The White Ribbon. For God and Home and Humanity. WELLINGTON, FEB. 19, 1917. ANTI-SHOUTING AND AUCTION SALES.

White Ribbon, Volume 22, Issue 260, 19 February 1917, Page 9

The White Ribbon. For God and Home and Humanity. WELLINGTON, FEB. 19, 1917. ANTI-SHOUTING AND AUCTION SALES.

We are a littlj puzzled as to what is regarded as shouting. By the War Regulations, no person is allowed to pay for liquor cor another person to drink. Vet we believe it is still customary to have an unlimited supply ot liquor at auction sales in many places. Is not this a breach of the antishouting regulation. When there is a clearing sale at a farm or business in the country, it is customary to provide a luncheon for buyers, also strong drink is provided for them. Some auctioneers even contend that they cannot have a successful sale unless buyers are treated to a liberal supply of alcohol. Now, these buyers do not pay for the liquor they drink, and we want to know whether the man who pays for the liquor is not shouting for the crowd. The liquor is provided by the seller, and we believe is paid for by him with other auction expenses. We believe

that this custom is a most harmful one at any time, as it encourages and fosters the drinking habit. Now .it this time, when economy is so much needed, it is wasteful and wicked. Why are not these men, who are treating crowds on a wholesale scale, taken before the Court and punished? We are sure this practice is breaking the spirit of the regulation, if not the letter of it. We hope that the attention of the Ciovernment will be called to this practice, with a view to getting it stopped. Why punish thi* man who pays for a glass of liquor for his friend, and allow the man who pays for liquor for a crowd to go free? Why allow any auctioneer to provide liquor to befuddle the brains of buyers so that they may buy at e>travagant prices things they do not wa t?