The Local Option Poll.

White Ribbon, Volume 5, Issue 54, 1 December 1899, Page 7

The Local Option Poll.

After a brief indulgence in the feeling of regret that the opponents of “No License ” should apparently ha\e triumphed at the Local Option Poll, it is dawning upon us that we have great cause for rejoicing. Ihe secular Press of the colony, which is so largely under the influence of the liquor trade, has hastened to tell us that we have suffered “ a crushing defeat,” that there has been no material progress tow mis 4 * No License,” and so on. But our newspaper friends have forgotten that wise men hasten slowly, and in their hurry they have not only been untruthful, but have laid themselves open to ridicule. Ihe official returns are not yet complete, and a tabulated statement of the polling lor the whole of the colony is not therefore obtainable But sufficient data has been procured to indicate that there has been a very large increase in the “No License” vote, an increase which will probably be found to amount to twenty-five per cent. In the Canterbury district, for example, which contains twelve electorates, the increase in the “No License "’ vote is over twenty-five per cent., while the liquor vote has considerably decreased. Taking the increase in the Canterbury district as a fair representation of the increase in other parts of the colony, and assuming that there w 11 be a proportionate increase during the next three years, then the next poll should see “No License’’ victorious right along the line. This is not an unreasonable assumption. Iri many electorates throughout the Colony a majority of the voters declared for “ No License,” and if the law had not made a three-fifths majority necessary, every drinking bar in these electorates would have been closed.

Seeing, then, that the end of th< fight is within measurable distance, ii is highly necessary that we should al once make plans for the final campaign, Three years of steady, educative work will enable us to overcome prejudice and misrepresentation, to instruct th< ignorant, to arouse the apathetic, ami to take to the poll an army of “ Nc License ” men and women a hundrec and fifty thousand strong. The Christ church Union is already forming plan* of work, and it is among the women that the work of our Union lies. Ever] member of the W.C.T.U. should be a missionary of the benefits of “Na License” to the women of her neigh< bourhood. Touch the hearts of the women, and with the help of the Churches and temperance men, victory will be certain. We shall look eagerly to the reportj of our Unions for the promise of the future, and trust that at the Aucklanc Convention in February the delegates will be able to give such pledges o work as will cheer the heart of every mother who has boys to save from the dark shadow of the traffic in drink.