MR GLOVER'S ADDRESS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1936, 5 September 1888, Page 2

MR GLOVER'S ADDRESS.

TO THE EDITOB. Sir,— lt would appear from the report published Id your laaue of yesterday that a considerable portion of the addreßa given by Mr Glover waa devoted to a condemnatory criticism of my aotlon In connection with the Licensing Commltteaa Election Bill of last aeadon, of whioh he glvea a wholly unfair and incorrect account. Mr Glover is exceedingly HI. informed upon this point, and appeara to h»ve auapeoted as much, as I notice that he admitted that "It was possible Major Steward might put these things In another light," Moat certainly I can, and the light m whioh I ahall put them (and that without the aid of "sophistry") is the true light. Mr Glover's » assertions that the Bill was brought m "m the Interest of Auckland brewera" and that they (the Auckland brewers) had " gone to me" for the purpose, are utterly without foundation; no Auokland brewer, nor any brewer, nor any person In the lnintereat of a brewer, or brewers, having by word or letter approached me on the aubjeot. The BUI waa asked for, not by brewers but by local governing bodiea m the intereßta of economy, its only proposal being the substitution of triennial for annual licensing elections, whioh would effect a saving In eaoh triennial period of something nearly approaching £20,000— equal to the interest on half a million of our borrowed money — no unimportant matter at a time when the most drastic retrenchment, and the heaviest taxation known m any colony are necessary to the restoration of financial equilibrium. Nor has Mr Glover a right to aaaume that In ozder to carrying out a measure of eoonomy I and the members who support me m this matter are wilfully imperilling the temperance cause. In my opinion (and lam aB much entitled to hold it as Mr Glover 1b entitled to hold his) better Committees would be elected under the triennial system, and the Act would be better administered m the interests of the publio and of temperance. If the publicans of Auokland spend £1000 per eleotlon, la it possible that auoh expenditure conduces to sobriety and electoral purity, and if not then whether is it better that £1000 shoald be so spent once m three years or every year ? Again, If I mistake not, the Alliance or temperance candidates won nearly all round In this year's elections m Auokland, and, if so, then why should not the temperance party enjoy the fruits of their viotory for three yeara instead of for one year only 1 I know It may be replied that there la an educational advantage from a temperance point of view In the matter being brought before the public at frequent Intervals, bat I fall to see that an election Is necessary to this, and aa against any gain In this direction from annual eleotions may be set the counterbalancing, if not preponderating disadvantage of the neoessary efFaot of the large sums spent (aa at Anckland) m the interest of the opposite aide. Mr Glover haa, I am sorry to see, yet to learn that it is quite possible for different men to regard the same aubjeot from different points of view, and, while actuated by •ornmon sympathies, to arrive at widely differing conclusions as to the best means to a given end. And now as to the female franchise. Three sessions ago I introduced a Bill, and carried it Into Committee, which provided for the admission of adults of both Bexea to the licensing franohise, and for complete local option, with provlelon for compensation when licenses were refused without any allegation of fault m the oonduot of the licensee or of the house. Mr Glover and others are quite willing to accept the first of these three proposals, bul objeot to the other two — the condition as to compensation being the moet strenuously resisted. Nevertheless I deem it to be jaat if complete local option la to have immediate operation. If, however, the Act were so framed that it (complete local option) should not comeintoforoe until, say 6 yeara after the Act being passed, then I should I be willing to omit any provision for compensation, bb all parties would hav3 fair warning, and property-owners would have time to realise without ruinous loss. The Bill of three sessions ago was necessarily brought In, beoauae dealing with so many matters, under the title of "An Act to amend the Licensing Aot," and as suoh opened the door to amendments of the original Aot m all directions. Suoh a shoal of these consequently appeared on the Order Paper that it became absolutely certain that the Bill could not be got through by a private member. In view of these faots I this session confined myself to the one effort to effeot something towards loesening the many burdena of the community by reducing the number, i.e., the frequency of eleotions. That Bill passed through Committee unaltered, no amendment being even proposed till, all the clauses hiving been agreed to, Mr Fulton proposed to add, as one clause, the whole matter contained m the seriea of clauses providing for the extended franchise taken bodily from my own Bill of three sessions ago. I objeoted to the addition of these, because I knew that it wonld be Impossible to get the Bill through if they were added ; and the event proved that I was entirely la the right, for no sooner had the olause (or clauses) been read a aeoond time than the oppon*ents of female franohise talked against time till the 10 30 adjournment, and the result was a oount-out. The Bill was not abandoned or •• dropped" by me, as suggested by Mr Glover, though it was by most of Mr Fulton's supporters, shewing 'hat they were less anxious to aeoure the extended franohise than to defeat the proposal to (substitute triennial for annual elections. The above are the simple facts of the case, and I do not propone to trouble you with any comments thereon. They Bpeak for themselves. I am. etc., WjJ. J. STfi^fARD.

