MR STEVE BOREHAM AND PROHIBITION.
TO THE KDITOR. Sib. —Prohibition is one of tbe most burning political questions of the day. It is in a great measure overshadowing the most important political question, viz., "That of linance." This is the music which tbe electors of the colony will have to face at no distant date. However, this question does not in any way belittle the great importance of Prohibition. It must be looked at more from ft moral, physical and humanitarian standpoint than political. The strife between the contending parties ia long and bit'er, and many personal abuses are indulged in by the anti-prohibitionists. Personal animosity will do them more harm than good. Thosb who take the negative side of the question prop up their argument s from Biblical quotations and statistics relative to population and area. All statistics are unreliable except those of I he insurance companies and our criminal courts, which all prove very conclusively that drink stunts the body | and iulla the inti-lloot; that it isro9ponsi ible for nearly every known crirao ; that I if all the drink was emptied into the' sewers of our towns anrl ci</es and into the ditches of our villages every pera
would have more peace of mind—stronger and muscular in r>hysiquc ; better clothed and housed and fed ; less rates and taxes to pay, and greater piosperity owing to the increased purchasing power of the worker, because his earnings would be spent toward* the production of articles of u ility. Every person who will look at the question from a common sense view will with me that drink in any form is a curse. Wives weeping d.iy and night and curse the day of their birth that ever she was tied to a man whose so'e pleasure and time and substance are spent behind the gilded counter of the tip room. The affection and love and sympathy and care, which are here by natural and conjugal rights, are stranged to King Alcohol. The wife who was once as dear to him as the apple of his 1 eye has become a broken--1 hearted creature, a mere shadow of her ■ former self, the brightness and beauty of her soul is clouded with sorrow and deep despair. Hark ! her pitying children are crying for th-it which she is unable to give. They cry for bread ! bread ! bread ! Did is working like a slave every dav but his earnings are spent in drink ! drink ! drink! Everyone knows, sir, that this dark picture of human misery is not overdrawn. The great panorama of huimn sulf ring is ever before our eyes in this very colony. Can nothing be done by friend and foe to stop this seething mass of suffering ? Have we no milk of human kindness left? Why is this stigma of crime and misery allowed to be bre f and fostered within the shadow of the very churches? The fallen must be lifted from thia pit of despair—from darkness to light. Who then is going to declare themselves on tha victims' side and vote for Prohibition at the poll? From a humanitarian standpoint it is worthy of consideration. Our social system cannot be worse than it is at present. If the adoption of Prohibition does no good it will certainly do no harm. Home argue, Why should I deprive myself of a glass of grog for the sake of others? If all statesmen had argued in this strain the useful legislative reforms which we now enjoy would have been thing* of the future. These statesmen were not sufferers under the aocial conditions, yet they gave their time and money to pass into law, measures destined to better the workers' social condition. We should denv ourselves of that glass of grog from a humanitarian standpoint. The strong must help the weak. Some say " that the brewers and publicans will be ruined." We cannot help that—it is the fortunes of war in trade. They can work at some useful calling. The mine owners and manufacturers argued the same way, when factory and minine legislation were in embryo—yet, thank Heaven—their unjust and cruel license to do as they wished with their workers, could not be tolerated any longer, and the factory and mining laws were passed into law. It is said : •' That the rates will be increased if Prohibition becomes law, as the publicans and brewers pay the greatest share." Is this quite true? Granted that this statement is true, who enables the publicans and brewers to p*\y the rates ? They can well afford to pay heavy taxes, and they can also well afford to reduce the price of beer fifty per cent. Do they pay more rates than the trade men ? I know not, However, wi need,not any rise in rates. One thing is certain, if they do rise we will be better able to pay the extra charge. However a poll can be taken towords taxing unimproved land value*, which would make up any deficiency which migh*. arise through the loss of the liquor trade. It is said " that it would create a good cl<ml of sly grog selling, that people would get as much drink as thay needed, and 'hat there would be no less drink sold." If this is a sound argument I see nothing of which the trade can complain. It is a well known fact that thpre is a let. of sly grog selling going on every day under the very nose of the policeman. Doors are closed and ihe lights put out when closing time arrives, but the company (if they are known) are not disturbed, they c*u remain " until the sma' wee hours o' the morn." In counties and countries where Prohibition has been tried it has b?en proved succes-ful. I think Mr Steve Boreham very in liscreet in doing battle for a cause which he knows full well is fostered and maintained by b'ibery and corruption. But, there is money in the game,for Steve, £0 per week, freeboard, lodgings and tucker is not snapped up in Canterbury every day of the week. Many admirers of Mr Boreham are beginning to think and say a few things which are not very creditable. Among other things, they ask : " How is it that one of the leading lights of the labour movement can work hand and glove for a system which he, in his labour speeches, condemns ?" He would have been much wiser to have stood as a candidate for parliamentary honours than to have voiced a system that destroys all self respect »n his fellowmen. Never again need he ask for the support of the workers and the sufferage of the electors of Waitaki. Mr Boreham is nob his own master in this instance. He is secretary of the Workers' Union, and as each, ought to have considered and consulted their aims and aspirations. Kvery labonr leader put forward by the Trades aud Labour Council of New Zealand ie offering himself with the •• Prohibition ticket." Every labour member in the British House of Commons has the same ticket. Why ? Because when the worker can be kept frr m the drink he becomes an intelligent thinker. The worker will not support any candidate but those of temperate habits. Mr Boreham cannot get a full attendance at his labour meetings, and the reason he himself assigned was ; " That they would rather sit sotting and drinking in the hotel bar than come to the meeting." This _ shows that Mr Boreham is very inconsistent, a person that sells hia soul and conscience for—
what shall I say ? . . . He cannot , have the real interest of the worker at I heart or he would not do such a foolish thing. lam oertain that he will never be able to regain the confidence of th« workers of New Zealand. I am an admirer of Mr Boreham and I am sorry to see him wasting his ability upon a subject which ia so detrimental to the causo ot labour. He has plenty of scope for his talents in trying to uplift his fellows, and not trample them under his hob nailed boots. I have written this letter from a sense of duty " We are our brother's keeper." I have written it in a friendly spirit and I trust that it will be read and thought over in the same spirit.—l am, etc., J. B. St. Vincknt Jaxon.
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Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 286, 22 November 1902, Page 3
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1,399MR STEVE BOREHAM AND PROHIBITION. Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 286, 22 November 1902, Page 3
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