The White Ribbon. "For God, and Home, and Humanity." WELLINGTON, MARCH 18, 1935. BREWERS' WORLD-WIDE CAMPAIGN.

White Ribbon, Volume 40, Issue 474, 18 March 1935, Page 5

The White Ribbon. "For God, and Home, and Humanity." WELLINGTON, MARCH 18, 1935. BREWERS' WORLD-WIDE CAMPAIGN.

The Christian conscience of South Africa has l**en arous*‘«l i»> a Liquor i:ii 1 introduced in its House of Parliament. The object of the* Kill is to incre&se the sale of wine an*l l>ecr. it provided that the fanner could s ell direct to the consumer. The Minister, m introducing the* Kill, said he te*lt that the* farmer should obtain facilities to sell direct to the consumer, and in his opinion it would pave the way towards making South Africa, as far as possible, .i wine and ls*e*r drinking community Also, it provided that any employer who had 50 or more non-European employees could give them a "tot" once* a • lay of wine*, l>eer, or - Kaffir beer. This would create a market for the farme rs, who w*ere inelirectly interested in the brewing of *>eer t and more* particularly for the w ine* farmers. One M.P. speike* to the* Kill as follows: — ••This is the most evil and iniquitous I ie*ce of social legislation ever introluced into Parliament in this country. T he effect of this Kill, if passeel as printed, will 1h» to open the floodgates t >r the wider ai d still more indiscriminate sale of liquor in South Africa; the effect of this Kill Will be still further to rivet the* fetters of drunkenness upon

the white, coloured, and native i*ople of tiiis country, and to make South Africa :• paradise for the wine farmer ami the publican. That is the* effect ol this Kill, and that is the expressed intention ed tile people win* dratted it. "As one who sat on that Committee." declared .Mr. KlacKwell, "I can nay it was an undisguised orgy of Wet propaganda from start to finish. The Poinimttee had sat with the V\ ine Commission s Report as its Kihle, and the members of the wine industry who sat on the Committee had only one object to promote and extend the sale of their products in South Africa. The Minister said that lie hud dropped tin* clause referring to the sale or light wines in boarding-house* and cafes becaust of practical difficulHev, the chief of which was that South African wine was not sufficiently light to ho sold under those circumstances, and w ine with u less alcoholic quantity was required. Moreover, a measure of police supervision would have l>een required. which it wouid he impossible to give. In practice, the clause would have meant little to the wine farmer, and would have made the passing of the Kill difficult, and he had thought it Ih*si to drop it. Another clause was to extend the hours of side from 10 to 11.30 p.m. Many members were of the opinion that South Africa did not want more facilities for drinking it wanted less. Another memlter expressed the opinion that he hud no quarrel with tinwine farmers, but he would have it they were going to use uncivilised natives of this country to pour wine down their throats. Meetings of protest have been held in all centres, and the proposals strongly condemned. The following letter, written by Mr .Justice farter, an ex-Judge of the Natal Supreme Court, give.s reasons stressed by speakers everywhere: — ‘Tpon whom will the great weight of the curse of this new law fall? 1 answer: First, upon the natives themselves. as a partially civilised race, upon whom this temptation is lw*:ng thiust. Secondly, upon the womenkind of this country. “We see the effects of beer drinking among the natives in their locations and Mieir own country areas. “\\ lia< will be the effect of tempting them to Is* wine-bibliers in our towns and populous place*? It will Im* Hie lonely and unprotected woman who will suffer. She will be subject to insult and the worst tnrm of assault. I recall a case tried befor** no* in Durban during the War. when four r a pe coloured men caught and in succession treated in the worst way known a respectable European woman In the Albert Park. They were not drunk; but had had liquor—the inciting cause of their crime. "I diead the starting in this rruntry ex a real Black Peril, probably attended hy Lynch Law reprisals of the worst character. “Will Mr O. IMrow and the wine growers who are shouldering him along the* sordid path of this Liquor Bill. I*e

able to avert the calamity I fear or protect the possible victims? “If not, then let the women of this country at once appeal to their men who are assembled in Parliament to save them from a pending horror. Their men must, putting all Party feeling aside*, respond as men to the cry for hwlp.” \t a meeting in Maritzburgh the following resolution was put hy Mrs Council lor W. A. IX Russell: “That the Mayor Im* requested to transmit tin* resolutions of this meeting to the (Joveniment, and to urge the Natal Members of Parliament strenuously to oppose the passing of the clauses in the Liquor Kill now before Parliament eml*odying the proposals objected to." ,*<he said that she spoke, jus a member of the National Council of Women, to object on behalf of the native women of the country and of the children against the proposed Kill. She objected op behalf of the law of the country, which had been upheld for so long, and would be stultified by the new Kill. There was also danger from tin* economic aspect, when employers were allowed to pay for services in tin* form of tots of liquor. Mrs Russell appealed in the name of sanity, of equity, and of their trusteeship over the natives in h**r protest against the measure. Major R. Tomlinson seconded tin* motion, speaking on behalt of the Marit/.hurg Native Welfare Society. Th** motion was unanimously carried.