PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 October 1922, Page 5

PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN.

ADDRESS BY DR. ARMOR. RESULTS IN AMERICA. A crowded house greeted Dr. Mary Armor at the Empire Theatre, New Plymouth, last night, to hear her address in the cause of the Prohibition movement. The Mayor (Mr. F. E. Wilson) presided, and briefly introduced the speaker. Dr. Armor, who. is an American doctor of laws, proved to be an exception-ally-gifted and forceful speaker, and the story she had to unfold was eloquently and convincingly told. Throughout the whole hour and forty minutes she was speaking the audience listened with rapt attention, the address being entirely free from interruptions of any kind. A bouquet was handed to Dr. Armor by a tiny tot at the commencement of the proceedihgs. After acknowledging the warm welcome extended to her, Dr. Armor went straight to the point of her subject. She predicted that Prohibition would be carried in New Zealand at the coming polls by a 50,000 majority, for people knew Prohibition must come eventually, so why not now. Here it ought to be a hundred times easier to enforce the Prohibition laws than it was in Americtf, for 95 per cent, of the people in New Zealand were British and loved the law, whilst in America there wm a huge cosmopolitan population. “I say that Prohibition has done more for the United States of America, for its health, wealth and happiness,” said the speaker,” than any law since Magna Charta was wrung’ from the iron hand of King John.” If New Zealand wan voted dry and the law enforced, there would be no finer place for a young couple to come to rear their children than this. FINANCIAL ASPECT. “You are told that you will have to pay £2.500,000 in taxes and many people will be put out of work if Prohibition comes,” said Dr. Armor, but, quoting from experience in America which had started a go dry 61 yeara ago, she averred that Prohibition paid immediately in dollars and cents and was an asset, not a liability. She could neyer see how a Christian could vote for the . saloons on the grounds of money. It was a clean-cut issue, there were no politics about it, and it was an issue of right or wrong. Here wan a chance for all decent people to stand toe’ether for once and vote for God and the people. If New Zealand went dry, then in less than twelve months people would find they had more of everything, and the booze-money would be spent on boots, shoes, clothing, food, etc. “Use your common-sense about America,” urged the speaker. “Had Prohibition made drug fiends, sent boys to perdition or driven girls from the path® of virtue? As a matter of fact the people of the Prohibition State of Kansas had saved so much that, when the panic of 1907 swept through the country, it was poor Prohibition-stricken Kansas that had saved Wall Street by a loan of 50 million dollars ( £10,000,000).” Other cases were quoted to show how the value of land and property went up and business boomed under prohibition. It had been said that America was in rebellion against the Prohibition laws and would repeal them. She could say that these laws, which had been put into the constitution by a big majority, would be repealed by America in the same way it repealed the Declaration of Independence. New Zealand, a country of 1J million people, drank 15,500,000 gallons of beer each year, said Dr. Armor. All the talk of loss of revenue seemed very small in face of all the harm this liquor did. It was said we had to drink all this to pay the taxes, but who ever heard of a man drinking himself richt If New Zealand was making money out of the liquor business why did not everyone drink and so solve the difficulty of financial depression by increasing prosperity. This revenue argument she characterised as “tom-foolery;’ as the drinker was only drinking the trade rich. INFLUENCE ON HEALTH. “What has Prohibition done for health?” asked the speaker. The deathrate in America in 1921 was by far the lowest on record, while since 1911 the deaths from tuberculosis had been growing less, and for this Prohibition was largely responsible, for it had been found tha in Kentucky, despite its fine climate, there was the highest deathrate from tuberculosis, while in Kansas. a dry State with a rigorous climate, death from this cause was the lowest of all the States. Alcohol weakened the system and was far worse than opium* for the latter suspended the brain-cells, whilst alcohol destroyed them. Speaking on the subject of opium the speaker gave the lie to the statement that the number of drug addicts had increased under Prohibition. Women had time and again told her how homes that were previously “hells on earth” had been made happier and sweeter under Prohibition. The thing that appealed to her more than anything else was that Prohibition had emptied the gaols. Twenty per cent, had been closed, while in the remaining eighty per cent, the prison population had been decreased from 15 to 80 per cent. In concluding. Dr. Armor earnestly stressed the moral and spiritual aspect of the question and asked: ‘Would you make yourselves responsible for the evils of the drink traffic by refusing to vote Prohibition?” The speaker was warmly applauded on resuming her seat. An invitation for questions brought forth one inquiry as to what alternative for communion wine was made under Prohibition. Dr. Armor explained that most of the Protestant churches in America used unfermented grape juice, but the worship of God could not be interfered with bylegislation and ample provision had been made for the use of wine for sacramental, medicinal, mechanical and arts purposes. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Dr. Armor, who briefly replied, and a similar compliment to the Mayor for presiding closed the meeting.