THE MANIFESTO of the Masterton Temperance Party.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4672, 17 March 1894, Page 3

THE MANIFESTO of the Masterton Temperance Party.

At a meeting of representatives of the various Temperance Societies, Prohibition League,' Womens'Ortt-i sade, Good Templars, etc., on Monday evening last, a commilteo was appointed to draw up it statement of the attitude of the Temperance . .Party with regaid to tbe election. . The [ollowing statement has been adopted The question ; SMI toepeipelmte the drink evil, orprohibit'it.?■ " - The Committee asks the voters in the Masterton Electorate to become fully alive to their duty on the occasion of the Licensing Poll to be laken on the 21st inst. At th,is : electinn the citiz.ms ore asked io do "two things; (1) to pronounce judgment on lbs qualifications of certniu candidates for seals on the Licensing Bench; liiid (2) to pronounce judgment on the, liquor traffio itself. Shall it be perpetrated or prohibited ? In reference to these two questions they wish to submit the following considerations;

In regnrd to the election of Licensing Committee as otg-mised Temperance Societies wo have not seen our way to bring out candidates for two reasons: (1), It is tho work of a committee 'to ; grant licenses and to try and regulate the evil; we do not wish the " evilregulated but ex» tinguished. (2), Under this new Act Temperance candidates may be placed in tho inviduous position of being, compelled to grant licenses in the face of a clear prohibitory voie of the people, On tho coming election day 2000 mij-htpoll "No License" iu ut district and only 200 vote for " License," and yetbeeauße tbe 2200 votes polled do not amount to halt the names on tbe roll the poll becomes void and the committee must obey the voice of the liquor ring of 200 and disobey the voice ot the moral loving 2000. But while we have not brought out candidates we hold that it is the duty of all true citizens to strike out the namo of every creature of the liquor interest, A Dnuedin paper has called attention to the hypocrisy ; cloaked by the word " Moderate l " and - asks the citizens not to be deluded. "It is simply," it says, " a stalking horse behind which the liquor interest seeks again to creep into power.".

In regard, to the Liquor Traffic every citizen is asked at. the poll to determined whether the liquor traflSo. should be perpetrated, reduced, or prohibited, The liquor traffic, t should be borne in mind'from the beginning of the colony has been recognised as altogether different from every other traffio, It has always been looked upon as a dangurous business: it has always ken a j>rohibiled traffic save when licensed, From the beginning of the colony any cite could engage without let of hindrance in a thousand and one legal industries but if he used his liberty by selling intoxicating liquors the iron hand of Justice was laid upon him and he was punished as a criminal.. The prohibition of the liquor traffic'does not then mean the taking away of the right of any trader; it simply meahs that the temporary permit to sell drink—the 1 license, -shall no jlonger be granted. The result of the granting permits to carry on thi3 traffic, furnishes, the one unspeakable sad chapter in" our history as a colony. The liquor taaffio with its resultant ; evils has proved itself to be our social scourge the shame and disgrace of our civilization, For years the conscience of the nation has been exercised over this momentous' evil. On Ithe 17th July, 1889, the House ofßepresentatives expressed the moral sentiments of the people by passing'the following resolution:— 1 11 Whereas the enormous direct expenditure on intoxicating liquors in this colony (amounting annually ; to more than £2,000,000) contribute largely to the existing depression, adds materially to crime and poverty, and reduces the capital available for reproductive in-' dustriesj and whereas the people under the existing law are powetless to remove tbe principal cause of these evils, it is, in tho opinion of the House, imperative that the Government should, without delay, introduce a Bill giving power to tbe people by Direct Vote at the ballot box-to prohibit the sale of such liquors within the' district in which they reside." Among tho large majority of members that passed this resolution was Mr Richard SedcU (now the Honourable the Premier)—a; gentleman whose impartial vote would be given as the resolt of a very real acquaintance with the nature and working of the liquor traffic. It was the-aroused conscience of tbe nation that.last year compelled Parliament to legislate afresh on our national rice in the " Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act." It is a matter of surprise and regret that the law, while recognizing tbe right of the people to prohibit the liquor traffio, puts the power of perpetuating this evil in the handaof,a viinontyol the people.'.Tho" liquor ring"ineaphdistrlctcompoßedofaßmall minority of the people has the power by refraining from voting oforusliihg the veto of the majority of the -peoplo—a vote given in the interest of patriotism and morality.-.: Defective, however, pnd llliberal as the measure is, it is tbe duty of.every patriot to go.toithe poll.and vote m accordance with i the voice of. consoienccr We - have: the earnest and belief that if the electors .vote ( " no. license ; they will futiber'the moral material

