Strength of Empire
Strength of Empire.
MEETING IN KATANNING.
Great Southern Herald
8 February, 1919
The first meeting of the newly formed branch of the Strength of Empire Movement was held in the Parish Hall, Katanning, on Monday evening and was well attended, Mr. W. Pemble occupying the chair. The minutes of the inaugural meeting were read, and several items of correspondence from the central branch were dealt with which gave a definite starting point for practical work. A committee comprising Messrs Pemble, R. L. Richardson. Canon Burbidge and Revs. W. R. Lang and A. H. Potter was deputed to prepare a syllabus of meetings for the year.
The following letter was received by the Rev. A. H. Potter from the central branch with reference to returning soldiers obtaining intoxicants en-route: – “A large number of men returning from active service are disembarking at Albany for Perth and Fremantle, being conveyed by special trains. For the protection of the men the military have issued an order forbidding the sale or the giving of intoxicating liquor to patients of military hospitals who are defined as follows:
“Any member of His Majesty’s Military Forces who is a patient in a military hospital, or in a convalescent home, or convalescent camp undergoing treatment, or is returning from service abroad.
“The penalty being six months imprisonment or a fine of £100, or both. Judging by the intoxicated condition of many of the men on their arrival at Fremantle it would appear that liquor is being supplied, possibly by generous citizens who may be unaware of the order. It is important that we should assist in seeing that this order is obeyed, and the association therefore desires to ask you or your members when the train arrives at your town to call the attention of any who are acting in defiance of this order, to the fact.”
The wide scope for valuable Empire service which the movement offers should induce every one who is interested and sympathetic to join up. The secretary (Rev. A. Potter) will be pleased to receive the names of new members. It is a non-party and non-sectarian organisation whose general object is the cleansing of Australia from social and moral evils in order to secure a strong virile people worthy of Australian nationhood.
The immediate objects are: –
1. Demobilisation prohibition.
2. Permanent prohibition by State or local option with majority vote.
3. Progressive educational campaign for social purity.
What was the Strength of Empire Movement?
Strength of Empire pin
The Strength of Empire Movement appears to have started in Melbourne in mid 1918. The founder was the Victorian member of parliament, Edmund Wilson Greenwood MLA. In his time, Greenwood held executive positions in the Anti-Liquor League of Victoria and the Australian Prohibition Council. He was a lay preacher (Methodist), a member of the Australian Natives Association and a strong pro-conscriptionist. Continue reading