The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, JULY 16, 1892. A Blow at the Root

Feilding Star, Volume XIV, Issue 12, 16 July 1892, Page 2

The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, JULY 16, 1892. A Blow at the Root

There is a thoroughness about the Bill introuduced by Mr McGuire, the member for Egmont, entitled " Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Prohibition," which compels our admiration. It provides that on and after the passing of the Act it shall not he lawful to import into the colony of New Zealand any intoxicating liquor of any kind whatsoever, except for medicinal purposes, and any intoxicating liquor imported in contravention of the Act shall be forfeited, and any person directly or in* directly concerned in such breach shall forfeit and pay a penalty of not less than one hundred pounds, nor more than five hundred pounds, recoverable, with full costs of suit, by any person informing in respect thereof. Whether the Honorable Member will disclose his reasons for introducing such a measure remains to be seen, but there can be no question that it goes further than any thing ever attempted before in the direction of prohibition. It may be that it is a huge joke attempted to be perpetrated against those who have so successfully defeated the attempt to make legal the principle of compensation to publicans whose licenses are taken from them, or it may be " protection " for local industry in the shape of open or secret distilleries. We look with considerable suspicion on the words " except for medicinal purposes," Our reason for this is that the faith in the valuable properties of alcohol in disease is not so general now among the faculty as it was some years ago, and many eminent men, both iv medicine and surgery, manage to cure their patents without its use in any form whatever. We also know that in the Prohibition States of America many men get intoxicated with the vilest stuff ever sold to suffering humanity, purchased with the help of a medical certificate, from the chemists' shops. For the benefit of all concerned, therefore, we trust these words will be expunnged from the Bill in committee, if it ever gets there. We believe the chosen of Egmont to be a man of good practical experience on the subject matter of his Bill, and we will watch with considerable interest his introductory and concluding statements in support of it.