THE LICENSING QUESTION.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1617, 2 December 1905, Page 2

THE LICENSING QUESTION.

MR LYBNAR’3 ADDRESS,

| Voice :So do you, - Mr Lysnar : Yes, I do, and I know that no-license will not be tc my interest or that of anyone else in the. place. He referred to the attitude taken up by Mi Dawson Thomas, who,- he said, gave a seimon in favor of no-license, after having only a short time before tqld an inter, viewer that be bad not given the subject consideration. An interjfetor wanted to know if Mr Lysnar had been in the ehuroh tohoir the sermon. Mr Lysnar ; No, I would be there if I had the assurance that a prohibition eeraon would not be rammed down my broat. Mr Thomas had Baid he was votng no license becauec of bluestone and obacoo in a cask. Vo’ce : Why dqu’t he tell the police ? Mr Lysnar : Yes, and they would have topped it. The speaker went on: to ca'yse prohibition assertions and to comat them. He gave instances of deauobery in prohibited district-, and iq,do strong pefereoca fp dtpokenness mong boys in prohibited districts.

At this stage, a lady near the front, gave I things a lively turn. She said that M r Lysnar was doing h’s beet to show the boys how to get the liquor. :. 11 Mr Lysnar, who had been exploiting how tho boys in no-license districts fre-, quented s’y grog-shops, said he was sbowj mg what the boys would do. Those who voted prohibition would be teaching them. I Voices: No-license. ' Mr Lysnar : No-licenso is not no-grog. Why didn’t you prohibitionists take.blau.ee 9—no-grog. (Applause.) You were not game. (Applause.) So long &b prohibjtioniels pass suoh a clause they are abso® Jutely wroDg. He went on t 0 6tste that aloog tbe railway lines in no license districts a lot oLthese boys rented huts, where tboy met and drank grog, and their mothers knew nothin?. of it. (Shame 1) Prohibitionists did notlike talking about these things. The lady declared that Mr Lysnat was making fair New Zealand worse than Wbit-chapei. Mr Lysnar said that was just what nolicense would do, aud he went on, the iady interjecting, to show the woeful results of sly grog selling, especially upon womenkind and the children, and specially appealing to the women not to be led i away by the parsons, but to think seriously

CROWDED MEETING AT GISBORNE

His Majesty's Theatre was crowded to the doors last night, when Mr W. Douglas Lysnar addressed a second meeting in Gisborne against no-liccnse. Tbe Mayor (Mr Townley) presided, »ud beepoke a fair hearing for the speakjijiAk was suro the labor and trouble Mr Eysnat had taken on this question entitled him to a fair hearing. (Applause.) They intended to-nigbt not to allow one or two to disturb the m:eting. (Applause.) Mr Lysnar expressed pleasure at having another opportunity to deal with this important question. He credited the pro* hibitionists with good intentions. He desired to place it before them so that they would eee there were two sides to the. question. If it was a good obauge he would be the first to say, let them have it. There had been too much* sentiment introduced in a matter that was tbe most important business and social quostion they had ever had to decide. Ko-lioense was not the true remedy for tbe drink evil. (Cries of Yes and No.) The speaker went on to deal with the phases of the question previously touohed on. He had in his hand a letter written by Mrs Harrison Lee, frankly admitting that no-license did not stop the supply of liquor. If it would not stop getting liquor openly, what was the use of no-lioeDse ? He went on to refer to tbe opposition of the prohibitionists to the famous clause 9. [Voice; Quite right, too.] If they wanted to stop the liquor traffic they must prevent the liquor -coming in. He quoted Mr Isitt’s two contradictory statements on the subject. He turned a somersault on clause 9—it would cause these paid agitators to lose their billets. (Laughter.) The monopoly 'complained of was caused by the prohibition . ists themselves who would have nothing but no-license.. (Applause.) Some were going, to vote no-licease on account of bad grog—he noticed Rev. Dawson Thomas was one. The taking away of the licenses would be the very thing to lead to tbe bad grog. He went on to ridicule cartoons issued by the prohibitionists. Here was one of wolves in the wood. [Voice : True too.| It would be true; they would have plenty of wolves in the wood if they did away with the regulations and had sly grog in the woods. He showed hpsv regulations ensured tho keeping of gooc houses, and quoted his own experiences oi an hotel some years ago, and ( how th< owner of the house had been compelled to get out of the house. By licensed com ,trol that man was weeded out, butiSUef no-lioense such men wouid comcjiack. Their respected publicans who kenf" good homes would leave, and the ‘ttSffia ’would be carried ou by people of a sixteenth rate kind. Under no-lioense there could be no prohibition orders to control men who oould not otherwise keep from drink. He quoted Father Hays’ words that it was an insult to a mah’e intelligence for a clergyman to try and induce him to vote in any particular way j it should be left to their own intelligence. He had no objection to clergymen expressing their opinion on any subject, but had to their making use oi tbe cloth to infla« once them in a certain direction. .In the Southern prohibition districts there., were vents in tbe form of lioensed districts at no great distance away. Prohibition caused the speculative element in a place to give way to drones. Directly a person offered to say anything againt it they tried to brow-beat him. (Uproar.) Mr Lysnar; That is just what we expect. These people think they have a monopoly of tbe diecuesioa, and directly one se:ks to give yon the other side thMB prohibitionists try to howl yon down. Voices : No, no, and hooting, Mr Lysnar said they were jußt doing what he was stating. (Uproar.) The speaker then proceeded to deal with figures given iu tbe Waiapu Advooate, and disproved the assertions made in regard to the Farmers’ Co operative Association. He showed that there was a great difference between the figures given and tho real figures, the direotor from whom he had ootained the information attributing the success to the more prospe:ous state of the country. At this stage a woman in the dresß circle made some interjections. The Mayor said they usually looked for reasonable conduct in tbe dress oircle, but they were not getting it to-night, He a;ked that a policeman go up into the oircle and keep order there. Voice: This is a prohibitionist meeting, (Laughter.) Voice : Drown ’em. (Laughter.) Mr Lysnar then went on to refer to slygrog in the King country, and was iffey« ring to the decrease of business inls3so« hibited districts. Voice: That is only one town, Mr Lysnar: 'Well, I’ll take another, Balcluthe, that shows.a decreased valuation of £7O. Voice: Why don’t they get it back? (Applause.) Mr Lysnar: Beoause they are a lot of——(Laughter.) If you had all the goahead people taken out of this place and it was ruled by euoh as Mr Peokover, there would be a lot of decay and things going mildewed. Yon would never alter them ; they would believe the reform ■ Voice: Respect old age I Mr Lysnar : Yes, he respected old age, but when they had mis-statements placed lefore them by old age he oould mot S :espeot it. He went on to denounce many statenents made by prohibitionists as untrue.; iVhen proceeding there was more noise, dr Lysnar remarking, “ That is always be way with these prohibitionists, when here is likely to be anything said against heir side they try to suppress it.” He ext dealt with Mis- Atkinson’s remarks, fr Isitt, she had said, oould always go ack and get double wbat he was getting -that would be more than any bishop in te land was teoeiviog. Mr Isitt knew here his bread was buttered,

