THE PROGRESS LEAGUE AND RESTORATION

Southland Times, Issue 23552, 5 July 1938, Page 4

THE PROGRESS LEAGUE AND RESTORATION

To The Editor Sir, —I had intended to retire from the restoration arena for the present, but on looking into the figures mentioned in “Progress Facts’s” letter in your issue of June 27 I think it only fair to the public to put the correct position before them. I judge from his silence that “Progress Facts” is stumped for an answer to the questions asked in my letter in your issue of June 23 and the conclusion I ask the public to draw is that his statements on all matters are to be taken “with a grain of salt.” He charges me with not stating any convincing fact. With that I agree as I merely asked him some pertinent questions, one of which he cannot answer in support of his case and the other of which he cannot answer at all, proving himself to be a very irresponsible and dangerous advocate of the no-licence cause. Statistics show results but they do not, in many cases, disclose causes, and to quote building and bankruptcy figures as certain evidence of the beneficial effects of no-licence is really too thin an argument to expect sane people to believe. It is a wonder to me that Invercargill is as sound as it is, the way it turns people away, and but for the marvellous country behind it it. would of course be nowhere. The 1938 Year Book (p. 531) shows that in Wellington city with a population of 151,700 the building permits were £976,362, and that in Auckland city with a population of 214,200 the building permits were £801,821. I wonder how your correspondent would explain that in the light of his liquor theory. The Year Book shows that your correspondent has misquoted figures. I give his building figures with the correct ones shown immediately below in parentheses:— Population Value £ Wanganui city 23,000 11,140 (23,200) (not stated) Palmerston North ; city 22,500 55,464 (22,550) (170,601) Invercargill city 22,650 134,900 (21,500) (227,142) Timaru borough 17.500 52,000 (correct) (76,239) New Plymouth borough 16,900 51,000 (correct) (118,901) It is difficult to see how, on these figures, your correspondent can claim that the building figures in Invercargill are 100 per cent, more than in any of the other towns mentioned. I cannot find numbers of building permits stated in the Year Book, nor statistics relating to the increase in cars, both quoted by him, but perhaps he would be good enough to refer me to the sources of his figures. His bankruptcy figures are interesting, but Invercargill with six in 1936 is not as good as he makes out. Take the following: Auckland, which is approximately 10 i times as large, has 35, and to equal InI vercargill’s record it should have 60. Similarly, Wellington, approximately 7| times as large, has 25 instead of 45. Christchurch, which is approximately 6 times as large, has 15 instead of 36; and Dunedin, which is approximately 4 times as large, has 14 instead of 24. Your correspondent says that people are apathetic about the effect of , the open bar. The voting in the national poll seems to show that people are more satisfied than ever they were that Prohibition is dead and that Continuance of the sale of liquor through the open bar is what they want. Here are the figures:—

The tendency is, or should be, to make things more open and the open bar is preferable to the system of concealed drinking carried on in Invercargill. If your correspondent has been in a bar he should be more tolerant of others; if he has not, he is not a wellinformed witness.

The final paragraph of your correspondent’s letter is priceless. He seems to forget that the hotels in Dunedin at the time of the Ranfurly Shield match last year were kept open for, and filled to overflowing by, men from Southland where they would have us believe no one drinks. As to the police control being absent the hotelkeeper can supply his boarders at any time and the hotels were full of boarders who were overjoyed at the success of the South-

In your issue of today I notice a statement by the Premier of Tasmania when in Sydney recently, in which he says: “Then, when your hotels close, drink is carried into the home, into flats, into places where it should not go. The result is that, in these homes, flats and cars, drink is taken by young men and young women, often with demoralizing results. In other words, drink is taken away from the places where it is meant to be consumed to places where it is not meant to be taken.”—Yours, etc., M. H. MITCHEL. July 4, 1938.

THE ETHICS OF DEBATE AND SOCIALISM To The Editor Sir, —I have heard and read numerous debates and like most people appreciate clean fighting as much as I detest vulgar personalities. When a debater or newspaper correspondent stoops to vicious personal attack and innuendo he weakens his case very considerably. In the recent newspaper controversy regarding the speeches of Mr Hamilton and Mr Nash a socialist correspondent, A. A. De Vantier, made bitter personal attacks on each and every correspondent who opposed him. He accused

his opponents of being stupidly dense, dull, bigoted, ignorant, lazy and even sub-normal. Such intolerance shows socialism in its true light as a policy of hate, and the lengths to which this hatred can be carried has been clearly demonstrated in Russia (upheld by this writer) which has a tyrannical, dictatorial and bloodthirsty administration and where neither life nor liberty—nor yet religion —is sacred.

“Truly as a man speaketh so he is." The hatred shown by socialists of all who oppose them leaves no room for doubt as to the lengths to which they are prepared to go.—Yours, etc., lAN WILLS. Mossbum, July 4, 1938.

ContinuState hibiance Purchase tion 1922 282,669 35,727 300,791 1925 299,590 56,037 319,450 1928 373,692 64,276 294,453 1935 521,167 57,499 243,091