WHAT IS THE NEW ZEALAND ALLIANCE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1838, 11 May 1888, Page 4

WHAT IS THE NEW ZEALAND ALLIANCE.

+ <. Thcae of our readers who are Interested In, but not conversant with, the platform and policy of the New Zealand Alliance, •re referred to the following pwtlcnlars, which have been handed us for publication :— The New Zsaland Alliance ia an Association of Temperance and Social Peformers, and was tormsd In Wellington on the Ist of March, 1886 At th 6 fitet meeting r.f the General Council then held, when the Society wsvi pcblicly Inaugurated, the following De CLABiTION OF PoMCr AND PLATFORM WS3 unanimously adopted aa a ba^la for the agitation, and aa Indic^tiug the character and scopa of the movement : — PiArrroßK 1 "That It U neither r!gbt nor politic for the State to afford legal protection and sanction to any traffic or Bfstcm that tends to increase crime, to waste the. national resources, to corrupt the sooial habits, and to destroy the health acd lives of the people. g. "That the traffic m intoxicating liquors, as common beverages, is inimical to the true interests of individual, and destructive to the order and welfare of society, and onght, therefore, to bo pro hlbited. 3. '-That the history and results of all pant legislation hi regard to the liquor traffic abundantly prove that it is impnßßible, Batiefaclorily, to limit or regulate a Byatom ao essentially mlechlevoua m its tendencies. 4. " That no consideration of private gain or public revenue can justify the upholding of a system so utterly wrong m principle. Buicidal In policy^* and disastrous m results, aa the traffic m intoxicating liquors. 5. " That the legislative prohibition of the liquor traffic is perfectly compatible with rational liberty, and with all the claims of justice and legitimate commerce 6. w That the legislative suppression of the liquor traffic would be highly conducive to the development of a progressive civilisation. 7. " That, rlslug above claEB, saotarlan, or party considerations, all good oitizeos should combine to procure an enactment prohibiting the sale of intoxicating beverages, as affording most efficient aid m removing the appalling evil of intemperance." Policy 1. "This Alliance has been instituted foe the suppression and prohibition of the liquor traffic It seeks to unite la this effort thosa who are not abstainers as well as those who are, thete being many who, though they themselves are moderate drinkers of alcoholic liquors, deplore the waste and nvsary caused b*y their legalised sale. 2. " The immediate aim of the Allia' JOe is to secure for the people the legal d'.reot power to veto the liquor traffic. 3. "This Alliance believes t'jat when the people possess this power., with sufficient facility for its exercise, Oiey will free the colony from the heavier^ harden that is laid upon Ub financial resources, and from the principal cauea. of its disease, destitution, and crime. 4r» l< To attain thl'a result the members of iho Alliance &?& expectnd to use ail the influence they posiesn to secure the election to Parliament, and to all olher positions of power, of such candidates as are favorabJe to the principles of the Allisnce. The acceptance of these principles, with an annual subscription of not less than 2s 6d, constitutes membership. The Executive will account annually m Its report for the rsveoma derived from this and other eonrcQo, aid for the disbursement thereof." The Alliance has no test of memberIt invites the aid acd co-operation all good elliz^ns, whether abstainers or not. It has but one obj^c* — the removal of the liquor traffic by a law, enacted by Parliament, and enforced by public opinion, armed with executive power. Personß may join the Ailianc3 and receive cards of membership, on subscribing two shillings and sixpence and up«rarda. This may bq paid to the Secretary of the Ashburton auxiliary, Mr 0. Dlxo»,. from whom documents connected with the movement may be bad gratis o% application,