THE LICENSING QUESTION.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVIII, Issue 16801, 3 April 1919, Page 8

THE LICENSING QUESTION.

To the.Editor of the "Timaru Herald." T 7!.„ your , Mr i. nbon, wouul keep to Uw: point |.ui-o m»Jt and.hop drinker. if l c fa J».e niust Jook.iw some otner caiue to" it cPrtainiy is not pur e -mal; and"/.ops" f to , Anti-Humbug," no doubt lie w.is 11 dummy put „ p by a Prohibitionist or somes'very ignorant party, as to my. "pilfle" in "The Press." "The J rsss" caul it would not puMsh anv mere letters that had not new points of importance, as it had so many and could not publish all, but it published mme alongside of tlic Bishop's and no others on the subject. And what lias it got to do with the quest'on how many drunks I have seen? t I do not go pok"nig my nose, etc. That.leads me on to say: What, are we to do, in case the Prohibitionists win, when rhe inspectors comb defiling our homes looking for homo-made drinks fo see that

no alcohol i s in them? The less Mr .Stinson talks of tha 500 women neglecting their homes in tearooms to tho music of a hand the batter. I could have found, him twice 500 in. thf> otner tearooms. What is the use £& quibbling over it? They are there and he knows it, but be is afraid to draw their attention to it. And now I must conclude 'by remarking»that we are coming to such a pass that our laws are to ba made for u s by a handful of abusers of drink. We have a!l got to scarify our backs and be miserable, because a minority abuses the good things ol life, and our laws are to bj governed by the drunks. Has no one ever" stopped to consider this point, thnjt tea may have undermined the CmsHtut'cni. and so made us less able to withstand temptations, and in that wav prove:! our downfall? I have see „'in print that tho white plague was contracted from the cow. Whv not do aw.'iv w ith tho cow? J merely make this remark __ VEEITAS. T sl "iS* ° f ""» " Tim »"" H,r.!d." Ihe value to be attached to hi""t"t^ Z^lV^* 1 V the cable A anneais m the paoek to-dav. The »We comes from Brisbane, the oJu\ headmg "Influenza." It re-ds "The hotels have reopened/' If thev were, not closed becausA c f the influenza whv re-open them? Tour readers C an,thi»k t ?,vv^ I<m regardincr the j-Jiabilitv tj. •' ' ns a for I'qnor. ' It is somewhat strange—was it th« fault of the Press Association P—that many of the papers d'd not print the reason given by the Hon, G. TV. Pai=scll, M.P., Minister for Health, in his evidence before the Commission, for the acfron he took in closing hotel bars' during the epidemic. H£ stated that the question, of the closing of the bars came before the Cabinet. "Before coming to a decision Cabinst obtained the opinions, in writing, or SurgeonGeneral Henderson, Dr~Hav, and Dr Makgill, and these. . gentlemen were unanimously in favour of the closing of the, bars.. The chief reason for the stoppage of the Kale of liquor absolutely was that it was the opinion of these medical men that .no alcoholsoaked man who might de>"<, r eloy> pnermoir.a had a chance of recovdrintr." It seems to .me. that it was the duty of the Press of the Dominion to report tbi-j important evidence, a.nd pn«s can only conjecture as to the reason for its suppression by so mrinv newspapers. In view" of other evidence. o p l"?'? 'mpprtancas which was. publ'ehed I lnv. ""still my doubts as to the 'impartiality of the Press Assncintimi — T ."t>. *hc, THOMAS STINSON. Timaru. "April 1. "