THE PROHIBITION COMPLEX.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 266, 13 December 1928, Page 4

THE PROHIBITION COMPLEX.

.. ■ (M The support ?rs ■ Prohibition ave still a v little bewildered, \ and they must be allowed time to accustom themselves to the fact, that the 1 nation has declared against prohibition

with conclusive force. One may suggest, however, that there is no excuse for the statement contained in the report of the Temperance Committee to the Presbyterian Assembly that “ the defeat of the Licensing Bill is further evidence of the power of thq liquor trade over the political ifiachine.” Surely the outstanding faljt in Parliament’s relation to the liquor question has been this: that the |New. Zealand Alliance exerted sucMJjjpwer dver the political machine that in‘;11,927 there were overwhelming majorities in the Rouse in favour of the Alliance pol icy, ’although there was an overwhelming majority .of constituencies against it. more, if “ the Trade ” caused the defeat of the Licensing Bill, What caus-’ ed the overwhelming defeat of Prohibition at the poll ? If the Licensing Bill had become law, the result of the poll would have been an emphatic condemnation of it. The public will watch with interest the course that the Alliance will now adopt. There is scope for change and reform in the method of selling fermented drink, and they are few who will not assist any genuine work for needed reforms. Before the Alliance can settle down—if it ever does settle down—to the humdrum and unsensational work of assisting rational reforms and encouraging temperance, it must 'go through the process of getting rid of its Prohibition complex.—Christchurch Press. * ■