Anti-Prohibition.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXII, Issue 42794, 21 October 1905, Page 2

Anti-Prohibition.

MR J. DIX IN WARD’S ADDRESS

AN OPPONENT OF PROHIBITION

In the Public Hall. Te Aroha. on , Thurs lay evening, Mr J. Dix »n Ward ! addressed a large audience on the j questiou of prohibition, Mr T. Me Indoe presided and introduced the speaker, whereupon two letters, one from Mrs Alarris >n Lee, the other

from the Pev. N. A. Davis, were handed up and read by the chairman. Each letter was a challenge to Mr Ward to meet the writer in pub’ic debate

that evening. Mr Ward, in replv a ated that it had been settled some tim,'* ago that he would not meet Mr Davis, and he also did not think he was justified in debating the subjec

with a worn in. Mr Ward, in opening his address, said b. 9 knew there was a great diver sity of opinion on the liquor question. The no-'.ioense a Ivocates, the prohibitionists, and the teetotallers had been going round promulgating their views, but there was another side of the question—a side that, was stronger, a side that, was more logical —a side of the question that was so stroog that its supporters had hitherto hardly thought it worth while putting it for waid But the teetotallers had been so active, and had been dessiminating their views so actively, that it was fouud necessary to present to the people the stronger side. He (the speaker) did not charge the prohibitionists with deliberate falsehoods, but they looked at everything through a glass of c dd water, and they did not look for the tru h, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The lies told by pro hibitionists about the Bible were not refuted because people generally did not study their Bibles, and only heard the passages read to them by their minis er. Of course the Bible condemned drunkenness, so did he ; so did they all. In the New Testa ment wine was frequently spoken of The fir t mil acle was making wine from water. Now, the teetotal gentry would say that wine was unfermented, and not intoxicating. The prohibitionists published the statement about the people coming out of the Wellingt. n hotels in view of the coming elections, but when the boirders, visitors, and billiard players were eliminated, how mmy had they left for a large city like Wellington 1 The no-license lrw of New Zealand was o pposed to the liberty of the subj ect. The liberty of the subject was a sacred trust handed down to them, and which they should hand on to their children, If they passed this no-license law, they wore taking away a laige portion of their liberty, and placing shackles ou the iiherty of .those who would come after them, and they would reap their curses rather than their blessings. Some poop'e said tht the majority should rule in this liquor question, but majority rule was outraged by a system th.it allowed the rights of the minority to be taken away. The principle of the quiet enjoyment of property liwfully acquired was not recognised by the local option law. The law was a confiscation law. and it was contrary to British principle and right. It was stated by the tees total people that they only fought the open bare, and that those who desired liqu \r could obtain it from other districts, The Bible said ‘‘Thou shalt

not steal,” but the teetotallers had brought this commandrrencup-to date, and they read it ** Thou shalt not steal, except - from a brewer, a publican, or a wine merchant.” Europe in all its nations was a user of alcoholic; the Saracens were forbidden the use of wiue, The wine-drinking people had progressed, while the non-drinking people had stagnated, The arrests f>r drunkenness in Maine, a prohibition towD, were 42 per thousand, while in Auckland, under license, the arrests for drunkenness were only 12 per thousand. The death rate in the prohibi ion districts hai increased from 1 57 per thousand to 2 41, while in the districts under license the death rate nad d* creased from 2'47 to 1*63. The teetotallers said that drunkene uess was causing race deterioration in England, but, ihey would find the statistics staged that there had been « steady diminution of drinking during the last thirty years. The cause of tile race deterio ation was :heref me not. the alcholic habits of the re »p!e, but it was caused by the people fiorn die country crowding in'.o the towns. The prohibitionists had made, a great, deal of the testimony of Sir Frede lick Troves against the use of deohwl. S.r Frederick Treves was a very eminent man, but he could produce four or five reliable medical authorities in favour of the moderate use of alcohol against, one against its nee. ELe read from statements in favour of the moderate use of alcohol made by Sir Jarne* Page\ Dr Thomas Dutton (the greatest authority on digestion) and a large number of other medical men, and said the verdict of ihe bulk of the mediq il m m in England was given in favour of the moderate use of ale >bol,

i If they carried no license they would throw B,COO people out of employment, and not only these people, but also those engaged in the accessory trades, would suffer. 'The prohibitionists said that in do license districts the a’rests for drunkeune<s had diminished, but they must remember that a great number of the arrests were of bushmen and others who had been in tho habit of c imiug into the towns for a spree, and this accounted for the decrease in the number of arrests for drunkene >ss in prdiibi ion districts in Ashburton, a pro .ibifion town, ~o man had collected in three months 13,600 ■ • a '• kinds, while anii it r had coio b ed 6000 whisky bottles. That showed that the drinkirigin the homes— he secret drinking —lnd increased under no-licenke. In Te Aroha a great deal of the money spent was spent by tourists; end if the people voted the hotels out of thpyjjjwould find that the travelling public would not stop here any longer than was necessary, but

would get out of the place as quickly as possibl'. * A number of questions were then handed up writteu ou slips of paper. M ■ Ward answered these iu rotation, giving facts and figures in support of

his argument. The audit nee w s much augmented on the arrival of those who had been attending a lecture in another hall. Mrs Harrison L '6, with the permission of che Chairman, made a few remarks on the statistics conneo ed wi h the Ashburton rates under Nolicense,

A vote of thanks to Mr Ward was then moved and canied by acclamation.