GREAT PROHIBITION GATHERING.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1264, 20 October 1911, Page 6

GREAT PROHIBITION GATHERING.

0 WELCOME TO THE REV. E. S. GRAI (Abridged from "Lyttelton Tunes," oc> tobor 17, 1911.) i' Ui The Rev. It. S. Gray addressed, a wellattended meeting at the King's Theatre last evening on "Prohibition in America." Tho chair was occupied by tho Rev. S. Henderson. Tho chairman said it was ono of the objects of tho meeting to extend a hearty welcome home to tho Rev. R..S. Gray, Mr. Gray was a valued leader of the Prohibition party. He belonged to New Zealand as a whole. ... Ho had visited America to gaiu first-hand information on matters of great interest to New Zealanders, and had gained experience which would bo of great value in the coming campaign. (Applause.)

The Ecv. Mr. Gray proceeded to deal with the fact that in America, although. ■10,000,000 people were living uiidor prohibitory law, tho liquor bill was still increasing. . . . Thero wus uo really efficient prohibition in America. Maino and Kansas had constitutional prohibition, and other States had "Stato-wide" prohibition, but tho inter-Stato Commerce Lav prevented the prohibition of importation! of liquor into "dry" territory. The "sealed packago" law, which protected nil posted parcels in tho same way as pri-. vato letters were protected in this country, ensured that thero could bo no examination of any scaled parcel of liquor posted into a Ko-Liceuso area. Until tho Jnter-Stato Commerce Law was amended there could never be real prohibition in America. Even then, whero one State- was

i "dry" and an adjoining ono "wet," it was impossible, to patrol tho whole of tho boundary line—a line which was often merely an imaginary line. . . . Tho Rev. Mr. Gray then proceeded to describe some shades of "prohibition" in American States. And coming to tho dispensary system, ho said: Tho "dispensary system" in America did not prevent sly grog-scll-i ing. Sly grog-selling was rampant in oitics whero 'tho dispensary system was in vogue. Tho system led men to buy liquor in largo quantities and to get beastly drunk. M. Savannal, tho Chief of Police, found it impossible to get convictions against breakers of the prohibitory law, becanso all the recent pcoplo in the town had purchased exemption from jury service, and in a city of 75,000 or 80,000 inhabitants only about 500 wera liable for service. This remainder included all the drunkards and sly grogsellers in tho community. ... In Tennessee, in a town of about 7000 inhabitants, nil tho saloons wcro wido open, although State-wide prohibition was supposed to bo in force. Convictions could not bo obtained, ns no jury would convict. In r»gard to Maine, there was not much! noiv to be said on the subject. ... It was true that in Maine last year C 57 Federal liquor license taxes were paid, but 4CO licenses were held by druggists, who had to pay a fee; 200 were held by persons who sold medicinal preparations containing alcohol, while soventecn were held by persons using .alcohol for medicinal or mechanical purposes. A sly grog-seller took out a license, and was allowed to do so even in a "dry State," because ho had no desiro to fall foul of the Federal authorities.

The Kev. Mr. Gray has, in tho fore* going extracts, stated exactly what tho Anti-Prohibition party in Now Zealand has been saying in the newspapers for some weeks past, and licensed victuallers ought to be thankful for the Rev. Gray's thorough exposure of those miserable methods the prohibitionists of New Zealand would liko to foist upon this couiitrv in the names of righteousness and religion ! Nearly half the people in America Mr. Gray says are living under prohibition, anil the drink bill is increasing. Then prohibition is a farce. Tho story about "sealed packages," and tho posting of liquor into prohibited areas, shows that tho belter-class of peoplo living in No-Lici-nso States can get all they, want of good liquor, whereas tlio working man iu tho No-License area must put up with any rubbish ho can get on tho spot. Prohibition, Mr. (iray demonstrates, is' "class" legislation. We liko to hear Mr. Gray talk of tho lino between "dry" and "wet" States, aud tho cost of patrolling that line to prevent smuggling. Will our readers try and imagine tho cost of patrolting and policing the coast and inaccossiblo back-block territory of this country if prohibition is adopted in New Zealand? Mr. Gray also dealt with various shades of prohibition, and ho found "sly grogselling rampant in cities where tho dispensary system was in vogue," and imagine the prohibitory law being held in such contempt that against the sly gi'ogscllers no conviction could be obtained, tho respectablo people contracting themselv.es out of tho jury service. Sly grogsellers were tried by their "poors," and no such jury would convict. Mr. Gray had little to say about Maine, hut what he did say showed that Maine had fully half as many Federal licensed grog-sellers —who wcro also the sly grog-selling gentry iu Maine—as we have licensed victuallers in Now Zealand, and they fought on the sido of the prohibitionists for the retention of the prohibitory law. Mr. Gray is a valued leader of tho Prohibition party in this country, and ho comes back lo Now Zealand to iiuhico (ho peoplo of this Dominion to accept prohibition, which ho shows to bo a failure in America. Ilia own words are: "Tlicro is really no efficient prohibition in America." Nothing more need bo said: Mr. Gray has reached the limit. However, in view of all that tho Rev. Mt. Gray has said, moderate men and women in litis country, who are ternperale in thoir usts of alcoholic beverages, will surely decide on election day to vole for tho continuance of tho present system of licensing rather than voto for a method that has proved inefficient in America, and is accompanied by such a deplorable condition of local and Stato government as to Ik) a disgraco to civilised and ro6Dcctablo Doonlo.*