Address by J. Dixon Ward

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume V, Issue 1492, 27 November 1905, Page 2

Address by J. Dixon Ward

On Saturday night ,Mr, 'J, Dixon Ward, \ addressed one of >tbp lnrgeet'open meetings e aeon in Ho.apoke: from 1 the.sFi^..? Brigade's trolley, which was drawn up a alongside Mr. FitzGerald'spbarmaoyfand:' oontinued for nearly two houtß. ,- ■ accompanied, by the: well-known traveller,; Mr. Wallace. s . .Mr, Ward said he was pleased .to intro- : duco himself for tho fourth time.' They would rooolleot it had been^charged 1 . against him that he would not not debate 1 ' the Ijuestion with opponents.' ; JVill.. he: . had debated the queation with v fcbeGrand'> Chief Templar and secretary* 1 oHtbe" Auoltland Ailianoe, and was qnite:icon(ent: to take the verdict of > those : ,who bid at-< tended the 'disoussions. :• Somei' df'■ his friends had aooused him of- being unduly severe in '.dealing;with politic ai but tho present attitude of those gentlemen , was ample for every word he bad said. ' They need only lpok:at;;tbe posters in front of some of tho ohurohe's to see that Ohiistian pulpits :hai>given plaoe lo ft ; :political 1 mal-adroitqeßS,• disgraceful both to the, letter and

Bpirit of itho- tbacbirigß. ;,of . Jesuiii i Jhe speaker here read an extract irbrn'a Wangariui paper exhibiting - : miDielera 'of ; religion as political agents.: The local op-. ; ; tion poll under the existing law'j^ohftised;. the issues arid nullified the principle ofmi eponsibility of Parliamentary represent*- ■! tives. 'The shifted;: to J ■ the the people subject ' the continued importunities of the, probibi- ; tionpartywith their one-si(ied statements. He oould give them a few additional : sta- r tistios, both American and local. • He.; would ask tbeurtobear in mind that ■jjtaij; was truo of oni Anglo Saxon community? could be-true of another Anglo-Saxon bom; : muriity, and the 'experiments of Africa, should; be conducive proof that it was : futile, to try the same experiments '• over > again in New Zealand. . The prohibitory lawcaufled.a.greatio-; otease in sequent increase io ibe death rate from al-' cobol. According to ■ the latest Uniifd' Statistics the death rate from drunkenness ; in tbr?e prohibition States of .40 |eirs'. standing: had \increased. tovin aiarming' degree. In Maine, New Hampshire; and' Vermont ouring the twenty '.' years from 11)80, to 1900, the deaths/from aloohoi Bad increased from '! lifil per 1000 to 2.31 per 1000,, an actual increase ;of 63 per cent, .; Daring the sane, 'period■ in ■ the 'ten jioehsid' Statss Alabama, Indjaim, Kentuoky.Mißsouri, Nebraska, North Oarblinai'Oregonj JTexas; Tennessee and West Virginia,—the death n from alcohol had diminished: from 2,47 per 1000 io 1,68 per 1000, or an actual reduction of 34 per cent. . Prohibition in America produced worse results .than the opon bar of New Zealand, ..and, arguing by ' analogy, the dosing of the bars would produce evil results of the same kiud. ' His opponets had worked upon an alleged race degeneracy, but .the teetotal' nations had for the last lOOO.yeara sunk from their former grandeor, while the acoholus'ing nations had evolved. systems of democratic government nhparralleledin' the world's history. It was- a faot that tho grcat nations ia Europewbioh.used .the most alcohal were the richest and.most , prosperous. . According to Mrilhall's dictionary, of statistics, page 684, the con-' luuiptiOQ of alcohol was in France'. 3.80 gallons-per;head; in Germany, 2.20 per head }; and in the United Kingdom, 1.90, per bend.. As»j>»tofi: be would quote Spain; having!,B6, Austria 1,80, 'and. JRiisaia.o.6s, . Surely there was evidence here that alcohol was a brain stimulant; The injustice of the prohibitory law was : \yell set out by the fley.'Mr. Chandler, who said " the truth in onr day is the same as in Mill's day, and liberty the same'all the world over." He would rocommend , the liberties of their fellow oitizenj to iHe; atteniion of the'teetotal fraternity. ;• : i His veracity had beyi .: challenged,'con-, earning; statements be had made -with respect to eminent men, more/' partidularly .Abraham Lincoln. Now, h> would say ■ he nevor quoted a' statement that was. not reliable;. '•' Mr. Ward then quoted''from' pages . SP, 137, and 480 <of Ward H. Lainon's .History of ,the Life of Lincbln, ' - while LMn had -no ; liking for alcohol, ho it moderately -with his 'friends, 1 Hia-tee-total oppohontswere et.ijl parading medical opinion, oblivious of tho faot that -fullj 80 per cent oi tho medical profession wore against them. He quoted Dr Osier liegius, •Professor of Medicine.at Oxford, ,to

