NO-LICENSE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 262, 29 October 1908, Page 3

NO-LICENSE.

in RRUSTNELL AT THE TIIEATRIi MR- ROYAL.

There was a. large audience at the - Theatre Royal last evening to hear the (Htdress gfaen l>v Mr. A. Bruntnell. The jjev. J. La> r <l 'presided. After a battl sang had been rendered and prayer offered, the chairman introduced the speaker. Jfr. Bruntnell's text was, "Popiil-ir Objections to Ao-Liccnse." One of the most frequent objections wan that the traffic existed by the law of supply and demand. Liquor was not supplied* alt i-j gether because of demand. Luxuries were often indulged in by the public because they were fashionable. So it was with the liquor traffic. People followed each other. The. desire for liquor was not a healthy one. It was not a natural

one. It was a. cultivated desire. 1U instanced a district in New South Walewhere liquor was unknown at one tin; ■ but later on was introduced, with the result that liquor - drinking becaw fashionable. "Could this be termed the law of supply and demand?" he ask°il. ''Should we allow a tempting luxury to create a demand to the detriment of the public?" It was frequently stated th.it the Xo-License reform interfered with the liberty of the subject. If a nun were taking a driuk from the street gutter and was remonstrated with, would that be interfering with the liberty of the subject? The party were fighting the liquor traffic 'because of the. harm it did to the people. He wouid rather see persons at the meetings who I were opposed to No-License. The re- J form was not fighting against the liquordrinker; it was fighting for him. Jt was sometimes said that a drunkard was either a coward or a fool. This was not so. The speaker referred to a mani in. New South Wales who had been a miner, but who had worked himself up and become a solicitor with a flourishing practice. He also wore on his breast the Victoria Gross. Could it be said that tiife man was a fool or a coward! Nevertheless, liquor was his ultimate undoing. 'lt could not be proved by any intelligently informed person that alcohol was good for food. Then there was the far cry of the miserable women and children whose lives were blighted and stunted in many instances through the existence of the traffic. Could this cry go on unheeded? He hoped not. The speaker referred to the oft-re-peated remark that No-License-meant sly-grogging. He quoted figures t:> ' slow that there were more convictions for sly grog-selling in licensed than unlicensed districts. It was also said that ; more drink was consumed in ' districts than in those districts where license obtained. This was not the case, 1 according to official statistics—not by a ' great deal. Advertisements appeared in ' some New Zealand papers gtating that ' General Booth did not favor prohibition. The official organ of the Salvation Army, "The War Cry," denied emphatically that such was the tease. The argument that No-License was unsuccessful .was often heard. He (the speaker) was only a visitor, and would not tell them what his opinion was. He would giv3 them the opinions of reliable men from Gore, Oamaru, and Invercargill. The speaker proceeded to give their testimony, which was loud in its praise of the system of No-License. These facts spoke for themselves. They were not the opinions of outsiders. The speaker then Tead statements allowing that business in Ashburton had greatly improved under No-License. Premises had to be .Increased to cope with business. Ihe borough valuation bad increased to a great extent. The savings banks deposits had increased very materially. The police records showed that crime had considerably decreased. Perhaps this was not altogether because of NoLicense, tat it at least showed t.. >t there was not the ruin, the wretchedness, and misery prevailing that was claimed by the enemies of the NoLteense cause. He ventured to say thit if No-License were carried in New Plymouth things would in three years" time have materially improved. He would like his bearers to weigh carefully his remarks and stand by the party on elec-tion-day. Several questions were asked an:l satisfactorily answered, and the meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the speaker and the chairman.

LOCAL OPTION POLLS. By Telegraph.—Press Association. J" Thames, Wednesday. , Beplying to a no-license deputation .■which explained that Mr. Isitt had been nominated for Thames seat only in order to ensure a valid local option poll, the Hon. J._ McGowan said he would ibe inclined to abolisli the condition making it necessary for half the voters on the roll to vote to make a local option poll valid in the case of a'n uncontested election. It was scarcely fair that those who were too apathetic to go to a polling booth should be practically allowed to thus vote against those who did vote. If a vote were not recorded it should not be considered in the matter.