THE PROHIBITIONIST.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3879, 6 August 1891, Page 2

THE PROHIBITIONIST.

Published by the courtesy of the Editor of \ Wairarapa Daihj under the auspices j of the New Zealand Alliance for the prohibition of the liquor traffic, Masterton Auxiliary. ____ When ratepayers demand the entire extinction of all places for the sale of liquors their prayer sh mid be granted. — Charles Buxton, Brewer. [Communications tor t his column must be addressed to "The Prohibitionist, are of Editor of Wairarapa Daili.] Fellow Electors.— We have to thank the publican party for the grand aid they have given the prohibition movement by the Theatre Royal meeting, and by their feeble election manifesto. The meet irig in the Theatre was simply the Sedan of the Masterton Whiskey Ring. It was a real triumph to the Prohibitionists. Every elector was brought

race to face with the fact that the J Moderate party was the Publican party. Poor harmless Mr Walker in his own innocent way unmasked the niyßtertous Committee. It consisted of the pullisan candidates and Mr Pownall ! The tail of this Committee was the moving force ! Mr Glover handled his opponent very tenderly. And, after a while, the Secretary was, in his official capacity, hughed off the scene. The only champions of the drink interest who had the courage to mount the stage were Messrs Pownall and Roy Carrard. The one gentleman is known as the solicitor of the Publican party, and the other stated he was the " representative " of that institution which is exciting some interest, viz., the Star Hotel. These worthies pleaded the claims of Messrs Chamberlain, Cave, Hessey etc, by showing (1) that Mr Glover was a slanderer, (2) that Rev R. Wood was a Pharisee and a liar, (3) that the late licensing Committee was composed of unjust fools, (4) that the publicans fees should purchase your votes. The vast audience of electors listened with amazement to their pleas for the perpetuation of the drink evil—this refutation of the Prohibition position. They listened as learners when Messrs Pownall and Carrard thus drove the nails in£o the coffin of the Masterton " Whiskey Ring." The pubh.ans' hirelings at the back of the hall, primed with whiskey, shrieked their satisfaction as the unbridled Billingsgate flowed from the lips of Messrs C. A. Pownall and Roy Carrard. The meetj ing at last dispersed. The blackguardism at the back of the hall had been organised to yell down the Temperance speakers. Small gangs of public house loafers and soakers responded promptly to the signals ot the publican leaders. The Chairman | was powerless to cope with the uproar, and so the meeting closed. Prohibitionists were.satislieil with the result.

\ Mess" Pownall and Co. had demonstrated that the publican platform could only be supported by Billingsgateand blackguardism. They brought this fact home to the head and heart of every respectable elector. And so another powerful argument in favour of the Prohibition side, in addition to the many given during this agitation, was driven home to the minds of the electors. Every right minded man finds that Billingsgate and blackguardism must be crushed. Electors, declare not only for deliverance from the Drink Evil, but also against the dominant Billingsgate and blackguardism of Masterton by voting for the Prohibition candidates. We now direct your attention to the Publican Party's election manifesto It is a very quiet affair. The writer has very little to say against Prohibit tion in general, but be is sure that in Masterton it would ruin the town. This manifesto is a reprint of an article in the Star of August sth. The objections to Prohibition in which the Editor flounders are such that any babe in knowledge of the question can wade through. Look at them electors and see their absurdity. The Publican manifesto says that Prohibition wont do because you cant make a man sober by Act of Parliament. This is simply silly nonsense. The Publican party has been making men drunk by Acts of Parliament. Their policy of perpetuating the drink will do two things. 1. It forms habits which lead to drunkenness; 2. It opens places of temptation from early morn to late at night to cause drinking. Prohibition will work in exactly the opposite way. It forms habits which make men temperate. Itshnts up the places that tempt to drunkenness. The Publicans manifesto says that Prohibi t'on wont succeed in Masterton ; ii sj »the place is too small, The eply is ha t it has succeeded in places

like Masterton. Everywhere it has been tried it has succeeded. A large volume might be published testifying to the success of prohibition and ihe consequent moral and material elevation of the people. In America ihe large and important States of Maine, Kansas, lowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire, with an aggregate population of over 4,000,000, have adopted prohibition. Impartial traveller like Hepworth Dixon have testified of the beneficial results of prohibition. He calls St. Jobnsbury a Workman's Paradise. A Commission of tbe Canadian Parliament made careful inquiry into the workings of Prohibit tionin the United States, and as the result of the report of this Commission the Temperance Act, 1878, was passed, tn Canada, nearly 50 counties and 5 citie3 have adopted prohibition. The Marquis of Lome, ex-Governor General of Canada.has borne testimony* co the good effects of this law. In England, Scotland, and Ireland, in many districts, the proprietors of the land have purged more than 1000 parishes of tli>! drink evil. Charles Buxton's evidence will be disputed by none. "Wo are acquainted with villages where prohibition has been enforced with the utmost benefit by the mere refusal of the landlord to allow any sort of beerhouse on his estate." In pleading then for prohibition, we are not recommending a dream of a Utopia in the far away future. The remedy has been tried and with the most beneficial res hits.

3. The Publican's manifesto say b that the closing of the dram shops will create bankruptcies, throw men out of employment, and create Paupers ! Like Domini Sampson we cry " prodigious 1" What an argument ! Verily whisky does steal away the brains 1 Every sane and sober man knows that it has been the open dram shop, and not the closed dram shop that has made our bankrupts and paupers. A study of the ragged rout thai filled tbe ranks of the organised blackguardism generalled by the Publban Party at the Theatre Royal the other evening shows what the dram shop is doing in the bankruptcy and pauper line of business. The money spent on drink spent on anything else would mightly swell the labour market. i. The Publican party's manifesto declares for universal prohibition, but is opposed to local prohibition. All the publicans in the place heartily endorse this statement. They are all Temperance reformers on the lines of the Star. In the Star of May 22nd the editor is anxious for a trial of prohibition on a small scale ; now he wants it on a universal scale. These objections are framed to suit tl 6 Publican's interest on each occasion. Both objections are therefore honeycombed with hypocricy and msin* cerity. Why should Masterton wait in the cause of social improvement till drunken Wellington should rise to its level ? Why should we go on acting as sleeping partners in the drink traffic till every town in tbe Colony has attained our position ? Let Masterton's motto be l Ui)wardand Onward.'

5. This Star article (hat forms the Publican's manifesto, illustrates the kind of liberty of speech that Mr Pownall's followers showed they believed in the other night. The editor of the Star invites Mr Glover to reply to his arguments' when he knows that that gentleman is off the field. To Mr Glover alone this offer is given, and replies by others are Cofussd, However, we have put our toot through the lath and plaster of the Publican's position, thanks to the editor of the Daily, to whom the friends of Social Reform are so much indebted; and the result of which will be the placing of the champions of decency, respectability, and temperance at the top of the poll.