THE LIQUOR BATTLE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 164, 5 April 1919, Page 3

THE LIQUOR BATTLE

DRINK AND EFFICIENCY WOMEN'S ADDRESS TO WOMEN (Extended Report, Published by Arrangement.) Addresses were delivered to an audience of women in the Concert Chamber of tho Town Hall last night by Dr. PlattsMills and Miss M'Lean. The meeting was held as part of the no-license '.ampaign of tho New Zealand Alliance. Tho hall was. well filled. The Mayoress (Mrs. J. P. Luke) presided., Mrs. Luke introduced' the speakers. Sho said that sho had been invited by the National Efficiency League- to preside, and she considered the position of chairwoman at such a meeting an honourable one. She was unable to speak in the cause as some other women were doing, but she was fully prepared to do an\> thing she could to protect all' men and women from the danger of the drink evil. Waste of the Drink. Miss M'Lonn saic that her subject, "War and Kfficiericy," was a very wide one, but she would deal only with one or two phases of it. She would prefer that tho. meeting should not consist of extremists of either side on the drink question, but rather of-moderates. Extremists either were difficult to convince, or, if on her side, did not need convincing, and it was her hope that she might jnauce some moderates to come over to fne prohibition side. It -would be generallv accepted, she raid.'that, the drink traffic was wasteful of 'food fuel,' and man-power. It was estimated that 3,000,000 tons of coal were used in Canada in the production- of drink, ana that because of the traffic there had been a shortage in production of 130,000,000 tons of coal. There could bs no real doubt that the use of alcohol reduced efficiency in New Zealand,- as in other countries. Perhaps it would be well to get down to n definition of the efficiency as understood by the prohibitionists." She had seen this definition: "The power to proo.uce an adequate result." Another suggestion she would offer as a definition was somewhat in this- wise:' "If you are efficient ' you . are able to produce a maximum- result for a given effort." It was proved to demonstration that thera was lack of efficiency in our country. In tho United States they spoke of "100 per cent, men" and "zera- men." Why should wo in our land let a trade by the will of the people prodr.ee "zero men" and "zero women"? She hoped that no people with votes would cousider the privilege of voting a trifio, and. that thrv would use their vote and use it wisely.

e Are We Efficient?

"Are we efficient?" was a proper inquiry .to make at this. time. Before answering that query with a confident "Yes," people should take a walk through' the city streets and see .what the bars made of some men and women, 'i'iien the answer must .be that we were' not as a "people-"'wholly efficient. If we. aul not follow -the example of America and Canada she was afraid that in.future our people might bo far less efficient : than the people of thoso countries. An American processor, had said "Alcohol is a whip anil not a food." She considered that this statement was. absolutely irue. That prohibition did increase efficiency there .was evidence in tho statements of Lloyd George, Lord Kitchener, .iir Frederick Treves, Abraham Lincoln, doctors and "educators, Army and Navy .ifiicers, clergy, and others galore. If prohibition did not induce efficiency ivhy did Kitchener ask the troops of his iN'ew Army to abstain from alcohol, and »"hy. did he banish it from his expedi.ion in the Sudan? Sir Frederick Treves also had said that drinkers showed less endurance among troops on tho march. Abraham Lincoln, in his pledge, had said that the- use of alcohol as a beverage was productive of pauperism and crime. Sir-John Jellicoe-had said that it was well known in the Navy that even the use of small quantities of liquor affected >:ien's efficiency in shooting. Indeed, statistics on the effect of the grog issue had been reduced by an officer of >, the Navy to a graph—called the Grog . Line. General Pershing said: "Banish the entire . liquor traffio from the United States. ■ Close every niloon, every brewery, and the nation will suddenly find itself amazed at its efficiency and startled at tho increase in its labour supply. I shall not go slow on prohibition, for I know what is tho greatest foe to my men, greater than tho bullets of the enemy." New Zealand would need nil its labour supply in tho next few years, and it would bo ivell for the country to adopt General Pershing's advice. Effect on Health and Life, It could be proved by tho statistics that drink shortened life. In, a, series of insurance statistics it was shown that tlio average lite of total abstainers was 01 years, of moderate drinkers 51 years (*i loss of 13 years of life), of drinkers 83 years (a loss of 29 years of lifo). These British insurance tables were very carefully compiled, and from . them • theso' facts had been extracted. It had been ; clearly made out that. modorato drinking J was slow suicide. He would appeal to moderates, to consider theso facts, as . affording some lessons why they should . be asked to surrender their little liberty and givo up liquor even in moderation. I It-had been shown that in 61,215 people I the average number of deaths was 1000 in a year. Among the same number of Itechabites the average was only 500, and among liquor-sellers. IGI2. .

