NO-LICENCE RALLY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 October 1938, Page 5

NO-LICENCE RALLY

GATHERING IN MASTERTON OPERA HOUSE CONDEMNATION OF LIQUOR TRADE. TOWN’S REMARKABLE PROGRESS “That this gathering of citizens declares that none of the reasons put forward for the restoration of the open bars are at all convincing. We are satisfied that the prosperity, the morals and the cleanliness of our town and district are of a high order and an example to the whole Dominion.” This motion was carried unanimously last night at a no-licence rally held in the Opera House. The Mayor, Mr T. Jordan presided. Mr Jordan read extracts from a letter he had received soliciting donations and setting out reasons for the restoration of licences in Masterton and expressed strong disapproval of the document. Indicating the attitude of the medical profession at different periods towards alcohol, Dr N. H. Prior drew attention to the state of England about 200 years ago, when there was an orgy of spirit drinking of all kinds. Drunkenness was prevalent, there was a pot-house for every eight houses and for less than every fifty persons. The tavern houses at that time provided straw for the cellars and put up notices that a person could get drunk for Id and dead drunk for 2d with the straw thrown in. The medical profession took a stand and drew attention to the position. At that time, of those who died over 20 years of age, one in every eight had their death hastened by spirit drinking. The medical profession petitioned Parliament and educated public opinion, with the result that there was a gradual improvement and the practice disappeared. Up to about 50 years ago the majority of the medical profession, said Dr Prior, as well as the majority of the public, though that alcohol was a very good medicine for many diseases. It was used then for almost any kind of illness. In London hospitals alone in one year 250,000 gallons of beer were consumed and many thousands of gallons of spirits. What was the position today? He did not think more than a glassful was used in a year in the Masterton Hospital. A tremendous amount of alcohol was used in hospitals throughout the British Empire fifty years ago. Practically none was used now, but instead they used milk. Passing on to refer to the present period, Dr Prior said that in the last 20 or 30 years there had been considerable research work carried out as to the effects of alcohol on the human frame. It was invariably found, after tests, that the taking of alcohol gave definitely poorer results. All the local doctors, said Dr Prior, were definitely in favour of no-licence, because they considered it aided in the prevention of disease. POSITION OF YOUTH. Taking as the theme of his address, youth and liquor Mr G. W. Morice said he was not interested only in the educational welfare of youth, but also in their physical welfare and in the games and sport. He had come to the conclusion that the greatest enemy that men and women were going to meet as they made their way through life was the enemy of strong drink. By the adoption of no-licence in Masterton they had done a great deal to protect boys and girls from this insiduous temptation. Mr Morice went on to state that if they needed any evidence against the liquor traffic they could get it from the Restoration League’s own literature and he proceeded to give quotations from that source in support of his statement. The hope of the trade rested in teaching the young people to drink. Referring to some of the arguments used by the trade for the reopening of hotels, Mr Morice said there was less drinking in Masterton homes with no-licence in force than in other parts of New Zealand and the open bar had not abolished drinking in cars in other parts of New Zealand, nor did he think this practice was as bad in Masterton as elsewhere. There was more active sly-grog selling in licenced areas than in no-licence areas. He understood that recently, in Masterton, the police had investigated the position and came to the conclusion that the amount of sly-grog selling here was practically negligible. He admitted that there was far too much drinking and a considerable amount of it at games. He had found people from licenced areas bringing in liquor to school playing grounds and on three occasions he had reproved those responsible. Although the position was not perfect, it was very much easier to protect their young people from the evil traffic without liquor bars than with them. Liquor was the enemy of the physical and mental fitness of their young people. The average takings for week for hotels in New Zealand were £lOO and if six hotels were opened in Masterton, £6OO per week would be taken out of the pockets of the people and the retailers would suffer. It was the money of the young men and women that the traffic wanted, said Mr Morice, they did not care two hoots for their moral and physical welfare and he could not believe that the opening of six bars in Queen Street would reduce the consumption of liquor in Masterton, as the trade had suggested might be the case. FACTS AND FIGURES. Thirty years ago, said Mr E. M. Hodder, who dealt with the relation of liquor to business, no-licence was carried in Masterton. He referred to a business in town which prior to no-licence received £2OO in cash transactions for every £4OO worth of goods sold on credit. Some time after the operation of no-licence these figures were almost exactly reversed, indicating that there was a good deal more ready cash available and a very much less amount put on the books and consequently lost as bad debts. In the past liquor advocates had asserted that no-licence would detrimentally affect Masterton —property values would go down, business would be driven away to Carterton and other places where open bars existed. By means of a graph, he indicated the population trends of Wairarapa towns. This showed Masterton in much more favourable position than other Wairarapa towns, its increase being considerably greater than elsewhere. That did not indicate stagnation. During the last 15 years in Masterton 476 private dwellings had been erected exclusive of Government buildings. The total value of building permits was £1,000,000, equal to an average of £1,200 per week. A recent housing survey had shown only four dwellings in the borough as being overcrowded and in that respect

