DIRECT VETO.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2544, 19 August 1893, Page 3

DIRECT VETO.

A largely-attended Direct Veto meeting was held at the Woodbury schoolroom on Tuesday evening, Mr F. R. Flatman in the chair.

Mr Flatman apologised for the absence of the Rev. A. B. Todd, and also for Mr W. S. Maslin and Mr W, E. Barker, who could not be present. He asked for a fair hearing for both sides of the question.

The Rev. W. C. Woodward moved the first resolution —" That this meeting affirms the principle of the Direct Veto, and urges the Government to support Sir Robert Stout's Licensing Act Amendment Bill." The rev. gentleman in doing this went over arguments in favour of the Direct Veto to which he had given utterance to at Peel Forest and elsewhere, and gave a description of evidence for and against the opening of hotels, - some of which was taken at Sydenham and Roslyn. The evidence for was : (1) A carrier who thought it a hardship to walk two or three miles to get liquor for a sick horse; (2) A man who has a friend suffering from heart disease that sometimes requires a glass of brandy when taken ill at night time (3) The man who said hotels should exist because they were a boon to the community, and because wives would not know where to find their husbands if hotels were closed; (4) A red-nosed man that thought it a cryiug shame, was taking away the liberty of the subject, to close hotels ; (5) The man with the eye-glass —one of the upper ten—who said "By-Jove-, ah! We want to say farewell to our friends, and have a convivial, ah ! aud therefore hotels should be open." The. evidence against the i.-sue of licenses was :—(1) A man often the worse for drink when hotels were open, and who ill-treated his wife and children, was happy withwut the temptation ; (2) Another man with a passion for drink; (3) A woman who, with her children, had been badly ill-used by her' husband through drink, and since the temptation had been removed her horn© had beeji bright and happy ; (4) Evidence of many fatal accidents through drink ; (5) Tradesmen whose bills had been paid and trade increased. On such evidence a moderate committee would say licenses must be granted, but a temperance committee, because it felt that such paltry evidence was not sufficient for granting licenses, was not using a judicial mind, and was dragged into the Supreme Court to settle the matter. In conclusion, Mr Woodward that the regulation of the drink traffic had proved to be a failure in Norway (under the Bergen system), Sweden (under the Gothenburg system), aud Switzerland, but in America prohibition was proving to be a great success. They might regulate till doomsday and be as far off a satisfactory conclusion as they were at present. Mr C. Jessep seconded the resolution, and spoke strongly against the liquor trtffic. It was a business with a curse attached to it, and many of those who had dealings iu it would acknowledge this. He never saw a man yet that had indulged heavily, but wished, with tears in his eyes, that he never saw the drink. Education in .N.nv Zealand was doing much good in opening the eyes of ppople in New Zealand to the evils of the drink traffic, and they could see with Sir Robert Stout —one of the cleverest men in New Zealand—that "every man is his brother's keeper." With regard to Sir Robert Stout's Bill, he (Mr Jessep), believed that the liquor party would object if they had not the power to say whether the drink traffic shall or shall not exist, and he did not see why this privilege should not be extended to everyone. The question should be settled by a bare and not by a two-thirds majority. Before concluding Mr Jessep related his experiences with regard to the drink traffic on his travels in the early diggings and elsewhere. v He had seen drink turn many a peaceful camp night into a bloody " rough and tumble," and he could talk till morning of men killed in drunken brawls, and in other ways through drink. People living quietly in their homes knew nothing of the evils of the publichouses.

No one wishing to reply on behalf o* the liquor party, the motion was then put, 27 voting for and none agamat. Mr J. Reilly was against the motion, and he beliaved that many others in the meeting were against, it although they did not say anything, being poor speakers and not able to argue the question.

Mr H. Brown thought some people would like to hear both sides, of the. question before voting. Ho came to the meeting to hear the question diaouased. Mr Flatman said, the other side were frequently invited, and should have had the pluck to Btand up and defend the other side.

Mr Colin McKeuzie moved—" That this meeting pledges itself to vote for no candidate for parliamentary honors that will not pledge himself to support the Direct Veto." It was very desirable that candidates should be pledged to carry out the views of the temperance party. tice was Baid to be blind, hut it was not blind to technicalities, They found that Ugenspg measures in the past had become abortive in the hands of lawyers and judges ajid the time was opportune when measures should be passed that would stand the test of such able men as Sir Robert Stout. On the Direct Ve,ta question New Zealand was only following in the wake of the olde.r countries. He instanced tho progresa made in England on the question, and said that two-thirds of the United States had got tho Direct Veto, and in Canada a plebiscite would soon be taken on a measure giving jxro-> hibition to the whole country,

Mr R. Hammond aecemded the resolution. The question wasa veryreason.-.ble one. They did not ask their member to favour the closing of hotels, but simply to give the power to the people. New Zealand hadspent something like £85,000,000 in drink and if that money had been kept in the colony it would be in a bettor position to-day, The money Bpent in drink would pui'chase ten of the best industries in the colony and it wa3 only right that the people should have the power of the Direct Veto. Tho temperance party at their own cost were working for the good of the colony, while the liquor party were working for their own interests. The Direct Vetoists would, if the hotels wore closed, have to pay thoic share of tho extra taxation for a little while, till the revenue righted itself, and this was evidence that they were not working for their own iuteresta in particular. Mr Rhodes at last election gave, and carried out, his pledge to the liquor party, and the temperance party were ouly doing what the libuor party did then, asking a pledge of their candidate. Mr Flatman briefly showed tho enormous profits made out of the woiking man by breweries. The Guinness brewtry from small'means had reached 1,000,000 shares valued at £3O eaoh. As a thanksgiving for his prosperity the proprietor had raised the tower of some church. Lord Roberts, one of England's greatest generals, had declared that he could do more with 10,000 temperance men in a warfa'6 than with 30,000 tanken w moderates,

There was no amendment and the motion was carried, 16 voting for, agaiust nil. , . Votes of thanks passed to the chairman and the speakers closed the meeting.