THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1893. THE PROHIBITIONISTS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2591, 7 December 1893, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1893. THE PROHIBITIONISTS.

THE GERA.L©iiJJ§ pOMAIN.

The prohibitionists are demanding that a special session of Parliament shall be held immediately, to repeal the recentlypassed Liquor Bill. They say that the new House has been elected chiefly on their ticket, and that therefore the country demands the repeal of the measure. We deny in toto every word of this; and venture to assert that were the question of prohibition put directly to the people half-a-dozen members would not be elected on it. The question of giving the people the power to say whether they shall grant licenses or refuse them is Liberal in itself, but should not and must not swamp every other question. The Land for Settlement Bill, which is urgently needed, and which has been rejected twice by the Legislative Council, is a Liberal measure, and undoubtedly there are more in favour of it than there are in favour of the direct veto, but no one is demanding a special session to pass it. We could enumerate many other reforms in the forefront of the Government policy, which must wait until the usual time for holding the annual session of Parliament before they will receive due attention. Now why should not the temperance question be treated like all other questions I Why should the country be put to the expense of an extraordinary session, and members of Parliament called upon to leave their shearing and harvesting merely to discuss one point 1 The idea is too absurd, and would be unworthy of notice only that it accentuates the unreasonableness of the Prohibitionists. The result of this will be that they will cause a reaction to set in against them, and, indeed, we see indications of it already. We are prepared to admit that drunkenness is a great evil, but it is a very old and deeprooted one, and is not to be destroyed in a day. Reforms must be carried out slowly, otherwise they cannot be permanent, and if the prohibitionists force this beyond what public sentiment is prepared to accept, the cause which they advocate will be thrown back for years. It is no use to shut up a public-house unless a substantial majority of the people are in favour of it. “A nation’s voice is a sacred thing, ’tie stronger than a King,” and stronger than pny faction, or section of Its people, more esp&gwJJ.y in a country like this, where the people po&ss§ the most extensive franchise on earth Prohibitionists would, therefore, do well to remember that they eaunot drive public opinion, and that any attempt at doing so must recoil on themselves. They have gained a great deal, far more than they think, and it is far better for them to exercise a little patience, aid try to lead public opinion, than attempt to drive it. In this instance, however, they are attempting to drive one who who will not be driven. The present Premier is not likely to yield to any su?* 1 P r f aßur ® > he has on many an occasion said tha* hls Government will lead, and he has always kept his word. In this instance he will also lead, so there is very little chance of the prohibitionists getting their own way. As for the idea that candidates favorable to temperance were elected purely on that ticket, it is simply nonsense. They were elected on the Government ticket, and where the issue was fairly tried the prohibitionist failed miserably. Take, for instance, Ashburton. There a prohibitionist Liberal ran aide by side with the Government Liberal, with the result that the latter won by an immense majority. In Ashburton there were two Conservatives, and two Liberals, and the prohibitionist Liberal was at the bottom of the poll. The same thing would have happened in South Canterbury had there beau two candidates iu the held. The Government Liberal would have beaten the prohibitionist by two to one. It is absolutely incorrect for prohibitionists to say the Liberals have won on their ticket. It is true that they helped whsre the Liberal candidates accepted their platform, but they did exactly the same thing where Conservatives were willing to take them up. Taking one consideration with another, the Liberal Party is under no great obligation to the prohibitionists. The fact is they did their best to wreck it, they cried down Mr Seddon in a most unfair and unreasonable manner, and we trust that gentleman will remember it for them, and give very little attention to them now. H e has no need to trouble with them; he is the leader of the most powerful party that ever sat in a New Zealand Parliament, and has qo occasion to bow to the dictates of any sect or faction. Let the prohibitionists wait, like other people, and then insist on receiving attention,

RECIPROCITY.

