NO-LICENSE "RALLY."

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 850, 23 June 1910, Page 9

NO-LICENSE "RALLY."

MEETING IN THE TOWN HALL. ADDRESSES. BY DR. HENRY AND MR. T. E. TAYLOR, M.P. Tlio Town Hail was filled in all parts for tho No-Liccnso "rally" held last evening, at which Mr. Wesley Spragg, president of tho Now Zealand Alliance, occupied the chair. Tho largo choir organised for tho recent Henry-Potts mission- led the singing. The choir was conducted by Mr. C. A. Potts, with Mrs. Potts as accompanist. A "song service" preceded tho meeting proper. Leaders of tho No-Licenso party occupied seats on the platform. -Tho appearanco of Dr. J. Q. A. Henry was greeted with onthu'siasm and prolonged applause. The principal features of tho meeting werct addresses by .Dr. and Mr. T. B. Tnylor, M.P. Both, speakers were frequently and ■ loudly applauded. .Partnership With the Publioan. ■ Dr. Henry spoke on "Partnership witli the Publican." His subject, ho said, was based on two passages of Scripture. Tho first,-, from, the Old Testament, was as follows: —"Shouldst thou help tiio ungodly and. love them that hate tbo Lord ?. For this is, wrath come upon thee before.tlio Lord." The second, from tlio Now ;Tostament,, was "Ho that biddeth him God. speed is partaker of his evil deeds." Tho first text .related to creed and tho second to conduct. Tho principle underlying both texts was. the same; tho possibility of people whose 1 own lives might bo puro and holy and useful-standing in" such, a. complicity. .with; evil, doctrine, and deeds that when punishment, w'as vis-, itcd upon heresy and ungodliness they would be punished also.. Was, then, what was called "the trade" ungodly, unpi'ofitablo,'unjust? Did it belong to those that "hate.the Lord"? .An.institution must be judged by its'results, and they should consider .what-wero tho effects of the. drink habit and traffic on the two great ■ institutions—the homo and the Church. Any trade, that made' assault upon tlio happiness iand health and peace and prosperity of.: the home was a too to mankind. .What, was to bo said of-the irifluenco of tho trade inalcoholic liquors on' domestic life r" If to manufacture alcoholic liquor, to distribute it, to drink it..was.a. good,thing, then the brewer's home, the distiller's homo, the drunkard's- homo should bo the sanest, s\vcotest,.loveliest, and most delightsome on earth. But the drunkard's home stood as the symbol of wretchedness,-want, and domestic infidelity. Not only was the. drink traffic responsible for nine-tenths of the crimo in the world, but it was responsible also for six-sovenths of the poverty. "The Trade" and the Church. Then as regards the influenco of the drink habit and drink traffic on tho Church. . A census taken.n few years ago in Glasgow showed that out of 769,000 residents of the city there wero 469,000 who had no Church relationship. A great pastor of the city stated that drink was. responsible for nine-tenths of all tho non-attendance at public worship. If that was true it was responsible for the non-attendance at church of 15 million people in, Great Britain. For every £1 given to Church work in Great Britain £7 was put into the coffers of the publican, tho brewer, and the distiller. In the United States, for every dollar given to Christian work A J dollars was given to tho support of the public-house. Again, as regards the relationship of the drink habit .and traffic ■to..the"spiritual', lifo. and power of the Church,. Cardinal Maiming had said that there was nothing so detrimental to the spiritual life of man as continual indulgence in spirituous' liquors. Did they ever know anybody who the inoru ho drank the more spiritual ho was? Tin's was an aspect of the drink problem that had not yet received enough consideration—the effect on the spiritual lifo of tho Church.' 'There wore ten young people going down to destruction through tho ■ public-house for one saved through tho Sunday school.' Tho most relentless adversary the Church had to faco to-day was tho habit and traffic in strong drink. Th« history of the liquor traffic was written in tears, tho anguish and the blood of men, women, and children. ■ Judged by its influence on either the home or the Church the liquor traffic stood . condemned. Sponsors.pf the Traffic. : Who then wore the pcoplo who wort bidding tho manufacturer and distiller, ond seller of alcoholic liquor "God speed"? Who wero the sponsors of this ruinous and-dastardly traffic? It was possiblo for multitudes of men and women directly and indirectly