The Sun SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1914. THE PREMIER AND THE PROHIBITIONISTS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 121, 27 June 1914, Page 8

The Sun SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1914. THE PREMIER AND THE PROHIBITIONISTS.

It was an impressive deputation that tramped from Willis Street along Lambton Quay and up to Parliament House yesterday to present a memorial oil the subject of the liquor traffic. The case for the deputation was stated in familiar and almost conventional terms l.y Mr Wesley Spragg and the Rev R. S. Gray. The latter delivered the Prohibitionist Party's ultimatum to the Prime Minister. Prohibitionists are "no longer prepared to vote with one hand for the cause and with the other for a man who would thwart the cause in Parliament. Tliey were not prepared to vote for any man who would not vote for a substantial, redaction of the present handicap." And with a majority in 1911 of 54,282 A 7 otes, an intimation such as this is calculated to give tlfe average politician a shaky feeling in the knees. The deputation found the Prime Minister exceedingly affable. He told them that the ■Licensing-Bill would be down on Tuesday, when the opportunity would present itself for the insertion of any pmendment in the existing law that the House might see fit to adopt. In other words, the. Licensing Bill is one of those curious things called a non-party measure, because nobody lias the courage to father it. If compelled to do so me.nbers will vote upon it according to the effect their vote is likely to have on their chances of re-election, although they would prefer to see the Bill '' talked out,'' shelved, or , slaughtered in the clearance of the Order Paper that .always-takes place towards the close of the session. It is not a very dignified position for Parliament to take up, but il is a more or less inevitable result of government by referendum—the most vicious and demoralising of all systems of government. The plain duty of the people's representatives in Parliament is to find a solution of the liquor problem. Prohibition,' Which is based oi. the assumption that" compulsory sobriety is the equivalent of moral regeneration, Js no solution, while on the

other hand the deplorable results of a thoroughly bad licensing system have i,iade thousands of people prohibitionists, because they despair of reform through the proper channels. It is a reproach to the statesmanship and patriotism of our public men that they M.re content to stand idly by, while the community struggles to effect urgentiyneeded reform by means of the clumsy expedient of the referendum. The mortal combat between {he prohibitionists and the liquor trade has now reached a stage when a very little will secure victory for the former. If a »5 per cent, majority is conceded, prohibition will certainly get a trial in New Zealand. It -may not last, but once it. tcmes in, there can never be any reversion to the present brewing monopolytied house-open bar system of vending intoxicants, which ministers very ineffectively to public convenience, and works a'painful amount of harm to the community's morals. Even if politiciansand Ministers are afraid to express their opinions in anything above a whisper lest they lose votes, and then blow hot and cold alternately, Ave have never beeu able to see why the Government should not set up a Royal Commission to report on the licensed trade, with a general instruction to investigate the drinking customs of the community, the growth or otherwise of drunkenness, and the chief causes contributing thereto; the nature and character of the liquors generally consumed;' the conditions under which ttey are sold; the conduct of hotels and drinking bars; the tenures under which licensed houses are

I; eld; and generally to make recom

n endations with the object of doing away with the undoubted evils of Mie | present system. There is a prejudice in Kew Zealand against Boyal Commissions, and there is no gainsaying the fact that the proceedings of certain l£oyal Commissions in the past have been frequently in the nature of a costly fa-roe, but in England it is very different, mainly because the members of these commissions are appointed with more discretion, and their reports are invariably documents of the greatest interest and value. A commissi on of capable men would probably make recommendations'tor altering our present licensing system out of all recognition. There is no reason why as healthy a condition of society cannot be arrived at under a rational licensing system as Ave are likely to attain under prohibition. But simply because the statesmanship of our public men is characterised by ineptitude and cowardice, the community is triennially offered nothing more than a choice of evils. Naturally it chooses the lesser and votes prohibition.