LIQUOR REFORM.

Hokitika Guardian, 28 August 1924, Page 4

LIQUOR REFORM.

bishop's coNTi!or, hill. PEERS DEFEAT SECOND READING. LONDON. .Inly I I. A liill which appeal's In have in it the nanus of Prohibition was given short shrill in (lie House ol lands this week. This is the liishop ol Oxlonl's Liquor (I’opnlar Control: Hill. I .old I’nnhiir.v proposed all aiaemlmeiit for Hie rejection of the liill which was avaalnallv carried liv Hid votes to oil. Most of the liishops were in favour of the measure, hut the liishop of Durham launched on attack, lir.-l on ids luother hisliops and then on Prohibition, and wound up with a vividlyworded wanting to the Church about the danger of creating nh.it he called " sham sins." Viscount (ave declared that the aiiemv he was pursuing \\a- not mink, hut drunkenness, and hi- interest lay in how far tile liill provided a just and proper remedy lor that evil. Ihe striking figures given hy I .old Dawson n hen last the liill was discussed show-1 ■ 1 hcyoiut coot rndiction that during the lasi lew years draiiU "iniess liail notably decrease I. Convictions in England and Wales had decreased fn in ISS.OIM in IDld to 7C.(IfK) in 1D22. 'ldle liill proposeil to abolish the pmvisimis for the reduction of licenses made m the A< tof 15 (I}. As a meinher of a licensing tuniniiltce lor many years, lie knew that the Ai t had been a great saceess. The reduction ol firdises ly this time must amount la •Jll.(i;i;i since the ptissiilg ol the Aid. .Not cidv had licenses Iceen reduced, lint the most undesirable had keen taken iiv.ay and nobody had really suffered. NOT POPCI.Ai: CONTROL. If the Dili passed a- it stood, the old j position of things was actually restor-j ed. Justices would have the absolute right to reduce licenses without com-j peiisat ton. Meanwhile, the comven.«ation lew would he commit d and doubled and would he extended to the olflitenses as well as oii-licellses. In the "lio-ehalige" area there would he my machinery for the reduction of I SL .,, i 'l'lmt was a retrograde step, ('jid-r the uo-licciise clauses the idled might l.e to enable oiie-cighth ol tr.e population to put coercion oil the olliei seven-eighths. lie did not call that popular control; These provisions ami ted to prohibition and piolnluia n hy compulsion, and he did notbelieve prohibition would he elleettve. Tlic secret of the whole thing was that compulsion was of no use unless it had more sanction behind it. The liill provided compensation, and m that respect it was better than other Hills, lull lie did not think it provided lair compensation. As an alternative to these proposals he would rely on education, good homes good pav, and more leisure tor the working’ classes. II- was a lino believer in what was called the improved public houses, wild' ■ men might take their wives and lumiite- without cproach. LESSONS FROM 111 K WAIT \* I scon it t Milner sail! lie could not lake the responsibility el voting against the measure, lie could not shale the optimism that had been expressed liy any of their Lordships about the present condition- of the liquor tradio. As a linn believer in public

control he was anxious to give the Hill every rliamc. because it could be made a workable model oil which lutiire legislation could proceed. At one period of the war liquor so impaired efficiency that it was dm lar "I to be one of the main 01-laele- to lie- siteccs-l ill prosecution of the campaign. Tim l.iquor ('oalreJ fbiar I was appointed and completely checked the growth ol intemperance. The diminution in i rime, disease, and nr i tality war .-Irik-

iieg. 'i in* imisoveni "tit in th" people's health jump'd to the eye. e-tieeni|ly in tl' poorer districts el' gie.it on.". wlfil" . liil'ir.'ii were better dr d. shed, ill:.1 lined ter than ever before or since. With jh'iico einne n riqiid tin owing ever el th" reM riel ions ini* imscd hv ti e Ifoard. some ol which it wo tl.l have been desirable to retain, suh as tlie prohibition ei "treating. The figures for drunkenness ruse again steeply. If ltd" was the zenith of the nolien'.- int micretu'e. 11)21) was its nadir. During the pa-t two nr mrer years there had 1 cell some improvement, Iml not in proportion to the great lail in wages during that period. It would he contrary to all experience if the next return of a boom period in tbs cycle ol trade was not aeeoinp.nii"d I,a great rise in the eon-ineptinn ol liqner. unb s stiui- were taken to counteract this secular tendency in time of prosperity. Alidl IMSIIUP'H VIEWS. The Archbishop ol Canterbury pointed out that with Hie present measure and tlie Public llon.-e Improvement It'll t'ere were two rival and iiicum-: pat i'iir si-I,emes. both seriously propos-j ing the amendment or improvement of the I:: easing laws. Ihith sets el promoters had shown that they thought something wanted doing. lie admitted :"i iiuproveiu oil in temperance, and the degree ol improvement was constantly u nd.'i'st at cl by advocate- i I reform. There were many detailed propcsals in ihe Hill requiring further discussion hntli hy experts and the general public before the measure became law. Personally lie would not vote for enmpiet ' siippi'es-ii.'.i of the traliie, and stub a proposal ought to he supported hv the \ ast nuiiei'ity of voters lietore ’ if* 11 .arri.'d out. To the idea ol a round-table conference oil the subject he -was not opposed, but it would be less -at isfaclory Ilian the method of referring the Hill alter the second reading to a Select Commit tee.

