THE GAMBLING EVIL
TRADES - HALL ART UNION
MR JUDKINS’S OPPOSITION
MARYBOROUGH, Friday - Mr W H Judkins spoke
to a large audience
in the town hall tonight, under the auspices of the United
Temperance
Councils. The mayor (Councillor J R Green) presided.
Regarding the representations made to the
Premier (Mr Murray) by
the Trades-hall Council for permission to conduct an art union in aid
of the fund for the
enlargement of the Trades-hall, Mr Judkins said he sincerely hoped Mr
Murray would not
allow the scope of art unions to be extended to embrace other than
charitable purposes. He
hoped the whole of the Labour party of Victoria would, in a clear
voice, intimate that it
is opposed to the proposals of those who made the advances to the
Premier, and that the
working people of Victoria would stand against gambling. He was pained
beyond expression
when he read that the Trades-hall Council made such an iniquitous
request. If the Premier
granted it it would be an insult to the people of Victoria. He was not
concerned
immediately with what were the Premier’s private opinions about
gambling, but the
people had placed Mr Murray in the highest place of power, and he ought
to consider those
things which pertained to the welfare of his people. He (Mr Judkins)
and others were going
to ask Mr Murray not to grant the Trades-hall request, and
further to introduce
legislation declaring every kind of art union, even for
charitable purposes,
illegal. If the Trades-hall Council could not complete its
building by righteous
means, it should have no hall at all.
The following resolution was declared carried unanimously:-
“That this meeting urges the Government to amend the licensing law to
allow the
question of
no-license to be submitted for the people’s decision by a simple
majority,
firmly believing that this is a right the people should have; and to
point out that the
vote would not interfere with the Licenses Reduction Board, which could
continue its work
in districts where liquor licenses are in excess of the statutory
number.”
From THE ARGUS 2nd July 1910 page 18
