THE LIQUOR QUESTION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 9836, 1 March 1919, Page 3

THE LIQUOR QUESTION.

•UjiSSlfei TTNULAT AND AK2I- - STRONG AT (NEKAUDINE, THE’ MODERATE SIDE. The Oddfellows Hall at Geraldine was well tilled on Thursday evening O.v ah audience of town and country people, who had come to hear, the Wellington delegates of. the Moderate iwiigue, state (he ease on behalf ol the moderate drinkers. Throughout their remarks wotfu followed closely, and bursts of applause punctuated the points they made. The Mayor (Mr R. 11, Macdonald) presided, and briefly .introduced the speakers. .Mr Tindlay was the first to speak. He said that although Geraldine , w as. in a no-liceuse district (through no fault of Its own), il would bo affected by being- unable to obtain liquor at all if prohibition was carried, and this would also mean thud a stop would bo put to all home

brewing as well. There was a m"’ clement to be introduced ‘ at‘tho April poll, which would not be on the old Fkes. U would now mean that if prohib lion were carried they would have to pay 11- million pounds compensation to the trade. On the other

hand, if they voted for continuance at the April poll another chance would be given them at the General Ejection, which would take place, according to Air Massey, within a year, of voting on the question again. He thought that tho General I', lection was the proper lime to hold the pall, “but Mr M assey’s idea was that candidates did not wish to contest election:! when the liquor (question was an issue. By postponing the issue for

one year they would therefore! save the payment of 4J- million pounds compensation. The people who wanted continuance, those who wanted, or did not want prohibition, and those who wanted State ownership. Were the tour panics interested, and they would all be disfranchised if prohibition was passed m April. Then at

would a fleet their pockets, for a million and a ipuarterwould )_yo lost pter annum any way it prohibition was carried, and this must be mot by extra taxation. The Ellteiency, leader had been very nervous on this qttes lion, and he had been racking his brains to Imd out how this was to be sumjT. lib says in order to make up this they must spend £1,000,000 on goods paying 20 per cent, duty, and X2,000,WH) on goods paying 'A3 per cent, to make up £IOO,OOO revenue. But the Efficiency Board's report did not agree with this, for they said that the go o ds thus taxed wore luxuries, and should not be

bought at all, us they tended To luxury and extravagance. Alt' Hunt matte out that there would bo no dillicuity in raising the amount without extra taxation. The EHicicncy f.eague said that TO per cent, of old age pensions would disappear, but how they would be wiped out they did not say * also, TO per cent of the lunatics were going to come lo their

senses. (Laughter.) li they were P rcr j pared to sacrifice ii- millions for one , year’s prohibition they would have to do so. but it they did the money would be lost at a time when they wanted every penny saved, and they would got the chance o£ voting on Uie question, again in a yeas’® time. Then, many prohibitionists were not in favou* oE the poll. The Efficiency Leagut were raising £30,000 to fight the campaign, and there was soma ulterior motive behind it. They were not all honest prohibitionists. 'the League would not end when prohibi tiou was carried. They were not sincere, and there was something bohina , which they might know U prohiition was not carried, but which they British

would not know if it was

officers with capital were coming out to Now Zealand, but they would not cone out if Now 'Zealand became a

prohibition eouutry. These officers would be the beat kind of settlers, and it would bu a pity To lose them by currying prohibition. It would

also Inoo a detrimental effect upon the Tourist Department. The Etli.cicncy League said New Zealand w a s a drunken country. Mr Hunt had told

them the workers of the country a drunken inefficient lot, but he (the speaker) repudiated this shu on the working classes. His estimate was that Now Zealand was a most olh-

cient country. Mr Dailey, an importation from-America, said that a ver^l

urge proportion ot the mteu tiurned

dow a for military service were rejected through drink. Thu true fact was that ouly 150 out of 71,000 soldiers had been so rejected, which worked out at *i in 1000. MrMyeis had stated that £41,500,000 had bee^

raised in the Country in war loans

They hud kept up th#ic exports, and sent 101,000 men to the front. Was

this u proof of inefficiency ? (Applause.) These men, the speaker continued, had put up a reputation for character, earned by no otlnir men in the world. Wherever they were they had put up 'a record for splendid behaviour. This had been a splendid advertisement for New 'Zealand. ‘Were they hoing what they ought for

liesc men ? The public memory was

short, aud they might forget, but they should do them no injustice

but they were on the point of doing so, for the soldier was being distraaehistd. Ho was given a vote wui| one hand, aild it was taken away with the other, for another section of

the Act of Parliament was taking his vote away. The Prohibitionists said they mitst vote out liquor before the soldiers ca-nic back. Mas this giving them a fair dual, lie said it wus not. (Applause.) They should leave the question to be settled a year lienee, when the soldiers were back homo, for they had the right to vote

