THE drinking of alcoholic liquer prevents the poor from carrying out their duties and if left unchecked will hasten the demise of the Empire, the Ladies Temperance League has warned.
The organisation, led by Mrs Eleanor Bentley of Dorking, has implored the Chancellor of the Exchequer to place a heavy burden of taxation upon gin, whisky, ale and porter at the time of his next annual budget.
Speaking to a packed meeting in Godalming town hall, Mrs Bentley said: "Our cherished England has become a truly wretched place, teeming with inebriation and unspeakable profanity. We have forsaken the Lord and his retribution shall be without mercy.
"Every day my ladies bring me new reports of Satan's corruption in the taverns and saloons of our grimy cities.
"Our once cheerful urchins now sway under the influence of rum, grow horns from their heads and feast on goat flesh at sunset.
"Last week I noticed the tell-tale watermarks of slovenliness on my dessert forks and when I confronted my kitchen maid I was assaulted by the stench of easy Spanish wine."
Mrs Bentley, the daughter of Admiral Sir Herbert Crundle of Witney, demanded the immediate removal of beer advertisements from the Daily Sketch and News Chronicle and condemned the editor of The Times for publishing an article about sherry.
The League is to join forces with other like-minded organisations including the Quakers, the Salvation Army and the Labour Party, with the goal of abolishing intoxicating beverages from our national life and restoring Great Britain on the path to righteousness.
God Save the King!
