The Dominion. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1912. TRUE TEMPERANCE REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1449, 25 May 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1912. TRUE TEMPERANCE REFORM.

In New Zealand there is no longer any r§al temperance issue. The New Zealand Alliance has definitely come out with the doctrine that the use of alcohol is an evil thing—in short, that alcohol must be banished altogether. They are still far from having reached this point in- Great and perhaps they_ will never rfc&ch it, but the aggressions of the abolitionist party are moving many cautious and far-seeing friends of true temperance—of temperance,, that is to say, as the opposite of exstrengthen the walls against the future operations of those of extreme views. A notable contribution to the whole question appears in the Nineteenth Century for April from the pen of tho Right Hon. F. E. -Smith, K. 0., the most brilliant of the younger Unionists in the House of Commons. Mr. Smith's ■purpose is to draw what he believes are "the true lines of temperance reform," and no bcins with a brief discussion of the meaning of temperance. Although some of our Catholic dignitaries have been at pains to expound the simple enough truth that Temperance means something far wider than moderation in the use of alcohol, and certainly docs not mean, and never has meant, abstention and Abolition, there is still some confusion in the public mind upon this important point. Mr. Smith points out, .that in the list of the seven deadly sins, tho converse vice which corresponds to temperance (one of'the seven capital virtues) is, not drunkenness at all, but gluttony. Although they cling to the flag of Temperance, the Prohibitionists in England show by their speech that they regard mere temporance as being just as much the enemy as more intemperance. "The fight now," they openly declare, "is against tho moderate drinker." Since however, the issue ir> New Zsalaud is becoming pranticoHy tbo jbbuo of flomaoiaafie venut Froiubitioai tliua.

is perhaps little profit in following Mn. Smith in his clear demonbtvJi tion that real intemperance—-exhJ!)'fc-ed impatience, extremity of. language, and intolerance—is the character of the extreme <mti-liim O r movement. _ Of more actual interest just now is the fact that the Prohibition i movement in Britain has been a factor against true tr.mpcianco, as a good many people bolicvc it to have been.in New /.caln.nd. The influence of what Mr. (Smith calls "the fanatical tectot^jor , nas brought into being thn complicated licensing system "i England, and this system, "in sjjlto of the happy change in drinking habits of late years, still leaves Britain a more drunken country than are Continental nations, where the public consumption of fermented beverages is left untrammelled by the law." It has turned comfortable old inns into ugly drinking shop's; it has produced tile tied house system; by discountenancing games and ample accommodation in publiehouses y ft has degraded the publichqiise,; by restricting the number of nouses it has led to crowded bars and a consequent lack of supervision of the customers. Mr. Smith's remedy for the evils that have really been intensified by the restrictive* legislation born of the Prohibitionists' activities is "the transformation of the public-house," and he accordingly pictures for us "the ideal publichouse." It would be, allowing, of course; plenty of scope for local variations, ■'a commodious and decent building, into which any passer-by might enter and call for any reasonable kind of refreshment— food or_ drink, the latter alcoholic or nonalcoholic. Hβ -should be able to consume these refreshments comfortably seated in a room well lit, warmed, and ventilated. He should bo able not only to smoke, but, if no chose, to obtain tho materials for smoking also on the premises. The place should be so reputable that, whatever his social position, he could enter it openiy, and even take his wife and children with him and find suitable refreshment there for them. If ho were alone he should be able to call for or purchase in the house newspapers and magazines. If he had any business to transn-t there should bo a telephone on the premises for his use' Mr. Siitth goes on to enlarge upon his_ idea, picturing a public-house which would also provide music and the means for innocent aud wholesome recreations; and he expresses his firm conviction that his plan is practicable. Most people know that in Europe they have come quite near the realisation of this "ideal public-house." The general principle underlying , Hβ. Smith's scheme of "true temperance reform" is one that not a tew publicans in New Zealand are well aware is tho principle that should be generally adopted in New Zealand, in the interests not only of the hotels, but of the large public that is neither drunken nor fanatically full of the neo-Manichean heresy that alcohol is an actively evil substance, "the devil in solution." indeed. And that principle is this: that the greatest harm that can be done to the cause of sobriety, moderation, and temperance, and the greatest service to- outright Prohibition and Abolition, is slackness in tho conduct of hotels,. Within recent years the general conduct of the hotels in New Zealand has improved enormously, and we think it is safe to say that most licensees feel—and they shape their management accordingly—that drunkenness is offensive In itself and is detrimental to the business of hotel-keeping. Perhaps New Zealand conditions would make impossible the realisation here of Mb. Smith's vision of an ideal pub-lic-house, but at any rate it is possible for hotelkeeperß, by the exercise of a still more scrupulous care to establish the fact that publichouses need not- at all operate against true temperance.