sib,—For some time past we havo had repeated attacks by outsiders .on prohibition in Clutha. Pressmen, the police commissioners, tbe visiting magistrate, and as a matter of course the " trade" with its associates, are all busily engaged in the.tack of attempting to prove tbat prohibition in the Clutha is an injustice and a failure ! Why this interference by outsiders ? Like other districts, according to .the law of the'lahd'aud the desire of the people, she has been asked.twice which it shall be, and on both occasions ha 6 very emphatically declared for prohibition. Accordingly it has been ; given.. 'Where does tbe injustice come io? It has been argued that it is a failure because ■ driiik has bf_en freely sold ever since that.law I basbeen in foiCe. In my opinion were the law \so reepe'cted by. the police and so stringently I enforced by the magistrate as the law pertaining to! theft, in - v three months this.crime would \be reduced to,»!'minimum..- Instead of this, however, the law, has been allowed to be ridiculed by the powers that be; and from remarks ! which have fallen from the bench offenders have been'encouraged to break the law, and the awful crime of perjury modified and excused! In some instances an almost open 6ale under the very nose of the police has been tolerated for months together., Prohibition is right—tho "failure" is with the pfficersof the law. Police record* thow that; sinceithe.advent of- prohibition crime throughout the electprite ! has been.reductd to.» surprising , ; \ / 'We must-expect that those, wlio are'in, the trade, and those in sympathy with them- will howl so long as they can gain ahearing—'tis only natural! And it is surprising what effect this has amongst i number of even intelligent i people,.who have not taken ithe trouble to look fairly into the• piatter. , r',:.ln i,pases, where the police •• have -laid Vinfpriaiatipns and' witnesses have come, for«aTd. r vto support the charges, attempts to hqld such up.tU. ridicule have, beoil made, and with some effect, although! done by t hose who have defied the wishes of the -people and the honour of the law, but yet have the face to pose asiDJured persons. ...... I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that prohibition, though but imperfectly carried out as we have it, is oue of the greatest benefits ever conferred upon U3. We scarcely ever see a drunken man, and are well. aware that nothing like one-half, probably not one-quarter* of the quantity that was forpaally used.is taken now. Tbis tells its own tale. . Practically we have had prohibition in Waiwera for mapy. years. And, though, bur soil is not rich, oue would have to go a long way before he • would. find a more prosperous district.. Travellers tell no this over, and over ; again. Our business people, though long iv the district, never, have reason to complain of debt. - With these things before them I have heard. niCn, who; are not abstainers, say that were.a license applied for, they would strongly oppose it. O.thurs, fond enough of a glass, and who take it when in liquor districts, are glad that the temptation is.kept out of sight near their own homes,, where tbey scarcely ever think about it. I often look' upon-our Waiwera district-with pride, but especially upon onr pretty, little township, whose inhabitants.. are industrious and sober, and whose children are growing up scarcely knowing what a drunken man is. Prohibition is no failure, bat a wonderful success! —I aro, kc., A Resident in the District. . A; Waiwera, August 4.. ''