PROHIBITION RALLY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 167, 9 April 1919, Page 11

PROHIBITION RALLY

BIG MEETING AT TOWN v HALL ' "EFFICIENCY LEAGUE AND NEW .. ZEALAND ALLIANCE (Extended Report, Published by Arrange nieut.) »<

. A. meeting was addressed in the Town Ball last night by speakers who are rot unknown to Wellington as advocates ot the no-license cause.' • Mr. C. E. Daniel], chairman of. th» Harbour Board, presided, - Ho. said that the position of chairmau "was not sought by him, but he thought that as a citizen he could not do otherwise '.than acoopt tho invitation to help a cause.in winch ho fully believed. He came'-from a no- , license district, Mastorton, where., -there had been' nine years of no-license. lor itiany years before the carrying of i'o- - ho had been a member ot tho licensing Committee, and in that- position he had learned a lot of things. fllo saw the difficulties of .regulating tuo drink traffic generally. A lot of things were said about M'asterton, but he vast very proud to be' a. citizen of Masterton. (Applause.) As a member of the Harbour Board he had had experience of the effect of drink. . It hnd, been, declared that pillaging on tho wharf was always* associated with drink. In the administration of-the affairs of the harbour pincers who Were suspended by'superiors had a right of appeal. He had heard several appeals, and in every case drink, was associated with-the complaint against the officer.- ■ Ho had been called to give 'evidence before the Efficiency Board-on-this liquor issue. Tho board asked him whether he would agree to the payment, of compensation. He replied: ."Compensation for. what?" They said: "To get rid ot. it";- This had., set him. ■ thinking. He.i thought of. lhe' ; Alabania. clans of thef'-. slave ■ trade, "and ■..■.he.-, thei . arid-there made up'-his mind that it would bo worth compensation to get rid of tho trade. The question then cropped up of the amount of compensation. I'ive millions was suggested.- He was ope in a. million;-,£5 for himself. If. ho had ten of a. familv it would cost £M. In ,nis experience as a business man he had notalways got off with tho payment of _sucli small sums as £50 as the tcsu.H of the existence of the drink traffic. It was-a. costly trade to the business man. Mr. W..■■D."Hunt.,'. Mr W D. Hunt, who.was received with' prolonged. applause, said that the advocates of prohibition were engaged in the greatest moral fight that had ever taken place in this.-country... Ihe.people of Now Zealand were to decide on Thursday next whether tho liquor traffic- was to bo retained or whether it was to he banished..from tho Dominion. _--There were two interests, ■and two interests only, engaged in the fight. The two liarties were tho advocates of prohibition, ■ on the one side, and tho supporters ot the liquor trade on the other. No party other' than' the liquor party to be found in the liquor camp. We have a certain number of speakers going about tho country parading themselves as the representatives of the Moderate League, said Mr. Hunt. "I say they are the advocates of the liquor trade. (Applause.) Ido not believe in- saying anything I cannot prove, and -I will prove" out of the mouths of tho speakers ottlie Moderate' League: The speakers of tho Moderate League.-, -when speaking in Wellington -, and other parts of this " country, .made' this statement: 'Wo '-.are ' representing the moderate section of the community. •We' will have nothing to do with extremists on cither side//" ihat is their introduction. And then they proceed for two hours to abuse- the prohibition party with, nover; one word of reproof for the-liquor party. The speakers.of the Moderate League are not judges, they aTe advocates." An elector who believed that the liquor trado had not.a stain on its character would believe that tho Moderate, League was impartial. But riobody else would; (Applause.) The Financial Question. Turnin'g'-td ; 'th>,:finanoial aspects of .the contr6Yersjv.s : li r .' ; 'ffifnt said, the two par-, ties were agreed-that-prohibition, would mean'tho" loss'of about'-,£1,000,000 of Staterevenue, and : that the interest and sinking fund on the 'amount to .he paid'in compensation; wou-ld be' about But the-proliibitionists did not agree with liquor finance,-in other: respects. .'lTtiey believed .that the whole' of the lost revenue'.? and extra- expenditure would-.he covere'd.'b'y'increased- efficiency, extra revenue from t'he;.diverting .of money-from the liquor trade to productive channels, and tihe.saying of;;expeiidituib on police, ■ prisons,;' charitable laid, etc. .' A-'voice:/Stick- to facts. ■'.- Mr. Hunt:'lt is not. necessary to put. anything but-the facts'against the liquor trade. The truth hurts' worse than any lief..-' Tho average, expenditure on liquor in) New Zealand.; v/Q : , : £25 per family. Since many laiiii'lies-idid: not drink, the real ajinduht v pei-drinking family obviously exceeded .£25. Probably it reached j .£SO. That was sheer economic ' 'waste. •.'.'.'..■■ ■.."..'■

