THE BARE MAJORITY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 640, 18 October 1909, Page 3

THE BARE MAJORITY.

Sir,—Greatly daring, I venture to affirm' that the "argument" of your correspondent, John C. Earl, is .not quite so .unanswerable as. he. seems to imagine. His letter really abounds in' irrelevant es, not to. characterise them Ijy ,a harsher word. His reference to the' "liberty of the subject" is marred by the venerable fallacy that the only.kind of ."liborty". tp.be considered is that of those who .sell and'use alcoholic beverages. What about the "liberty" of pareuts, to whom the drink habit brings* the unspeakable curse of drunken sons'? What about, .the "liberty" of the State, the good order which is interfered with so frightfully by theevil of intemperance? /There are thousands in New Zealand to-day who by the votes of thoso who argue on tho fallacious' lines ot Mr. J. C. Earl are compelled to carry a burden of shame and suffering, the thought ot which might well' melt a heart of stone. It is the'awakening intelligence of the Dominion that is focussing public attention on; the grave injustice of tho three-fifths. majority vote at present required to carry No-License. That means that the vote of the brewer or the consumer of liquor has half as much value again as tho vote of- the man who is fighting for tho protection of his own homo. Itis granting "privilege" to those who,least deserve it; it is placing a heavy handicap upon, those who suffer most and have the most to lose. Surely if the democratic demand of "one vote, one value" should hold good in any department of public affairs it should in relation to a matter which on one side has. nothing whatever but the interests of selfishness, and on the other side nothing whatever but the public good. Mr. Earl raises what he considers the appalling [issue involved in tho. possibility that.half, a million'voters in New Zealand, plus one, might | "coerce" .the other .half*, million into the loss of their present facilities for obtaining' liquor. \ What about the .other possibility that half a million plus one, might "coerco" the other half million into the endurance of the most appalling evils with which our land is cursed? In fact, if tho present requirement obtained it would mean that half . a million might coerce threo-auarters of a million, minus one, to suffer the unspeakable ills which the presence of the liquor traffic ' entails. Tour readers will readily enough perceive which potty in such a case would have the besi reason to exclaim, "This is government by the people with a vengeance!"—l am, etc., - ' W. J. WILLIAMS. October 11, 1009.