■u the question. They would not do

any harm by waiting a year. biltiloownership wuß the remedy for the whole question, and it had been a

great success at home, and would not cost the country anything, Let the poodle reserve their judgment in live interests both of the country, ami more particularly of the soldiers. (Prolonged applause ) Air Arms 1 rung, secretary to the Mo-

derate League, in opening his address, referred to the passing' of tho Act referred to by Mr i’indlay, Iho Prohibitionists had obtained tho in-

set ton of the- disenfranchising clause.

according to the statement of the Kcv. 11. d. Gray, president of the Alliance, it had been intended Le> put tho matter before Mr Massey, but on finding out that the ilegistrar was a staunch 'Prohibitionist they had

placed it befor him instead, and a

compromise had been mado, and their liberties cast away by the ex-

treme parties, and everything fu the garden had been lovely. Ihe eltoct

of the clause so inserted was Hat electors who had their addresses staled wrongly on tho roll, weie liable to lose their vole. -'U Giay

had slated, according to a report * a (ho Otago Times, that the Prohibitionists intended to use this clause to discover the attitude of the people on the roll who had not sighed their pell lion, and that lists of these people would be made. The inference

wai obvious. It was therefor® tha

duty of every man and woman to see that their names and proper addresses were on the roll, and they would even, if they only had removed from one street in a town to another, lose their, votes. What he called thb true-blue Prohibitionists were not behind this political movement, and although ho had other views than them, ho honoured them, but he could not say the same thing in regard to the new Prohibitionists. In America the saloon league was a political organisation altogether, with the big trusts behind it. (The Meat Trust it was known bud got a footing in New Zealand, and they were trying to gel a hold of politicians. So that they could run thte country to su,t- themselves. God help New Zealand if it came to that, Mr Massey had .said, and so he saidr As soon as Prohibition was carried, the

League would not stop its activities. They would next turn their attention to tobacco, horse racing, and they would try and check all Sunday recreations. 'The live. Jolly, at the Presbyterian Assembly at Auckland, had spoken against the week-end habit, and had stated' that thos. who indulged in it left God behind.— (Laughter.) Ministers using political!

influence had abolished the bookm ;l ker— (laughter)--nnd had very nearly got rid of the totalizator, which would have stopped horse racing, and they had succeeded in getting the race days reduced. The Rev. Gray had announced that tire churches were going to close their doors, and the ministers were going out to fight for Prohibition. The Prohibitionists wanted to prohibit everyone else but themselves. They

w ere wealthy people, and would take good care to lay in big stocks ui whisky and brandy to last them for their lifetime If prohibition was car-

ried. Mr Will Thorn, Mr Gompers, and Labour leaders were against prohibition. Mr Chesterton had told them that the movement wap clictat-

ed by the wish nob to prohibit everybody, bub only H 0 people, and. that it was part ot a wish to reduce the poor to slavery, which meant the driving of men like beasts who ware, all teeljo(fliers. Mr then spoke of the statistics in regard to crime under license And. no-license, the figures, which were taken from an olhcial report, which Mr Isitt had lain before Parlianent, showing, when analysed, that there had been a great increase in crime under nolicense. The proportion of crime per 1000 for the whole Dominion, exclusive of drunkenness, was 131.5, as

