THE NO-LICENSE CAMPAIGN.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13524, 4 November 1911, Page 3

THE NO-LICENSE CAMPAIGN.

PROFESSOR MILLS AT THE OPERA HOUSE.

The Opera-House was packed last .evening, wlien Professor VV. T. Mills, ■ M.A. (organiser for the Trades and Labour Councils’ Federation of. New Zealand) delivered an address on .the subject of ‘Personal Liberty and the Limior Question.’" Mr J. Jones (Mayor of Wanganui East) occupied the clra-ir, and briefly introduced Professor Mills, who was given a cordial reception and who was listened" to with rapt attention. A fluent speaker, he dealt with his subject in a most entertaining way. He stated that no more frequent ppint was laboured by those who supported the Trade than the contentibn that Prohibition is an interference with personal liberty, and that we cannot afford to consent to the surrendering- of personal rights. The professor contended that with personal rights there were also corresponding duties which grow out of the same relationship as the rights. , The sdme relationship which bound a man to his children .bound his children to him. A, man has the duties as well as the right? of; citizenship. Whatever man, group of men, business, society, or. institution refuses or neglects to do its duty thereby forfeits.its rights. The child which brings disgrace on its mother forfeits its rights to; her. - A citizen had no rights in a Court of Law "unless he entered with clean hands. Ho wondered why the liquor people filled the. streets and the papers with their oijiim about rights, He declared that the Trade had never made any effort to perform its duties towards the community. It would, he said, lie interesting to hear the bar-room, try to prove that it had done its duty. He-, went on to say that the grocer, the ironmonger, the butcher, and oilier tradesmen had the right to come to a town "and open up business because they intended to render service in return for their rights. The liquor trade cannot have any rights unless it has its duties. The man who asks more and gives less is not fulfilling his obligations. The man who wants more than he gives is a thief, and the. man who takes less than he gives is a fool. A tradesman must contribute to the public good if he demands rights. No preacher lias the right to preach unless lie preaches right; no servant has a right to work , unless it is for the common good and not the coro,'mon woe. He asked was the bar-room the place to educate or build anything for you? It should show a clean record of having done its duty before it demanded rights. The professor went on to say that ho had seen at Stratford a Trade circular headed “Try and Think,” and he had tried to get the significance of that, but it had him fixed. He asked. Is there one person in New Zealand outside of the asylums who would contend that the drink traffic was just like any other traffic? You required no license for any other business. He challenged the Trade to produce a brewer'iwho' would undertake to say that the brewery and the bakery should be on the same footing. Everybody says that there must be either special regulation for the Trade or . else that it must not be permitted at all. Why do they treat it differently? Because it is different It needed to be regulated to secure good order. It must, be compelled to close at 10 o’clock, even though it interferes with the personal liberty of the man who wants a drink after that hour. It is different in that it is very likely to do harm. Whv was this ? The fault must be ■ either in the stuff that it sold or the persons who sell it—the bad quality of the people or the bad quality of the thing sold in the business. There',were only two occupations in which'a'man is required to have a good moral character—in preaching the Gospel and in keeping a publichouse. The publicans always bad to prove that they were good fellows according to the law, so the fault was not with them. It was the thing that was sold, the character, of the drug. A thing lias no rights, alcohol had no rights—it lias qualities. There was nothiug which would make a better fire. It was good to burn, and there was nothiug. immoral in an alcoholic lamp. There was nothing wrong in using alcohol to cook with. ■ There was harm, though, when you used alcohol to cook yourself with. ’.Trofest.jor Mills assorted that if alcohol were a new thing which'.had been brought into New Zealand it would not be twenty-four, hours before it was forbidden. The only reason ,it was hero was that it, had been here a long time. If had come into existence by accident, had ■been mixed in the daily food, and people got the .idea they could not do without it. At.one time it was supposed to be a good essential part of a man’s dinner, hut now wo know that it is not. It was known now that it never produces brain, hone, muscle... It comes into a human being as an outsider, stays in as a foreigner, and is e\’er there as an intruder. He proceeded . to show that it was not a stimuTant, that it gave no added strength or power, blit that it was an anaesthetic; • Drink did not make a man warmer, it deadens ’.ho sensibi'ities. and hence-he was not so conscious of his suffering. It deep not contribute to the gladness of life, but it •drowns the wit—makes you forget. He-declared that there was no joy in forgetfulness. If you want a glad, wholesome life.-- do not fill your life with things you must forget. Alcohol, he said-, stupefied the faculties. Many men’had. expressed regret at ~ being /drinkers, /but he: had never met one who .regretted being, a sober man. The lecturer went on to-say that he had averaged an address

every day for four years and a. half after leaving college on the liquor question, but he had been struggling for some years with something, which he thought even a greater evil,—he referred to the monopolies in laud and business which were crushing the life’s blood out of the people. He hoped to live to see the day when every young man and every young woman wouid' have equal opportunities on this earth, hut the monopolies, the great trusts, and combines must he swept away before that time came. In New Zealand there are monopolies beyond our reach in this election, but the most dangerous, the most ■infamous of all those evils was.the drink monopoly, which was within our roach, and on election day they should make no mistake as to how they voted. He concluded by making an eloquent appeal to all to vote out the Trade, and thus make New Zealand the grandest, the most intelligent, the host-trained, the most virtuous, and the most prosperous country on the face of the earth. He urged his hearers to strike this one blow—strike the grog-shop' out. The professor resumed his sent amidst loud applause. In answer to questions. Professor Mills denied that Prohibition, had been repealed in Maine. Prohibition on.its merits had not been submitted to the people. The professor stated that -the English papers from which extracts,-, had . been published stilting that Prohibition had .been repealed in Maine wore published priortb the. final result being .known.-