A STARTLING RESULT.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 32, 13 October 1911, Page 8

A START LING RESULT.

**MAORILAND"' FILLS' 'EM -'UP a aaa., . .. Y&GMN." •

tSKBSJTVM ! the approach of the liquor -... poll in November (says the Syd- : "ney "BuTLetin") the Maoriland Cold "VVater Dervishes are tuning up' the old --cracked No-license hurdy-gurdy for something extra in the .way of a fling. The. great hope this time i.f that every pub. in louland avi'll be. put out of ex- .. isteiice per medium of the "Dominion Option,", issue, which, avi'll be presented for-the consideration of the. free and enlightened-for the first time; , and, judging from the results that followed in the wake of the, wiping out ( of tlie' beer palaces in various districts /sinpe 1905, Messrs. Barrel and Bottle may reasonably be suspected of subsidising the movement. Since that year, when only one No-license district was oil;the, list, and the cost of liquor per : head amounted to £3 0s od, the inhabitants have been rolling the old 'water, chariot along amidst the loud'^'hic,-hie, hurrah" of the procession, until in 1909, the year of the last poll, twelve districts'had''turned good, comfortable hotels .'info second-quality hash-fac-' ytbries, or imported rag emporiums,' and the thirst barometer had jumped Up £3; per head of population. As usual, the whirling.Dervishes -charge the increase against the "Avave of pros-; perity'-' which has sivept over the'Ric"ketty Islands, leaving behind it those prolific deposits from which luxuries spring.' The argument might 'be right if the facts \vere,right; but the truth is that in the past-two or three years there has been a bad slump, bringing Civil Service retrenchments, slackness of Av6rk, and a general fear that the mortgage may ring the bell any morning. Between 1901 and 1910 the national debt had swollen- from £62 16s lOd to £72 13s 9d per bead of white population, and the cost of living had also put on Aveight. But if. the Maorilander tightened his belt at all it AA-asirt Avhen there was liquor in the vicinity. On those occasions, which are all day and every night, he merely said: "Sufficient unto the I O U is the day of. reckoning. Letsaveadrink." So he leaned-over thjß bar more than eA-er, and'took home more demijohns than ever, and became drunker than ever, and got run-in- more than ever. In 1901. 8032 of him was convicted for overloading himself with alcohol, and in 1910 not less than 11,718 of him had been fined or sent to knuckle oakum. It is a.cheerful advertisinent for No-license, and jproves that if the yMaorilander gives all. his attention to "striking out the top line," the Plimsoll line will look after itself/ The wprking-classes of the dominion cannot afford to vote for No-license, because the loss of revenue, tStalling one million sterling..: will have to' be made up, and it will fall on the AAorker every time. "Besides, if Prohibition is carried, thousands will be thrown out of work and Avill be competing with each other for work, loAvering Avages. To save the situation, you must strikeout the bottom line in each paper on election day.