show that temperance, and not tqtafabatinence, 'j#9 the rule of life. Dr .Cokemad; had unhesitatingly condemned Sir Frede-. l'iok TtevM, ; Sir Jaa, Paget hadgiver, a simijar verdiot, and many; others; were unanimous in condemning the cold water ,fad. ,Dr Joaiah Oldfieldcsaid—/look upon the - liquor of grains a's one of sthe moit important causes of the stamina of the English people—that is to say, tbo beer (if Old iingland, I consider it very valuable m promoting the gro-vth of ihe Engl.ish raoo." -With that 1 before them curdy it was unjust to condemn the moderate uae of ojoohol. Professor. Konig,- uf.Gfirmany t ~ condemned the tce'otol fad, and expressed the general opinion of Qomiim. gists that alooiiol rightly, uAd. was, distinctly beneficial. There were, various nspecis from which they might observe the operations of op-'icense. His• toetotal friends strained; at a gnat andi.Bwiilidwed' many camels, iThey a»reed ;wKh him on the of unjyetsal - suffrage, but;' having ooncededuhe larger liberty,, they, proceeded to treat the'working manias, a grown-up child; haying no right or free choice in hh food. : The NcwZealandlawestablislied aopn. dition that there might be one law for the 1 riob and another for the poor, for the poor man could pot . import the: oommodity in such quantities as he required Avhile the . rich man luxuriated in ease simply in the' strangih of' his bank■, balance. 1 The; law

wasa.crime, and ft disfigurement to the statute. book, and . tbo; :adoner ■ • it*was wipod off th ebe 11 e r.I tw as. aou r iou at hing thatevetyEtatcmentmadecoimerDing'the results of ptobibition b.y his opponents was - being falsified;' Thoy had said destruction of the' lioecoo did not - affect the comfort of the travellers. Police Inspeotor tunbridge. said,;." Travellers alio complained of s-ebanga for the. worse experienced on the comfort and cleaclinosa of hotels since iio license obtained," Working men had speoial rights': which the law utterly Htfhad been charged with magnifying the'sly-grog evil, .but only that day they had telegraphio information of nine, slygrog cases in JLshburton, The; Eev.W. Smailes, in a recent addreaa at;\Vaihi, had corroborated everything -he/'(Mr, Ward) had : fiaid concemiDt; the; King OouUtry, and also most/emphatically,/efe dorseil his statement tbaMhe operation/of the no-license law largoly increased the cost of police . administration. .< The .uo-licenee advocates were the people who abolished bottlo ' licenses on the ground that ut i bottlo of hquor was a menace to • sobriety,'! but now they were preaohing the 'gospel:i that every right mtuded man may con- 1 tmue io drunk on a two-gallon keg in his own home, The teetoml "faddiste would oloee up im hotel, but would'u'loiv (ho two-Rallon keg to exist.- ,:Theifcargu-.-' ments concerning hotels were absolutely l baseless,, as 'they merely. destroyedono alleged temptation and putm its place many worse ones, On the -una side'-was ihe -woll-conductsd hole] as eiistiLg. On the other su]e be lound diinking parties in private homes, drinking parties by youths m sphciiil meoting plaoes, and, ab6ve all, the muljip lioation of tho sly g.cg shop, frequently owned :ty-:stho staosc women":W' the land. t These won,en wesa gteater menaoe to our' young men, 'and even tb mimed meb, than any liber temptation

