THE NO-LICENSE QUESTION

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1609, 23 November 1905, Page 3

THE NO-LICENSE QUESTION

ADDRESS BY MR W. D. LYSNAR,

A RECORD MEETING.

Hia Majesty’s Theatre was densely crowded last evening on the oooasion of ihe publio address given by Mr W. Douglas Lysnar. The appearauoo of His Worship tbo Mayor and Mr Lysnar on Ihe stage was the signal for loud ohoers, mingled with slight expressions of dissent. The Mayor oponod, by saying, " I am looking for plaees to try and got a few more Id, bat thoy are hard to find.” Conthe Mayor bospoko for Mr Lysnar I “a patient hearing, stating that Mr Lysnar had been through the No-lloonso distriots,

and was in a position to speak with autho rity on the questions. Ho then oallod upon Mr Lysnar to address the meeting. Mr Lysnar, who was recoived with loud and continued oheeriog, said that Ihe pendulum of time had swung round, and brought thorn to the time when thoy had to consider the question of No-Lioenso and Its efloots on the diotriot. The supporters of No-Liceuso wore entirely influenced by sentiment, they refused to listen to reason. He had all hia interests in the dislrlot, and it was on that account that ho oamo forward to fight the prohibitionists. Ho foresaw the great iojury that would fall on the district if No-Lioonse were to be oarried. Continuing, Mr Lysnar gavo an emphatic denial to the statements made by prohibitionists that be was in the employment of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association. All the expense that ho had been put to in fighting Ihe oause came out of his own pocket, and he was not beholden to the hotel parly for a penny. He was prepared to pul np £IOO against any. one in the hall to prove the truth of his assertions. He looked to the general mass of the audience to appreciate the remarks that he had to make that evening, and

especially to the women present. (Applause and considerable booting.) " Tbe womon are imbued with a little more common-soDsn than those at the back who are hooting,” romarked Mr ' Lysnar, amidst a torreut of cheers. 11 They have more brains than yon have; thoy do not, like those at tho baeb, carry their brains in their hands.” (Laughter and cheers.) The prohibitionists sought to make out that drink was the work of the devil. A voioe : So- it is. If it is, then why did the Lord Jesus Christ tarn water into wine at the mar-, riago feast of Caoa ? (Cheers and distent.) 11 Who is there with any substance in this town, or elsewhere, who has urged yon to this reform ? ” continued Mr Lysnar. “Who are your speakers? They are all carpet-baggers; they aome here and address you, and they are well paid for it. You see them here; they come t and take your mousy, and they go away, fl have enough to pay tbo expense of this ball without sending the hat round,” (Cheers.) There befog considerable interruption at this stage from several leading prohibitionists, the ohairman intervened, threatening to have anyone removed from tbe hall who unduly interrupted the proceedings. Mr Lysnar then proceeded to deal with the admissions of prohibition leaders, including Bishop Julius and Mr L. M. Isitt. The latter had admitted on the stage of tbe Theatre Royal that prohibition was not tbe true remedy. He challenged anyone to deny this statement. Mr Stafford: I deny it. (Cheers.) Considerable disorder followed, there being frequent interruptions. When order was restored Mr Lysnar said that he was was prepared to forfeit £2O to tbe Hospital if his statement was not correct, end he oalled upon Mr Stafford to do the same. The challenge was not accepted, tho Chairman stating that an opportunity would be presented to those present to ask questions at the close. Ha had himself heard Mr Isitt make the statement, and anyone present could prove it from a letter which appeared in a local paper. Further interruptions following, Mr Lysnar said that if prominent prohibitionists persisted in interrupting he wonld have to pat them oat. (Cheers.) He did not mind fair interjections, but he would not allow them to interrupt the meeting. After dealing at some length with the statements of Mr Isitt, Mr Lysnar went on to show that Bishop Jalius had himself stated that prohibition would beget worse evils than drunkenness. This statement being also denied. Mr Lysnar read a letter in Bishop Julias’ own handwriting admitting that suoh was tho case. Passing on, Mr Lysnar refuted the statements made oy Mr Bedford and ilt Brown in regard to prohibition in Amerioan States. , , A voioe: Why did yon not deal with them when they were here ? Mr Lysnar: I had no time to educate these men. Ido not make my living out of it. (Laughter and applause,) The meeting became very, lively at times, feeling on tbe question being evenly divided, the chief interruptions coming from a few at the baak of tbe ball. Referring to the title of a lecture given by a local advocate for prohibition, Mr Lysnar said, “He termed the address, »Hell with the lid off,’ and he was quite right; it will be Hell with the lid off with a veDgeanoe if ever yon get prohibition in this place.” _ , Quoting freely from Rowntree and Bherwell’s book, and by means of a chart, Mr Lysnar showed tho extent to which sly.grog was carried on in the prohibition Slate of Maine, there being witbin a mile over 173 ely-grog shops. “ Where is your section?” remarked one of the audience. “ I ehould be sorry to have a seotion in such a plaoe, *’ replied tbe speaker. The meeting becoming again very

