The New Zealanders have tried their Local Option, each district
voting on the question. As the women vote as well as the men, the numbers for total prohibition rose high, but as a three-fifths majority is required, it was only carried in two out- of-the-way districts. In Dunedin however, total prohibition was within 18 of being carried, and at Port Chalmers only 50 more votes were required. Under the statute, the votes which fail to secure total prohibition are added to the votes in favour of reduction, so the number of public-houses will be greatly reduced. The voting strongly supports the theory we have always maintained, that the more extravagant the teetotal view, the more it attracts votes. Those who wish to be protected from themselves, wish to be protected wholly, and know that the only effect of few houses is to make the liquor better and the company more decent. The correspondent of the Times at Auckland, who has paid great attention to this subject, should tell us soon whether, in the two districts which have accepted total prohibition, drunkenness is much reduced. Illicit whisky intoxicates just as much as licit, though it is often less adulterated.
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