WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 208, 11 October 1916, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

STARTLING STORIES. LIQUOR AND PROHIBITION. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 9. The unpleasant stories that havebeen reaching Wellington lately con : ives ,cn the East Coast received startling confirmation from a deputation of Anglican clergymen that waited upon the Hon. William Fraser and the Hon. G. W. Russell in Gisborne last week. The trouble, of course, is not a new one. From the very earliest days of European settlement down to the present time the Maori’s addiction to strong drink has been one of the gravest obstacles to his progress along the path to beneficent civilisation. Bbt it was comparatively recent developments, of the evil that the deputation brought under the notice if the Ministers. One reverend gentleman told of a tangi at which ten cases of whisky had been consumed in (he course of a day or two. “He had scon young Maori girls fifteen years of age lying in a state of almost nudity dead drunk. Not only the Maori men and women were drinking, butjtho little boys and girls as well. continuance of this sort of thing would mean the speedy destruction of the race.” Other clergymen, including Archdeacon Williams, and a Native

missioner, made similar statements, and Mr. Fraser and Mr. Russell well may have expressed themselves as shocked by the revelations.

It is disquieting to learn from such unbiassed witnesses as the members of the deputation appear to have 'been that some of the worst of the orgies they mentioned to the Ministers had occurred in prohibition districts where the Maoris by their own votes had made it a penal offence to supply liquor to a member of their own race. Archdeacon Williams thought the chief cause of the trouble was the defective law which, while providing penalties for the person who supplied the liquor, provided none for the Maori who had it in his possession. The Maori Councils also ha* been very lax in the discharge of their duties. Many of them exist only on paper, and exercise no control over the communities they are supposed to represent, with the result that they [have been a hindrance rather than a help towards good government. Mr. Russell, speaking particularly in his capacity of Minister of Health, assured the members of the deputation that their representations would receive his prompt and earnest attention. He had not been altogether ignorant of what was going on, and already he had sought the assistance of the Minister of Justice and the,At-torney-General in bringing about a better state of things. Like Archdeacon Williams, he did not regard prohibition as a panacea for all the evils that beset mankind, but where it had been adopted it ought to be enforced by every means within the command of the law. A member of the deputation from Gisborne says that the local people interesting themselves in this matter have been much encouraged by Mr. Russel’s attitude toward* their appeal. THE SHOE PINCHES. Nemesis is on the heels cf Mr G. V. Pearce. During the whole of his political career the member for Patea has ben calling out against interference with private enterprise. H has detected the hand of the wicked Socialist in advances to settlers, in loans to workers, in State fire insurance, in State coalmines, and in everything else that has hampered the operations and lessened the profits of the unhappy capitalist and monopolist. Through all the years he has held steadfastly to the narowest doctrines of the Individ* ualist, proclaiming aloud the sanctity of freehold, free trade and freedom of contract. But now private enterprise, with base ingratitude, has turned on its champion. The shipping com panies have raised the freight on wool, and Mr Pearce has telegraphed to the Hon. Jas. Allen, urging him to buy or charter ships to “break down the monopoly” and defeat the “disgraceful grab.” No wonder the Labour folk are making merry over this sudden conversion to Socialism. They are wrtiing to the papers reminding Mr Pearce that the chickens he and his friends have so carefully tended are now coming home to roost, and that the whips they prepared f or the workers are being applied to their own backs. The similes are homely enough, but they serve their purpose passing well. For the moment the member for Patea, who never has been guilty of a joke on his own account, is the but of many a jest.