THE PROHIBITION DEMONSTRATION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3131, 9 July 1917, Page 6

THE PROHIBITION DEMONSTRATION

" Sir,—"One of the Meeting" writes to say that "not one of the speakers, in my judgment, put forward a. sane or reasonable argument for the curtailing of houra of hotels." Provided the individual did : not (as did tho one-legged man) view : the argument through the bottom of a 1 pint pot they were surely not only sane ! but logical, and that,is a. great deal • more than can be: said with regard to i the arguments put forth on behalf of i "the Trade." ... i Your correspondent is in error in stat'l ing that "the people of this.country in : 1914 entered into a bond with the licensi ed publicans." The bulk of the people ■ at the Mot-box refused to bo partici- ' pants in a business which is the cause i. of such frightful blood-curdling tragedies I as is recorded in the same issue of Ibe 1 Dominion as that in which your cor--5 respondent's letter appears. He says he 1 has "a perfectly open mind." Well, ' here is the position in a nutshell. It I you are racing for a train or training 3 for a race or a fight, your possibility ot t success is materially diminished by w--3 : diligence in alcohol, whether "State con- • trolled" or otherwise. Also, if publicans t -could realise their heart's desire and keep 8 the bars open for 21 hours instead of c "only" 16, the Teaultant drunkenness and B demoralisation would probably bo four- '" fold what it- is to-day. It is tho hours ' after G that count, say the publicans. II Thero is not a respectable person in this 0 city whoso heart has not been saddened 1 at the shocking state of some of our fino 6 lads, whose fame, in spite of the evil 0 influence.? of the publickouse, has gone ! abroad throughout the whole world. How many more thousands of men, women, Z 1 children would have been pty?<a»y fit to-dav had the bars been closed in tho past at 6 o'clock? The comparative fail- -- me(which no doubt you anticipated) of ■r the anti-shouting law calls for smnc- =- more practical. Reduce the hours nfo its"ale and you reduce the consump- >* -ton of liquor'Wid its 1 H-lon S ?Howlon,P-lam.^ T _ '" p s-Here are a few, only, "sane and £■ do not appeal ?s »»ncand ' s reasonable" must have a hide like a e rhinoceros.—J.P.