DR. HENRY'S MISSION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 736, 8 April 1910, Page 8

DR. HENRY'S MISSION.

THE ALLIANCE WELCOME. THE CHURCHES AND THE LIQUOR TRADE. Dr. Henry's mission party were welcomed yesterday afternoon by the executive of the New Zealand Alliance. The gathering took place in the lecture room- of the Y.M.C.A:, and was fairly well attended. The organiser and leader of the mission, Dr. J. L. A. Henry, was accompanied by Mrs. Henry, Miss Henry, and Mrs. Potts.

. The Rev. A. Dewdney, president of the Alliance, occupied the chair, and extended the welcome of' the Alliance to the visitors. The name of Dr. Henry, he said, was known to temperance workers ail over the world. Perhaps no, similar work of recent years had been so largely blessed as that which Dr. Henry undertook at the request of ihe National Free Church Council in England at the beginning of the century. Mot only were many led to take the • total abstinence' pledge, but the churches in the Old Land were aroused to such a sense of their duty in regard to the liquor traffic as they had never had before. Who should say but that the recent developments, even in the political world, notably the election of a. number of members of Parliament who were pledged to do something to limit the liquor traffic, was a result of his untiring labours. If the whole of the Christian churches in New Zealand were thoroughly awake to their duty, the liquor traffic could be killed inone act. He hoped that Dr. Henry's mission would lead to that result. Tho chairman,' in conclusion, apologised for the absence of the Rev. F. W. Isitt.

Mrs.' A. R: Atkinson said she thought it a great honour to speak on that occasion, because the world owed so much to America for its great men and women, and its, great movements. The institution to which she was proudest to belong—the W.C.T.U.—originated in America and one of its leaders, Mrs. S. M. I. Henry, was the mother of Dr. Henry. She (the speaker) had been impressed' by a saying of Mrs. Henry's, that the evangelistic department of the union's work was the parent of its temperance work. The mission, of Dr. Henry was bound to make a great difference to the No-License vote, at the next election, just as Dr. Torrey's mission in Otagb had been followed by a large increase in the No-License vote in that district.

The Rev. W. J. Conirie, chairman of the Wellington District No-License Council, in the course of his address of. welcome to Dr.,' Mrs., and Miss Henry, remarked that some evangelists emphasised certain ideas, such as'faithhealing, Or the Second Advent, to the extent, of making them fads, and. this was a hindrance to their work. Dr. Henry's only fad, however, was that which accounted for that .gathering. They felt that he was a safe man, and they prayed for rich blessings on his work. " ' ■ Mr. E. A. Wright, M.P.;. Baid that right' thinking on the subject of temperance was making progress in the New Zealand Parliament,; although we still had a. most Conservative: local option law. On behalf of those members of Parliament who thought on right lines on this question, he desired towelcome Dr. Henry and his companions, and to express the hope that they would have a very .fine time in New.Zealand. The RevV W. J. Dawson apologised for the absence of the Rev. W. J. Williams.

Dr. Henry's Reply. Dri Henry expressed high appreciation' of the Alliance's welcome, lie hoped a time would come whea no man who was addicted to, the use of strong drink would be allowed to stand in a Christian pulpit,-and no creditable position in the Church would open to anyone who was concerned with the manufacture or sale- of intoxicating liquor. (Applause.) He commended the stand taken by the Salvation Army in this matter.. The Churches in . the United States were working hard to get the' saloons closed, and' 800 ministers we're | devoting their time wholly to fighting I against the open' saloon. The Churches' were doing more for temperance reform in America than ever before. There wore now ten prohibition States in America, comprising more than half the 90, million citizens of the States, and more than half its territo?y. Temperance sentiment had largely influenced commercal life. Two million men in the railway service were not allowed by the terms of their engagements to touch strong drink. Seventy-five per cent, of the skilled labour, and 50-per cent, of the unskilled labour was in like manner employed on a teetotal basis. A very large percentage of those engaged in the liquor traffic were people of European' extraction, and their customers were largely immigrants who' had brought their drinking habits with them from the Old World. Thus,: the liquor question in the. States was to-day to a great extent an alien question. , In acknowledging the welcome on behalf of Mrs. and Miss Henry, Dr.Henrv said that his wife had been identified with temperance work from' her childhood, and her mother was one of those who went and prayed on the street corners_for the closing of the saloons. Mrs. Henry was herself an active temperance worker, and their daughter also had used her voice in testimony k the same behalf (Applause.) I n con elusion he urged that it must never bo forgotten that strong drink not only wrecked homes _ and produced .-squalor misery but it also degraded spiritual -Me. and doom - ed ■« , a (Applause.)

A meeting of personal workers" was addressed by Dr. Henry in ' th« Y.M.&A. Hall last- eventog. There were 120 workers present, which is said to be a record number for Wellington. Dr Henry ■ and Mr. Potts will be-entertained at dinner by Wei hngton members to-d 3 y y To-night Mr. Potts will hold a choir rehearsal for the mission in the Town Hall. '■