lively, singing befog indulged in. The ohairman appealed to those accountable foe the disturbance to cease. If they desired to sing they could go outside. The police were oalled np to keep order and Mr Lysnar asked anyone at the back of the hall to snpply bim with the name oi those causing the disturbance and he would make an example of them. « xfai a i 8 tbe class of treatment meted out by prohibitionists,” remarked the sneaker; they do not want to hear anything except it is on their own side. The publicans do not do this. They do not attend prohibition meetings and create disturbances. A voioe: Tbe prohibitionists have no

sense of fait play. They have no case. Mr Lysnar: You ate tight); they have no osae, and they want to cry me dowD. The taotioa they ate adopting to-night are characteristic of those they have always adopted. (Applause and dissent.) After quoting a leader from a Mataura paper on the evil effects of no-license in that district and the great depravity that existed among those who went in for sly grog drinking, Mr Lyenar dealt with Ashburton and showed the effects of no-Hcense in _ that place. There had not, he said, been one business place erected iu Ashburton daring the past three years, whilst in Gisborne there had been fifty. (Cheers.) The consumption of liquor bad not decreased but increased, sly grog-selling being every where prevalent. No-license removed drunkenness in the street, but passed it on to the home. No-license proved successful ia places where there was a vent. For instance, it proved successful in Whataupoko, Haiti, and Waimata, because there were lioensed bouses in Gisborne. If they olosed the hotels in Gisborne they would soon seo bow many sly grog-shops sprang np in tbs districts mentioned. They would see a repetition of the state of things which at

present existed in Maine and in no-license districts in the South. (Applause and dissent.) A comparison of the increase in the rental and capital values in Ashburton and Gisborne was also given. Ho oontended that direotly a town got no-license values fell and population decreased, whilst the introduction of sly-grog selling was attendant with many other evils, and led to a deterioration in the morals of the people. He asked his hearers to carefully consider the statements wbioh he put before them, and not to be iodnoed for sentimental reasons to vote away the licenses, and shus bring worse evils in the way of sly grog selling. The present state of affairs in the King Country was gone into at length, the opinions of magistrates and. others being quoted to show the evils of an illicit

traffic. In* less than seven years in the King Country thore bad been 533 oonviolions for sly grog selling heard at To Awamutn, 103 of wbioh wore against women. The figures quoted did not include tho oases hoard in Raglan and Kawhia. Instances of tho methods adopted by those dealing wero given by

Mr Lysnar, there befog frequent applause aud expressions of dissent from different t sections of tho audionoo. f Replying to the statements made by Mr , Brown, the Amerioan temperance leotnror, Mr Lysnar quoted tho following i opinion of Abraham Lincoln and others to whom referonoo had boon made. Abraham Lincoln had slated: 11 Prohibition will work groat injury to the oause of temperance. It is a spooies of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond tho bounds of reason in that it attempts to oonlrol a man’s appetite by legislation, and in making crimes ont of things tbat are not crimes- A prohibition law strikes a blow at tbe very prfooiple on whloh our government was founded. I have always been fonnd laboring to protect the weaker j classes from the stronger, and I never oan give my consent to suoh a law as you propose to enact. Until my tongue shall bo silonoed in death I will continue to fight for the rights of moo.” Tho opinions of ex-Governor Andrew of I Massachusetts and the Bishop oi Vormont I wore next quoted. I At somt length Mr Lysnar replied to I statements made by Father Hays, in I wbioh oonneotion bo quoted tbe opinions I of Cardinal Manning and Father I Matthews. It had been s'atod, he said, that Gisborne was an ideal plaoe to try no-1 license on aooount of its isolation, bat this, I

