NO-LICENSE CAMPAIGN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 242, 18 February 1911, Page 8

NO-LICENSE CAMPAIGN

MASS MEETING IX THE THEATRE 'ROYAL. | The Theatre Royal was crowded lastj evening with an enthusiastic audience' of ladies and gentlemen—the former sex predominating—when Mr. Poole, M.P., for Auckland West, and Mr. T. E. Taylor, M.P., for Christchurch North, who have been selected by the New Zealand Alliance to open the campaign, addressed the gathering.

His Worship the Mayor (Mr. fi. Tisch) presided, and seats on the platform were occupied by a number of supporters ol the No-License movement, among whom was Mr. Okey, M.P., for the Taranaki electorate.

Mr. Poole spoke of the need for in-| creasing physical efficiency, and showed how liquor was the chief factor in bringing about inefficiency. This was recognised all over the world, but especially in the United States, where half a million railway servants were pledged to total abstinence. A total abstainer was gi\(n preference in every walk of life, anil emi brewers and saloon keepers rec gn.s il the value of abstinence. The grciiiLSi. obstacle to achievement that beset the young men of the Dominion I was the liquor traffic. Not only did: it sap the energy of young and old, but it brought parents in sorrow to the grave. The health of the populace, li«: pointed out, was a national concern, and as a public man he stood before them to throw out a note-of 'warning regarding the traffic which was prejudicial to the hearth of the community. One 01 the predisposing causes ef consumption was alcohol, which was also ,a fruitful encourager of cancer. Mr. Poole also referred to the injurious effect of alcohol in regard to child life. To be alcohol-] ised was to be sterilised, he affirmed.| Physical efficiency meant- that a man from an industrial point of view would be able to stand up with his fellow-men and take his part of the burden of the day and earn a living wage. The man who was going to be selected for jobs in the future was not the drunken man, but the abstainer, who would thus be able to enjoy the full proportion of happiness. If they were to reach a high standard of moral efficiency the liquor traffic must be put out of commission. (Hear, hear.) It was the experience of nolicenso areas that the number of inmates of asylums and prisons decreased. He referred to the court returns at Masterton as proving the beneficial results ol no-license in that town.

Mr. Taylor quoted a few very striking figures which all should be acquainted with. Our drink bill for 1908 was £3,751,000, and the value of all the lamb, mutton and beef exported for the same year was £3,472,000, or £300,000 less than was spent in a dangerous and hurtful beverage. The total value of butter and cheese for 1008 was £1,000,000 less than was spent on alcohol. The total value of the manufactures from the woollen mills and boot factories for that year was £900,000. For the year £4,400,000 was paid in wages, giving employment to 53.000 men, women and children, The liquor bill was only £700,000 less than was paid to the whole ol these. Whenever they had a gathering of men in any particular 'trade they usually toasted .their trade. If they were hardware men, it was the hardware trade, and so on, but with liquor men it was always "The Trade," he added, so it is The Trade, and there is no other like it. Had they ever heard of any woman who felt the slightest apprehension because her husband had drifted into a butcher's shop? They never heard of a man-going into such a shop and after buying a pound of sausages saying to the butcher, "Have a pound yourself, old chap," or into a draper's shop and saying to the man behind the counter. "Have a pair of sox." Did they ever hear of a man going into a baker's shop and buying buns, buns, buns, till he had spent a third of his earnings? But if a man went into a public house there was that danger, and it was this which distinguished it from all other businesses. The law said that the liquor trade was such a peculiar trade that it could not allow a child to go into a bar to get what the parents may require. "Nice trade, isn't it," said Mr. Taylor, and they perpetuated it by their vote. The law now said that it could not allow anyone under 21 years of age, to enter a bar, and it forbade liquor to be sold to a Maori woman to he consumed! by her inside or outside the bar. Sup-J pose the police wanted a man for some crime, where did they usually go to look for him—to the church, or to some shop? They went to the public-house, on the same principle that rank vegetable growths can always be found on a dunghill. A liar required a good memory, and he sometimes wondered if the liquor wen had any memories at all. At election time columns of contradictory and untruthful matter appeared in print. I* one place the Trade said if you allow these fanatical Prohitbitionists* to carry no-license you will not be able to get a glass of grog, and in the next column this is what you see (its memory is so short that it does not remember what appeared in the first column): "If you vote no-license you will have the district flooded with sly-grog. Instead ot a man being able to drink a glass of grog, he will turn the tap on in the morning, and there will be such a flood of drunkenness that it will wasli all the morality out of the community." The Trade quoted Scripture at least once every three years, and in such oases they usually heard something about •'wine that makcth glad the heart of man," and "take a litle wine for thy stomach's sake." He sometimes wished that Timothy had had no stomach, it; had been such a bar to the temperance movement (Laughter.) On the eve oi the last licensing poll many deliberate misstatements were made in Christchurch, and £IOOO was offered if it could be proved that no-liccnsc in the State of .Maine had not increased insanity. There was no time to refute the statements, but he (.Mr. Taylor) cabled to the ■Governor of the State, and he replied that the statements were absolutely false. Recently, the Russian Duma had adopted a Bill directing that lessons on the inujrious etl'ect of alcohol should be included in the curriculum of the public schools. The Kaiser had said in an address to cadets that in the next war victory would be with the nation which consumed the least alcohol. M. I'iitind in the French Senate said .that, the flovernment was determined to com-1 bat, alcohol, and that the very life ol'

