SHOULD LIQUOR BARS CLOSE AT 6 O'CLOCK

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2799, 17 June 1916, Page 11

SHOULD LIQUOR BARS CLOSE AT 6 O'CLOCK

9 - .... ;■'/■• ■-: ■For many years wo havo been learning what a .deadly ; enemy '.to our race; is' strong drink. A contury ago even Chris-' tian people spoke of wine as "a good creature of God." • But publio opinion changed, and the next step wns to. regard'it as a-medicine, and. its moderate use not to, be . hannful, but only to be given up ! for the sake of. tho . weaker: brother. Now it has boon banished byU.S. physicians from their pharmacopoeia, -and by, all advanced inedicoes is regarded as a poison. There was a time, ivhen our- Courts discussed the question as to whon a man was drunk. Now one 6ciontist has decided that- question by saying, "If a man takes a tablespoDnful of alcohol, he is drunk* to the extent of a tnblespoonful until his system has, bxpelled the poison." , •. . • But. it has required this war to show what 'a deadly, eneiny to .national efficiency is strong drink. Lloyd George - said: "We are: fighting .three Enemies, .Germany, Austria, Drink, and Drink, is tho worst foe.". Sir John Madden said: "This war lias .clearly shownthat drink is the foe which Britain has most to fear,. and in the fight against this foe there must be no relenting." General Joffre sa>;s: . "Every patriot should light against alcoholism." - A senior warrant officer in the Canadian camp at Salisbury Plain writes home: "Every tragedy on. Salisbury Plain' has been directly, caused ,by drink. . As I write; within a • fow - yards -of me lies a Montreal boy .with, his, throat cut while crifted- with drink.".. In N.S.W., 3000; men, who had undergone on an average four months' training, wero all lost, to the Army through drink. We can.<rarely take up a paper ill our own Dominion, without seeingsome account of a soldier .in trouble and alwaya drink is the cause. 1 In.Hawera. Court a-trooper, up on -three counts 'fora*ln n>, due to. drink, pleaded for anptlier chance,. and said he wished to sei'.ve his country and that he would take out a prohibition,order, against himsel? and enlist .'under another name. ' Standing. Sanitary Committee of Jv.S.W. Militarj- ;Expbrts reported to the Defence Minister on the drink question as folloivs:—"In our . opinion there is no other single cause which. has tio profundi an effect oh tho h'ealth and efficiency of the troops. - . The seriousness ' of'the position • :has been emphasised by, many men in prominent .positions becoming total' abstainers.'. Eight Cabinet' - Ministers - aro now teetotallers, Mr. M'Kenna, Sir Edward Grey, Mr, Bonar Law, Mr. .-Lloyd George, Mr.jH:-,'Samuel,•• Sir John.Simon.' iili. l{uncii))an,: aiul Mr. A. Henderson. •But the,-.unpatriotio'brewers pub---.licans, . who.: are; making, money ,ont of ,-;the nation's -, ruin., and , disgrncej. have raised .such' a "commotion,. and Vested interests - hive jproved -so ' strong, that the,, British -Government • cohered before -them, and- -instead of -totally ..-prohibiting .the- sale.._of,-alcohol,.- restricted the hours. • -In. certaui; areas. ; .theresale has been restricted to 51- hours .daily. ■ Mr; Addison, a. addressed to Mr, Lloyd George in Parliament Inst January, stated that-in the nreas where sale was restricted, the reduction in drunken- ?, ess .?'® 5 approximately 50 per cent. In the.N.E Coast area-it was 37 per cent.; in the Liverpool and Mersey area,' 4G per cent.; in the Midland area, 63 per', cent.; jn'West Riding area, 53 per centV In Liverpool, during the five months before 1 control, ■ ■ the convictions for'" drunkenness were 5752; and for the five months after control they were 3-161. ,The Liverpool licensing . Justices' reported: - "Apart from figures, general observashow a: better' condition, in. the amenities of'the streets, a diminution'of those usually associated • with drunkenness, and a-general improvement •in public order." 1 - In 1914 (5 inonths of .war included),"the convictions for drunkenness, in 'London was 67,65:1, the : highest , for..many years: •After, reduction'of hours of sale of. liquor ..the convictions dropped AS per cent. . . 5 years ending 1914. the Victorian Drink Bill-rose each '-ear. 1" , dropped.: ,£1,584,506. Two •. were assigned for this. the.:ti.rst tne Pledgo crusade, and' the '.other 9.30 p-.ni.-closing of .bars from 6th July. , :-.

.■•■• Wheneve- there is disturbance or riot • the hotels' are; closed.- Wo never hoar, of shops or churches being closed, only .hotel bans. Senator Pearcc, Federal !De-' i'eiico Mipister, closed thom during tlic receint disgraceful military riot at Sydney. Sensiblo people aro asking .wlvr the ,bars were not closed before, and "then tho riot would not have, taken placc. Temperahco bodies and churches in this uniting to. demand :from our .Government' 6 o'clock closing in the" interests of economy and ' efficiency.' South Australia, Tasmania, ' and Now South Wales have carried it by reforendum. y The figures 1 were:— '.' ' Tasmania.. S.A. N.S.W. ,6 o'clock . ... 42,71,1. ; 100,-118 328,585 •7. o'clock . .:. .427 839.. t ' 8 o'clock ... ,1,093' , 2,057 9 o'clock; ...1,871 '. 9,865 I'C9,2M •10, o'clock ... 28,153.. 1,960 ■ - 11 o'clock' ..., . SGO . fi1,530 — ■ In New South Wales 30,000. votes werecast' for .7, 8,. 10. and 11. There .was a 1 majority '- for 6 . o'clock . over . all , other hours submitted,of .over 128,000. I Over 98,000. persons in New Zealand have petitioned Parliament in favour, of G O'clock closing. . Tho national sin of. intemperance is the -greatest source of.our weakness. It is inst as patriotic to fight the foe within as it is-to fight the foe without-.- Let the patriots of' New Zealand put ns .much strength, energy, • and determination, into I tho fight against alcohol as our -boys "at I the' Front put into the fight against Germany? , •Tako it is a. fact that t- mehtsotap . • Take it as a fact that the- most patriotic things to do j ust now are, to economise the most possible, and.legalise the least possible,'.that we. may minimise as far as. : possiblo the evils, of strong drink, for tho nation requires, that every; rnan- shall be at his best possible.—Published by Arrangement.-, - .. ••