NO-LICENSE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2320, 30 November 1914, Page 7

NO-LICENSE

MASS-MEETING AT PETONE. : There,was a good attendance at the Petone Lyceum yesterday, where' a . mass 'meeting, under the auspices of. •the Hutt No-License League, was held. The Mayor; of Petone (Mr. ,3. W. M'Ewan) presided,-and introduced Mr. A. R. Atkinson, B.A. Mr. Atkinson, after giving.' a , resume i of. the. meeting at;the Town vHall, stated that it was matter to- draw a line between the Moderate League and the Trade. The League's speakers continually, showed the loss that would arise in, the, event of Prohibition being, carried, but they refrained from saying anything on the debit side, and a prominent Hutt citizen had stated at'a recent meeting that £600 would be lost in revenue, omitting !the "debit." The speaker stated.that in round numbers New Zealand spent £4,"000,000 annually on; liquor, and received £1,000,000 in 'rorenue. If called upon to find the latter, the country could do it and have ,£3,000,000 profit. (Loud applause.) In dealing with a leaflet entitled "Prohibition v. Patriotism;" the speaker ' expressed the opinion that the writer was 50-yearei behind tho times, for nothing he.stated proved the value of Prohibition so much as this great' war. (Applause.) Russia had prohibited the sale of vodka, and France the sale of absinthe, and Mr. Atkinson, then quoting from a .leaflet, read Lord Kitchener's admonition to the British Expeditionary Forces, to abjure wine. V Mr. Wm. Phillips, evangelist from Virginia, U.S.A., snoke on-the effeot of Prohibition in the States, and said that if a country or an individual worked for the benefit of "the other man" there would be a gain, but if they selfishly .thought only of their own ends ;there would be a loss. Hβ urged moderate drinkers to,vote for the other man and asked them to remember that for crimes arising from drink they were morally responsible.. Mr. Phillins accused the liquor traffic of being responsible for a large amount of unemployment, and stated that if £200,000 were put into a business for building vehicles, under ordinary conditions Gmployment would be provided for 858 workmen. But if invested in the liquor traffic the number thus employed would be only 104. A vote of /thanks to the" chairman and speakers was carried unanimously, and the gathering terminated with the singing of the Na'tional Anthem.

An after church" meeting was held in tho open air in Petone last evening, under the auspices of the Hutt No-Li-cense League. The Rev. A. Bruco Todd presided, and the speakers were Messrs. H. Cfrinstead and Townsend.