The Only Cure. One good reason for adopting prohibition as a euro for ifho ills of the liquor traffic was that the United States had adopted it attar a century of experimenting. If the United States . ami Canada had agreed that the only way out was prohibition, would it bo wise for little New Zealand to try other experiments? If prohibition was good for these big countries it must also be good for Now Zealand. Even in Abraham Lincoln's day it seemod to that groat man that the traffic would have to go. In one of his last utterances before . his assassination he had made a declaration to that effect. In Canada and tho United Stales, there were "wet" areas adjoining "dry" areas, and tho difficulty of administration was serious in the "dry" States. But in Now Zealand there would be no such difficulties, and the ndinini?J.rafion should be easy and good from flio beginning. A Great Success, There was great enthusiasm for prohibition in Canada and the Slates. It was called in America "The .Magna Charter of Our Manhood." The benefits of prohibition were quito evident in Canada. Whilo she had bcon tnero she had not once seen a single drunken man or woman. Nor was there to be seen in the daily papers any record of drunkenness in the police court news. Our daily record was appalling, although peoplo had become so used to reading of these things that.the gravity of them did not strike them sharply. It Canada every class of people was pleaded with tho new stato of affairs. The prohibitionists were pleased because their hard struggle was over, and the moderate drinkers were saying iliat they were better oft' finaneiallv without the drink, and tiny did not feel the sacrifice, in the United Stales, and especially in IJansas and other Stales where prohibition had had a long trial, the people who lived in these Stales were quito satisfied tial their Stales should remain "dry." They were oven extremely enthusiastic about the benefits of prohibition, and would adopt the attitude of "a missionary to the heathen" in pointing out the advantages of prohibition to a visitor from a "wet" Eastern State.

.Slip hud heard while fcho was in jmorica that liii! brewers weic.moving their plants to China, und were Rnini* to o]il": there. Poor China! If it was going to lie subjected to the machinations of brewers then its future might be darker.

ifter prohibition was carried there would have to be vigilance to seo that it was enforced. There was a Baying that

"The wicked flee when no man piirsueth"; but there whs nnalhor suying that "He makes much better lime when you are alter him." (Laughter.) The drink evil would havo lo ]>e looked alter even when prohibition was carried. 11' tho prohi--I>|Uol[S AVKJ Bill W\l HI) SJSUIOj:IK| be well administered, it would not be easy to break tho law. They had all heard a great deal about loss of revenue. To stale that mutter thoroughly would retiuiro study, and much lime, and she did nut propose lo discuss the question fully. But while she was in British Columbia tho Minister of Finance, in July, 1918, said that lie could find no effect on tho revenue one way or the other as tho result of prohibition (carried in British Columbia in IMG). Some pooplo said that under prohibition the accommodation in hotels would not be so good if tho bars were closed. What was to be thought of an argument like that? She would prefer to put up with bad accommodation rather than to think that her comfort was paid for by the bar frequenters. As a matter of fact, in Canada she found tho hotel accommodation was good, because, she understood, the proprietors had more timo to devote to tho management of them, now that there was no liquor to soil.