A voice: And if makes wasters. Mr Hunt said that the expenditure' on liquor produced no good results at all. The money spent on liquor.was wasted absolutely from an economic point, of view. The liquor people had juggled with the figures in 'liiuny ways, but they could not "show .any reasonable per-, son that the money spent on liquor did the country any good. That was why the trade persisted hi raising bogeys and-side-issues. ■ For instance, the trade was saying much about the alleged value of alcohol in tho treatment of; influenza. That had nothing "to do with the licensing 'questibn\at all:■'-■''The- medicinal value of liquor was not an issue of thecontest. Liquor would .continue'to be available for medicinal purposes.'.'.The available evidence showed that the'nieili-, cmal'value of liquor was confined.' to people who did not drink in normaltimes. Alcohol-soaked people got no benefit from liquor when they were ill. In fact, the medical ovidencc had shown clearly that "the hard drinkers almost invariably died when they got influenza'. 'Tho doctors were not agreed in advocating the use of, alcohol as a medicine, but in any case tho quantity of liquor required as medicine-' would be very . small. The InvercargiU.Hospital in lev ysars had spent about I'GOOO on drugs, and of this amount JIM had boen spent on liquor. Those figures indicated tho. wnall part that alcoholic liquor played, in practical hospital work. Prohibition Abroad,,:' Tho trade had said much in condeuiimtifni of prohibition in the..United Slates. The reply to, that had been given by the American people, win surely knew.: the real facts. No American. Stale that badever carried airohibitiun.. wiw .'"wet" now, and thirty out of tho .forty-eight States had endorsed the constitutionalwjiondment that was going: to make the whole of the United States drv hr .Tanuary.noxt. The trade had'said that Mr.■ jjjoyd George .was no .longer a-supporter oi prohibition. That wus an absolute ■untruth. "Mi-; Llovd'Gcorgo was mi Kealist, but he was also a practical ma "-' He had.realiscd early in the war that tho dnnic .traffic was huinperiii" Great Britain at every turn. Uu had tried to stop tho trade. . He. hud said that Britain was lighting three enemies-" Germany. Austria 1 , and Drink—ami Unit Drink was the worst; of the three. ' lint he had found "that the'liquor interests were too powerful for him- to overcome at that time. Ho Ihe had taken tho practical action that was within his reach by imposing restrictions on the tintle. Ho. had reduced tho production of beer from 30,000,000 barrel's.to 10,000,WXI barrels, antl had cut down the consumption, of .liquor in other directions. I/he British statesman had tackled the liauor evil in the way ho found possible, , and his effort throughout had been to ■cat down the traffic. Tho interests that upheld tho iiquor trade in Britain were enormously .strong. Britain had done half the' world's, carrying trade before tho war, but the amount of money invested, in liquor property had been 'irotitar I'hii-i. th" value of ISritniu's •hips. The trade had its ramifications in every corner of the United Kingdom. About Compensation. The trade was trying to hoodwink the electors by saying: "Why voto for pro-