he contended, was the one reason against it. Where there wore no vents sly grog shops bred quicker, whilst tbe open ooast line made it impossible to prevent smuggling. Some people said they wore going to vote for no-iioense on-aooount of tbe monopoly, but he desired to ask these people who orea)ed Ihe itionopoly. A voice: The no-lioense parly. (Applause.) The monopoly was oreated by the no-1 license party and for that reason should | not be used as a weapon agamsi the trade, I (Applause and dissent.) In oonolnsion, Mr Lysnar referred to the attitude of the meeting towards him-

solf tbat evening, and tbe unfair treatment aooorded him. Every time they had a prohibition meeting in the theatre there had been order, and it was not fair that hostility should have beon manifested in his case. After briefly touohing upon the position taken up by the Rev. Dawsou Thomas, Mr Lysnar closed by Inviting questions from anyone present. Tbe Rev. J. Parry was tbe first to acoept Mr Lysnar’s invitation. Going forward to the platform, he offered a challenge to Mr Lysnar to meet bim in public debate op the question. Mr Lysnar, in reply, said that it was not the first time that he had suoh a challenge oflered, but his oountry fixtures made it I impossible for bim to aooept it. A voioe: You’re afraid to acoept it, Mr Lysoar: It is not the question of my debating the matter with Mr Parry, but no good can possibly coma of it. You have already heard his views on the subjeot, and we shall not be able to convert one another. This is a serious matter, although a good number of you present seem to think it is one for amusement. I am not here for your amusement; lam here to give my views, and I give them to yon for what they are worth. Prohibition will not affect mo in the slightest. I oan afford to keep a good stock of liquor in my house, but many of yon cannot afford to do ao. You want to rob tbe poor man of tbe right to get a glass of beer. (Applause.) The seoretary of tbe No-lioense League succeeded in getting a oheap advertise" ment by eskfog Mr Lysnar if he was aware tbat Mrs Atkinson was to speak in tbe theatre on the following Saturday evening. Mr Lysnar : What does that matter ? It has nothing to do with it. A voioe: He only wants an advertisement to the effeot that there is to be a meeting. - Questioned in regard to a decrease in tbe Customs returns for liquor, Mr Lysoar replied tbat the statement published was not oorreot. He considered if the

prohibitionists were sincere in tbeir advocacy of no-lioense tbat they would bave allowed clause 9 of the Licensing Bill to have gene on the Statute Book. “ Do yon consider yourself tho Bherlook Holmes of the Liquor party, you are euoh a terror for finding ont things ?’’ was a written question handed in. Mr Lysnar replied tbat there was nothing that he had ever been conueoted with that had not proved successful. They could threaten him and mako rowdy meetings for him, but they oould not barm him. He was not a carpet bagger who came to them for a day or so and then left them. He did not pass the bat

round and ask them for hia expenses. (Applause.) Who does the sly-grog selling, tbe hotel

party or the no-license people ? Mr Lysnar: The no-lioense party. Cries of “ Give ns names.” “ Yes, I will give you names,” replied Mr Lysnar. “ There is Mr , who was responsible for the introduction of no-, license into the King Oountry, and we find him four times convicted of sly-grog

selling, and two oonviotions against his

wife. - Mr F. Stafford took the stage, and after ihe cheering which greeted him had subsided be announced that he was prepared to wager Mr Lysnar £SO or £IOO that Mr Isitt did not state that no-license was the best thing in sight. In reply Mr Lysnar said tbat the way Mr Stafford bad shifted his ground was characteristic of all prohibitionists. What he (Mr Lyßnar) had stated was that Mr Isitt bad admitted that prohibition was the true remedy. Now Mr Stafford, would have them believe that ho had stated something altogether different. He was prepared to wager Mr Stafford double or treble fifty pounds tbat Mr Isitt had made this admission. A voioe: Go on Stafford, take It up. A number of other questions having been asked the Ohairman moved a vote of thanks to Mr Lysnar, which was oarried amidst much cheering. A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the proceed* fogs. ■