EARLY CLOSING OF LIQUOR BARS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2711, 4 March 1916, Page 6

EARLY CLOSING OF LIQUOR BARS

• CONSIDERED BY NEW ZEALAND ALLIANCE

WET CANTEENS OPPOSED

At. a speoinl' -meeting'"of * tlie executive of the N<hv' Zealand AlHanco hold Yesterday, tho;' .following resolutions frere adopted:— ■ " \ . ''That the; New Zeahnd'Alliance -. stands definitely and "unflinchingly opposed to the establishment of wet canteens in military camps as opposed to military discipline andi efficiency." . " ' " v " "That iji'tho 1 best interests of'our ' . soldiers' in "training .'and of ; those; who have returned' from the front, ' v the ; Now Zealand. Alliaiic<s"earnestly 1 appeals to tho Government to follow the example of the military authorities at Home by severely, re- . . airicting the hours of sale of liquor ■V/. i and -by .making, all forms-; of ..shout- . '.'' ing-illegal, and'-. in .the. meantime ' begs all true friends'of" the soldiers .'and' of the, Eijpjre^to^dijcgjjrage.,], shoutiiig in V' ."That,-'whereas' the .-!• warlias .-. reached a 'stage at.":which. the-!call for natipnal. and individual !;economy-' and-, seif^enial'aiid'.fpr military; and, industrial ■ efficiency.".has - become . qlcareiv and. stronger ..thaij ever, this ... ; -,executive regrets;.that;the,';Defeiice'.'".'. i." authorities •; by-demands for..relaxing;tho-present; - ' restrictions- on' - •i of all'.these'';.causes,;rand;i;cohsiders '■ ' -that'the thanks of - the; wimmunity : ;flre due..to the Miriis'ter of; Defence . for tbe firiri istand that he has taken •; in opposition totheso. demands, and! !" that lie; should:be-supported- by all' good citizens: ini. maintaining ' and : ; extending .'.the '-.present safeguards . • both inside'and'outside the'.camps." * In submitting . -'tho ' resolution, the /hairman,' tho ; Kev.. W.;JComriqJ. said: ;; "While ;in!.'no way 'abandoning our Opposition to the liquor traffic,'the New Zealand Alliance lias from the 'beginJiing of the war . endeavoured, as far 1 as 'TCSsible, to "avoid-conflict-on: this point. ! howoverj. times when .silence ■! r!majy ':bo: s6 'misunderstood as ;to involvo '--.sacrificeof' principle. We .appear..now 7 to •ha.ve/reached su'ch a - time; as that flhe advocates of we't canteens for military .camps -are..Quietly',.assuming and!, i Jwidely;circulating tho' view, that'prohibi-' .tienists aro not opposed to wet/canteens, ; ;'or at least; that they woiild concede that r.'point;in! order .to secure, earlier closing, 'of the-public-house bars.! It is necessary, therefore, for us to, declay'e with no uncertain souud that- we are now,- as / .we have been from the beginning of- the war and before that with respect, to Ter- . ■ titorial' camps;" utterly opposed' to. wet Canteens. Why, we may.ask,.'the agita--1 tion for! the wet canteen? Are not our training camps with dry canteens'send-, v lng forth, soldiers wh'o are the. pride and I glory not only of New Zealand but of, : : '|he whole British Empire? . . We-' are- •; told that the 10th Reinforcements will .: too the best trained body! of. meri to. leave i iour.shbres. and that tho lltli will excel ; the lOtlis! Do the advocates of wet canteens'hope to improve upon that? . '' "It is quite true that in Britain aiid in Egypt the wet canteens is in camps.' The British people are proverbially . flow to move, but they are moving.' 'Britain is ; increasing her army, hor supply of munitions, and her restrictions upon the liquor traffic. Any pro-', posal to increaso tlio facilities for tho consumption of liquor iii Great Britain at this juncture would be iscorned and rejected from Land's End to John o' Groats. France bas gone further than Britain in restrictions upon intoxicants, and who does, not ■ admire the lieroic - stand being made by our Allies at .Verdun? , The sprprise of- the! war is perhaps the wonderful recovery which ' has been made by Russia from the '' sledge-hammering received only a few .! month's ago. Gerpiany expected Russia to give in altogether, or to take at least a, year to recover her/strength. -, In half, that time we see her-reinvigorated, and . hurling back the foe. According to her ; ; statesmen, her strength is largely, due . 'to tho .prohibition of vodka., ;By that •: prohibition-Russia sacrificed £7,000,000 sterling revenue per- .month,' nearly j nil profit-.' The Minister of Finance,'M. 'Parle, told the Duma in August last ; that the war was costing Russia! at the raw of £725,000.000 per annum,; but he A also said that .since, thdfprohibition of ' vodka the savings,of .the .people had ,jncreased at tho .rato of £180,000,000 per; annum. ".Here, in New Zealand the King's . example has been less heeded than in any other part of tlie -Empire. The ' appeals of Lord Kitchener and other military leaders and ; of our own Minister of-Defence have fallen largely, on deaf ears, and now, forsooth, in the name -of helping. our v soldiers; > is;? are nslted to consent-to closing hotel -bars at 7 o'clock in-the-evening,-and opening bars in all our military camps. I ■ : havo confidence -that the, military authorities will not yield to this demand; hut, as this Minister of Defence told a 1 . Heputation the . other day,- we need to ■"•'■back them up, and there is ovidentneed ' .for tho stiffening up 06 public opinion,^-