hibition with compensation when you can «et prohibition for nothing in November next?" Had the trtfdo gone mad? Did it prefer prohibition without compensation to prohibition with compensation f Not at all. The trade know perfectly veil that the' way in which the voting .was to be arranged at-the second licensing poll would, make it practically impossible for prohibition to be carried. Continuance was to be placed in a strongly entrenched position. AVliat did the compensation amount to, any way? it represented a charge of ono penny per head r*' week. I'or that pxpetfilituvo the people of New' Zealand could save the .£5,000,000 now spent annualy. on liquor: thev would save the 12,000 ram who were arrested for drunkenness in each year; they would save the fanu ies of those men and the iamilies ot. other drnnkat'ls from misery and shame.' I hey would save thousands of innocent children, from whom, if the trade was retained, the drunkards ot- the Mure must be recruited.. The children -ot today had to provide the. business men, the skilled workers, the professional- men, and the leaders of thought ot twenty years hence. They had also to provide the drunkards of twenty years hence it the trade was to bo allowed to continue, its work. Let; every man remember that the fate of his own son might be determined by the' vote to be eatf on Anvil 10. A voice: Leave the boys out ot it. • Mr.'"Huiit: No. I will leave the hoys •in it:-.. (Applause.) ; ;. ' '

. An Overwhelming Victory. Mr. Hunt added that he had travelled all over New .Zealand as a member of this "Efficiency Board, and he had met meri-in every, industry and occupation. Ho had s?en the growth ot prohibition sentiment during the war period, rot only in New. Zealand, but in tho .1 in led States, Canada, and .even the -. United Kinnlom. Thousands f-f people who had never voted prohibition before were going to vote it in' New /-salami on April 10. The victory- was going' to bo sooyeiwhclniing that it would surprise the jrohibitionists themselves. The liquor question had been the curse, of party .politics for years past. It had cut across the ■issues of progress and .reform,, and an enormous improvement was, going-to be witnessed, when-.the trado had .been swept away. .: , False Witness. Sirs/A;"E. Atkinson/the next speaker, said that she would lirst deal with the argument being used with the object ol setting class against class. It was being said that tho scheme was one of the wealthy to exploit those uot well endowed with tiio world's good*. It was being said ■■that it was a-trick on the part of the drapers to get tho money .now being spent on liquor. It was nothing of the sort. •Bui in any case there were many women in New Zealand who could very well spend some' of the money r.ow spent on- liquor. ~ Another argument was that alcohol was needod tor tho cure of influenza, and the liquor people trotted out a medical expert, Dr. Kington Pyffe.' Mrs.' Atkinson spoke strongly or Dr. Ji'ytfe- and his sneers at such eminent'men as Sir Victor Horsley because' they did not believe in the use ol aloohol. She quoted o'ther eminent authorities in-opposition, tp the opinions expressed by Dr.'J.''ytie*as .to the groat value of-alcohol as a medicine. Mys. Atkinson produced a leaflet circulated by the trade in which it was declared that prohibition was tno curso of Russia, and mac the prohibition decree had been obtained by Bolshevik agents mßui*ia. Iho truth was" that the prohibition deciet, signed by "the -Tsar, had ' saved the world. ■ The Germans reckoned that Russia could not mobilise for six weeks, and in that time tho'Germans hoped to overrun France and- Belgium. Tho decree closing tho grog shops in, Russia iaa.de possible a speedy mobilisation ot Russia, and made pbsiblc the miracle of tha Marne-the battle which saved iurope. The Bolshevik revolution was m the beginning a bloodless 'revolution, but later the agents of- Germany used vodka as the instrument' for. detaching the people, and destroying the good which; might hav.e otherwise come to that great country. Mrs. Atkinson went on to read the rest of the leaflet, in. which it was declared that 'drink, hnvinij been the causo of the Red Revolution, was the cause Also .of the notorious frcc-love decree,- and that it was therefore the duty of all decent women to vote tor continuance; (Apfllause.) bhaine J, said Mrs. Atkinson, "that there, should be men-calling: themselves men who would dare to applaud those filthy words. .(Applause.),. ~She ...declared.. that the leaflet was. a .collection. of lies.

