NO-LICENSE DEMONSTRATION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10276, 1 July 1911, Page 5

NO-LICENSE DEMONSTRATION.

IN THE MASTERTON TOWN " , HALL. No-license demonstration was iield in the Masterton. Town Hall Jast evening, in celebration of the anniversary of the closing of licensed houses in the Masterton. - electorate. The Hall was crowded *in every part, and many were unable to gain admission. The chair iwas occupied by His Worship the '" -Mayor (Mr J. M. Ooradine), and „y there were on the platform prominjj ent members of the No-license 1 League. Apologies for absence were »Or received from several persons, in- * eluding Mr Wesley Spragg," of Auckland (President of the N.Z. Alliance.) The proceedings opened with the •Ringing of the "Doxology." i The Mayor tsaid it gave 3iim great '. pleasure to preside- at the meeting, and he extended to all a hearty wel•oome. The No-license Committee should be pleased at the large gathering. An opportunity would be afforded those who desired to address the meeting to do so, provided that they did iso in. am orderly way. The • question they were present to discuss was of world-wide interest, and was oif special concern to Masterton and other parts of New Zealand. No harm could come of their hearing both sides of the question. He wished it understood that he was presiding as Mayor of the town, and that he intended seeing that the business "was" conducted in an orderly way. j| (Applause.) p>™ * A pianoforte solo was nicely played 5? by Miss Humphreys, of Carterton, ''and was followed by Miss Muriel -Bennett, of Wellington,, who render•ed a vocal solo in pleasing style. ANNUAL REPORT.

Mr Jaboz Bridges, organiser of the No-license party, then read Ms. annual report (which is published in part of this paper.) His reading of letters from the medical _men of the town was received with loud applanso. - SPEAKERS INVITED, v- In response to an invitation for those opposed to No-license to address the meeting, Mr G. T. Elers ' ascended the platform, amidst i cheers. Ho ©toted that Mr Bridges had heen in the town for twenty- ' four hour*, and he had been here for -w twenty-two years. (Laughter). Mr A.'Elers alleged, that trade had been Sfc transferred to Oartorton. He furls'" ther alleged 'that certain bankruptcies had been caused by No-license. - He asked the No-license party not to treat them (Laughter). He had travelled. (Laughter). He "had been as far as Carterton. (Roars of laughter.) IS CARTERTON AFFECTED? In answer tx> a question by Mr W. Kemp as to whether it was true that the, trad© of Masterton had gone to 'OajSterton, Mr Jabez Bridges said he had made inquiries and found that linis was mot the case. He did not believe that, outside the licensed houses, £oo a year was spent by Masterton people with Carterton I tradesmen. One Carterton business I man had told him that he had sold j ■only one article to a Ma&terrtonian, ' and that was a strap to keep his V nether garments up. (Laughter.) The Mayor asked for further queshut these -were not ing.\A song was then rendered by Mi;, 'Gray., ,: "-{Mr D: McGiregor, iunr., President •of-the No-license League, stated that during the last few weeks he had been throughout the district with -Mr Bridges. As to the statement "that large quantities of liquor were ■ooining into the town, Mr McGregor stated that the No-license party was well-informed as to the quantity of

liquor which, came here. He knew " 'that a considerable quantity was coming to the district. The last • Court returns showed that 26,547 gallons of liquor had come into the •district. He did not know how .;4nuch came in'illicitly. But if they that 20,000 gallons came in what then? They had only reduced the consumption by about two-thirds. (Applause.) Under license, they would consume about 132,000 gallons. Did they expect No-M-oeaiEO t» mean absolute prohibition?- (A voice: Yes!) Then they , expected- what * was unreasonable. people had voted continu.ance, tand \\jas it to be expected that . /these •w.oukL go -without, liquor when • they could got it legally? He was of opinion,- after travelling the country, that the time- was ripe for national'prohibition. He> was not >so sanguine some time back; 'but he was now satisfied that the time was nob ifar distant when the traffic would be wiped clean out of this beautiful country. (Applause). a A song was then rendered by Miss ' J. McGregor. Mr j. McGregor, sexr.

Mr J. McGregor, senr., stated that if ever he felt like crowing about Masterton, it was that night. Even a Scotchman «could not fail to be enthusiastic at such- a splendid gathering. When he heard the report of Mr Bridges, he could hardly contain The announcement that since the hotels * were' closed they had only thirtynsix drunks before the Court, he "felt himself growing big. . (Laughter). ' The people's minds, were now clear, and they were beginning to realise how < to live. Speaking of the-moral aspect of the ' question, Mr -McGergor stated'' that' 'had to pass a Native pah on the to has home, and he said -JPffebat, whereas once he saw Maoris ' lying about in a drunken stupor, he bad not seen a drunken man during the past two years. The Masterton -people tshould be proud if, by clos--iS, Hig the lintels, they could realise that they had saved their splendid* Native race from degradation and ruin'. (Applause). Mr McGergor

appealed to the rising generation to do tiheir best- to wipe the drink traffic off the face of "God's Own Country." (Applause). He concluded with a humorous story about a negro. Miss Muriel Bennett then entertained the audience with a very pretty solo. •REV. W. DAWSON. The Rev. W. Dawson, of Wellington, congratulated the chairman upon being Mayor of Masterton, and those present upon being residents of the town. Supposing, he said, that the figures supplied by Mr McGregor were correct, he figured it out -that the 2100 persons who voted continuance consumed only about twenty gallons a-piece per year. This would mean a very little per week per man. Mr Dawson pointed out that twelve out of the seventy-six electorates in the Dominion had ' gone "dry." At ithe last election no fewer than sixty out of the seventysix electorates had given a majority in. favour of the closing of the liquor bar. A few years back the No-lic-ense party had been referred to as the "weak, puny minority." The "weak, puny.(minority" wyas now on , the. other side. (Applause.) The "trade" was now about to spend enormous sums of money; but they could not .stop the tide of reform which had now set in. The electors were now given an opportunity of wiping the traffic off the face of the Dominion, and he was hopeful that before they ate their Christmas dinner ithe whole trade would go. Mr Dawson pointed out what the women said they would do, they would "do." (Applause.) He thought the report furnished by the Masterton organiser was lu'ghly [satisfactory! Mr Dawson referred to his recent visits to the Waihi and Ashburton No-license districts. In Wiaihi the policemen had (to weed tiheir own gardens. They could not get prisoners to do it. (Applause). At Ashburton, a raid bad been made, and. two bottles of whiskey were seized. (Laughter.) These luad been placed under lock and key.. That was as. it should be. The drink was locked up, and the men were free. (Laughter'). Mr Dawson proceeded to refer to the condition of affairs generally, as he had discovered them in Ashburton. There had been practically no rates outstanding, and there was not a single | recipient of charitable aid . in- the district. A lawyer, of a sort, had said that his business had been interfered, with. For why ? He had been in the habit of defending drunks in Court and collecting bad debts at other times. (Applause.) The.speaker said it was an "unmitigated lie" to assert that more liquor was being consumed in No-license i areas now than when the liquor bars were open. Mr Dawson concluded with an.eloquent appeal to his hearers to keep /the.-flag flying, to vote for Dominion prohibition, and to rid this ' fair country of a traffic which was blighting it. (Loud applause.) THANKS. On the motion of the Rev. A. T. Thompson, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the speakers, to those who had contributed to the musical portion of the programme, and to His-Worship the Mayor. The singing of the "National Anthem" brought to a close the most > successful meeting of its kind ever . held in Masterton. The piano used during the evening ' was kindly lent, by the British and . Continental Piano Company.