interests of our great electorate. Th policy of trying td.regulate.the'driol traffic which, some jwcll - meanin| people s oatßide thW liquor: ring; l ' an in favour of, huß: always and every whero proved;a disgraceful failure The town of Masterton fuinisbes ilTus tvatioQ in proof of auoh a statement I About Hired years' ago a majority o i the resident ratepayers: of M aatertor declared by voting for prohibitionist! at' the licensing. eleotion thnt thej wtto convinced that it was impossible to .regulate > the driok traffio. The votes, however, of noo-reßident rate' payers bfonght;: to. the poll by the Publican .gave tho victory tola " Moderate Committee." ;• This Committee, whose" legal adviser wa« no less a personage than His Worship the Mayor, : .drid whoseChairraan wai the present Mayor of Masterton, very loudly proclaimed thai they..would 'so enforce the law that' the traffic would no longer be tbe.moral; nuiaanoe that it had been for years in MuStertob; And what has beetf'the result'of the effo: ta of those experts in regulating the liquor traffiio ?.'■■ Let Masterton'e shameful record"throw light ,on. the faults of the policy of f regaiajtion; lirst with regard to Lmknms—during the last three years the'number of drunkards that hare reeled along Masterton streets, and have been lucked up in police cella would make a large army. Where did these I drunkards come from.? Under' the 1 reign of a " Moderate " Committee,' it would be expected that the liquor traffic would havo respected the law, which makes ita criminal act to sell dtink to the extent of making .men drunk,. A poor victim of Jbe liquor traffic who had been found drunk by 1 thopolioe four- times within a. few days was last'week'sent to jail for six weeks by the' Chairman of, tho Licensing Bench 1 This poor wreok and the hundreds of, similar victims that have stcod at. the Masterton Police Court Bar furnish overwhelming proof that the policy of regulation is a grotesque failure. . Second; as to the relation of the liquor traflio to vice ml immdiUj, We in no way venture' to oall in question ' the respectability, and liigli moral char-. actor of those who have held licensee in llastertoii during the period in question. The" Moderate" Committee satisfied itself on sucha questiop, and from tho easy and ready way in which licensees in-Masterton removed to Licensed Uouses else-: where, the Committeo could not have found one unworthy person holding a license. And yet with all < this respieotability' iLua endorsed by the Moderate" "Committee he Police Court has brought to light time and again the scenes of drunkenuess and gambling that have - been enacted within tlio four walls of licensed houses, The professional gambler, pugilist, : : debauober,have found in the liquor-traffic a congenial haunt. Third, a word or two about the relation of this traffic to local pauperism, This patrioiic " Moderute " Committee, in soliciting the suffrages of the ratepayers, made a strong appeal to looal avarice—the liconse fees, it was said Bayed the rates I What are the facts about the municipal profit of the drink evil? On the one side of the-slate there is ;6240 received for license fees; on the other side there is £l5O paid by'the Town' Council to the Charitable Aid Board. This Board spends £SOO per annum in piovidmg for puupers—-nine-tenths of whom are the products of the drink traffic. This license fee bribe flaunted before electors is perhaps the meanest and most impudent thing ever practised 'in an eleotion contest; Fourth; the relation of this bnsiness-iti faster ton to home Misery and Social Degradation; is well known tothOsoengagedinpbilauthropiowork, but to cite illustrative cases would bring pain to many whose lives have been made sad enough by this scourge. Moral ana material ruin has entered family after family. The wives and ohildren of drink victims have with lacerated hearts . faced , hopeless misery. The drink traffic dooms the abject to grinding' slavery. The peace and comfort of not a few home? have been sacrificed, by the drink demon to debauchery and brutality, In the last place attention should'be given to the enormous waste of wealth, The statement in the afore quoted Parliamentary resolution ' that ithe " Drink tralfio reduces the capital available for reproductive industries" i 3 illustrated in Masterton, During the last three years Mabterton has poured down .its melancholy throat liquor that cost it about £BO,OOO. The growth of the town has been' arrested. Ho money could be got ior; local public works. Skilled tradesmen have had to wander over the province for... work. The £BO,OOO spent on drink has not made one life healthier or happier, but it has produced the moral and material misery we have faced. Such a sum invested : in productive industries would hae brought material prosperity and added 500 to Maßterton's population. '' Such is Masterton's story of the fruits,of regulation, This piece of local lii3tory tells the electors that this evil cannot be regulated, It ia the clear duty of every oitizen to vote then for deliverance from, the moral and material evils we are groaning under. Every citizen can do t this by 1 voting no license on the 21st March. In doing so. the truest interest olthspublie will be served." ; The real wealth of a community lies in its mou—in men morally and mentally elevated! Prohibition will delivery from drink made paupers, bankrupts and crimi» nals. The vote of no license will aluo further the best interests of the pvhli|cm themselves. No class is more 'severely smitten by the drink scourge than those in the trade. .'Prohibition does not mean the wholesale Wrecking of property and the turning, of the publicans out into the streets as some hive falsely said. Prohibition only means the shutting up Of the drinking bar and the arresting of the. forces that create in our 'midst so much misery. We do not wish to close the dining rooms or" bed roomstbat exist for the travelling public,. We wish tho .hotels to be turned into,public houses without. the drink and in con? ducting suoh bouses the publican will enjoy, a comfort in bis house and a peace of conscience. that he knew not before.—Advt.