A Resolution, of Protest. She submitted, to the meeting the folfowing resolution:—. . . That this meeting of„ Wellington citizens records its indignant • protest against the vile and mendacious clwrges against prohibitionists in a leaflet issued on behalf of the trade, under the title, "Prohibition was the •■ Curse of llusiia," regrets that a document declaring that prohibition • has produced anarchy, bloodshed, and wholesale prostitution in Russia, and, will produce the same consequences in New Zealand, and insinuating that , the movement „is being engineered by. German agents in Now Zealand .- . for these purposes, regrets that it should have been published through the' inadvertence of a •rcspeotnblo ; firm of printers, and thanks tno . "Maoriland Worker" for Musing to• become a party-to the publication of such infamous stuff; and calls upon the people to make the proper answer to a trade which "resorts' to such nten- ' dacious,. slanderous, and indecent tactics by their on Thursday next. (Applause.) ••.'..• , Mrs.'Atkinson went on to make, an impassioned appeal to the audience, and especially to moderate drinkers, to make a sacrifice for the safety of Hie young women and girls; the safety of tlio children and for the honour of the men who had spilled the rich rat wine of youth on tho'fields of' Flanders. She most especially appealed, to the people that they should' not forget the children on polling day. A vote for prohibition-would be a voto for the children, a, voto to save them from the worst evils Hid world knew. (Applause.) Last of all'she made an appeal to Christians in the name of their, God, for the sake of home and humanity,' that they should use.every ounce of their influence and should do their best to bring all their friends to the poll. (Applause.) The Trade "Rattled." The Rev. R.'S. Gray, referring to'a greeting from some non-prohibitionists at the -back of, the hall, snid that. he was glad to know that, in the meeting there were a number of men who. did not ngreo with him. All that ho iind his friends asked y>-as that all the people should hear both sides of Ilia question and then;vote.on their own judgment. Atthis'slage the men whom Mr. Gray had welcomed got up in a body aiid left the inieeting. ■<■''. > ' .Mr .'Gray: "That's better than holding ino up, anyhow." lie went on to say that all patriotism grew first of all from tho Jove'of homo and family. If it could be shown -that this trade did harm to the country and the nation IJiis would bo : thp''very last appeal to decent patriotic men.' 'He was not very much concerned, about tiie Moderate League. Mr. Hunt had said the league wn,s identical with the trade;. Ho was 'not so. sure cf that, but he thought there was some relationship. (Laughter.) But lie knew this-— that as.Dominion organiser for prohibi-• lion he would have cheerfully paid for all. .their, advertising, which had done more good for the prohibition cause than lor the liquor cause, lfo had never known the .(ratio, so rattled us now.. . He >.had never known the (rude lie so recklessly or so foolishly. Ho had never known the trade before to do such things a'< the issue of that inllucnz'a proelnmillion, purporting lo he sfoiied- by Dr. Vnlintine, Chief Health Cilicer of the Dominion. The object of the bogus proclamation was to frighten the people with the idea, that tlio black oiiidomic ivns coming hack again. He ci'iild not use words strong enough to describe suc-h tactics. -Dvcry real moderalti must think that that proclamation vas a damnable thing.' Kvery man knew that no trade but the-liquor trade could (lu-ceml lo Mich tactic. That placard had cost tli3 trade thousands of votes in this country. A Newspaper's Altitude. .Mr. Gray referred ot some length to tin attitude on the liquor question of the "Evening Post." He held, he said; (hat tho Press ought to consider itself hound in honour to preach the doctrines Hint it knew to lie just, and present facts without disguise of subterfuge. - The "Post," knowing 'the facts about the liquor trade, knowing the dam-