Tic* .Marques- of Salisbury declared that the financial provisions el the Hill were absolutely unsound. Enormous improvement bad been made in temperance .lining ibe last lew years, and the medical prof.—si.m did not regard the Use of alcohol as pel Ilieiolls. yet they were asked t.> approach this Hill. What right had they to colder the power oil a relatively small majority to establish Prohibition 'f He did not believe tlie whole of the organisation of the liquor traffic -h.oidd bo placed ill the bands of a central bureaucracy in London. Though they would all like to see experiments tried of improved public houses, he did not regard that as a reason for supporting the Hill. Tlie Hill provnsi-d Prohibition, a fora of disinterested management, and a method of compensation they believed to be unfair and unworkable. On all these grounds the Hill must fail. GREATLY NEEDED EXPERIMENT. The liishop of *St Albans said that if the Hill passed it would give greater liberty to the whole nation than the nation now onjoved. The l idled States had been brought in to prejudice this Hill, but it was a significant fact that whenever the I’nited States was. quoted with regard to Prohibition they* only board quotations from Now York; or Eastern States, newr any thing! about the Middle We-t or Ear West, j or the rural districts. He did not bo-1 li "ve that mast of what they heard was j true. The liill should be given a chance because it would enable* an experiment that was greatly needed to he made, lie would vote for it because.

too. it would remove obstacles which stood between the" hearts and consciences of the l people and the light of God.

“ When the conscience is diverted to sham sins,” s.iid the .Bishop of Durham, better known as Dr Hensley Hen-

son, 'dt begins to lose its moral perspective. There is the greatest possible danger in legislation which offends the conscience ol the citizen." "It is of real importance,” lie said, "that it should not lie supposed that the unanimity of the Episcopal Dench is complete or that it represents in this matter the settled judgment ol the Church of England. I dislike the fashion of Episcopal round-robins to the nation. They are far less impressive than they are misleading, because people put their names to this kind of tiling for a varielv of motives. II T ero-s-exantiued them as to the precise significance of their signatures I have no doubt that the variety of the response would he even more impressive than the unanimity.” He announced that not only as a member of the House of Lords. Imt as the Iti-hop of Durham, he was going to vote against the liill.

CD El HIVE LED IS LATHIN’. "It enshrines." he said, "the principle of Prohibition—for local veto is that—and this principle is an unsound one, for it carries positive law into a region where positive law ought not to attempt to enter. To determine one's own choice ol food and drink i- otic oT the essential franchise*., of self-respect-ing maohoe.il, ami must call lor the exercise of responsibility and due consideration for the interests of niliers. That liail.'iise eauimi rightly or wisely la* taken away." A further reason for his oppo-ition to the Hill was that it proposed to treat the liquor interest ttnlaitly. "The only real tiling that can defeat the victory of lemeperaiii e in this country," he said, "i- the bigotry and unwisdom ol teetotal lunatics lorciug coercive legislation on the people. "What sensible people want,” says Hi,. "Daily Telegraph" in a leading article, "is to stop not drinking. Iml drunkenness, and to call into being an improved puhlic-lloilsi*. Some of the I "ailing brewing firms have —rather late in tip. day begun to see that a model tavern i- the best answer possible to Prohibit ionist propaganda-,' and that with the consent ol the magistrates they may revolutionise the puhlic|,anise. Those who say this trade cannot he raised and that the publie-h::u-e cannot I r reloruled. convict themselves ol a morbid and imeharita I fie fanaticism. Let them give the movement a chance. It they are ion deeply committed to help, at any rate let them stand aside and Inrgo their opposition. For it is along this path, arcr.iimaliicd h.v a steady adherence to the Act ol Httll under which a tilth of the I(l(l.niKt licenses in existence when the Act was passed have already been eaneelh.'d as redundant without creating uni feeling of unfairness, or hitterlies., that true improvement lies.