PROHIBITION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2500, 31 October 1922, Page 4

PROHIBITION.

CONDITIONS IN AMERICA. ! FATHER ZURCHER’S VIEWS. The conditions in America under prohibition were the subject of an ; address given to a crowded audienj co at the Palmerston Opera House recently by the Rev. Father Znreher, president of the Catholic Clergy Prohibition League in Ameri- “ ca. In his opening remarks Father Zurcher said he had been surprised on arrival in New Zealand to find that the people were not receiving a correct account of the effect of prohibition in America —merely a caricature. There were no less than > 32 organisations in America striving to nullify prohibition. When he was in New York recently he ahd accepted the invitation of a friend to visit what used to be saloons and see the real effect of prohibition. Whereas, before, one could go for miles and see at every cross-road three of the four corners being used as saloons or for liquor purposes, the front of the places now indicated that they were stores or other respectable business places. The speaker had been assured that, the owners were receiving twice as much rent for their buildings under their new occupation. As a result of an increase in the consumption of milk, the farmers had been compelled to increase the number of '/ cows.

Quoting official American statistics, the speaker said the percentage of infant deaths in New York at the present time was 70 to every thousand infants; in Canada 83 to the thousand; in Montreal, where the liquor traffic was still in operation, 155: and in wine-drinking France there were 200 to every thousand. These figures, lie declared spoke for themselves. The working man in America carried his wages home on Saturday nights instead of going to the drinking saloons and spending them there. Today there were only three Neal institutes for the cure of drunkards in -America, which was a big reduction compared wit h previous figures. Where there had been 11 distilleries

in a certain part of America, there were now great corn ma nut acl tiring places. New machinery had been

installed and the disfillers had no lost a penny. It had been said tha

prohibition would ruin the grape growing industry, hut the result had been that the price received for the grapes had boon twice that hirtherio as the grape juice was found to he beneficial to invalids. Butter-milk was becoming very popular in America and the people did no! miss Ihe strong drink. President Harding lintl staled publicly I hat people paid their debts more willingly now than prior to the introduction of prohibition. Many breweries had been transferred into stove, clothing, manufacturing and soft drinking factories. One in fact had been changed into a church —-“where saints were turned out instead of sinners.” (Laughter.) The Sisters had told him, Father Zurcher continued, that prior to prohibition they had received four, or" five .drunken women every month, Mas prohibition a hindrance to personal liberty? the speaker asked. People should not think of themselves aioiie, lie declared, but should make some sacrifice for those who would benefit by prohibition. Greater sa-

entices than this had been made. The Sisters had done wonderful work in assisting the sufferers with the yellow fever. Nor was it only women who were capable of this sacrifice for priests had gone ainong the lepers and sacrificed their lives for the sake of the sufferers. When they knew that the drink was worse here than it was among the heathens, why should they hesitate for a moment as to what attitude to adopt? When New Zealand had cleaned itself of the liquor traffic Australia, was, he felt sure, going to follow its example. For 50 years prohibition was a live movement in America. The country was .divided up into districts and when one district was voted “dry” various methods were adopted by the liquor traders in the neighbouring States to get the people to their, saloons, but, in spite of this, the dry States thrived, and they saved many of the young people from drink. After a while the people had the right to vote by States instead of in sections, and that tune they had 32 out of 48

States working under prohibition. They drove the liquor traffic out as “they would drive the devil around a stump.” Many business men had approached the speaker wishing for an opportunity to vote national prohibition. The liquor traffic had been killed in America “as you woiul kill a dog—quickly and humanely.” Referring to the attitude of his Church in connection with his tour, Father Zurcher said he possessed credentials from the church in his diocese in Buffalo, ft was the privilege of'a priest to say Mass every morning when reasonably possible and he had been assisted in this object by the Bishop of Dunedin, who had written letters to nil priests in his diocese, granting the visitor .permission to do so. Archbishop Redwood, in a letter, stated that he would leave the matter of saying Mass to his Vicar-general. That morning he had celebrated Mass at Wellington. Pope Leo XIII had sent to a Catholic layman in America a message to the effect tjjat if he thought prohibition was the remedy for intemperance in America he was mot only allowed but it was his duty to vote for it. It had ( been said 1 that a priest advocating prohibition was a “crank” because he was running

around Methodists. He assured his audience, however, that association with Protestant ministers had convinced him that they wore not half so bad as they were thought to he. The prohibition workers were fighting for common Christianity. The endorsement of Pope Leo XIII in 1890 contained a passage that priests should be models in abstinence. High authorities of the Church had described the trade as a pestilence and the only way to deal with it was to wipe it out completely. The Catholic religion could Go divided into two sections —on one hand the ecclesiastical section, or human law; on the other the never changing portion, namely, faith and morality. Any bishop could therefore seek for the upholding of these ideals without appeal to higher authorities. In the monaslries, up til! the 12th century, it was the rule for the monks to he total abstainers and also tor anyone to abstain from liquor during tlio 40 days of Lent and the four weeks of Advent. Ihe speaker then quoted St. Jerome in statements against the liquor traffic. Willi regard to sacramental wine, the speaker said there was never any reason for the people to make such a moment nils thing <>l lliis subject. Three years before prohibition came in America he had asked several leaders of the movement for their assurance that the Sacrnmihtlal wine would he still procurable if prohibition was oairied. This was given and so far the trust had been faithfully carried : mil. The Catholic Church had obtained as much wine as it required ' without permission from the Gov- ' eminent ; they could also ship it to : any priest or any place they liked. ' Of course there were many ‘‘leaks 1 hut they were being gradually elos- ? ed up. Under cover of night some ' liquor had been smuggled in from ’ boats outside the three mile limit. hut now he had learned the limn ' had been extended to 18 miles Irom l he shore.

For 15 years lie had been pn-ior nl the church at Buffalo, and amongst the patients in hospital there, prior to prohibition, wore many who were cases of drunkenness in young men and young women. One young woman in particular he remembered who had been coaxed by a supposed male friend to have a drink, which was the first step towards a life of shame. Finally she ended in the poor-house in a very short illness of three weeks’ duration. The only request made to the speaker when he saw her was not to let her people know how she died. 1 his v\as only one of the evils of what the driiik traffic had been doing to the voting people in America. Dn going through a prison ho found a large percentage of the inmates there foilin' first time in their lives. When he saved a Protestant from the evils of drink lie felt lie was doing an act of God just as much as lie was when he saved a Catholic. When he saw voting women being ill-treated by the. gaolers he would ask: “Wtliere is your personal liberty now?" It was the liquor traffic Father Zurcher declared, that Used to make the drug fiends and not the prohibition movement, ns uian.\ people declared. Father /urcliei went on lo enlarge upon the unhappiness caused in many homes by the ravages of a drunken husband, quoting many cases in point when wives had been struck with articles of furniture in the period of their husband's drunken passion, lie was thankful that there was still sulliedent chivalry in American manhood to sav that they would slop this outrage on motherhood. Noj enough attention was given to motherhood as it was. In conclusion Father Zurcher said they were gradually drifting towards that ideal state the prohibition of this country.