WATCHMAN! WHAT OF THE NIGHT?

White Ribbon, Volume 23, Issue 276, 18 June 1918, Page 1

WATCHMAN! WHAT OF THE NIGHT?

“Who waits His time shall surely see The triumph of his Constancy; When, without let, or bar. or stay, The coming of His Perfect Day Shall sweep the Powers of Night away; And Faith, replumed for nobler flight, And Hope, aglow wiih radiance bright. And Love, in lowliness bodight, Shall greet the Morning Light!” Long has the Liquor Trade cast its gloomy shadow over th'fc world of ours. Fierce and stubborn has been the conflict with the Powers of Darkness. The smoke of battle has enveloped us and mingl’ng with the fogs of injustice, the mists of tears, and the clouds of suffering, has darkened the very .-.kies, and well nigh shut out from us the light of Heaven. The ground is drenched with blood of the thousands of victims, who have fallen in the conflict, the weeping of wives and mothers, the sobbing of little children ever ascends to High Heaven in one great chorus, crying, “Mow long. O Lord! How long!” Hut now appears the morning star, and athwart the dark clouds are shooting the golden rays, \vhi« h herald the appearance of the C»odd< .«*> of Dawn. “Lo! the day of God is V iking. See it gleaming from afar. Sons of men from slumber waking, Hail the bright and morning star.” We are now entering upon the last fight of this long campaign. Short and sharp will be the conflict; our Great Commander is calling up His last reserves, every soldier to his place ready for a grand advance all along the allied line of temperance societies, churches, business men, and social re-

formers. Every force that makes for righteousness must unite in one grand irresistible sweep against the Huns of Liquordom. Like the Convenanters of old we must prepare for that advance upon our knees. Praying devoutly til the word for advance is given and then hammering away stoutly. The foe is utterly merciless, he spares neither youth nor age. He has sfortmed lives, ruined homes, filled our gaols and mental hospitals with mental and moral degenerates. He has lowered our birthrate, increased our death rate, lessened the efficiency of worker and thinker alike, till, when the red glare of war lit up the seen*', we saw ourselves standing ui*m the precipice of national ruin and extincton. Drink hindered repairs to our ships, delayed the transport of troops, destroyed grain, sug.tr, and other foodstuffs. employed men in manufactur - ing poison, who were badly needed elsewhere; it took space in trains and steamers, and delayed food supplies; it rendered the soldier unfit, and was such a menace to our troops that always a small army was unfit through “proventible diseases.” It lay in wait for the returned soldier, delayed the recovery of the sick and wounded, and even marred by its action the celebrations of Anzac Day sacred t > the memory of our honouerd dead. The infamous rum ration debauelp Q box s who were conscripted from temperance homes, and sent them back “slaves to the glass.” The trade has about filled up the cup of its iniquities, every man’s hand is against it like Ishmael of old. Our Government has closed bars at 6 o’clock, forbidding shouting, and prohibited liquor being given to soldiers under medical treatment.

And now for our final advance. We are determined to clear our land of this enemy “before the boys come home.” W ith the help of every worker we intend to present to Parliament the largest petition it has ever received. Our triennial poll his been taken from us, and by this petit on we intend to show the Government how universal is the demand for a vot» on this question. After repeated conferences it has been decided to petition for a ]hj!l upon the lines of the recommendations of the Efficiency Board. This grants the trade “reasonable” compensation. Naturally, there are differences of opinion arfiong us upon this question. We women, though willing to pay a commutation to get immediate Prohibition by a bare majority, thought it would have been better to leave the question to Parliament, but we realise th.it the only hope for the enemy is a division in our own ranks, and to avoid the slightest suspir'on of this, we have locally bowed to the wish of the majority. We women are in this fight to the last penny we possess, and to the last ounce of our strength. If you live in a lonely district, and can get a few signatures, send for a petition form, and secure those signatures. We have driven the enemy into his last trench, he is outlawed by every decent organisat’on and individual, it only remains to us to labour and to pray till we secure the right to out vote him.