NO-LICENSE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2197, 22 May 1908, Page 2

NO-LICENSE.

PUBLIC MEETING IN THE” THEATRE.

There was a good attendance in His Majesty’s Theatre last evening, |V»eu the Revs. F. .SV. Cliatterton antli E. \\ . t\ alker delivered addresses on) no-lieeiise. Mr. John Townley oceu-J pied tlio chair, and briefly introduced! the speakers. .? The Rev. E. W. Cliatterton, who' was well received, said that drink was the most cunning of all the) social evils that was met with in' daily life. In England the temperance party was struggling against immense odds, and men ot all shades ef opinion admitted that drink was an evil tu national life on every ground, and was an evil that would have to ho dealt with by some effective means. During the last year there had been a continuous rise in the drink bill of New Zealand from A 3,360,000 in 1007 to £3,667,000 in 1003. During the past three months of the year there had been 122 convictions lor drunkenness in Gisborne, l of which were of Maoris and 1U women, and from January Ist to May 18, IST convictions for the same offence. Ashburton for the same period laid a record of only IT con-/ victions, Oamaru 0 convictions, and\ Invercargill 15 convictions, and as. these three towns were under no-', license it was clear that where there', was less drinking there- was less I crime! A good deal of the drunken-/ ness was blamed upon the Maoris,! but Maoris formed a very small mmi-' ber among the convicted persons., Some said the number of convictions; might be due to the activity of the' police force, but- while Gisborne had a; good body of police, it was shamefully 1 , undermanned and over-worked. New; Zealand was in need of a complete' change of the licensing system, and: the only change of any use was no--' license. Many said no-license was-, too drastic, but no movement that! would reform drunkards could bet classed as drastic. A severe disease!

needed a severe remedy, and the j drink curse was admittedly a dis-) ease. The liquor trade had already!

ii fifteen years’ warning of what was i going to take place; for No-License! was going to take place in Gisborne./ lie (trusted (that when No-License> came, those who were so strongly op-/ posed to it would change their opin-i ions as to whether it could be eal-< led drastic. He would admit- that a| certain amount of sly-grog selling was carried on under no-license, but-the" evils of 110-license were not a tithe of the evils of the open bar. No one would say that 110-license had; proved a failure, but it had brought; progress, morally, socially, and conn mercially. There were advocates fO|f State and for municipal control, but State control in Russia had only increased drunkenness, and if municipal control was allowed, there would be for the sake of the revenue no inducement to keep drinking in check,j or to keep the goose from laying the] golden egg. No-license paid every"' way: Three years ago 4000 voters said Gisborne was ready for 110-lic-cuse, but they were 26 votes short to carry the reform. lie believed that the 'next election would show both Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty as no-licenso districts. Gisborne was well-situated, as there would he only one electorate to which thirsty throats could go for a drin'lc, but he sincerely trusted that the electors of the Bay of Plenty would vote solidly for the reform. Gisborne would be ready for no-liceusc next election, and he hoped they would all work to free the town from its unenviable reputation for love of strong drink. (Applauso.) The Rev. E< AV. AValker opened his address with 51. recitation, entitled, "I’ll drink it for her sake.” Addressing the audience, flic speaker said lie" had been fighting all bis life, and he was glad to have an opportunity to fight against the liquor traffic. He hoped to be able at t-lie next election to fight, not only by speaking, but atf the ballot box, against tlie trade. There was a deeply rooted blight in New Zealand that was degrading and demoralising the manhood and womanhood of the country, and that blight was drink. The drunkenness of New Zealand was an appalling tiling, for drink touched womanhood as well as manhood, and it was awful to.see a Woman drunk in a country such as the Dominion. "Is there one man here,” asked the speaker, "who would liko to see liis mother drunk and standing in a drunkard’s dock? Is.there one mail who would like a drunken wife? lor if they loved their wives and their mothers they' should keep temptation out- of tlieir way.” It was equally serious to think that manhood was being degraded and robbed of its ideals and ambitions under the influence of strong drink. It behoved every mail to work to put away the evils from his fellow-man. Many people said the no-liccnse_ advocates were fanatics, but a New South AVales hotelkeeper was recently reported in the Melbourne "Argus” to have said, "I have an interest in three hotel properties, and, under these circumstances, it is compulsory for me to handle the filthy lucre from the sale of this detestable liquor. The public will be surprised t to bear that I abhor my hotel associations. Five years’ experience convinces me that linv phase of the liquor trade which the union is attempting to defend is a curse and a scourge to humanity. 1 could wade through a category of deplorable series of crime, starvation, ,-iiid in in, of which I have been ,an eve-witness through this cursed liquor traffic, and I have made a deep study of its debasing effects.” These, said Air. AValker, were the words of Mr. Richard McKenna, of the Grand Hotel, Bathurst, and would bo the words of other publicans if they told the truth. He appealed to them in the name of common-sense and in the interests of the country to say that strong drink was a. curse, and to stamp it out from among the people. 011 the motion of the chairman, a vote of thanks was accorded to the speakers and the students from Te Rau College who gave vocal selections