PERTINENT QUESTIONS.

White Ribbon, Volume 24, Issue 281, 18 November 1918, Page 8

PERTINENT QUESTIONS.

The following question* were asked the Premier by the Rev. R. S. Gray, President of N.Z. Alliance, on the occasion of the presentation of our petition to the Cabinet: 1. Did a transport, which came re- ? ently in the harbour, carry a cargo of 50,000 cases or (asks of whisky? 2. Was that cargo broached during the passage, and as a consequence of this broaching of cargo, were some of the firemen and crew so drunk that the ship was delayed two or three days, and did some of the passengers have to help in the working of the ship? 3. Was legitimate cargo kept out of this ship at the other end to accommodate the whisky? 4. Would Ministers, as the responsible heads of the Government, refuse to allow whisky to be brought into this country at th*’ present time? Whisky was a non-essential, and essential things were being kept out of the country. 5. Were any of the soldiers on the transport referred to court-martialled because they would not consent to art as guards overt his liquor? 6. Was it not true that the captain of another vessel, which, on a recent trip to this country, brought whisky and men out, said when he arrived here, “I am prepared to risk my life in mine-strewn and submarine-infested waters to bring men back to this country, for which they have risked their lives; I am prepared to risk my life to bring food supplies; but I am not prepared to risk my life in these dangerous waters to bring whisky to this country”? And was it not true that this captain had resigned uoon his pturn, absolutely refusing to bring out another cargo of whisky?