A CHARACTERISTIC SPEECH.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8163, 18 April 1895, Page 1

A CHARACTERISTIC SPEECH.

At the Prohibition Convention hold in Dunedin the following speech was delivered : Mr T. E. Taylor, who waß received with loud applause, said ho could not help being amused at tho revival of the old corpse of compensation. (Laughter.) In his opinion compensation was ii"t only as dead as Queen Anno, but was deader — (laughter)— and tho liquor traflic was dying very fast. (Applause.) It was said by persons on tho other sido that if prohibition wero carried tho buii would coaso to shine— (laughter) — but ho believed tho effect would bo that tho browora would coaso to livo in big houses on tho hillsides and tako to driving corporation muck«cnrts— (laughtor)— and ho would hs lief sco a brewer driving a corporation muck-cart as livo in luxury and idleness by virtuo of his having a big muck-rako in tho shape of a brewery, and a number of snull muck-rakos in the shapo of publichouscs. IJo did not know that anything very awful would happen if prohibition woro carried, but they wero told a great revulsion of feeling would tako placo. Woll they wanted it, but it was not tho sort of rovuloion tho " trado" oxpected ; aud they wanted new legislation to enable them to find out how in my parts of Now Zealand wanted to go in for a rovulsion of feeling. Ho quoted tho saying of an eminent thinker, "Democracy gives overy man tho right to bo his own oppressor," and said wo woro in this colony tolerating acts by the Administration which woro a disgracojto us as a democracy. Wo failed to comprehend tho magnitude of tho evils of corruption in this colony, but if we were tyrannised over and oppressed so far as the Legislaturo was concerned the blame w.is on our own shoulders. Ho montioned as incidents that had occurred within tho last six months that ono member of tho House of Representatives was so drunk when ho camo bofoto his constituents that ho fell from tho platform, aud his audience wont homo, and tint another member was so drunk in the llouso whrn tho Liconing Bill was boforo it that ho prevontod tho legislation of tho country from being cirried on, and ho (Mr Taylo ) 6aid tho democracy was oppressing ithclf by virtuo of permitting men (o roprcsont it whoso moral standard was no higher than the moral standard of thoso men, otherwise they would not tolerato tho presence of thoso men in their patty. (Hear, hear ) Tho very Parliament and the very Ministry that interfered with tho liberty of tho subject— wisely in moat instances, unwisely in somo instancos — by decreeing that all shops should clo^o except tho whisky shop, and thoro thoy saw i ho spirit of tho Ministry — the very Parliament that decreed that there should bo a land tax in dotianco of all tho property- holdors, and that said there should bo no rabbits kept in certain territory — that Parliament was willing to legisUto anything that wou'cl pandor to tho selfish interests of the pooplo, but whon it was abked to try to suppress a traflio that pandered to nothing but tho basest appetite it would not do it. Thoy wanted now legislation, and they wore q ing to goi it. They woro going to proposo this— that whon tho house opened next session tho tunperanno mombers should stand up and say to Air Heddon that they woro going to put a pieco of legis'atiun in tho hands of tho pooplo that would totid towards rightcousuobs ; that | thoy woro going to havo a pieco of legislation that would not bo a faree — a piece of legislation that would not bo drafted by Mr Cowlishaw, solicitor to tho Li coused Victuallers' Association of Canterbury ; a pioce of legislation that hud no clause 21 in it ; and if over thero was a lascally thing dono by tho present Ministry, it was that first of ail tiny sneaked that clduso into thoir bill to dofoat tho Sydenham Licensing Committoo, and to rob that omumttco of tho viotoiy they had won in tho Supremo Court, and then that they paid L7O to tho lawyers to wipo out tho disgrace ; and if ono drunken iiiiii could stop too piogross of tho licensing legislation in 18U4, ho hoped that six or a dozen sober men would stop the progress of all other legislation in 1895 until this bill was fairly considered— (applaube)--uid ho belio\ ed the Bos-ion of 1895 would bo exceedingly interesting, especially to tho Ministry. Ho moved— tl That this meeting is of opinion that in view of tho u gent nocesBity for licensing legislation which will permit of effective expression of tho people's will, tho monibers of tho Hoiibo of Representatives who buppou the Piohibition patty should demand, imu.ediutoly up,n tlio assembling of the llouao of Representatives, that tho Licensing Amending I3i 1 shall tako precedence of all other measures, (Applause.)

Indefinite. — ' Wlmt is his profession V Hind ono girl. ' llo's n capitalist,' ropli d tlio oilier. ' 110 looka li''o an ftrtist.' ' Oh, ho b. Ho mukes tho o ipital lgttoi'd that begin the magaaiui} acliolos, 1