The Daily News. TUESDAY, MAY 28, 1901. PROHIBITION IN CLUTHA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 112, 28 May 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. TUESDAY, MAY 28, 1901. PROHIBITION IN CLUTHA.

?oun years ago ttere was amongst the iVe&leyan mi. isters one man whc, ia tpifce of fili that had been said and vritten, remaiiu'd a stuiooh opponent )f Prohibition. In the com so of the ;h<nges usual in that Connexion Mr. Elliott, the minister in cju f s'ion, fou.d aimself stationed at (Jlutha, thug eat Prohibition district of Now Ze.,Lnd A.fter an absence of fi u r yea is Mr Eliiott was in Ohristchmcb a short time back, when he was interviiwed bj i representative of one of the Christ ahurch papera regarding bis viewson thi working of Prohibition in Oiutha. It the course of an article on the ioterviev our Ohristchurch contemporary says " Mr, Elliott had net bten si: months in Cluthc, b fora observa'ioi and «xperienc» made bim a. prohibi fcionist. There was no-doubt, in hi Opinion, tbat the success of that gysten had been y«y marked in the electorate Prohibition had not been completi there, however, until last June. Prioj to th-n there had been one ho v el, a Puburau, and tiro wholesale licet,sj at Tapanui. Since then th se ha< been abolished, and the only convictioi for sly grog selling., Had tak« place at Pukurau, had resul ed in a fin. of £35. During ths first year of Mr Elliott's stay, llie licensing law lsac been very badly enforce! Then seemed no honest attempt, indeed, t< enforce it at al'. Sly grog selling wen en to a considerable extent, owing t( the apathy of the Government. Thi fact was that the majority of the J.P.'i cympatbised with t'e law-breakers atsd in some cases' were not abovi bieaking the law themselves, and thi magistrate had inflicted very paltn lines fer the first and second infringe' m«-nts. On one occasion the fine for ( second offence had been only £lO w h'cS had far from a deterrent effect In fpite ;of alt this, however, and thi influence of tke brewers and publican! and their agents, the success of pro hibifion had befn .marked. Drunk tnrete had decreased 90 per cen*. L 1898 the' Oiutha has been a I mot crimeless, as the lav regards c>ime Par from any deterioration in the valui of property having taken pkee, durini the last six ,yearn, the value of ne» erections, additions, and ' minor im provements amounted to £12,000 ii Balclutha, and to £175,000 in thi wbele of the Clutha. Yet Ba'cluthi had formerly b- en the stronghold o thq liquor party, and formerly it hi< five public-housos, The amount ivifei for relig'oiis objrctsln the Clutha fo the past six yiars seached £15,000 which far out-tet i!'ed the sum fir an l other eimil»i'pe.i d; the amount spec on bicycle-) had to n £6OOO, and oi sewtng inichines o v<-r £ISOO. Mi K hett did not pat down all this pro gtess to tht- influence of the prohib.ttr law. He onsideied, however, that i was a perfectly valid argument again? the common ass&rtion that Prohibits had injured progress and prosperity Morally, its effeco had been even mor notictable. The deciease in drunken ness was a very stubborn fact. Then had been great hostility, of course

between (he majority of Proliibiri in is ' and the minority of the liquor pa' ty ; but the latter miuot'i'y, i e thought, was fast dinvni-nii g Many mo-, formerly hard drinkers, were now leading sober, industrious lives. IVre was still a certain amount of s'y grog-so'd ing, but Mr. E.li itt though;, that, those who told ware ni.t men of the best chaiao'er. A few months ago the polite had made a most sts'ematic raid, tvi'h the resalt th*t five nf ihem had been fined .£4O each, wi'h ten days' imps s nroent. This had bad a most (a'u tny effect; for s : nca then the evil ha-1 hardly rx : s'ed, apparently, and wheie it did i xist, it was very secret, It was a mistake to say t! a k . sly grog-srllng w, s even profitable, During the past four yeirs one shop had chatted hards six tim< s, and another four. Ano'l.e; charge often made, but quite false, was that private dunking at home hod greatly inerea ed. Mr. Elliott bad v.ot, found a house where this was the case, or where private drinking was indulge.) in only after the incoming cf prolv'ti tion. It was wroug to say that as much drintc was consumed in Cuiia as formerly, for many in the district who had b;en moderate drinkers f< r thirty years strongly denied the fact, and bad given Mr. Elliott permission to make public ui-e of their in denying it. Not one-twentieth of '.he drink wasconsumd in the Glut ha now that bad been, Eren if there had been an increase in sly grog-selling in the electorate, however, Mr. Elliott contended that was no solid a-gument against prohibition. In bis opinion there had been a recent increase in the practice throughout the colony. Lately the police had taidedjore of these shop' in Duatdin, whtre tbeie were a number of hotilj. If the sta'isiics of sly grcg-sellir.g were taken for Southland, he thought, they would tabulate proportionately to nearly the ssme numb r as in the Olutha."