before supporting a supposod reform that WOOld rnnko a Whitechapel of the place. The inoident oloeod by both aides giving three cheers for tbo lady, who said that she did notbolong to tbo prohibitionist or any otbor party. Continuing, the speaker said they should usetbofr intelligence, but prohibitionists did not want to find a remedy; Ihoy would have tbo one thing or nothing. Boforo oonoluding bo explained tho conditions under which liquor oould be brought into no-lioense districts. “That is no-license," somoono inlor- I jeoted. Mr Lysnar: Yes, and what value is it ? Voice : Shuts tho bars. Mr Lysnar : You shut up a few and I open many. Ia Ashburton they olosod I d wn six, and opened up thirty lo sixty. Voice: What about Wanganui V I Mr Lysnar said bo oould toll them b something about it, and went on to relate I instances of bow easily grog was obtain- I able in prohibited The Mayors j

of Ashburton, Cluth and Gore, and man; Other prominent people wore against pro bibition. Ha was quotiDg from tho Auck land Woekty News against no-liornse when there was some interruption. “ Always tho way with those prohibitionists when I get to a pithy bit. Thoy should take their brains out of tbelr feet and put them in their heads." Tho speaker went on to quote tho article. He had been asked at To Karaka whether ho would oppoto those getting no license if they got clause 9, and he gave them tho assaranoo then and now that if clause 9 was placed on the Statute Book ho would cease to fight aga'mt it so long as it was one thing or the other, liquor or no liquor; but whiio ho had health and j strength hs would fight against tho nolioense, sly-grog system. Hs went on to quote instances of what had happened in the King oonntry, mentioning a man who was not addicted 10 drink in Gisborne, bat had given way ta drink when he had got into the no-iioenße distriot. The women must not think their husbands who went I into the back oountry wonld be safe from driok under no-lioense, and he stated that these sly-grog shops would spring up all Over the oouutry. Voioo: What about the deteotives ? Mr Lysnar: Deteotives be bothered 1 All the volunteers ia the oounfry would have to be turned into deteotives to try ‘ nod stop those “lighthouse partnerships.’’ ] He went on lo relate a oase of a sly-grog

sellar obtaining a oask of whisky, out of wbioh be said he would make three. Voice: What did he put in it ? (Laughter.) Mr Lysnar: Mr Dawson Thomas oan tell you-blueßtone and tobaooo. (Laughter.) The speaker went on to give farther Incidents of what had happened in no- . lidenee districts. He argned that nolicense drove good men away and left the loafers. Ia one town they had been unable to get half a mile of gaa mains done i without sending out for labor. I Voice :It makes wagea go op. Mr Lyenar: No, it reduoea them ; bnt it .makes provisions go up. At Asbbmtjn i'ooaf was at 9d per lb. The women would %now what that meant. Concluding, Mr Lysnar strongly denounced no-lioense as being the cause of greater evils than it was sought to replace. He was warmly applauded on resumiog his seat, and then a great many questions were asked, about an hour being taken up with these. The questions poured in from , all quarters, and gave quite an exoitieg time, Mr Lysnar giving it hot and strong to the prohibitionists at every opportunity, while they heattily applauded any point soored for their side. One questioner wanted to know why Mr Lysnar oould find time for thjtt meeting, while he would not make an appointment for a debate with Mr Parry. Having remarked that he considered the question too serious to provide amusement, Sir Parry, who was enthusiastically applauded, in a dignified manner denied that , he would have any thought of extracting amusement from the subject. Mr Lysnar Said that he obtained the ball to give his views, and Mr Parry was at liberty to take ' another night and deal with anything he 1 (Mr Lysnar) brought forward. At 11 o’doak the audience began to tiro of the questions, and many rose to go. The meeting was then brought to a close, shears being called for Mr Lysnar, and a vote of thanks being accorded to the Chairman,