to promote this trade which hated God, His. people, and His Church, and which must die. In-proportion as tho publichouse prospered 'the Church lost ground, and in proportion as the Church prosjiered the public-house lost,' ground. The triumph of one meant thq defeat, of the other. The Church existed to save -people; -the- public-house was a blood-sucker and a parasite. Those two institutions,- which w : ere living .side by side in.Wellington,, would.not.live sido 'by, side for ever. Ultimately the Church y.'ould Jive and the~ publicdiause would perish,, or. the., public-house would live and; organised Christianity., would perish from the- earth. Science declared that the fittest survived, and ho submitted that the Church of Christ-should live and, that this institution should-'die the death: It : had been- stated in .America, thai, '"tho saloons would closu all the churches . if -they' could, and tho churches could close,all the saloons if they would."- -.-''- ■ •' ■ • "Ho that biddeth him God speed is partner'of his evil deeds." Every man who spent sixpence' or a shilling 'in the hotel bar was by so" much a supporter of the traffic in strong drink, and by so much was a partner with the publican. Who supported the traffic in Wellington? The Prohibitionists did not, tho drunkards had not wealth and patronage enough to keep the sixty hotels of tho city, open for ' sixty days. It should bo plain, therefore, that, tbo moderate drinker was' responsible first, last, and all-the timo;for tho. maintenance of tho traffic and its results. The man who invested money in publichouse property was a-,pnrtner with the publican. Amonp; the backers of the traffic also wore thoso who thrbueli their social influence, encouraged tho drink habit. \ Power of the Vote, Again, one might become a partner with tbo publican simply through not speaking at the proper time. Neutrality was treason. The one thing tbo representatives of "the trade" feared was the vote of the sober and Christian man. "You can sing like seraphs and pray like angels, but if you don't go into the polling-booth and voto against it they don't care a rap for your psalm-singing." In the United States there were now fifty million people, under Prohibition, and that success lud been obtained' by. voting at tho polls. Tho polling-booth was as sacred as the 'prayer meeting. MR. TAYLOR'S SPEECH. Mr. T. E. Taylor, M.P., who was received witli great applause, \i cry of "Three cheers for Taylor"—which were heartily given—said that the address they bad just hoard from Dr. Henry was the finest-No-Licenso speech ho had over listened to. There wero many and conclusive evidences that the world was getting better, biit there was still so much work to be. done that neutrality

or apathy in tho faco of the .tremendous evils' that wero hunting humanity became a capital offence. Alluding to the welcome of the now Governor, who. ho hoped, would have a pleasant and profitable term of office, and _ whom be regarded as a public-spirited and capable man, Mr. Taylor read from a newspaper a description of the internal fittings of tbo new Government House, and contrasted the picture with what ho said ho could show anyone in Wellington, Auckland, Chrishchurch, or Dunwliii—hundreds of dwelling-houses that were minus baths and sculleries, hot and cold water, and washhouscs, and that had no means of effective ventilation, whilo the buildings themselves wero falling into decay. Thousands and thousands of men and women were living and bringing up families in houses like that. What- were they to think of a Christian State that did the thing as it ought to be done at one end, and did not do it at all at the other end? Tho citizens of tho futuro were growing up in those houses, and if they learned to be satisfied with homes like thoso they wero being spoiled for all time. They could not produco good citizens in shameful slums. "Traps" for the Worker. It was in such neighbourhoods that 'flirt public-houses were placed most thickly, because thero tho people were feast, able to resist temptation. They could not put a public-house on Wellington' Terrace. Let them try! .