FOLLY, FARCE, FRAUD.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1290, 20 November 1911, Page 6

FOLLY, FARCE, FRAUD.

WHY MAINE WENT BACK ON PROHIBITION. CLERICAL AND OFFICIAL TESTIMONIES. Tho preaching of the Gospel has been set asiilo by tho Rev. R. S. Gray in order that he might lecture upon prohibition in Maine and otbor American Stiles. Wo know from UlO Press Association telegrams— not from the I'rohibilion faked telegrams—that a majorily of 46,000 in 1884 was oonverted into a majority of 20 against Prohibition on Scptomber 1.2, 1911; and wo know from jnvss corrosiwndcnts that oven large numbo.ls of Bano tomperance people in Maine voted out PROHIBITION from thoir Mato because it wtjs nothing but FOLLY, I' AHCI3, and FRAUD. J. ho Royal Canadian Commission found that Prohibition in Maine hod utterly ~ for fstinguisbing tho liquor tralhc it had only driven tbe trade into oilier and mono mischievous forms." Jhe "Now Voice,'" tho official organ of tho National Prohibition party in Amc--1 Hat after a futile attempt wm made Ix, drive out tho slyWsellcr, with his bad liquor, "tho old offenders returned, resumed selling, and wore not molested. And an era of lawlessness boRan in Portland that has steadilv inoroascd until tho present." Thus* Pro. bibition and No-Licenso turned tho chief city of Maino into a stato of lawlossnew madft it a hot-bed of corruption and imiiiora.Uty-tho fruits of Prohibition and No-Liconso. Licensing and control arc wirely prcforablo to theso.

llio Rev. A. H, Wright, paster of tho fat. I/awrenco Congregational Chuicli, lortland, called public attention to tho abandon of tho city undor Prohibition in this languogo (wo quoto from the "Portbind Express" report)" The condition of things hero is simply amazing to all hones.',, unprejudiced and right-minded "trans/ In Maino tho Prohibitionists ndly imagined they were driving out one alleged evil, but it was only to let in seven devils of acknowledged vicious heinousness. And that is what our prohibitionist fnends are wanting to do for Wellington.

The E«v. Rollin T. Hack, of tlio Second larish Congregational Church, Portland, ha.s also sound'.-d the dcath-kncll of Prohibition in Maine, and tried his utmost to kill it, gaining for himself the hatred alike of the Prohibitionist and tho sly gros-fdlr-T, who worked together so strenuously to <-;ustain the illicit trade. . Mr, Hack, from Lis pulpit, said: "What it the Jitnation here in our city? It i s ono that sham" you and me and every decent r.m and woman to whom home ia sarrsd, and reputation, honour, and life are dear thing?. Prohibition has meant a educated ia lawlessness. It h>j hrokw down the safeguards that make hie, hume, and society possible/'— Vide "PertUcrf Eipres.s" report. Tfcs Bey. L«ot S. Bean, of Portland, rscently delivered a lecture illustrated with lantern siidss entitled "An Evening *ith th? Euin Shops of Portland." he sas- t? described z- "the unrestrained reign of mm." And "uncov. ered to the light of Heaven the present corrupt and unblushing character of an illicit trade under Prohibition." One of the daily papers of Portland rebuked the Rev." Mr. Wright for taking too gloomy a view of the state of the city under Prohibition law; but he- contended that Prohibition—'"the whole thinj'-is a gTeat hypocrisy, and that silenced the press. They knew the gational minister was Wright by ran-* and right by nature.

These witnesses are net biased in favour of the liquor trade. But, tike all honest, right-thinking nen and wcc«. they would rather have a clean licensing system than No-License, no-regulation, no-restraint, with Prohibition the festermother of all the abominations and iniquities from which Maine has suffered for sixty years. The moral degradation that followed in the wake of Prohibition utterly appalled the good citizens of Maine, and they fought openlv against the Prohibitionist and tho sly grog-seller, and drove their creations out of that State, making a clean licensing syttem now possible.

We fiud it difficult to believo tliat the citizens of Wellington will give much sympathy tea system of dealing with the liquor business that drives tho designing Prohibitionist ahd tho wicked - sly grogseller, the No-License advocate, and tho workers of iniquity into tho same camp to defend a policy of "foLly, farec, and fraud," that breeds lawlessness and degrades the community gouerally. Why should New Zealandors who love their country and desiro to see it prosper and rise iu the scale of nations countenance the Prohibition movement any longer? The only effective answer must bo given at tie ballot-box, when every man and woman who loves justice as between man and man and a clean-living community will strike out tho bottom lino on both ballot papers. That is tho only way to prevent New Zealand becoming tainted with the flagrant iniquities that r<v tarded and demoralised and netrly overwhelmed Maine.'