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New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVII, Issue 968, 24 September 1908, Page 21

[PUBLISHED BY ARRANGEMENT.] TheJSuceess of No-License. JUDGED B'S g ACTUAL RESULTS. .a, — The “ No-License Handbook” is responsible for the statement that the returns of the Ashburton Police Court furnish an unanswerable arugment in favour of No-License. In the same work it is further stated that the growth of the town since 1902 has been steady and uninterrupted, and that Ashburton is in as sound a position commercially to-day as at any period in its history. How far from the real truth, these statements are will be apparent from a comparison of 1902—the last complete year of license —with last year. CRIME IN ASHBURTON. In 1902 the total charges laid in the Police Court numbered 309; last year they had increased to 318. In 1902 the offences relating to liquor were 83; in 1907 they numbered 103, made up as follows: — Drunkenness .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 44 Selling; liquor without a license. .. ~ .. .. .. 22 Prohibited persons procuring liquor I # Disorderly conduct while drunk .; : .. .. .. .. I Keeping liquor for sale .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 Failing to notify vendor under Lieensiag Act 2 Failing to notify clerk of Court .. .. .. .. .. * Failure to label package of liquor .. 4 Failing to give name and address when ordering liquor .. 3 Procuring liquor for prohibited person .. .. .. .. 8 Found in premises when sly-grog search-warrant executed .. D Total .. .. .. .. .. .. 103 Thus the only unanswerable argument that Ashburton can furnish In favour of No-License is an increase in crime and in offences relating to drink. THE PROSPERITY OF THE TOWN. In the five years since No-license the population of Ashburton has increased from 2500 to 2563 .which of itself is eloquent tes|imonay to the utter stagnation of the town. Business is very bad, over 40 establishments having changed hands since 1903. and fully a dozen businesses are now in the market. At least six prominent Prohibitionist tradesmen have shown themselves so satisfied with business under the regime they advocated that they have removed themselves and their businesses to places where licenses exist. No less than eleven shops have been burnt out in the last eighteen months, and the town is so prosperous that in many cases no effort has been made to rebuild. The debts sued for in the Magistrate’s Court have increased in amount from £3115 in 1902 to £4633 in 1907, an increase of 49 per cent., which disposes of the frequently expressed opinion that people pay their debts better under Nolicense. It is said that a large proportion of business people are satisfied, but actions speak louder than words, and at the Court-house polling-booth, in the centre of the business pouplation, the votes cast in 1905 were: For restoration gu Against restoration 335 Majority for restoration 283 A QUESTION FOR TEMPERANCE REFORMERS. It is evident that, judged by the very test proposed by the Prohibitionists themselves, No-licenso is a failure in Ashburton. There is no decrease in crime, as shown by the Police Court records; on the contrary, there is a slight increase. Instead of increasing prosperity, so lavishly promised, we find complete stagnation. Instead of business people enlarging their premises, we find them falling over each other in their hurry to escape from the town. Instead of the workers having a plentiful supply of cash, we find small debts harder than ever to collect. On the top of all these failures, we have the horrors of sly-grog, with its train of ruined homes. In the face of these facts, is it not time for those temperance reformers who believe in coercion as a remedy to ask themselves whether these results are in spite of, or because of, the law they defend?