the nation was at stake. They heard a great deal about the good resulting from drinking light wines in Frame and Italy, but when M. Briand referral to striking at the life of the nation he meant that they were so (saturated in alcohol that the deaths were exceeding the births. Pathologists in England am. America were declaring unanimously that there was no such thing as moderation in the use of alcohol, and the injury was not confined to those who consumed it.

In conclusion, Mr. Taylor urged them to go to the ballot box and use the power and discharge the responsibilities in the direction that would lend, more, possibly, in the future than in the past, for every man and woman to develop the tremendous possibilities for their health and happiness. (Loud applause.; The chairman stated that questions would be answered, but none wore forthcoming, and the following resolution was proposed by Mr. C. E. Bellringer:—

"That this meeting rejoices at the remarkable success attending noilicense wherever tried, and pledges itself to do all in its power to carry no-license and national prohibition at the polls this year." This was seconded by Mr. S. J. Smith. Mr. B. Enroth objected to the meeting being asked to pledge itself to 'vote for no-license, which he looked upon asl an illogical position. The Trade had been referred to as a dirty business; any business that had been so much spoken of, or asosciated with, the Almighty as the liquor traffic had been was not a dirty business. (Uproar.) He was prepared to prove it. Mr. Poole: Come up on the platform.

Mr. Enroth then went on to the platform and moved an amendment as a protest against being asked to assist in advancing a system that was antiChristian and contrary to the teachings of Christ. A Voice: Oh, shut up!

Mr. Enroth said lie was pleased to say Mr. Taylor did not refer to alcohol as poison like Mr. Poole did. Mr. Enroth said the use of liquor was inculcated in the teachings of Christ, as shown by His Word, and therefore it could not be morally wrong. He did not think the speakers would have the temerity to come and ask a meeting to vote away the living of their fellow citizens. Removed that the meeting thank Messrs Poole and Taylor for their lecture, but reserve the Tight to hold their own opinions on the subject. I

There was no seconder to the amendment. Mr. Taylor gave the meeting a taste of his quality as a debater, and dissected Mr. Enroth's arguments, to their huge delight. ] The motion was then put to the meeting and carried bv an overwhelming majority of votes, only a few hands being held up in favor of the amendment. The meeting closed with cheers for Mr. Taylor and a vote of thanks by acclamation to His Worship the Mayor foT presiding.