THE PROHIBITION CRUSADE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIII, Issue 15000, 10 April 1899, Page 2

THE PROHIBITION CRUSADE.

Tho Temperance Mission which is being conducted by Mrs. Harrison Lee, in this town, is very successful, and is a splendid tribute to> her powers as an attractive j speaker. On Satuiday night she was advertised to give an address in the open air, at the Fountain. The night was very wet, and the meeting was held in the Theatre. The audience was a large one for the night, and the address, which was upon "Liquor and Labour," was one of the most telling we have ever heard delivered upon the subject. The heavy rain, as might have been expected, militated against the attendance. Mrs. Lee, however, i.s a speaker whom a small audience does not seem to affect, for her address on liquor and labour was given with as much verve and life as if the place had been crowded from lloor to ceiling. Mrs. Lee's aim was to show that liquor is no friend to the working man or to trade in any of its forms. In the first place the drunken, thriftless working man is an enemy to his trade, foi" he is willing to take any work v master will offer. In the second pluce the liquor-making trade is no friend to labour, for it employs a mere handful of men iv comparison to its output and iv comparison to the profits derived from it by manufacturers. For example, the Victorian breweries and distilleries employ only 1317 men, while turning out £6,700,000 worth of liquor. This would employ 6000 men at 50 shillings a -tveek for 10 years in any other employment. But it employed only 1317 men for one year. Where did the money go ? Why to the big brewers and distillers. But how about the revenue ? By a, series of telling examples Mrs. Lee showed the folly of looking to a demoralizing traffic for revenue, and brought her audience to the irresistible conclusion that it would be infinitely better to give.revenue to Government on goods whicli are useful than to raise drunkards. The value of the drink revenue in comparison to the brewers' profits was aptly brought out by the example of the Squire who went hunting on a 70-gtiinea horse, with 20---guineu clogs, and a 10-guineti gun, and brought home a sixpenny snipe. If it was true that nine out of every ten criminals are the product of drink, then the abolition of the traffic meant that nine out of ten gaols might be closed. And if the stock-in-trade of the gaol was the boys and girls whom the liquor traffic has turned into criminals, then the sooner that desirable change was made the better. Yesterday afternoon Mrs. Lee delivered an instructive address to Sunday School teachers and scholars, which was listened to with rapt attention, by old as well as young ; and in the evening another addresi, was given at the conclusion of the church service. To-night the address in the Oddfellows' Hall will be entitled " Wedding Bells," and the sum of 6d will be charged for admission.