CORRESPONDENCE. CAUSE AND EFFECT.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 November 1917, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE.

CAUSE AND EFFECT.

j!t> the Editor. Sir,—Undoubtedly it was a case of cause and effect at Kaitniro. If there had been no beer there would have been no row and no case for the Magistrate's Court; and that same cause produces similar effects day in and day out all over New Zealand, to go no further, as the columns of tho daily press testify. As to Rusßia our information is sc.anty, but what we did get showed that the absence of intoxicating drinks prevented much disorder when the excitement of the revolution began. Cause and effect forsooth; why, in all times of yreat excitement the first thing the authorities always do is to "stop the grog." That was done in tho big strike in Auckland a few years ago; it was done in the groat earthquake and fire in San Francisco; it was done in the grem Stockholm strike ; and in every case with the very best results. As to drink for soldiers, how often must it be said that reasonable people will always take the pronounced opinions of men in authority, such as doctors and military officers be- , fore that of anonymous . writers who quote nameless Australian newspapers who in their turn refer to nameless drink defenders at Synod and Union. If it were needed a Whole host of distinguished names in Army and Navy can lie quoted in condemnation of intoxicants. There is one bit of evidence: Admiral Sir J. B. Jellicoe said, "As regards straight shooting It is every one's experience that abstinence is necessary for efficiency. By careful and prolonged tests the shooting efficiency of the men was proved to be 30 per cent. worße after the rum. than before it." Here is another: In the war between Britain and the Boers the use of brandy and spirits was prohibited, and the significance of this fact was discussed by Fr. van fitraa- , ten in an article in Deutsche Warte, in which, he says: "From these regulations we obtained the best results. In all weather our people have sat in the saddle and travelled hundreds of miles with scarcely the loss of a single man. There were no uniforms manufactured according to the teachings of hygiene. Everyone went clothed just as he would go abont his work in time of peace. Many had not even a warm cloak, and yet we endured the fiery heat of the African day and the following piercing cold of the night without injury to health. We were for months under no roof, and in no bed, but no 'stomach warmer' was ever handed out. . . Men s&v that brandy rnakeß privations more endurable. No word of that is true. It is also a fable that wlion one takes spirituous drinks it relieves fatigue. All that is true is that the drinker does not measure the extent of the danger, and on that account disdains it, even if he is cowardly bv nature." In conclusion, let it be noted that alcohol is not. a stimulant, and no one of any authority on alcohol will say that, it is. Though not a parson I would just preach a little serman to "Renown." It ill becomes an anonymous writer to sneer at any man s nailing or dress: and as to ignorance, for crass, blind ignorance commend mo to the nameless defenders of drink. I am ' CtC " G. H. MAUNDER. November 19, 1917.