(Applauso and laughter.) Every time tho worker went home' from his work ho encountered one of those traps, and when ho reached homo the landlord wa.s after him, as were scores of others who wanted to triko- a little- of his earnings. The liquor evil was the greatest evil that was blocking.civilian--, tion,. but they must not forget that there were others. The Christian conscience needed a great deal of developing'. It' had in the past approved of /slavery, and child labour, and it was only now awaking to tho liquor question. -It must-yet aivake to. all questions affecting child- life and labour, and tho home. Stronger Than Church, School, and Home. New Zealand'was about to'spend a large sum on defence, but tho liquor traffic was doing every year more harm to all our interests—social, moral, phy.sicak and political—than-war would'do m Now Zealand, for the next, hundred years. (Applause.) : They wondered- why the 'national driiik bill Went up, whilst, .No-License 'was. being carried .in many districts. Tho fact was that while tho bars remained open, a boy who went in and took a glass was disabled from approaching the question afterwards with a clean mind, and felt he could no longer condemn what ho had endorsed by his action. Tho open bar was moro potent than the school, the Church, and the homo combined. If they wanted to get hold of tho boys and to make good citizens, they must closo up the bars. (Applause.) A Parting of the Ways. Local option must give way to Dominion option. • "I believe,", continued Mr. Taylor, "that wo are coming to a parting of the ways on this question of policy. The educational effectiveness of local option is almost exhausted." Voices: "You're wrong." "Question." Air. . Taylor answered that the question w'as cap&blo of being argued. Ho considered that the disappointments in the .operation of No-Licenso, arid tile loopholes for tho evasion of tho lav/ Mere gradually undermining the enthusiasm of No-Liccnso people. They knew that in Ashburton there were eight sly-grog shops. (A voice: "Moro than that.") The police knew it. (Voices: "Shanio.") It was.^ admittedly difficult to get convictions, but it would bo fifty times less difficult to.enforce Dominion prohibition than local NoLicense. There'wore provisions .Hhat tempted peoplo to evade the law. He had resisted "Clause 9,", but he was now satisfied that they must face the logical issue that camo from local option. Tho liquor traffic, from A to Z, lock, stock, and barrel, must be wiped out. A National Cry: Absolute Prohibition. _ There was no such thing as' modera-' .tion. in the liquor' habit. It aggravated' all diseases. It was corrupting our national lifo. Why' should they hesitate to raise the national cry of absolute prohibition of the manufacture, sale, and importation of alcoholic beverages? If this meant parting company with, 3omo who had worked with them, let it come, and if it had to come, then the sooner the better. Within the next twelve months they had got to decide on a policy that would mean standing still for several years, or a policy that was tho logical and natural outcome of their progress in tho past. The liquor traffic was almost as insolent in its pride to-day as it was , fifteen years ago. ■ Its wealth was increasing daily. Its political power was almost as great as oyer. Why should they keep their Christianity outside tho' sphere of -practical* politics? (Applause.) Why should they have to go cap in hand to a neutral or hostile parliament or. municipal authority? (Applause.) Instead of pleading and begging, they, ought to bo able to exercise tho right that belonged to them by virtue of. their numbers: The liquor.question would never be settled until it was settled aright. Local' Option a Stepping-Stone. Local option was- only a steppingstone and an educational movement, and the duty of the men and women of this country was to'get hold of the liquor- traffic and. strangle it- by carrying tho national. prohibition of tho importation, 'manufacture, and sale of al-coholic-liquor. When that, was done, if ho was still alive', ho would make somo of them travel in the direction of some other urgent reforms —though they had no right to stop for a day in connection with any of tho groat urgent reforms. The one great crime for men and women,, in the face of the evils of to-day, was apathy and indifference. "There are great evils burling society to-day," exclaimed Mr. Taylor, "and if you try to crawl into Heaven before you have done a man's or a woman's share in finding a remedy for them —well, if I were in charge of the gate " The remainder of. the sentence was drowned in applause, and, before it had finished, .Mr. Taylor resumed his seat. . * During tho evening Mrs. C. A. Potts plaved a pianoforte selection, "En Route" (Godard), and Mr. C. A. Potts contributed a song, "The Sunset Gate." Both items wore encored. Tlio National Anthem was afterwards sung, and the meeting closed with the Benediction.