against 32.2 for no-license areas. Murder was three times more prevalent in no-license areas. ’founding with intent to kill, four times, rape, carnal knowledge, indecent assault, illegitimacy, and perjury, were all greater in proportion in no-license areas. The figures for Ashburton, taken in, lb 1-1, and compared with the adjoining license areas, .showed that, convictions for drunkenness were six times as many at Ashburton as at biles mere, live and a-half’tkncs as many u s in lluruuui, twice as many as at Kaiapoi and Belwyn, and twelve and a-hulf limes us many as ai Temuko. in other districts, though live statistics showed a decrease in dicmkr-micss, they showed a great increase in crime generally, coinvidious showing 137 h for the dry districts, as against S’2l in the wot. 1 hose lignites exposed the fallacy of line. IMlideucy hoard-S Mr Armstrong also pointed out that in many suburban districts the figures wore not reliable, as convictions for crimes committed in the dry areas were recorded in courts iu wet areas, because there were no courthouses in the no-liccnsc urea. .) hey were thereio'cc useless lor comparisons. The speaker stated there were, strung reasons to discredit the Efficienly hoard s report, and suggested that every elector should thiua lor himself with these figures before him. During the recent epidemic a Luge number of people had been convicted in Wellington of ■drunkenness caused by the use of methylated spirits a hen people could not obtain liquor, and the same evil \uaf- also orevalenl in the King Country . Many doctors agreed mat ilie use ol alcohol in moderate quantities was f cudicial, and that to lake it away created a roactiou and an abnormal desire for sonic other stimulant, such as was found in what was called the drug habit . This had been found to bo the case iu America, and Dr. (Jrightou Brown had given it as his opinion that the curry lug of uo-liconse would increase the evil of the drug habit. Mr Armstrong further referred to the use, of cocaiue by Canadian soldiers at Folkestone, as a fact sworn to in.evidence, and urged people not to jump out of the frying pant into the lire. Liquor, ho said, might il taken iur- • moderately, give y ou u headache in the morning, but the drug habit ruined people body and soul. , The i’Tolilbi'.tiou party were fond of quoting Sir .Robert Stout, who was their one ewe lamb, (Laughter). Sir ItojUert Stout said that since uo-liccnso had been carried there Master-ton Was a wonderful town. Why, even the IMasteeton Piohf 'Uitioniats said no-Hccnse had been a bad thing for the town, and the' people had very nearly' carried license at the last poll. With regard to the medical Pjoint of vief.v, it 1 had been stated that drunkenness was ■ hereditary, but this had been quite i disproved, and Dr Carl Pearson had i as a result of investigation (although . himself a teetotaller! ghteu it as his - opinion that the children of alcohol--3 ics were not prone to baconc® drunk-

ard«, but that they bad better eyesight and were altogether healthier than 'children of Prohibitionists. When he had made this statement in Timaru, a man had shouted “rot,” but it was like arguing against a dead wall talking to some people,but the fact remained that all talk of degeneracy in the families of alcoholists was absolutely untrue. It was also untrue that diseases Were due to alcohol. A manifesto signed by many leading doctors (Mr Armstrong read out a list of names of famous physicans) stated that alcohol used in moderation was justified and beneficial. Prohibitionists said New Zealanders were a drunken people, and quoted big looking figures to prove the great amount of liquor consumed in the country. When the figures come to be analysed, however, it was found that’ the consumption of beer amounted to a quarter of a pint ai day per head of the population, and of spirits about one-seventh of a nip—hardly a medicinal dose.

Our soldiers, said Mr Armstrong, in

conclusion, were not getting a fair deal. Prohibitionists had said that our returned men were seen lying about drunk, and that it should be made impossible for a soldier to obtain a glass of beer, that the rolls of honour Would soon become rolls <f dishonour. This sort of thing had been spread about, and it had become necessary to deny the slander publicly on the floor of .the House of Parliament. The officers in camp, including the commandant, had asked for a

wafc canteen, but ibis bad been blocked by the Prohibitionists. The latter bad also demanded that liquor should not be placed on board transports and hospital ships. In this case they bad a great responsibility to shoulder, for when the men on the Tahiti, which took away the list Reinforcements, contracted influenza, it was the lack of alcohol on hoard which wasrespou. sible in a great measure for the terrible loss of life ■which occurred. The speaker suggested that prohibitionists must

look hack with regret, that it was due to their efforts that our soldiers were brought to this state, and that they should thiuk deeply before placing the country in a similar position. He also referred to the licv Mr Bmidge having toid the Presbyterian Assembly that the soldiers were going to vote against prohibition, and that they must get the licensing poll over before the soldiers got back. The soldiers bad left the country free and they ought to come • back to a sree country. It was all right to give our soldiers a gun and a bayonet to go out and light to protect them, but they must nut be allowed to get within half-a-milc of a glass of beer He appealed to all honest people to give the boys a chance. Prohibitionists would still get a vote on a bare majority, for the liquor side of the question would only be split up between State control and continuance. Was there any business man who could justify paying 41 million pounds for oue year’.s prohibition 1 The soldiers have played the game by us, and we should play the game by them, concluded the speaker, amid loud applause. In answer to the solo question asked, Mr Armstrong staled that one out of the three issues would have to be carried by a bara.majority if there was a further poll necessary at the next election, if ttie Prohibition Party polled 01 votes out of 10U, prohibition would be carried. Votes of thanks to the speakers, and to the mayor for presiding, were earned by aeclaimuiou, and the meeting terminated.