SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3129, 6 July 1917, Page 7

SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING

VARIOUS. OPINIONS DEBATE IN ANGLICAN SIN6D • / .':. J , "toi Ussi ? n of . F \ x °' booing tooi place at yeeterdayV session of the .-w elhngton Diocesan Synod. . The-' dc•it'T last evening. . . L. Hunsell moved: "That the Synod emphatically reaffirms its ■ opinion, that it would.be in the interests of the counter to, close" the bars of. hotels and olubs from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.; and that a copy of the resolution be sent to the Government, urging them to bring in legislation fe, Vhis effect, or 'eot" a Toreren dam on' tho sab--11, * p *&b>e to the motion, C3id..tha,t.the arp/jmonts of efficiency and economy held now. as before, and were «ren, perh^ 6 , strengthened by the fact that -the war had lasted another year without our gaining a victory. The. Srear, -mistake the majority of people iraada was-in thinking. that; the supporters of .six. o'clock closing wore bringing . ror.ward something, that was- aimed at , wiei soldiers. ■ It was not aimed at tho , soldiers. The soldiers were all right. , it waa aimed at the man who was not a solqjer, because he had not tho heroism w> bo.one, but who stayed at home and . flvas riot prepared to make such sacrifices as the soldier was making. Too much WW being wasted in drink in Now tad as well as in tho Old Country. The must.step fn and stop that 'wasto. Tho movement was aimed at those, who were 'staying behind, and who were' drinking too much. Ho would nave been prepared'to sit-down forthwith, if he had not felt that there was eoing to be opposition. Ho know that the question of tho soldier would bo raised at once. The cry 1 would bo raised: ~An insult to the soldier." He would . /for one moment accept (he phrase, but 'use it round.the other wav. He held It h bo an insult to the soldier, to the nun who had left father, mother, wife, child, and ' property, arid was prepared to give his life, to say that that man was not ready to make a sacrifice'of-'his fleer and .whisky. Another objection would be mado: that the man was going to get drink in any case, and in worse 'surroundings. "Was not that an insult '•. to tho soldior? (Hear, hear.) It was .-, ithosa behind that were going to tempt \ the soldier. "The Trade" must have its Swings clipped; it was altogether too powerful. It was bossing, the situation altogether too much, and had been doin» •so for too long.' The Church ol England •was just waking up to the fact. It was e. stolid mass, but, when moved, it would . toe a power, in the land. To return to tho contention that drink was'going to oa consumed, whether the measure. was ■ jassed or.-flot-.Was.it? Then why wero *"?. Growers ,and publicans so much -against six o'clook closing? - Ho had talked to a publican about-the matter, the publican had saidr "If you , pass that, you will ruin us." Were they ' ruined? Of course not. ;" ' \£ hey ™™ eoing to lose, as of '.ourse they would, it waa the duty of the Government Jo. seo that the people ' loser, vt ™i 7£ e Tradfl '" wele the had been making a profit 'of To'^-^ 6 r ''tt measum^^t.- 00^^', 1101 bear 'tho measure.. It might ruin them. 'But'itho of'<-i!r -d S-i."? u ght in under the wi™. •■ : the community. But had lit V" 5 ,? of eminent though* elh Dot the G< »'- -way of enEE Lm te T maan<ie(il fer wealth J fkf A ?fifs and taxation tho . = ; fch^r tion? no°t'goneX t iff IkA /i * ? 6ons of tho gantry, would -at bo doing.too much to brineiri \h„l bu« of efficiency. iii. ft trade fvci? ™£ J many but overdone in-many-rejects? |S4 fft^rmtr^f^. tut Z C °l'] nwi that all 1° ««d ■Hansen hJ hl °-, r< l? ect,n « <lU ««at Mr. ■Hansell.had said, th o speaker felt'iurf ...« *»nßlr .gaiMt.fte motion «, m? ■H«ael had. felt-for it. Mr. Hansell -fed asked the synod to believe that the proposal was not'an insult to the £« r ■ 'fcflJr 8 tet »*««. himawt, tho Pro! ■ftibition party had meant six o'clock cteng to 'react, upon the soldier. 