TO THE BDITOB, Sir, — I am not personally acquainted with Mr T. W. Glover, who spoke here on Monday evening as the monthpleoe of the New Zealand Alliance, nor would I care maoh for his esteem judging by the raßh and wide mouthed Ideas of which he Is the reputed parent. After hearing Mr Glover I might Bay — vrho la this gentleman, what are his credentials, and ia this a labor of love or is it a trade be is pursuing In travelling from town to town and stirring up the people to join hfs views. In regard to the first question I find from the second annual report of the New Zealand Alliance that Mr Glover Is " Organising Agent " for the Alliance, and In the statement of reoelpts and expenditure, jihere is net down against a total of subscriptions from all parts of the oolpny a sum of £715 I£>j 9d. Oat of this amount " salaries and commissions " absorb £481 5s 3d, aDd "travelling expenses of agent " £102 9i 10d. This makes £583 15a Id under this heading alone, and the difference between this sum and the total receipts, with the exception of a small balance, goes for general expenses of office, etc. It may be concluded therefore, that of this £583 15s Id Mr Glover gets the lion's share. This, however, la not a princely salory, but It (s pretty comfortable In these tlmea of retrenchment, and considering the light nature of the duties may be looked upon as rather oiut of proportion to the work: done. The laborer is worthy os his hire, and Mr Glpver seems well paid for his work, «q4 If he doe* oo£ speak op to his ■alary, very soon another would be got who would, Baoked up by the salary Me Glovee li of gonna bonnd, to bit out

all round Irrespective of publican or sinner. If he did not denounoe m no measured terms the former his billet wonldn't be worth a month's purohase. He is hired to apeak a certain thing, and whether that thing be jaafc or fair is all the same to Mr Glover If his audienoes hear lots of sounding phraaes about " hellish drink traffic," and '« damn able, cursed commerce with the inquitoua thing," they are satisfied he is a good man, and his address is a powerful one. So muoh for his trade. Like a traveller tor a certain artlole, he must believe for i the time there is only one thing on earth, j and that is the line he Is pushing. As to Mr Glover's credentials. Well, be Is associated with Sir Wn,. Fox— a harmless, well intentloned old man with only one idea m the world — total abstinence—and that is enough for some people. With this olaßß of humanity if you are not a teetotaller you are teetot »lly and irrevocably lost and your soul isn't worth saving, even if you had one, which m the opinion of this class you hhYe not A publioan or a brewer is to Mr Glover and his ilk a thing too terrible m its personation of degradation and wickedness to come m contact with. Mr Glover has not that confidence m the purity of hia cause that might lead him to look with commiseration on the face of a man of moderate views, let alone a liquor seller. We hare only to go back a little more than eighteen hundred years to find One who could talk to publicans— though they were not liquor sellera—or BiDnerp, and yet not think them so infinitely degraded as Mr Glover would make every one who has to do with an hotel. Mr Glover's denunciations of those who do not subscribe out and out to his doctrines reminds me forcibly of a passage m "Holy Willies Prayer." I commend the lineß to Mr Glover, they are so applicable to his case m his tirade against publicans especially. ; Thy strong right hand lord, mak' it baie Upo' their heads. Lord, weigh it down and dinna spare, For their misdeeds. But, Oh remember me and mine, Wi' meroiea temporal and divine, That I for gear and grace may shine, Excell'd by nane : And all the glory shall be thine. Amen, Amen. Mr Glover at his meeting professed to entirely answer Mr Sauodera' views aa to the advisability of having a Btate distillery. I don'f think a State distillery would pay, m jself . butfwas it fair to pick out a line hare and there and on this found an argument, if argument it can be called. More properiy it was ridicule, and ridicule ib no argument. Then again was it fair, was it manly, was it Christian that the name of a gentleman like Major Steward should be brought up m the way it was. Had M«jor Steward been present I ara quite sure he would have given Mr Glover such a dressing down as would have learned him the value of sticking to his text and not seeking to catch the ear of a sympathetic meeting at rhe expense of one who has done hi en no wrong and who could give him (Mr Glover) a lesson m truthfu'ness to which he seems an utter Btrsnger. Mnjor (Steward could indeed say "Ye* have done that you should be eorry for, There Is no terror, Glover, m your threats. For I am armed so strong with honesty That they pass by me like the idle wind Which I respect not." "Truth lives at the bottom of a well says the legend and Mr Glover with all hia water drinking has never imbibed the bottom waters of the well of truth or he would not have made such an attack on Major Steward upon Bach Blender grounds as he did on Monday nigbt. If a man has to stoop to anything low it shows his cause is m a bad way and Mr Glover by making such an unprovoked attaok upon one who is known here as well as m hia own con atltuenoy , has weakened his Influence more than he would imagine. Mr Glover is fighting he says on the Bide of the strong — why then does he not fight honorably. Anyone knows who reads the proceedings of Parliament that Mr Glover misstated the facts most lamentably In respect to the Bill which was before the House last session, m favor of triennial licencing elections. Again take Mr Glover's figures. It is said that figures oan be made to show auythlag, but Mr Glover's arithmetic) is of the most extraordinary oharaoter I have met with. His oaref ully rehearsed stories fall with wonderful effect, npon the audience he draws to bis 1 meetings, but when these tales are analysed, or the other side of the picture is Bhown then the point is not so apparent, Mr Glover preached I believe m the Wesleyan Church here on Sunday. He poses as a religious man and as a thorough paced Christian and yet he could seep lightly on to a platform on Monday night and slander an absent man, I wont aay what I think about Mr Glover. It might be too strong for publication. T never ' did think much of your rabii, salaried, leoturers on temperance matters. I generally class them cs having kinship with medical quaoks, broken-kneed theatrioal companies and spavined life assuranoe leotorers. Like a musical rendition where the " toral-li-ooral " is m excess of the melody, so m their statements the padding, the denunciation and the appeal for the collection is muoh m excess of the argument to uphold what they profess to believe In, or to back up what they put forward on behalf of temperance. A publioan, a brewer, or a man who takes his glass la no more a sinner above all men than those on whom tha tower of Siloam fell.— l am eto , Anti-Htjmiuo.