THE LIQUOR TRADE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4560, 15 April 1942, Page 8

THE LIQUOR TRADE

“ A GREAT BETRAYAL” SERMON BY REV. F. CARLISLE The story of “ A Great Betrayal ” was the subject dealt with at the Baptist Church on Sunday night last by the Rev. Forde Carlisle. , Mr Carlisle said there did not beat a human heart in Britain worthy of the freedom it enjoyed that did not throb with pain at the thought of Britain being defeated in this present conflict, and that the nation should be under- the heel of a foreign tyrant. If such a thing should happen it would be the result of “ fifth column ” activity. What, he asked, if the people should lose their freedom 1 What if they should come under the foreign yoke ? What if their young manhood should go to premature graves ? What if the burden and agony, disease and wounds, and death should be their portion, on their behalf, in vain ? Such a calamitous result could only be possible by the work of a “ fifth columnist.” Their boys who had left the shores of New Zealand considered no sacrifice too great for the defence of their homes, their land, and their Empire. But what, asked the preacher, was happening at home ? “ The war goes on,” continued Mr Carlisle, “ but a ‘ fifth columnist,’ known to most thinking people, is allowed to carry on its nefarious work. What if we are short of men, guns, ships, workshops, machines, material, and food ? This Fifth Columnist is allowed to put a brake on the Empire’s effort —a veritable stranglehold, an octopus clamp, is upon us. In the last war the King, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Primate of England set the example to the Empire, but the Government failed to follow. What a great opportunity our New Zealand Government has to make its name immortal in the annals of English histbry ! It may yet be done, but if not we will suffer a great betrayal. The liquor traffic is the Fifth Columnist I refer to.

“ It is a crime,” the preacher continued, “ to give alcohol to a child or to a youth. We guard them in childhood and protect them in youth, but when they become soldiers they are practically driven to it. This is an abominable act of cruelty; it is criminal. Medical and military authorities pronounce against liqour. Then who of sound mind shall declare that the soldier must have it ?

“ The use of alcohol is condemned on physical, scientific, and national grounds. What type of madness, I ask, is it that allows the Army to have it ? ’

“ The brewers of New Zealand may make a gift of 44,000 gallons of beer to the soldiers, and appear as ‘ jolly good fellows,’ but the real issue is that the brewers want these men when they return to be not merely drinkers but drunkards. Let me prove my assertion. Here is a gem from the ‘ Brewers’ Digest ’ of May, 1941: ‘lt is not surprising that brewers see in the Army Beer Canteen a great and prosperous future for the Brewing Industry.’ And, again: ‘We should never forget that our present customers will soon die, and also that nickels spent in treats for the boys now will come back in dollars to our tills when the appetite is formed. By all means create appetite.’ And, further: ‘ One of the finest things that could have happened to the Brewing Industry was the insistence by highranking Army officers to make beer available to Army camps. The opportunity presented to the Brewing Industry by this measure is so obvious that it is superfluous to go into detail. Here is a chance for Brewers to cultivate a taste for beer in millions of young men who will eventually constitute the largest beer-con-suming section of our population.’

“In other words,” added Mr Carlisle, “ war is a supreme opportunity to create drunkards. Never mind about industry or physical fitnelss. Never mind about a delayed victory, and thousands slain as the result. Our brave soldiers must be made drunkards; and, if so, the future of The Trade is assured. We have seen many of these splendid men, brave and heroic, marching the streets of our towns. They now breathe the air of the boundless spaces of Empire, some of them in the green fields of England, others on the prairies of Canada, and some in the wheat-lands of Australia—just the sort to build an Empire and defend It. “ But never mind the physical injury, or how they are incapacitated—they must be given beer ! It begins in the camp and follows them to the trenches.

“ That great organisation, the Y.M. C.A., declares that it will give the soldier tea, coffee, and cocoa right up to the front line. But, no ! It must be beer. If these men, or any of them, were training for the Olympic games, or Davis Cup tennis, or testmatch cricket, they would be advised not to touch alcohol. What type of mind is it, then, that sits in Cabinets and in Parliaments and allows the soldier to be the victim of an indulgence that totally unfits him for his task ? Mr Dickie, M.P., records the statement that ‘ the only New Zealand product in Egypt is beer.’ When a President of a branch of the R.S.A. suggested that troop trains should leave earlier in the day he referred to ‘ a state of affairs that should be ended as soon as possible.’ He was, in reality, referring to the men being treated with liquor. “ May I refer to some more gems from the ‘ Brewers’ Digest ’ ? Sir Edgar Sanders, director of a Brewers’ Society, referring to a slight falling off in custom, said: ‘This is confirmed by the fact that the chief customers of the public house to-day are the elderly and middle-aged men. Unless you can attract the younger generation to take the place of the older men, there is no doubt that we shall have to face a steadily falling consumption of beer. We want to get the beer-drinking habit instilled into thousands, almost millions, of young men who do not at present know the taste of beer, Not one tenth of one per cent of the youth know what good beer tastes like. They will have to be educated.’ ” Proceeding, Mr Carlisle said they were actually talking about being “ beer-conscious.” “ What should the people do ? ” asked the preacher. He thojjght that in the meantime they should demand from the Government the following: The shortening of the hours for the sale of liquor, closing of hotels at midday on Saturday, six

o’clock closing to be made absolute, the importation of liquor stopped at once, no liquor taken away from hotels, advertising liquor stopped because what was said was mostly untrue, the alcoholic content to be reduced, no women allowed in public bars or private lounges, delinquent licensees disqualified, and licensed premises where infringement continues disqualified. Mr Carlisle went on to state that in 1940 New Zealand spent £9,507,681 on liquor; for the past five years they had spent over £47,000,000. In 1939 the Dominion spent £2,000,000 on defence (navy, army and air), £1,000,000 on health, and £4,000,000 on education.

The Government, to conserve sterling and guarantee essential goods, licensed imports, on Ist January, 1939, but since then the importation of wine and spirits had increased, while New Zealand production had trebled. Why this special privilege to liquor ? he asked. Mr Carlisle asserted that experience showed that in all countries where drink reigned it accounted for half to three-quarters of crime, suicides, mental disease, poverty, depravity, sexual excess, venereal disease, and divorce.

The preacher added: “ The British Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Winston Churchill says: ‘lf you can succeed in reducing the enormous expenditure on strong drink, every trade in the country will benefit. More food will be bought, and better kinds of food; more clothing will be bought; more education, and a better kind of education, will be given to the children.’

Publicans were among the greatest law-breakers, asserted Mr Carlisle, and if they resented this statement let them challenge it, and he would give the official figures. Judges and magistrates were offering comment freely about this particular state of affairs, and because the publicans realised that there was now a growing public sentiment anent their doings they were seeking to cover their trail by tit-bits in the press which at the

best could be described as pious humbug. Concluding, Mr Carlisle said: “ I have no time to go into harrowing details that would make one’s blood cold; no time to deal with the questions of revenue, taxation, shipping space, lost food, sugar and petrol supplies, coal and bottle supplies, the hampering of the Navy, etc. We are fighting for Liberty, but why in the name of Liberty license a trade that is our enemy’s greatest ally, more dangerous than the German submarine, for if the Germans sank a Queen Mary and an Ark Royal every week it would not match in tragic inhumanity the blow that is struck at the heart of the Empire by the liquor trade. There is only one thing for the Fifth Columnist —death. There is only one thing for The Trade—total extermination.”