THE NEW ZEALAND ALLIANCE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 26, 25 October 1918, Page 6

THE NEW ZEALAND ALLIANCE

ANNUAL CONFERENCE.

The annual conference of the. New Zea. land Alliance opened its proceedings in the Wellington Town Hall yesterday morning. There was an exceptionally large delegation from all parts of the Dominion, evincing a keen interest in the subject of the prohibition of tho liquor trade. The .proceedings opened with the singing of the National Anthem. The president of the Alliance, the Rev. P. S. Smallfield, was iu the chair, and welcomed the delegates. _ Tho annual report of the executive of the Alliance was presented by the secretary, the Rev. J. Dawpm. The report dealt mainly with the present situotion of the liquor trade in New Zealand and abroad. Satisfaction was expressed'at the improvement in the'sobriety of tho people; and it was claimed that this was,due to tho restrictions placed upon the traffic. Up till December, 1917, the bars were open for the sale of liquor for ninety-six; hours a week, or i'JGO hours a year. But from December 1 of last year the selling of liquor had been reduced to a maximum of 54 hours a -yeek, or 2790 hours per year. The police records showed that the convictions for drunkenness in 19H were 13,189, In 1917 such convictions numbered only 8597. During the first six months of G o'clock closing there wero SG22 convictions for drunkenness, .is against 4930 convictions for the corresponding period of the previous year. The report expressed'satisfaction that the War Regulations recognised the menace of alcohol. No intoxicating liquor must be allowed for beverage purposes in military camps, on troop trains, on transports, or on hospital ships. The. chiof wo;k of the Alliance during the year was the monster petition campaign asking Pf.rliamwit to grant a referendum on the ntliciency Board's recommendation for the immedSte suppression of the liqaor trad* In 191/ a petition asking for n Prohibition poll was signed by 177,000 persons. The petition that would be presented this year would be the largest ever presented to Parliament. There was little donot that' the prayer of the petition would bo granted. During the afternoon session tho Rev. R. S. Gray, national organiser, gave an address on the subject "Our Present Position and Future Prospects." The Hev. W. H. Hinton spoke on tho subject "How to Win an Electorate." Th,e election of officers resulted in the Hev. R. S. Gray being unanimously appointed to t'lo position of president and Mr. P. Milnor, M.A., rector of the Waitaki High School, was elected vice-presi-dent. After some alterations the Alliauco Council for 1918-19 was elected.