PROHIBITION IN CLUTHA.

Observer, Volume XVIII, Issue 1024, 13 August 1898, Page 2

PROHIBITION IN CLUTHA.

Does Prohibition Prohibit ?

Thebe appeared in a recent issue of the Obsebveb, from the pen of one of our regular contributors, the following paragraph :— ' We are tired of hearing of the splendid results of Prohibition and what has been achieved in the Clutha (Otago) districts. If a parson expects a sly-grog shanty owner to open his lockers and expose his liquors any more than a publican would introduce a policeman to a bar-room of drinkers at midnight, he is very sanguine. There is as much liquor consumed in "Prohibition " Cluth*. now as there was before the hotels were closed, and if this

atement is denied, we will undertake to prove it.' Naturally, this statement has attracted a good deal of attention, especially from Prohibitionists, and several letters denying the accuracy of the assertions made in the paragraph quoted have reached us.

We have published the communication received from Mr J. E. Taylor, of-Mangere, as a representative defence because it ib ably written, and quotes figures in support of the writer's argument. Moreover, those figures, to onr mind, speak emphatically. The paragraph was, however, not an editorial one. though it used the editorial ' we ' with seeming authority. It escaped our usual strict editorial supervision. Without committing ourselves to one side or the other, therefore, and with an unbiassed mind freely open to conviction, we have invited the writer of that paragraph to turnish us with the proof he offers that there is as much liquor sold now in Clutha as there was before the hotels were closed. Let him speak for himself. He writes : —

1 1 am almost convinced of the futility of publicly discussing the Prohibition question with anything like satisfactory results There are enthusiasts — might I not with Borne truth say fanatics ? — upon many subjects who, having become possessed of one idea, utterly disregard all evidence calculated to weaken the position they have taken up, and only deal with facts and figures which tend to justify their own arguments. I need scarcely point out the unfairness, nay, the utter absurdity, of dealing with matters pertaining to the important question o£ Prohibition in this way. The ideal of the Prohibitionist doubtless presents an attractive appearance, but in this prosaic and matter-of-fact age ideals and theories fade into comparative insignificance when placed alongside the cold facts which appeal to the practical and busines3-like man, and are accepted in preference to the attractive pictures, merely phantasies of the ordinary Prohibition dreamer. .

' I m*y assume that Mr Taylor ia entirely ignorant of the condition of things in the Clntha district, and. that he accepts Mr Vale as the authority on which to deny the statement made by-me. Ido not know whether Mr Vale, who' is a Prohibition advocate, was afforded any exceptional opportuuities of ascertaining whether there was any appreciable diminution in the amount of liquor consumed in the Clutha district since the Prohibition vote was carried. It appears to me that Temperance enthusiasts simply accept the police recordp, quoted by Messrs Vale and Taylor, as conclusive proof that the consumption of liquor haa fallen off in quantity in the same proportion as the number of ' convictions ' has decreased.

• Bat what are the facts of the, caße ? When Prohibition was carried in 1894, and the hotels were closed, what was the result? 31y-grog shops multiplied at an alarming rate, and at Glutha, Tapaaui, Heriot, Catterns River, and the Upper Owaka Valley there were several places where" liquor was dispensed from morning to night. Strangers — particularly a minister of the Gospel or a temperance advocate, whose coming wa3 usually known throughout the districts weeks before his arrival — found it an extremely difficult task to obtain information as to where the sly-grog houses were situated, and to wicness the selling of liquor was to them really an impossibility.

1 The Clntha Presbytery arranged for a committee to tour the Prohibition district and ascertain if an illicit trade in intoxicants was being done. The members journeyed through the district, were expected by the residents, and fooled accordingly, and their verdict (which was to the effect that Prohibition had been a great and glorious success) was being read at the Presbytery meeting, while over forty sly grog shops were doing a lucrative business. Each 'hotel' had a pass- wo :d, intoxicants were called by the most innocent of names (the same practice obtains at the present time, as witness convictions recorded at Tapanuilast week), and while the holders of wholesale licenses found their business falling off, the private orders placed by the brewers' travellers increased, and in some cases were more than doubled.

' Three years nnder such ' Prohibition ' as obtains in the Clatha district have proved conclusively that it is impossible for the police to secure a conviction for any offence which could be laid at the door of the illicit traffic on intoxicants, for the intereßfcß of others were in jeopardy, reputations were at stake, and usually such cases fall to the ground. Corruption, bribery, and perjury were rampant, and the Eesident Magistrate who, presided .at the Court and saw the lying and chicanery that were being practised fearing that the morals of the whole community were being sapped by the demeaning, unmanly, and underhand work that was daily being brought to light, went so far as to protest publicly against a continuation of a state of affairs that was slowly but surely overcoming all that was honest and manly, and was having a most injurious effect upon the women and children brought up in an atmosphere of perjury, dishonesty, and deceit.

