WICKED ALLEGATIONS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2313, 21 November 1914, Page 9

WICKED ALLEGATIONS

■ ; m HALF HAS.NOT BEEN TOLD TRUTH LEAKS OUT When- tie . British troops left for (Franoe to fight against the destroyers of liberty and'the enemies of civilisation, a fabricating cable krammer put into the mouth: o f Lord Kitchener words he never uttered. Because the great Field-Marphal warned the troops against temptations in wine and women the Prohibitionists wrongly construed Lord Kitchener's message into one of total abstinence for all time. When the full text of Lord Kitchener's message came to hand, it was discovered that Lord Kitchener never used the phase attributed to turn. -, What do the Prohibitionists do? They continue , to attribute the phrase "abstain from hquor" to Lord Kitchener, and they keep on advertising this fabrication, although they must know the assertion is a base and misleading allegation, borne Prohibitionists, however, stick at nothing if their object, is served. ' ■ Prohibitionists are also claiming that thte great war is a teetotal war ae far as the Allies are concerned.. While doing this, they do not hesitate.to traduce the French and Belgians because they. are large consumers of alcohol, and the Prohibitonists hesitate not to insult our brave, enduring, effip}ent, and: humane Allies by saying that the use of alcoholic liquors makes for immorality, yioiousnese, and inefficiency. • )'■' Prohibitionists are uttering a- base calumny when they thus traduce our nqble Allies, and say: "Belgium heads the list of beer-drinking cquntries, and the people consume more alcohol per head than, any other nation, except the French." (Vide page 80, "No-Licenee Hand Book, 1914.") Can a party be truly patrifltio that eo maligna our Allies and holds .them up to contempt and ridicule? Do, the Prohibitionists prefer the treacherous Prohibition Turk because, ha ''abstains from liquor" and perpetrates : like the. Germans-r-whom Prohibitioniflts also refer! to as beinw prohibited alcoholic liquore—the most wanton, cruel, and unspeakable atrocities? No loyal Britisher can support the European Prohibitionists or applaud the Germans and expect to be trusted. That the War Office is not to leave the Bntijjh troops v to endure all the hardships of this Continental war in winter without some creature comforts is amply borne out by the following article from the "Daily Chronicle" l-ondon, dated the 6th ultimo,' and its action has , the approval of Lord--Batch-■ I???" .find., the. wh.o!e' force of the Ii.A.M.C. \ ■' ■.. (' 'Daily ChrotioJe," London, October 6,

With timely/forethought for the wellare of the JBritisij soldier during a prospective winter campaign, the War Uince is sending to the front a consignmentof -100,000 gallons of rum. The bottling of this quantity, which in ordinary circumstances would probably lepresent an excise duty of something • Wee £60,000. is being, undertaken by tiie Port ot London Authority, and the Rum Quay, at the West India .Docks ottera a scene of- exceptional-activity■ even for a department which is accustomed to deal with thousands of puncheons in, the i course of a year The huge vats at the West India v Docks, which-have an aggregate capacity of 68,500 gallons,, afT'of™cS available tor the blending,pf.thk.Axmy rum. All,of ifis product, lequirjng n 0 addition of spirit ■ since it 7 ia,' already much over-proof' N faome of it was imported,in- 1911. and some in succeeding years, but the age is not necessarily indicated by the date of importation. Emerging from the • yats 4.5 per cent, under-proof, the mm f, measured by the gallon and passed through funnels into stoneware jars of the customary type, and each of one galton- capacity, tfhe jars are then and-sealed .with iho seal of the Port Authority. ' . :

Easy Distribution. The next stage is the packing of tie rum. For convenient handling it is placed in wooden:cases, which accommodate a couple of jara.' The case is Kept to a size whioh can easily be lifted hy one man, so as to give as little trouble ae possible in distributing th« xum among widely-scattered" troops, uracil case bears an intimation that it forms part of the Army supplies. About 3000 jare of rum ■ are ''■■' sent away each day, The destination is Newhavea, vda Willow Walk Railway fatetion. From the Sussex-'port the consignments go. to the most convenient forwarded to the base of operations, ira,™ Bupplies'.of jars, of whioh a total of. ISO 000 will of course b§ required, arrive daily at the West India' Docks. With th,e active co-operation of the s •' Customs,'the work of bottling proceeds . until 6. p.m.- instead-of i p.m., as is ; usual in the qase of bonded warehouses. • >' In this way, and with the'empfejagrti of a large. staff, of men, .this l>ig : ' ■; Office order is in process of careful exef- cution.

; Thw ie a complete refutation of the j Prohibitionists' wicked allegations, and ,-. we trust that no more will be heard i of the moderate use of alcoholic stimulants impairing the morale and efficiency of the bravest and best soldiers in . the world.—Published by arrangement. ' [Wβ have read the article quoted above in the columns of the London f "Daily Ohronicle," and can state that t it has been accurately reproduced here; —Editor, Dqmoton."] ,