What do they Know of Drink who only Water Know?

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2500, 31 October 1922, Page 2 (Supplement)

What do they Know of Drink who only Water Know?

—By W.G., Taumavanui

It is interesting to note that the loaders of the prohibition movement almost without exception—both the imported and home-made variety—make haste to let it be known —and they seem- to take an unaccountable pride in tho announcement —that they them--selves have been, life long abstainers; and they appear- to bo blissfully ignorant of the filet that they thereby' disqualify themselves from the right to speak with any claim to be heard on the question of drink. They know nothing at all about drink, so they will ten us all about it. They know ever so much about drunkenness, and have spent precious weeks of their lives in compiling useless statistics which prove nothing and lead nowhere. But about drink they know nothing;— how could they, never having used it? But to make up for their lack of knowledge they have chosen to assume that it is an unmixed curse. They know nothing of the refreshing, stimulating, invigorating properties of tho dinner-table glass of ale; but they do know that some men become drunk, and so they will see to it that all the drink is taken from all the people, in order that the few weak-minded ones may be spared the temptations to excess.

And the prohibitionist, would have you believe—and herein lies the weakness of his position—that when he works for the wholesale banning of liquor, in order- to put an end to drunkenness he is striking at the root of tho matter—that in fact drink is the cause o-f drunkenness and so must bo abolished. But drink is not the cause of drunkeness. It is no more the cause of drunkenness than water is the cause of drowning. Tho cause of drowning is the physical inability, either through inexperience or adverse conditions, to resist tho tendency to sink; and the cause of drunkenness is the moral inability to resist tho low, insensate, besotted pas sion which craves ever for indulgence to excess. That is the root of the matter; and if only the prohibitionists would devote their energies to the

subjugation or conversion of these passions with half the zeal with which they try to snatch away the innocent things, wherein the passions find expression, they would indeed be rendering an estimable service to the community. ....