1 Regarding the inclusion in the Clntha licensing district of portion of another electorate in which there is a public house, is it generally known what effect this had ? With no licenses existing in the district, it was possible, under certain conditions, for the Clutha electors to have brought about the issuing of licenses for the electorate, but the inclusion of one public house proved an effectual barrier to this being done; and before the electors of Clucha can vote npon the question as to whether licenses can be restored, the present license must be wiped out. Hence, at the last vote the publicans, anxious to have the barrier to the restoration of licenses renewed, voted for a redaction in the number of licenses, which was equivalent to voting for Prohibition, while the Prohibitionists, who did not wish to ran any risks, voted that the number of licenses should remain as before.

' However, I think enough has been said upon this head, and I flatter myself that I have given a few facts with which some of my Prohibition friends are unacquainted. That the amount of liquor at present consumed in : Prohibition ' Clutha shows no appreciable diminution is simply proved by the fact that the brewers of Dunedin and Lawrence (the latter in particular) have forwarded more liquor to Clutha since Prohibition was carried than they did before the vote was taken ; that sly grog selling is rampant throughout the district ; that in many homes, liquor hitherto foreign has been introduced ; the principal reason for the falling off in the number of convictions from 130 to 6, not that drunkenness has shown a decrease in the population stated, but because under the altered conditions, charges of drunkenness in a public place — which is essential "to the securing of a conviction — cannot be proved.

' I claim that I am a sincere Temperance advocate, and I recognise that over-in-dulgence in intoxicants has caused many a sore heart, has compelled many a little stomach to go hungry, - and has brought misery, tears, and pain into the homes of thousands.. But if Prohibition does not prohibit the sale, and has not brought about any appreciable. diminution in the quantity of liquor consumed ; if drunkenness still exists— as it does in Clutha— while it is impossible for -the police to secure convictions ; and if onr courts of justice reek with deceit, equivocations and perjury, until our Magistrates— impartial dispensers of the law — are compelled to rise and protest against the cortuption and perjury continually parading before them in our courts of justice, and the danger of contamination to the children whom I hold most dear ; well, then I maintain most strenuously that, so far, we have not got true Prohibition, but merely a flimsy cloak to cover our weaknesses, and which when drawn aside reveals the grinning skeleton in all its horrible suggestivenes3.

This is the case made out by onr contributor, and, with no prejudice in favonr of Prohibition, we do not think it is a strong case. Our contributor undertook to prove that there is more tirink sold in Clntha now than before the Prohibition period. The only ' proof ' he offers is the bald assertion that the brewers of Lawrence and Dunedin are sending more liquor to Clutha now than they did before Prohibition was carried. What proof can onr contributor furnish of this ? He ventures none. Are we to accept the word of the brewers of Lawrence and Dnnedin, who are nterested parties, on the point ?

The argument that the falling off in the convictions for drunkenness is due to the difficulty of securing convictions is absnrd. Drunkenness is the easiest thing in the world to detect, and there is no difficulty in proving it. The accusations of perjury made by our correspondent, to our mind, reflect chiefly on the sly- grog sellers v/ho are not the Prohibitionists. We are not satisfied that Prohibition in Glutha has been a success ; but our contributor has certainly not proved it to be a failure. So far there has been no satisfactory explanation from the liquor side .of the figures furnished by Mr J. E. Taylor, which figures are all the more difficult to answer if, as stated by Mr Taylor, they were copied from the police books in the presence of Inspector Pardy, who is not a Prohibitionist. Let ns repeat the figures : — IGTIONS IN THE CLUTHA DIBTBIOT. For 3J years For 3£ years from Jan. 1, from July l 1891, to June, 1894, to Dec 30,1894. 31,1897. License No License

- That a certain official of one of the local conrta atrnck a snag the other day. And a Hardie one, too. —That it is not healthy at present to mention the name of a certain hotel to some of the more youthful ' cops.' — That a prominent man of business has a standing contract with his publican that when he gets ' full np ' at his hotel he is to send him home in a cab. — That Secretary A. P. Friend, of the Kauri Timber Company, is leaving Auckland for Australia at an early date Also, that Mr ' Harry ' Johnßton is to be the new secretary. — That there are to be. some very lively dißclosares at the Hauraki North meeting. .Directors' meetings, at ten shillings per director each, are said to have been very frequent. — That the head-master of a certain large school, whose salary is somewhere in the vicinity of [;£6OO a year, paya his subordinate lady teacherß twopence per week to furnish him with hot tea for his lunch daily. Generous man! ■

Period Period. Drunkenness 130 ... 6 Breaches of the peace 16 ... 2 Assaults 11 ... l Disorderly and riotous conduct 9 ... 1 Lunacy 7 .. 2 Assaulting and resisting the police . . 4 ... 0 Threatening language 3 . . 0 Cruelty to Animals . . 3 . . 0 Disturbing Congregations 5 .. l 188 13 Other offences . . 112 53 300 ... 66 Sly-grog selling ... 1 .. 24