The Government has, we understand, decided on not sending a representative to the Reciprocity Conference in Canada, and we think rightly so. We cannot see the good which would be likely to accrue from it. Our trade with Canada is not likely to be large during the lifetime of the present generation. Canada does not want our frozen meat, or wool, or grain ; she grows more than she can consume of these commodities. Canada, too, cannot produce many articles which we stand in need of, or, at any rate, which we cannot get as cheaply elsewhere. We cannot see that any substantial good could result from such a conference, but we do not hesitate to say that reciprocity with the Australian colonies would be extremely beneficial to us. The Australian colonies are undoubtedly making a mistake in adopting a policy of protection against each other. They ought to have freetrade amongst themselves and protection against the world. It is absolutely hopeless for us to keep up the present rate of wages, work only 8 hours a day, and compete with the sweaters of Europe. The thing is absolutely impossible. Every industry in the colony would perish very soon if we were to allow the products of cheap labor and long hours to come in free. This argument, however, does not apply to Australia. There the hours of labor and the rate of wages are much the same as here, and consequently all the colonies stand on equal footing. We have therefore nothing to fear from competition with Australia; in fact, the advantage would be on our side, for we have a finer climate, and other natural factors which places us in a favorable position in the competitive race. Our object, therefore, should be to establish freetrade between the colonies, and we believe the present Government is favorable to this idea. As for reciprocity with Canada, it would result in the enterprising Yankee sending his commodities across the border, and getting them free of duty into this colony. Reciprocity is possible if all the Australian colonies would combiue together under a Customhouse union, but we cannot see how it would work in the case of Canada. We therefore feel that the Government have done perfectly right in declining to waste money on sending a representative to that colony.

THE LADY MAYOR.

Onehunqa is a borough within a few miles of the city of Auckland, and this year it has rendered itself famous by electing for its mayor a lady by the name of Mrs Yates. We read some years ago of a town in the western territories of America where all the municipal councillors were women, but they were elected chiefly for advertising purposes. When American speculators buy up land they invariably make an effort to boom it, and with this object in view they resort to all sorts of devices to advertise it. The town which had women for its municipal councillors belonged to a ring of boomists, and, realising that the novelty of the thing would cause the name of the place to become widely known, they decided on advertising it by handing its management over to a council of women. On several occasions paragraphs praising their managing capacities went the rounds of the press, but how the affair terminated did with which we are acquainted in which not transpire. This is the only instance women played such a conspicuous part in municipal government, but Mrs Yates has beaten the record now in becoming mayor. No doubt the sun will shine, and the rain will fall, and the grass will grow, and the rivers will flow as before, yet at the same time it appears to us that this is carrying the joke too far. Perhaps it is the novelty of the thing, or it may be prejudice which makes us think so, but whatever it is we cannot help saying that the position of mayor is not one which a woman ought to seek. The mayoral duties are various. The mayor must preside over the deliberations of the councillors, direct the town clerk, and look after municipal matters generally. He is a Justice of the Peace by virtue of his office, and has to sit on the bench and often hear evidence which decent women would shrink from listening to. He has to preside over public meetings, open bazaars, and perform other social functions, be out late at night, and do other things which can hardly be said to be within the scope of a woman’s labours Still, if a woman undertakes to perform these duties, and has the capacity for doing so, we suppose no one ought to complain. The day may come perhaps when lady mayors may be no novelty, but apparently there is a strong prejudice against the innovation now, for we are told that four councillors, the town clerk, and the fire brigade have decided to resign in consequence of Mrs Yates’s election. We can understand the councillors retiring; but what on earth does it matter to the fire brigade '( At any rate Mrs Yates occupies a unique position, and one which she will find irksome the year is to an end.

The Geraldine Domain Board are iikejy pg have some loose cash on hand soon which they intend devoting to improvements in the parjks for the benefit of the public. On Tuesday .evening, at the Domain Board meeting, Mr Maslin brought forward a very practical suggestion dealing with this matter. It appears that the whole of the Domain is not at present completely fenced in, and ' fence should by right enclose that on the west side, Mr part of a 1 That the creek Maslin’s scheme is Ist " -min, be considerably widened in the Vou. .

bo as to form a dam, roughly speaking, about half a mile in length ; 2nd—That flood-gates be put down, and the dam be turned into an ornamental lake, with weeping willows growing on each side, and a promenade formed for the use of the public; 3rd—Public baths could be erected at one end, and plenty of room given for boating, etc. The idea is certainly a good one, and quite practicable. The cost of the work will not absorb very much of the money the board will have on hand for improvements, and members seem quite taken with the idea so it is quite possible that before long we will have our miniature “ Avon ” at Geraldine. It will undoubtedly be a great boon to the young people and a pleasant resort for families. Swimming classes could be formed amongst the school children, with someone to instruct them, as they have in some of the large schools in Dunedin and Christchurch. There could be annual swimming tournaments and boatraces, besides other amusements in the park, and the young people would not only profit by it, but would thoroughly enjoy themselves in Old English style. We hope the scheme will not rest here but will be carried into effect. It looks very attractive in print, but, for all that, it is quite practicable.