aw that threatened a great moral movement if continuance was carried on April 10, had confined itself to accusing the Prohibition Party with " inconsist-em-v. The conditions that were-to be attached to the licensing poll at tho time of the general election made a win ! for the trade almost a certainty. The trado had three chances to one against prohibition. There wore to bo three issues on the ballot paper, and if no single issue got a majority of the total votes cast, the trade would win. If State control got a majority the trade would win, because it was to get a much larger, sum iii the form of pii.rc.hase ilnui was proposed to bo paid in the form of compensation. If cbiitinuauco was carried the trade would win. No "spoil," unless his thirst was stronger than his spoiling instinct, could endorse such an arrangement. Why did not the "Post" tell the people'the position in that respect? Why had not the "Post" exposed tho evils of the liquor trade?. When' (dmrged i with silence on that point the "Post; said that it had reproved the trade in an editorial article published last July. Ho did not suggest any corrupt motives to the "Post," but he would say that the ramifications of tho'trade through the national life of the Dominion constituted a menace'.to public liberty. Me. could -rive startling proof of what ho said. It "was a fact that-men- who had dared to petition the National Government asking .for a poll on the licensing question had been threatened with loss and exposed to actual loss. A' boycott , had been be"iin all over the Dominion against people -who had- dared, to say that Now Zealand would be better without the .'trade. ■•-.'■ '"■■■ The: British Medical Association,

One of the : greatest associations in the worM,. an association which claimed to have- higher intelligence- than any -other association, had been prevented by thework of liquor men-men msido tho asso-ciation-from raising its voice on the great moral question now -under review, lie referred to the New Zealand. branch ■of the British Medical Association. A deputation from tho Alliance i ltd the National Eiticency League had waited on the Wellington branch ot the British Medical; Association, had:put it to. the. association that doctors were the guardians of the public health, and that they ought to make eomo pronouncement on the question! The association decided to take a referendum of the members Jho questions submitted were not satisfactory to the Alliance,..and the Alliance asked to have an amended form of question, but no change was •made). Then later it was announced that owing to a technical .fa\iit in procedure the result of .the rotereridnm" could' not be disclosed until, tho divisions had discussed the-matter. On ■April 5 he (Mr.. Gray) wrote a. letter making tho following statements., and queries: (1) Wnether itwas,.not a tact that the decision of the: divisions, could not possibly be obtained in: time to-be ■published before, polling .day? (2) J hat ■ Bomo hundreds' of replies had", been, re coived ? .'(3) That, the -meeting, at .which it was 'decided hot to publish the lcsiutof the referendum was called at the instance ■of members -.personally- lntcresteu in me liquor ' irancM) That die meeting, was presided over by Dr. Fyffo? (o)-l-liat Dr. JjVffc- not only- cast .his. dchberativo and-Ins casting vote in.favour ot ho ding "up the publication o't. the.' referendum, (lii -That no important question had ever before in the History of the association been decided on the deliberative and casting vote of the chairman? (7) That one of the divisions had. intimated to the council that unless the .result of the .referendum was published the -division, would publish the resolution it had sent forward on the subjects? He had received from Dr. Gieseh, chairman ot. the council of. tho.association, the following.answer to- his-letter:— ' - in..' Dear Sir-In. reply to, your lettei , I have to state- that the statements in ..your letter, are .substantially correct.- ''.'•'.-