fa ill Piiiml^S menalhesrt ance of the license iystem'.<' 7/ f' VjF&r ! He had been aitaoked' his statiaticsjttjp Ooqcerning, the' King Country,' ' h?/s3jj| Rev. G. W. Smailei, who- declared |Sheft\® slvXgtogl there was plenty of liquor sold, there." The tame reverend gentlemen 'fallacy,of .the arguments concerning the oos( of polioe administration.,', < • No-lioense:v I&rgelj increased tWe-oortfimaerfthis hitdyvk.ul« methodsjitid were not jjiwi) ta/(&o m'uoh^:^;'. ofiarify/;'- Ee.ffbnld instance the'mm .of •; y widow jyh'oW tarried out of 'her hotel .the last local option vote;" . .She youhg'ohildren^but^np^.oold'water neat ev.er called to see. whether Bhe had ; • *'■ orast of bread in the bouse;, .One V, 'brewer gave' her a house, rent' free; and' £IOO to tide her • over her diffioul-' ■ ,j 1 tio», while en'oiher brewed gave her £IOO, with' the same object< The' despised brewers; had fehown themselves poßfl6Bßed "' 1 -,'; of ft'higher Christian charity tban all the , t teetotal Pharisees put together, fail teetotal friends -had: raised:,the hysterical, .>%■ oty," Save tlfb ohildren," but_ they failed tn shnw »nv ainele case of juvenile de-;A

uU BllUW.i HUV WUfIW-.IHMO Wl. .jmWMW.;»y i; ;y,u : pravity in New Zealand traoeable- to.j.thp use of alcohol. Tbeir emotional appeal for votes* ebonld: be with thfl coui. , . tempt it deserved- It was lor tbeelectors in Waihi to settle the qutotion m the light of reason, and ibore would be do t i talk about local option , There never was which raised the cry of" Ha've the" ehjld- ' j ron 1 by bis teetotal opponents v He would tell them something more i < about Aebburton; • Tbeir niooh-vaunied i.ji'-j. pavings bank deposits were 6 per belowthe average for New Zealand } # -the. amount of debts sued for in the increased; bankruptcies tiad' doubled, and .^ii; in every respeot the era of Dp-license sbai^ shown a marked deterioration .initbe-proa-ijufo perity of the place. that;'bad:; adoptedf.it.jw;?; Bis opponents had slandered the r pensioners bv attributing half 'heijr ( i to drunkennesp.. AnotSer stook argument thiol theirs olaimed that '.drmkrogkpeoplepiM were short-lived. Now,an. old agßipen- - Bioner had to be aixty.-five ji ancUsjamingi [• >i : the teetotal to he )Oorrecti;'iitrOnlY : ; provod the longevity of moderate drinkers.' . ! ■ In conclusion,, he.would : repeat ali bis.v.-; former arguments showing the evils of no-;: i ;. license. No-license carried inhts train temptations ti tbe yoingfarmore'dreadfol■■■■;•■. ;■ than any lemptatiocs under;theiexisting-;-..; license system. It opened the' 1 gates of immorality to tbe youths, to tbe young men,- and even the marriedi meD..?#»» j m opposed both ta the letter and.tbeispirit otsr* tbe Christian religion. 'AS/faf: ig.Waihks was concerned, it-was a 'mensce'to. tbe" prosperity of tbe town. 'Already' outside places were advertising their superior &t- ,; vi tractions for week-end excursions, andiifno-license.was'carried the'-businesse-, men of Wpihi would have: the same ex- ; -,. perience as Newtown and .Port Chalmers. :, i •He would therefore urge them,-in iview of< vwhat lie had said- andiof the, facts' ando -figaVes.be bad quoted,'v to. strike out ; the: last: two lines at thb forthcoming ballot... <r. • In r6ply to a question Mr Ward said that all. police statistics .proved that the;, 4 - Iclosing of tbe bßr immediately , introduced' . liquor into the homes,' multiplying, by i> hundred-fold the evil teetotallers, | to have focussed their whole attention.on. I ',',*;?. It showed a lamentable wart i tbat these men were..' unable to rfcoßDise 1 ' the truth trhen they saw it. If they could. only • loon at bothvsides of. th£: question.; ; i the oountry would hear no more about bo-, license, ______ >