'He £as quite certain of that. It was r-er-ArT°} kM1 r m the «*«er 3m«S a ™^ f x rw ? ™-m till after 5 i £±° f k - } h 3 an how**! ..IrenthDin. By the time asoldier got in fl ot get a g,la» of drink if ho panted it. Tet they tried to tell him it was not against tho soldier. Why then •sea mado allowed to go about all day and drink as they; liked, while the eoU ■ :<tier, when hie turn came, • was- not alget *t all? He betif ,j, 6 mo i IO!1 was directed against 8^ dle f-' i t v iad . c been so 75 the proposal. New Zeaaanders were the only.people, so far as ie knew, that had hospital ships where drink was not allowed aboard. He had -been on hospital ships on which, when one was tired and done with work one could get. & whisky'and soda, with a; «ood dinner, but it was not so on the ..New Zealand ships. When ho was in ■England thero was an outcry about the rum ration. He had,said .that it was absolutely essential to the troops. Th,> rum ration was necessary not only because it was a stimulant, but becaii-.-o ■it was a food, containing as it did a ■large amount of sugar. Ho thought ■that a very griovous insult was beins Ottered the soldior. Was thero any need ■for, the motion? In Now Zealand thero , -was no need whatsoever. The vice of ■this country was not drunkenness. (Hear near,) Ho had been in London oight •months, and he had never during that time seoa a New Zealand soldier drunk; and ho had taken a great deal of . pains, te ' see how mucb- drunkenness thero was among the soldiora there. He had been speaking to an Tmperi.-il officer, who said that on Wednesday. ho had gone through a large number' of pubhehouses in this city, and Imd Foen - the -troops off on the train when they went back to camp at night. The officer had seen only one man under the influence of liquor, and that only very slightly. If someone .wero to say something about gambling, the speaker would , agree, but tho vico of New Zealandeia was not drunkenness. If tho motion were passed, it would bo a serious -.matter* The police would have 10,'.b0 increased very largely. Tho men would, go where they could get liquor, and the community would see the one-woman house of illfame again. Thon there would be a, most . Berious position. Venereal disease would . be rampant in tho city. The real remedy would be to ha.ve a wet canteen at Trbn- ■ thain. and Featherston, under tho charge of two good Bergeant-majors who would not stand, any nonsense. Then they would have none of (be trouble at all. (Hear, hear.) Ho did not: know what the views of the camp authorities were, but he did believe that. Thero was the question of the liberty of the subject. That was one thing that he felt very strongly about, the thing that ciiTsed prohibition in his mind. It waa the in. alienable right of our race to do, within oertain limits, what it wanted, and ho did not think that any majority, lot alone a minority, had the right to say to any roan that he should not havo -a , whisky-and-soda if ho wanted it.

v The Ttov. F. Spencer said that he was ' very much surprised to hear such expressions of opinion from a medical man. He considered that tho best physicians in the world were on the other sido. He quoted the authority of Lord Kitchener and Lord Boberts also in support of tho contention that tie soldier was a better man anvay fromi liauor, He said that his

personal, experience was that abstainers went through hardships better than men who drank. He wa« for tho motion. Mr. W. H. Maclean said that ho did not r.onsidor that that was tho timo or place for tho discussion of the relative merits of prohibition and itg opposite. They should rather consider whether it Vas wjsa for tho Synod, as representing the Church in tho diocese, to' go in for direct political action, If they considered that thero was too much intemperance, it was tbeir province to train tho individual in. the meaning of true temperance. It. was-.unwiso for them to ally themselves with what was in the end it political movement.

Major S. .BoHon objected to the soldiers hcing under what he culled "pcllicoab government." It was absurd to coddle tho soldiers. They were men, and wcro to bo treated as men, Tho speaker favoured the wp,fc canteen system. Tho discussion was adjourned.