NO-LICENSE MOVEMENT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 121, 13 November 1911, Page 4

NO-LICENSE MOVEMENT

ADDKESSES BY KEY. J. KNOWLKB SMITH. A large-, attentive and orderly crowd gathered on Saturday night to hear the. Rev. (i. ICnowles-iSniith speak about Xolicense and Prohibition. The speaker dealt at first with the economic aspect of the question, and showed that the country must be richer, the people more amply supplied with the cpmforte of-life,, and in every way doing better when the present wasteful expenditure of £5,000,000 annually is stopped, or rather diverted into better channels. Mr. £niitli had a forcible argument to meet the plea for liberty -which is put forward bv the opposite side. He said that what labor prided itself in—its trades unionism—was a complete surrender of individual liberty for the good of the community of labor, and so it would be with prohibition when carried by the will of the people; as it must be, if carried at all. His address throughout was straight-forward against the drinker. There were very few interruptions worth noting, and when an interjection reached the speaker's ear ke always- met it with a good-humored retort. Perhaps the best of the meeting was the questions. One man in the crowd was supplied with a sheaf of type-written questions which he produced in order. Mr. Smith answered them all, and there was no throwing back at his replies. Mr. Smith spoke last night to a crowded audience at the Good Templar Hall, and replied to, flatly contradicting statements made by the "Trade" to influence people in favor of a continuance of the present licensing system, tic contended that the trade was pursuing a. policy of misrepresentation concerning the state of ali'airs in the State of Maine and in the no-license areas of New Zealand. The statement of thu Mayor of Waihi to the discredit of nolicense had been discountenanced by the borough council. An advertisement by the trade concerning Masterton—alleging that business was slack, and so on—had been flatly contradicted and disproved by the Wairarapa Age, whose editor was not a no-license advocate. The figures given by the trade concerning unlet siiops in Ash-burton he personally denied, and he complained that in reference to i.Jore and Invercargill the position was misrepresented by the wilful suppression of facts. Passing on, the speaker dealt forcibly with the degeneration of the race which was one of the proved results of alcoholism, and urged men to endeavor, to build up instead of assailing the national stamina and character. And, concluding, he made a strong appeal to the moderate man to vote "no-license" for the sake of "the other fellow."