We sincerely hope that the matter will not again be
allowed to drop. We have demanded State Purchase during the war because we regard it as the first step to Prohibition for war purples. We are not teetotalers, and have never demanded Prohibition on teetotal grounds. We have wanted it during the war as a measure of war economy and efficiency. But whether Prohibition "for the duration" has or has not faded beyond the regions of practicability, let us at all events have State Purchase as soon as possible. Apart from the war, it is a most important, indeed an essential, factor in industrial reconstruction. Once give the State the power to control the Drink Trade, and it can turn the tap on or off as it pleases,whether it wishes still further to reduce the Drink Trade during the war or wholly to prohibit it, or whether it wants to screw up the industrial efficiency of the nation after the war. The chief point is to eliminate private profit in the sale of drink.
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