Masterton compared more than favourably with many other parts of New Zealand. In each rating year the amount of borough rates paid before March 31 ranged from 95 to 971 per cent of the total amount levied. Last year £36.948 was levied—that amount exceeded the previous year's levy by £9,ooo—and 971 per cent was paid by March 31 last. Prior to 1935 the general rate for 12 years was lower than in 1923 and yet in that interval 30 miles of Masterton Streets were permanently surfaced out of revenue. The total indebtedness of the borough was less at March 31 last than it was 14 years ago. There was a marked absence of crime and serious litigation. DEPRESSION YEARS. During the depth of the depression, said Mr Hodder, there was not a single retrenchment on the borough staff and when wages cuts were the general rule no employee of the borough staff was reduced to below £4 per week. Since 1909 the increase in the population of Masterton was 671 per cent, which about equalled the percentage for the whole of New Zealand. In the same period the increase in Carterton was 38 per cent, in Pahiatua 21 per cent and in Greytown none at all. Giving a comparison of rates, Mr Hodder said in Gisborne the total levy was at the rate of 13d in the £*l, Napier 11.18 d, New Plymouth 10.5 d, Wanganui 14.875 d (exclusive of water rate), Palmerston North 9.58 d, Hastings 7.3 d (exclusive of water rate) and Masterton 8.43 d. Masterton contributed 53 per cent of the Power Board's total revenue and contained 54 per cent of the board’s consumers. Based on a population of 14,000. Masterton had one radio for every five people, as compared with the Dominion average of one to 17 people; Masterton had one telephone for every six people (Dominion average one for every eleven), and one motor-car for every six people (Dominion average one for every nine). There were 8,437 accounts in the Post Office Savings Bank and the total lying to the credit of depositors was £740,107. Referring to the employment provided by various industries Mr Hodder said for every £1,000,000 in turnover in drink New Zealand breweries and allied trades gave employment to 459 people, where a similar comparison with other industries showed that biscuit and confectionery making would provide employment for 1717, fruit preserving 1200, boot and shoe factories 2439, woollen mills 2632 and clothing factories 3432. If the total drink bill of last year, £8,702,000. was diverted into the channels of industry about 15,000 extra hands would be employed throughout the country. They were indeed fortunate people to live in Masterton and the clean and bright appearance of the borough was a household word in the Dominion. The town was served by 'a staff of upright, honest and capable officers and he considered that residents did not show enough enthusiasm. “It is ‘dry’,” said Mr Hodder, “and we are going to keep it ‘dry’.” “HUMAN ENEMY NO. 1.” The Rev John Davie paid a warm tribute to the Mayor, who, he said, had the courage of his convictions and on every occasion on which Mr Jordan spoke he did so with credit to himself and made everyone feel proud of him. Observing that Mr Jordan was a solicitor, Mr Davie said that made the Mayor able to assess the value of things and it was significant that they found him on their side of the fence. Mr Davie also referred to the high position held by the other speakers' that evening and to the authority with which they spoke. No sensible man or women could entertain any idea of drinking poison for pleasure or of putting drink in the way of young people. It was the predisposing cause of disease, degeneracy, decay and death. It had been discovered that in the case of children of parents who were not alcohol drinkers nine out of ten were normal, the tenth was slightly backward. On the other hand in the case of children of poverty given to the alcohol enemy, five out of six were abnormal, only one being normal. Although a person might be prepared to blast his own life, said Mr Davie, no parent, if he gave the matter any consideration, would be prepared to blast the lives of his children, but would give them the heritage of pure blood and a strong healthy body. There was no place where character was so well developed as on the sports field, and it was imperative that no deterring element should be allowed to enter in the games. There were three essentials for good sportsmanship, stamina, alertness and'temperament and all of these were detrimentally affected by the smallest amount of alcohol. As ordinary people they had a responsibility to themselves their town and their country and he appealed to the common sense of ordinary people to retain no-licence. The happiness that God intended for all mankind was not possible with drink in their midst and he accused the liquor traffic of being the human enemy No I—undermining health,’ ruining the lives of young people and a great source of economic waste. In moving the motion, recorded above, the Rev David McNeur expressed thanks to Mr Jordan for presiding and to Miss E. Ralph and Mr R. Gilbert for contributing songs and Mrs W. G. Perry for playing the accompaniments for the songs and for the community singing.