THE COMING FRAY.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIX, Issue 1090, 26 January 1911, Page 20

THE COMING FRAY.

PROHIBITIONISTS ON THE LOOK OUT. THE BARE. MAJORITY AND NATIONAL prohibition. Stll another week has passed and, so far as “the Trade” is concerned, no apparent action has been taken to combat or withstand the misrepresentation of its aims, objects, and the character of the men and women who are engaged in the traffic . itself. “The Vanguard, otherwise ■ The P hibitionist” (the guile/ ‘with which some men conceal their intentions is apparent in the changed title of the paper), in its issue of January 21st, attempts a forecast of the T e ?*- J* was a wise man (the 'Vanguard says) who said ‘Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof and thereupon proceeds to the hope “that the saying w lll true with regard to the year lt, rejoices over the passing of the licensed bookmaker at the end of this month, and also over the lapsing of all bottle licenses at the end of June “with no possibility of renewal. ine connection of the two is not quite apparent, but they are .both • regarded by the Prohibitionist journal as a prolific source of temptation, the removal of which, is cause for congratulation. Then, proceeding to further count up its gains, the “Vanguard says: “At the same time (June), the law will go forth through all ,th,e. land that all public bars must close at 10 o’clock. To strike off one hour and especially such an hour, from such a trade,,will,” it says, “be a dis 7 . tinct gain to the cause of, sobriety. Recruiting for the barmaid business in this country,” it proceeds, (as. if the business was some dreadfully improper thing that must contaminate all who engage in it), “has already been stopped, and, after June next, no woman excepting a publican’s wife or daughter can serve behind the bar unless her name has been published in the register of barmaids in the Government Gazette. All these (the ‘Vanguard’ concludes) are counts to the good for a year,” better at the end than at the beginning thereof.” • * • “LOCAL OPTION ENDED.” For years the New Zealand Alliance has clamoured for the recognition of the right of the people to deal with the liquor traffic, on local option lines’ Now that it has seen fit to advance its propa.ganda and to go for Dominion option, on the lines of the bare majority, it sees no merit in local control of the liquor traffic. No matter what the circumstances of a district may be, no matter where the desires and wishes of its residents may lead them, the zealous upholder of Local Option, rejoices because the new law removes the traffic from popular control. We are not prepared to say that the doing awrny with the 11 o’clock licenses is not a good thing in some respects, but where Licensing Committees elected by the popular vote, as all Licensing Committees are, decide that 11 o’clock licenses are desirable and necessary, it seems to us, the outside public would have no real ground for complaint, had the hotels been allowed to remain open to that hour. It is strictly in accordance with the local option principle that each district electing a Committee should have the right of determining the hours during which hotels should remain open; hence the necessity for a uniform hour of closing throughout the Dominion is - scarcely apparent, because we are unaware' that drunkenness is more rife in districts that have sanctioned , the later hour of closing than those in which the Committees have made it 10 o’clock; or,;' for ’ that matter, that there is any more excessive drinking indulged in than is apparent in certain NoLicense areas. As for the restriction placed upon the employment of barmaids, all we can say is tfiat.theiM”

are several callings in which young women are more open to insult than behind a respectable hotel bar. And we are bound, moreover, to say, that as a class the barmaids of this country are as respectable, as honest and as moral a class as those - engaged in any other calling or occupation, and individually they would stand the test of comparison, and more than holdi their own .with other, young women who have to earn their own living. The Wowserite predilections of the “Vanguard” make it rejoice at the. prospect of this ? avenue of employment being closed to a by no means inconsiderable class of the community. It would doubtless prefer to see them engaged as household drud-' ges, or. as waitresses, sempstresses, etc. The Draconic legislation which the Wowsers have forced upon this country should be rememberedagainst them next November. Mean-

while it is interesting to notice that they are prepared to go more than a step further. * * » THE CROWN OF HONOUR. “The Crown of Honour” is. however, according to “The Vanguard,” reserved for the year 1911, as “the scene of the most vigorous and most hopeful tussle with the liquor-trade that New Zealand has yet witnessed.” In picturesque language we are told: “For the first time we are to have a straight out fight on the plain issue as to whether the liquor traffic shall or shall not. continue to curse the Dominion. Every voter will go to the poll in November or December next, armed with what may be a death warrant for the entire drinkmaking, drink-selling and drink-im-porting business in this country, and if that business does not drag itself out of the year sick and nigh unto death, it will be in the teeth of all available auguries. A trade that at present exists only on a minority vote would appear to J be already bankrunt in its resources for a successful fight.” And so on, the diatribe ending with the assurance that “Sentence of death has clearly gone forth against it from the bar of'.public opinion, and the enlarged .voting powers now placed in the hands of the people, will most assuredly place that Sentence into execution.” ■ Brave words these, but it is the bravery of the .iiitolerant insolence, that .springs from £he warped” arid'" 'bigSted J ' mind’of ' a

semi-religious “crank” (none the less dangerous,' because he is a “crank”) who, with his fellows, similarly accomplished in the art of misrepresentation, calumny and abuse, where the Trade is concerned, must be met and defeated on their own ground. And we believe their defeat is not only possible, but certain if the Trade closes up its ranks and unites as one man, in the business of educating and enlightening the people of this country, upon the nature of the insidious attacks that have been so successfully engineered against the liberties, rights and- independent action of the majority. It will be a long and arduous struggle, 'no doubt, one in which our opponents will bend every energy to the accomplishment of our undoing. But to men who fight and fight and fight on, victory must assuredly come. And we should be preparing for that fight right away.