Some people, she continued, said that if people could not get drink they would take drugs. It had been proved in those States that had been dry for so long that the use of drugs had not increased. In 'Winnipeg and Vancouver the authorities said that there had been no increase in tho use of drugs. t Another stock argument was that the liberty of the subject should not be interfered with. But in the perils of war time wo had submitted to much reduction of liberty. Having submitted lo this, should wo not be equally ready to give up our so-called liberty when there was peril to thg country because of the existence of the drink evil? Another of the arguments was that prohibition did not prohibit. This sim.■liy was not true. The literature of other countries under prohibition showed quite clearly that prohibition did succeed. Our Responsibility, Our responsibility in these days was. greater than- the responsibility of the earlier people. They had uot the opportunity of knowing of tho great success of prohibition. We could find out and could know. All those who were voting this year for the first time hao. a glorious opportunity- of helping to bring in a better state of affairs than wo had up till now. The part of women in past ages had been largely that of inspiring men to heroismi but woman had discovered that her mission was not only to inspire heroism, but to become herself heroic. She would advise all young women voters to go to the ppll. Women had everywhere taken a great part in this prohibition .campaign. Maine had its-heroines, so also, had Kansas. The American women had struck her as being positively wonderful in the worlc tliey were doing, and in their public spirit. They 6pared no effort iu anything that coula benefit their city or their country. They were ready speakers, and they had spoken very effectively ou this prohibition question. American women were now out for a budget of a million dollars. They were going to use some of this fund for world prohibition. They were going to help Australia, New Zealand—but that probably would not be necessary—China, Japan, United States, South America, and Cuba. She hoped her remarks would have tho effect of persuading them all, if they were hesitating on which side to vote, to make this a matter of very serious consideration. It was their duty to help to close the bars and make New Zealand u cleaner country than it had been, to make the national efficiency better, and to make New Zealand a country ablo to hold its head up among all the countries of tho world. (Applause.) Dr. Platts-Mills. Dr. Platts-Mills laid that she wanted the people present at the meeting that evening to look back a few months and picture in memory the state of flie city of Wellington at the time when the influenza epidemic was beginning its ravages. There was alarm in all directions then. People woro falling in the streets, whole families were being stricken iu their homos without aid or rolief .being : available for them,'doctors and 'nurses were scarce, and few people seemed to know what ought to bo done. Then organisation began. The committees of voluntary workers came into existence. The doctors agreed to work on the block system, aud order came, out of the confusion. It was a most inspiring tiling in those days to see the splendid flow of voluntary effort, the service given will-; ingly iu the cause of ethers. Help, food, money, and every other form of service were given with cheerfulness and good courage. Those days ought to bo remembered. The city was but a home on a largo scale. There were the same things to be done for fhe city as.for'the homo. Women's Work. Women were particularly well fitted to do much of the work of running the city. But in the past they had left (he work to the men. Were the women going to fall back again, after'the experiences of the epidemic, ai.d neglect their share of responsibility for the management and arrangement of city and naI tional life? They could not do that. ' They must set about securing the things that thev knew the community needed, and when they undertook these tasks they would find themselves hampered at every turn by alcohol. Most people remembered the experiences of the epidemic in this respect. Alcohol had interfered gravely with the working of fighting the disease. Alcohol and Influenza, Patients were brought into the temporary hospitals.in such a condition, owing to tho offects of liquor, that tho tasks of tho doctors and nurses were • rendered very much more difficult- than would otherwise have been the case, said Dr. Platts-Mills. There was no doubt at all that alcohol increased- greatly the panic that afflicted many people during the period of tho epidemic. It was not until the hotels ivere closed that the outlook became more hopeful and Hie work easier. She was' quite sure that alcohol at that time increased the number of cases of infect tion, because it gave a false sense of r-ecuritv to the people. It also lessened their powers of resistance to the mlection. It increased the number of deaths. All doctors agreed that the cases of the heavy drinkers were almost nopeless from the stint. Alcohol added greatly to the difficulties of prevention and cure. People were told that moderate drinking would bo a preventative, and they wore encouraged, ami had sinco been encouraged, to take to moderate drinking as a means of escaping the influenza. The Moderate Drinker. "The statement that moderate drinking is a preventive of influenza is entirely without foundation," said Dr. PlaitsMill?. "It is scientifically unsound. Tho average moderate drinker suffered i moro severely from the influenza and his convalescent poriod was longer than the averago total abstainer. The after-affects of influenza, such as nervous prostration, irritability and neuritis, are moro pronounced in the moderate drinker than in the total abstainer at the present lime. Alcohol has its placo as n medicine, but it has to bo used with exfcrcmo caution, moro particularly in cases of pneumonia following influenza. Many of the most prominent doctors say that it should bo used with extreme caution, that it should never bo given in routine treatment, and that it must 1m promptly withdrawn if oortain symptoms appear, lest tho poison of alcoliol, added to the poison of tho disease, produce fatal results. During tho epidemic I. obtained my best results in bad cases of pneumonia without using alcoliol at all. I used whore it was necessary a heart stimulant, and 1 have been assured since (hen that the .s:imo treatment was adopted in one of the great hospitals of the Dominion, wiiore they had tried alcohol, and, finding it unsuccessful in cases of influenza, abandoned its use altogether. 1 realise there are those who will continue (o use alcohol in the treatment of sickness, both doctors and patients. We have been assured that their needs will be provided for if prohibition is carried. Tho Public Health Department will keep stocks of alcohol for medicinal purposes, will arrango for the issuo of certificates to tho peoplo who require it, And will place de»

