NO-LICENSE FIGHT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1597, 14 November 1912, Page 6

NO-LICENSE FIGHT.

AN APPEAL FOR SUPPORT. "A TIME OF CRISIS." . ■' A deputation from the New iZealand Alliance waited upon the Presbyteritm' General Assembly yesterday morning..The' , members of the deputation were: The , Eev, John Da-wson, organiser; and; MrV Wesley Spragg, president,of the Alliance.:. . Mr. Dawson congratulated the Assembly on the very important part taken'-ili' the. fight against the drink trafmrby' , the Presbyterian Church. . But: the •,work- ■. 'already done had only served, to _ eho:* the greater need for the emancipation , .of tho people from -the. liquor traffic* •-. The benefits accruing to the districts- which hatl ca-i'rird No-License had been eo great and so abidmg that it Was- a matter of. •Urgency that some further step should. bo taken to rid the country,-if possible, at next poll, of the drink. There was a mar joritj- at last pflll of 54,000 in favour of > prohibition, but nineteen years ago Paflia- ' ment had imposed on pvohibition voters a handicap of 50 per cent, of the total ! number ot totes caat for the trader Such . a, handicap would not be tolerated in *ay other branch of human activity. A. demand Was being, made on Parliament tor the removal tit' that handicap. At least there must he i substantial reduction of it, but' the Alliance stood for the , total ■abolition of it. It was not Only unjust, and undemocratic, but'intolerable. (Hear, hear!) It wae their sacred duty to in-. , sist'that all men- seeking to represent them in Parliament should pledge themselves to vote for the abolition of the substantial reduction of the required majority. . ■ . ■ . Mr. Spragg si "d the ..question was one of the utmost urgency now. It was a critical period in tho history of the movement. Th© feeling in favour of abolition of the traffic was just about at full tide', and if the Alliance did net take advantage of the tide, the opportunity of bringing about a desirable reform- would bs lost. The Prohibition party had scored a moral victory at last poll, but they frad.not' succeeded in closing a single publichouse. This ■apparent failure might djscourago the rank and filo df. tho party, and ther> was also- the fact that politicians were clamouring, to'have other .reforms, economical■ and social, nttonded "to by Parlisinent. He was definitely of opinion ft»t.,ti.e v larrier. in ''the No-Kicerisi'Parly' was.an insurmountable barrier. The removal of it would assuredly brin» about DoiMßion Prohibition it next election, .•,,-,. '~ The Rev. A. Millar (Auckland) mov«d ■ the Motrins resolution :-"The General Assembly baa heard , . with rnich pleasure the delegates fr«n the tfew Zealand Allir Wit*, and would thank them for their stimulating addresses. The Assembly will gladly eive their hearty, in: ■ seeking to bring about the speedy abolition .of the; liquor traffic:" . ' ■ The motion was seconded fcy Mr. Rose (Oamaru), and carried without dissent. A meeting convened by- ,the Wellington City and 'Suburbs No-License League was--■held in the Baptist Church, Vivian Street, o'n, Tuesday evening. . The meet in?, which was well attended-, was presided over by Mr.. 31. <3- Desh>n (president, of the league), and addresses were given by the president of the New Zealand. Alliance, Mr. Wesley Spragg, of Auckland,. and the-Kev. J. Daw-son, secretary. The following resolution, moved by Dr. -B. 0. Whjte, and seconded by Mr. J. Rhodes, was carried' unanimously:— "(a) That believing in the principle of majority rulo in public matters, this meeting deems that the settlement- of the local option nnd National Prohibition questions at the poll should at once.conYp under this TUle; (b) as a step toward securing this position,. this meeting expresses its approval of the action of theannual convention of the New Zealand Alliance in seeking to obtain in nil electorates signatures- of voters to the foK lowing pledge:-* " 'I hereby give my pledge tfia:t, regard? less of, party, I. will not at the. nest election vote , for any candidate for- Parliament who will not undertake, if elected, to do his utmost to remove, or ut least very substantially Teduco', tho present unfair handicap on bothj&e issues of NoLicense and National Prohibition.'" Speaking to the resolution, Mr. Den'. , ton, the league president, declared, that the meeting could depend upon this jua>;' t«r beins pushed vigorously In ■Wellington by the local league in conjunction;; with, kindred Temperance societies;,; '>~,-;,.:.