FEMALE FRANCHISE, PROTECTION AND PROHIBITION.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 111, 7 November 1895, Page 2

FEMALE FRANCHISE, PROTECTION AND PROHIBITION.

TO THE EDITOE OF THE STAB. Sir, —Females are making a- gr6at mistake politically by studying only on* question or evil, namely an excess of the liquor traffic or drinking habit. Daring the adjustment of the tariff by the Government a meeting of the Women's Franchise League was held at Dunedin, dealing with the unemployed.. It was resolved, That Government by means of their tariff proposals should encourage the establishment of local industries, and that those 'industries should be fostered by Government and supported by the people wherever pos« sible, and also that those resolutions be forwarded to the Premier. Now this is encouraging misnamed Protection blind* folded, and if carried out to the extent that seems to be desired would not • only be disastrous to trade which creates labour, but would also create more poverty in one way than an excess of spirituous drinks would do in another. Once get the above desire into the heads of the multitude, and, like the drinking habit, there would be virtually no limit to it. A moderate quantity of stimulants nsed within their means, to those that are benefited bytthem, is not An evil, but the imposition of duties on any article whatever imported from England for the sake of encouraging local industry (which invariably it does not do for any length of time) is an evil, because in moderation it cripples trade and injures many for the benefit of the few, and if carried to the full extent to satisfy a morbid desire it would seriously check trade and throw thousands out of employment. This morbid desire is the same as that which kept the workim* men in the United States for about a century, and until some years back, under the thraldom of Protection, and also which has added to the downfall and misery of the overgrown city of' Melbourne, although Protectionists fain. would attempt to attribute to the evil effect of the great boom as the source of all disaster. Without a healthy trade the proverbial saying of the busy seaport would become a misnomer and would apply to Dunedin as well as to Melbourne or any other seaport. The recent revival of trade and general prosperity in the United States, which only a portion of that which is natural and free in trade has accomplished, is a proof of the foregoing. In referring again to the liquor traffic, also the granting of licenses, which are matters that should always have been under State control, but representatives of the State having become corrupt and mixed up with the traffic, allowed that traffic to go beyond bounds, and now attempt to get rid of the consequences of their negligence by giving over the duties of restriction into the hands of the people. Members of licensing committees have been placed in the position of detectives, or informers, without the authority of the law to justify their action, it being impossible for the few police to take note of all infringements of the laws that take place. That evil has now been removed by the appointment, under the amended Liquor BUI, of four inspectors.: But in the present state of finance' anysudden reduction of licenses would cause a reaction against the movement, as the farmers or some other influential class - would have to be more heavily taxed, to make up for the loss of revenue for immediate requirements. The money would have to come from somewhere. I am, etc., A Colonist.