pots at points whero the alcohol can be made .available for patients in tile cities and the country districts. Nobody need havo any fear that alcohol, for use as « medicine, will not be available when it Is required if there should he a recrudescence of tho influenza." Alcohol a Drug, Tho fact to be remembered was that alcohol was a drug, not a food, added Dr. Phi tts-M ills. .Modem authorities emphasised that it lowered powers of iesistance. The trend of medical opinion with regard to alcohol was shown clearly by hospital figures. Tho use of alcohol in great hospitals had declined by ever 70 per cent, during the last twenty years. Alcohol had a rapid exhilarating effect, but it was followed by depression. It did not stimulate, ft weakened control, and the result was altogether bad from the medical point of view. Tho loud laughter and free talk that followed the use or liquor were symptoms of the effect of th» drug. Dr. Platts-Mills emphasised the moral dangers of alcohol. By weakening control and unbalancing judgment alcohol p,it pitfalls beneath the leet of young people. The peril was a very real one, and ought to bo appreciated by parents. Tho conditions created by the war had undoubtedly increased the danger arising from the use of alcohol by young men and women. The disturbances of social and industrial life had created conditions of nervous instability. There was a special need of the qualities of •control tliat were so speedily destroyed by alcohol. The drink was an'iuimirient danger to many nerve-shaken returned soldier's. It was a poison to them. In many cases it made their recovery absolutely impossible. All that could be said against j alcohol as affecting the men applied with particular force to women. Tile woman was naturally more highly strung than , tho man, and for this reason the elleet j of alcohol upon her nerves and body v as j the more pronounced. The question ot . parenthood was involved, Sins of the Parents. "As a doctor I know how the sins of j the parents are visited upon tho children i to the third and fourth generation," said ! Dr. Platts-Mills. "I know the poverty, \ misery, and degradation thai come from i alcohol, and 1 know the wreckage of l.umauity that is laid at the door of alcohol. Doctors know these fmngs, and 1 feel convinced that if you were to ask all tho doctors of this Dominion what they truly think on the noun, while a majority would agree that alcohol should be retained as a. medicine, a great majority would agree also tin* tho efficiency of the country would be improved if alcohol as a beverage were swept away altogether." As a mother she wanted to see the countrysafe and clean for the children. ' She appealed to all women to stand by the cause of prohibition. The world had need of mothering at the present time, and woman must use her influence lo strengthen, build up, and purify. Tho ideal world would not come to the present generation. But every man and woman had a clear responsibility to-soe that the gaining of the ideal world was made possible lor the children. Mrs. Luke urged' tho electors to record their votes on April 10. The elector who did not vote ought to be deprived of the privilege of the franchise. Mrs. J. A. Hanan moved a vote of thanks to the speakers for their interesting addresses. She said that it was very interesting and 'very instructive io women to hear tho views of the distinguished ladies who had addressed the meeting. They were women who had the welfare of the nation at heart, and she felt sure that the Members of the audience' had been impressed by the facts presented. Mrs. Glover, of tho Salvation Army, seconded the motion and coupled with it a voto of thanks to the Mayoress for presiding. Slio said that women had cause to understand the evils of tho liquor traffic, and it was a pleasing thing to find the women of New Zealand taking an activo part in . the campaign against a traffic that had done so much to degrade and destroy.

The motion was carried with much np-. plause, and the meeting closed with'the National Anthem.