PROHIBITION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1636, 15 August 1887, Page 2

PROHIBITION.

to the acrro*. Fir,— l do not know whether it has been by accident or design, bat it ii* matter of remark that, m recent issues of your journal, several " extraoted " articles have appeared reviewing unfavorably the prohibitory liquor lav m force m various . parts of the United States. As the ques- : tion of Local Option is to be a foremost I one m the for.hcoming electioneering contests, it is on'y right that your readers should know something more of the matter than that offorded by the scanty bat unfriondly criticisms wh"ch have been put before them m your columns. As against, the statement that " there is not a place of any size m Kanßaa where, liquor cannot, be obtained/ eta, allow me to quote what the Secretary of the United State* Brewers' Association says : — •• In Kanaka the piohibition system has been m opera- , tion two years, and all the brewers ara ruined," a confession which implies, at any rate, that the consumption ef beer m Kansas has been reduced to an infinitesimal quantity. Very few people m New Zealand know what it is to live m a community which ib free, from the blasting influc cc of the liquor traffic, but nearly all are acquainted with the inexpressible misery an<l wretchedness which exist m the quarters— l cannot call them homes — of those who resort to and support the public-houses of our land. In strikiog contract to the poverty which prevails to a greater or less ex ent wherever the liquor traffic flourishes, the well-known traveller/ and author, Hepworth Dixon, refers, ai follows to a town where prohibition i«>in. force : — " iSt Johnsbury is a working village^ and the people m it mainly working' men. It is a village such as we are striving after m cur Sbaftesbury Parks, and other experiments m providing cheap and wholesome lodgings for our laboring classes, m the hope that they may be persuaded— • first, to save their money, and then pnt it: into real estate, by purchasing the houses m which they live. Here the problem has been solved; a working-olaes proprietary secured. In many cases — I have reason to iofer m most— the craftsmen own the cottages m which they live*, fnsi : e, each cottage is a model of its kind, with all appliances for cleanliness and coinfoit; m short, a neat and well conducted domestic shrine. What are the secrets of this artisans' paradise ? Why is the place so clean, this people so well housed and fed ? Why aroj the litt'e folks so hale m f uce, so smart m person, and so neat m dress ? All roicest I am bound to say, reply to me, that these unusual, yet desirable, conditions m. & workman's village spring from a strict enforcement of the law prohibiting^ the sale of any species of intoxicating drink. * * The men of Vermont, like those of other Northern States, have adopted the publio Act, which is. known to the English jesters and good fellows under the opprobrious title of the Maine Liquor Law. Attempts are made by hostile critics to p. ove that prohibition has not succeeded m the communities which have adopted it, and every opportunity is taken to raise a laugh at the many and novel attempts made to evade the law. But let the people who have triod prohibition for more than a quarter of v century giva their testimony. The State of Maine, m the year 1851,. adopted is famous Maine Liquor Law by a vote of more than two to one, totally prohibiting the sale of all intoxicating liquors as beverages. After more than thirty years' experience of the working, and the results of prohibition, the citizens of Maine, on the Bth of September. 1884, at the time of the Presidential Eleotion, voted by a majority of three to on© throughout the whole State, adopting an amendment to the Slate constitution, for ever prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating beverages. This Prohibitory Amendment was carried by an overwhelming majority of nearly 47,000, there being only 23,000 voteß against, and nearly 70,000 for the amendment This action proclaims to the world, m terms not to be misunderstood, that the people of Maine, after more than thirty years* trial, have not grown weary of prohibition, but are more than ever wedded to it as an inestimable boon and blessing. The day is gone by when prohibition could be comfortably laid aside as being outside the pale of practical politics, and every colonist should now consider very serious'y whother the suppression and prohibition of the liquor traffic is .not of greater moment chan Freetrade and Protection, or the other knotty points with which clbver politicians endeavor to divert the attention of electors, end about which they appear to be so concerned. II the two million and odd pounds which is annually expended m strong drink were spent m remunerative channels, such as food, clothing, furniture, and the like, a brighter day would dawn on this fair land, both commercially and morally. One word more. Such sneering paragraphs concerning the anti-liquor crusade, as now and then are circulated through your journal, are mostly batched m the sanctum of such papers as " The Morning Advertiser " and " St James 1 Gazette," the former being an acknowledged organ of the Licensed Victuallers' Association) while the latter has an unenviable reputation of jeering at every good word and work. A knowledge of these facts will enable the public to put a right estimate on what may be reproduced from suqli quarters. I am, etc. % PBBirATITIC.