-(Applause.) Mr Armstrong had said something about-tlie slimo of. the prohibitionists. •What about the slime of the other fellows ? To men who loved their country, men who wanted clean politic*, who wanted their country free from hurtlul influences, he would say they must set rid of the liquor trade. Tho Vancouver Incident. Replying to an interjection, .lir. Gray iuauu « statement regaruiug J/inUiay, die man wno allowed, tne proluoition laws to oe violated in ■■Vancouver. He said that D'nullay had .becri.the man, selected by the prohibitionists to administer the' anti-iKiiior laws. ' He huu been a business man of irreproachable charactor, or elsa he would not have been chosen for the work. Ji'or a time he aid his duty. Then it was discovered that he had allowed a great deal ot liquor to be brought into .Vancouver and attributed. Immediately that was discovered Inidlay cleared our, ■ If ho got away with uiiythiiisj he got it from the, liquor trade, ilio prohibitionists brought liim back. \\ lien the liquor people learned of that, they feared his'revelations, and three oi them ran away.- One;committed suicide m New York! The prohibitionists did tpuir utmost to have Mndlay tell all they knew but he refused, and ue was now in gaol •for contempt .of court.. The fact vas that tho man had been captured,; as hundreds Of other mon had been captured, by the damnable and dirty tactics of the liquor party. • A voice:' W hero is Eoberls? Mr.-'Gray.;There, was a plqt against Roberts''of the-same kind in .loronto. Mr.' Gray said if tho men. wno wsntixl to know 1 apout -Roberts would wa>t alter the. meeting-lie'wanld,'give<theni tacts ho didnofwislrv to .Estate to :-thc.-, whole; '•-■ .. , ''-,A.V-.,'.,... '...■■';..'. ..- ;

■X The'' Time : 'Of ;, Efnclericy : .:r 'In conclusion,''Mr, .'Gray, said'that the United' 1 States-had .set out- to. become the, ' first commercial .nation of: the.'world," and t.io first-step'had been, to adopt prohibition. '(Applause;)'ln" oixler to have that reform the Americans sacrificed revenueto the amount of ■ and they were-not; talking of any extra taxation.' He behoved in liberty. 'Hut ho did not believe in the liberty of a .traffic, that had made more slaves, than anything else under God's heaven."The State was not going to that people must not drink whisky. It was going to say. that the State would not provide facilities for tlio drinking-.of whisky. "Confident of the Result." "We are going to win," said Mr. Gray, amid applause." ''And I will tell you why. We are going to have'more business men's votes- than we ever 'had. before, more working men's, votes than we ever had befora—(applause)—more Roman Catholic votes than we ever hud before—(applause) —more Anglican votes than we ever had before. • Wo aro hot going to get all the soldiers' votes—(Voices: "No.")—but we are going lo got a very big proportion of the soldiers—the fellows who risked their lives and did it laughingly. A voice: Aro disfranchised. ' Mr. Gray: "No, that's a lie. They are not db'-l'raiieliised. That is another liquor he." Mr. Gray went on to declare that always the alliance bail demanded that ■soldiers should have- votes. . Sir James Allen had been unable to discover any soldiers ''disfranchised," except ten men in Auckland, "f believe we are going to win," he said, "because Ihe forces that make for righteousness are' on. our side, and not on the side of (he trade." (Applitii.se.) ■-.•■■ Up seconded Mrs. Atkinson's niolion, which was enrried oii.-n show of hands, one vote being recorded against it. An Offer. Mr. Hunt said that as- Dominion president of the National Efficiency Lcnmie he would make an. offer in connection with the returned men who were not on the \f[\. ll' any returned man who was not able to vole, and win', wished to vote for Oonlinnance would report himself lo the league, ho (Mr. .Hunt) would undertake to find a "pair" for him among electors who supported prohibition. lie would do I his on condition that the trade would find a. "pair" ft r.nny returned man similarly situated who wished to support prohibition. Mr. G. M. Gardiner, of Wnnganui, got the floor for a short lime and made some Ti-marks regarding Noah and (he Ark before he was "counted out" by Ihe audience. The meeting closed after Mr. Gray had answered several qiicslions. 'He staled emphatically that the prohibition movement did not menu e.uy interference will) the supplv of sacramental wine required by any church. The law made definiif; provision for wine for sacramental purposes, antl he would fight against, any proposal lo deprive any church of it's privilege in this resucct.