LYING, DECEPTION. HYPOCRISY. CRIME.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18510, 22 March 1922, Page 6

LYING, DECEPTION. HYPOCRISY. CRIME.

The liquor traffic is distributing to house, holds a four-page paper called “Continuance.” This publication reprints false and misleading matter that ha* appeared elsewhere. Its “Latest Cablegrams” are to late, dating as far back as September, 1921, they can’t catch up with the truth. Or» the bottom of each, page is a statement in black type. These four statement* are numbered and reproduced below. 1. Prohibition and No-License are 'he Parents of Crime. The falsity of this statement can be demonstrated by official figures. In the year 1920 in the eight No-License districts of Now Zealand, containing onesixth of the population and having separate courts, there was NOT A SINGLE CONVICTION for any of the following offences: —Wounding with intent, aggravated assaults, assault and robbery, incest, abortion, cruelty to children, burglary, robbery, horse and cattle stealing, sheep stealing, soliciting prostitution, keeping brothels, begging. But in the license districts there were 140 convictions for these offences in 1920. 2. —Prohibition breeds Lying. Deception, Hypocrisy. In view of the above, who is the guilty party, and who is trying tq deceive the public? 3. —Prohibition and No-License breed Contempt of Law. In the No-license districts in 1920 there was not a single conviction for perjury, contempt of court, attempting to influence juries, breaches of Indecent Publications Act, breaches of Military Service Act. But in the license districts there were 42 convictions under these heads. The fines for sly-grog selling collected in 1920 amounted to £1914, according to the Police Report. Of this sum £1674 was collected in license districts and only £4O in NoLicense districts. In the U.S.A. in 1921 only two persons for ten thousand of the population were convicted of liquor laW l violations. In New Zealand under license the convictions for breaches of the licensing laws by publicans and others—excluding drunkenness —work out at 21 per tea thousand of the population. 4. —Continuance stands for Honesty and Freedom-Then let it start by being honest about what it says concerning the No. License districts of New Zealand and prohibition elsewhere. For three years “Bung” ha* been howling that Prohibition in the U.S.A. was a fraud, a frost, and a failure, and on the point of repeal. Every vote and action of Con* gress, the Senate, and the majority of the people has bet'n in the direction of keeping and enforcing prohibition there. Prohibition in New Zealand is worth a trial.—N.Z. Alliance Publicity (29).