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Home My WebLink AboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1965-04-22, Page 6Ry Mike Cowley :In °this .former stronghold of the Canada -Temperance Act local residezits maintain you -- 8ould once stand in the ,Square - -andot ow -a stone-in.anyLdire • tion to flit a bootlegger's place. - Now -the the town is to get its first legal puiblic drinking place under the Liquor Control Act and sailorsarrivin, in port find the narnber of Jaootleggers has dwindled until you can count them on one hand, It was in November of 1959 that the `:vets" launched their final offensive against the "drys" and threw out the CTA in the counties pf Ha;rnn and .Perth. Another five years passed be- fore Goderch followed the lead of the other 'oun;ty towns and municipalities and provided a majority vote `in raver of cock- tail bars and licensed dining rooms. On September 4 last year town residents reversed a stand they had taktn n r96T—an paved the way for liquor licence application from hotels and res- ta'urant. Now the Royal and Bedford hoteds and Haniilton Motel have been granted a lic- ence for a cocktail bar. "The old girl took a long time to die.but we have finally buried he- in Goderich," ob- served a former prominent "'wet" supporter this week. The Canada Temperance .Act was originally passed in 1878 when the mayor responsibility of-keeping..the peace- and order fell directlty to the Federal gov- ernment in Ottawa. In 1879 the CTA was intro dueed to the province of On- tario and by 1885 no • less than 28 counties and two cities voted the Art into force in their areas. E5'en in `these earl' stages conditions developed from .CTA if legislations wh:,oh were widely .in variance With the aims and the intentions of the framers. • Early Rejection Conditions became so chaotic that every single county and city revoked• the. Act by huge majorities ie firs° n- 1t, t sat°t'1e t opp�ortu ty after_ .the _three-year trial period. The Act was complete, ly ,extinct in Ontario by 1889. ' At the turn- of the century Part II of the CTA was voted into force in Manitoulin, Peel, Perth and Huron. • Manitoulin -voted in favor of revocation in .,.. .1 9.,and....P.stel n -195.L • An` , out effort by the "drys' failed ,to stop Macon and Perth going `Swet" in November, 1959. lman•ediate1y•the CTA was e t-. ed out of a counter ..,1he provis- ions of- the Liquor... Control Act went into effect. Areas that were "wet" befoa'e the ° CTA ° went into effect reverted to their originaal status and g<ov- ' • ernment liquor and beer stores - went in .without a second vote. The final stage to allow pub-. lie bars could only Come into effect after area residents' had voted it in with a 60 per cent plus majority. • Temperance s up porters throughout Canada rallied to do .battle in Huron and Perth in 1959 .seeing this as a last-.diteh • 'stand for official recognition of their cause: The "drys" attacked the Liquor Control Act on the grounds that it was designed to promote --and •-provide-__. llgj or - sales whereas the CTA was ;a -restrictive >,ne: sure. On the 'other side- the "wets' produced far more colorful e•vid- anee- af- the effects. of the. CTA on a community. They pointed first of all to the bootleggers in the area. A Windsor Star expose claim- ed there were 100 known boot- leggers operating among the 6,000 inhabitants f Goderich. "The Canada Temperance Act forbids the sale, but not the I consumption" a columnist wrote. The Act permitted the im- portation of liquor, beer and wine by common carrier or by messenger. It was perfectly within the law to. have liquor •d-1 rn y our -possession-provide: had come in the legal way. Trucking Liquor Instances were quoted where two men could have driven into Stratford together and baught each other a bottle of liquor but not have been able to- buy one legally for themselves. This opened the door for a Chicago -style trucking of booze into the area but on a penfectly legal basis. Trucker Joe Allaire of Bayfield was `a prominent man in this field of coanmon cartage:- Three artage:-Three tomes a week his two and a -half ton truck made trips to the liquor and beer stores in Grand Bend, Stratford and Thed- ford to bring' back the orders. Mr. Allaireowould net cam - merit an the quantity which he -brought. into.. town- Mach Week but admitted it was a "sub- stantial load." . One bootlegger who was convicted shortly be- fore the CTA -was revoked was said to haoe grossed $8,500 ,in his ;business in a two-month period. The Huron court was told that the pian had handled a total of 2,456 cases of beer during this period. The offender was fined the" maximum under the CTA for a first offence'which amount - °ed, to $100 and' costs—Or 30 days in jail. A forme- mayor of Goderich,. John Huckins spearheaded the attlekotorothe "wets?' as chair-_ man of the Huron Citizens Leg- al Control Committee. A persuasive speaker, Mr. lin 1dns_ "spellbound- i Cat audi- ences with tales of -teenagers running wild on town streets waving bottles of liquor under the noses of police. officers. "As long as they drink from their own, bottle they can sit on the steps of the court house) and the police can do nothing about it," he is 'quoted 'as say- ing. . It was mayor Huckins who collected 10,500 .signatures to spark -off the vote which event-, daily threw out the CTA in Hu- ron .and. Perth counties. Denied Stories CTA officials countered with denials of the stories claiming there was a moral responsibil- ity to prevent drinking. They said their brad been no incid- ences, of teenagers drinking "at .dances. - -and -t umbing-noses- -:at enquiring ,.taw officers. • Church. and women's organiz- ations across the counties were generally ib favor of support- ing the_CT.& _ dell ._ .there overe rumblings of discontent even in these staunch camps. At the 34th annual conven- tern Ontario Mrs. Fred chairanan, tion. of the Wes Women's Institute, Oster, the retiring indicated that all was not with the CTA. She said: "I say let's go back to the open bar with a plate glass window in front of it, rather than put up with, under- cover bootlegging. lEvery one knows conditions in Huron County are far from ideal. There are no cocktail bars but few -h bootlegger." Attacks on the CTA provid- edmaterial for editorial writ- ers in -leading Canadian news- papers over the years. Prior to the revocation of the Act on Manitoulin Island the Sudbury Star said: "The partic'larly vicious as- pect of the aeit is as it applies to minors. Since drinking was supposed to be eliminated ' en- lirely, no legislation was pass- ed concerning the age at which alcohol might be consumed legally. "Hence a teenager on Mani- toulin Island cin drink as freely as an adult. Disgusting scenes involving boys and girls some- times take place, particularly in dance halls." On May 18, 1949 the Glo 'e and Mail had this to 'say: "The Canada Temperance Act pur- ports. 'to be a prohibitory -law. It forbids the buying 'and selling of strong drink. Like other laws with this purpose, it does not Work. It proves in practice to be an umbrella for bootleg- gers. Drinking parties could be held on °,publiic streets -be-- rause the Temperance Act says nothing about consumption." Magistrate Reflects: . On reflection Huron„ magis-•• trate ° Glenn• Hays said he felt the critics had been wrong in attacking the ma•chineryofor,con- victing bootleggers. The onag s rate, who had been crown attorney at the time of revocation, said: ”I feel the ma- chinery was ample for convic- tions. Admittedly there were,,. no jail terms for, first offence bootlegging yet even 'under the Liquor Control Act the Sum- mary ,Convictions Act permitted a court to bring irr-a-fine in-) stead of a jail sentence.” 1 He added: "On the matter M• excessive drinking I don't krlow whether anyibodry can say if the new legislation has. pro- vided a curia on this issue., "As to whether teenagers ;drink as m,u+ch now as • they did liefare, that is still a de- batable point," he said. efellowi of . of Scar publish4d y 0 `HUf tris Tow hLrical of fol and ea0..,. oflialal do ,whtn th red lis " Mow is Librari EASY TERMS - "Landslide -- Goderich style. 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