'It's Your Turn Now'

'It's Your Turn Now'

The 1919 referendum on whether to introduce the prohibition of alcohol split the supposedly unified post-war New Zealand society.

While dramatic imagery of monsters and demons was used to advance the cause of Prohibition, those promoting continuance looked to returned service people as both a powerful voting block and a popular marketing tool.

Quick March was the journal of the Returned Soldiers' Association. This cover uses the image of the returning serviceman to promote continuation – by arguing that the nation's soldiers had secured the freedoms all New Zealanders now enjoyed, and so too should share those benefits by alcohol.

The initial vote heavily favoured prohibition. But several days later, the votes of New Zealand Expeditionary Forces and other personnel still overseas were counted. The 'soldiers' vote' was 7,723 in favour of prohibition while 31,981 voted in favour of continuance, therefore overturning the first count.

A second poll conducted in December 1919 included a third option of State Control. Again, the prohibition vote lost but by a significantly smaller margin of just 3,300 votes.

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image

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