THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.
OPINIONS OP AN EX-MAGIS-TRATE. A STRONG IMPEACHMENT. ''DAMNABLE AND DEMORALISING." WHOLE FAMILIES RUINED.
A PREDOMINANT CAUSE OF
CRIME,
Mr Richmond Beetham, a prominent and highly esteemed citizen of Masterton, on Saturday morning gave expression to some emphatic views on the Liquor question. Having had forty years' experience on the Magisterial Bench in New Zealand (during twenty-two years of this period he was Stipendiary Magistrate at Christchurch), Mr Beetham is probably as well qualified as any person in the Dominion to speak of the relation of Drink to Crime. "I have repeatedly stated from the Bench, and I state now," said that gentleman, "that I look upon the Liquor Traffic as a damnable and demoralising,one, not only to those who partake of the liquor, but to those who dispense it. I have known hundreds of cases in which whole families have been entirely demoralised and ruined by it. "I am very glad to see that the women of the Dominion are taking the mattter up, for they are the chief sufferers. I cannot state facts and figures—the columns of the papers have bristled with these lately —I only give you my opinion. I have frequently stated from the Bench, and repeat it now, that, in my opinion, seven-tenths of the crime dealt with by the Courts is the direct result of the Liquor Traffic and the opes bar. "I have no personal knowledge of the effects of No-License in Ashburton, but some years ago I questioned one of the leading merchants there on the subject. The merchant stated that previous to No-License being carried he had, from a business point of view, always voted against it. He said the people were better clothed and better fed. They enjoyed the luxuries as well as the necessaries of life, and, what was of some consequence to him personally, his clients paid their bills now when they were not paid before. "As for myself," added Mr Beetham, "I have always voted for NoLicense, and I will vote for it till I die."*
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Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3045, 16 November 1908, Page 5
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341THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC. Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3045, 16 November 1908, Page 5
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