THE LICENSED POLL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 165, 7 April 1919, Page 8

THE LICENSED POLL

BISHOP CLEARY'S VIEWS

[Extended "Report, Published by | f Arrangement.] ' Tho views of the Very Hew Dr. I deary, Roman Catholic Bishop of Auck- ( laud, as set out in the latest) issuo of his own paper, "The Month," are given below :— As we write these lines New Zealand is searching its soul to find a (solution of the liquor problem. ... Altar Wine. As. regards the national prohibition issue, the question of all questions for Catholic? is full freedom for tho usu of fermented wine, from the great, central net of worship, the Holy Sacrifice of tho Mass. In tho su'b-section quoted above, tho importations, local manufacture, and snle of such fermented wine is permitted, in accordance with regulations made by the Governor-General in Council. It is rather unfortunate that these regulations have not yet been drawn up and pul>lishcd. A "letter from the Hon. the At-torney-General, however, conveys the substance of the proposed regulation in the following words :— "I am authorised by Cabinet to state that in the event of prohibition being carried regulations under sub-section 2 of section 19 of the Licensing Amendment Act, 1918, will provide for the importation by tho several churches- of wine, for sacramental purposes, in siwh quantities as any church may require for lengthened periods, the churches being required to give sufficient security that the wine so imported shall not l>e used for other than sacramental purposes. I make this official statement-because, as you say, tho question is a matter of vital moment and of far-reaching influence, to many person? who may record their votes." A further inquiry was made as to what would be deemed sufficient security that "the wine so imported shall not bo usej for other than sacramental purposes." The Hon. the Attorney-General was not, however, in a position to add anything to his above-quoted statement; but he said that, the regulations would be entirely reasonable. The aim of tho law and of the Cabinet is not to hamper religious worship, 'but to cu.rb •intemperance, and its train of social and economical evils. And speaking personally and with a sense of the high character of Sir Francis Bell (Attorney-General) and colleagues of his, \ve feel confident that no irksome restrictions will bo framed, and that sacred rights, which we Catholics value more than life itself, will be, jjndeed safeguarded in ways "entirely reasonable and proper." At the same timo we reajrd it as a matter of considerable importance that the body of the electors interested in this vital matter should know precisely what these regulations are before polling day. There has not - been time for an official reply to certain queries of ours in this connection, before we go to press with this issue.

On our return to Auckland on Mart U we found awaiting us the followin esteemed and satisfying reply from th Eon. the Attorney-General, to the querie if ours referred to on pnge 5, secow olumn, of our article on "The Liccns ng Poll":— "I have your letter of the 7th instan in the subject of the regulations unde ,-hich wine might be available for sacra aontal purposes in the event of Nationa Prohibition being carried at the specia icensinff poll to Iμ holden next month "I fully understand and appreciate th .nxiety which you and your colleague n the Catholic episcopate feol in tin natter. But it is quite impossible t omply with your suggestion that theri houki l)e made • public a text of th egulations which will be necessary 1 >liitioniil Prohibition is carried, ltagula ions are made by the Governor-Genera n Council, and constitutional prnctic irohibits any Minister, or even Cabinet rom declaring the exact nature of th dvice to be tendered to His Excellenc: inon the happening of a possible event '"All that 1 can properly say is tha myself am at present tho priucipa aw officer of the Crown, and shall-to esponsiblo for the form of tho regula ions if the event happens, and also re ponsiblo to see that the spirit and in ention of the Act are given effect to md that I understand that spirit an< ntention to be that tho several churches iiul provincial branches of each church hall have no difficulty in the matter o he provision and maintenance to each o sufficient supply of wine for sacramon al purposes. And further, that the se urity rcqnired from each church, o: irovi'neial branch, for the prevention o iso for other than sacramental purpose hould be of such nature as ehould pre •ent that misuse, without hampering th mmediate and constant supply, or tin loldinc in the custody and control o ■ach church, and provincial branch, o hat sufficient supply." At the request of many Catholic read >vs, wo restate herounder the Church' losilion in regard to alcoholic liquors vith sundry additional matters, suggestei >y tho present state of tho drink pro!) em in this Dominion:— 1. The Catholic Church rejects as ; leresy the Mauichaean doctrine . tha vlcohol is, in its nature, an evil thing. 2. The Church recognises a right use ind thunders against tho wrong use o Irinks containing alcohol. In her eyes 'or instance, intemperance is a sin, am ho supplying of drink to intoxicate) icrsons is a crime of deep turpitude. 3. She believes in prohibition for in lividuals or communities who cannot, o vill not use alcoholic liquor in modern ;ion. ■ ■I. Tho Church steadily tonuses ho 'liildren to practise total abstinence. Pin S and other Popes have enriched wit! inccinl blessings, indulgences, nnd.othe irivileges the various total abstinone movements in many lands. But th Jliurch declines to violate chanty i>: ooking upon total abstinence as a ncces iavy mark of a good Christian, or (a Mohammed taught) a condition pf eterna salvation. (We may Jiere remark that in emperanco is very little known anion] he puiely wine-drinking populations o iotholic countries on Continenta Europe). ' , , , 5 In any and every legislative scliem if temperance reform the Church wmili lccessarily stand firmly for right jf worship, such as an assiiro supply' of wine for the celcbra ion "of the Holy Sacrifice of tho Ma*? .vhich is the soul and centre of Catnoli ife and devotion. The Church voiili ilso naturally stand for such rights jj justice as may be involved in any parti ■ilia:- scheme of temperance reform, sucli 'or instance, as adequate- compensate A-liere it is found to bo in justice duo \imrt from these rights of worshin pni if justice, neither the Church nor Catho ic theologians have defined either . o ; heso two following things: (n) The nun! num authority, below which the State cm ipver fall, in the matter of suppressini litemperance; nor (b) the maximum an hority nhich tho Stato can never rightl; >xceed, in the matter of.suppifesailg in entrance. Between the lower limit ani ■ho-upper limit, mentioned above, tlv •Mil of State interference is, in tin? mat ev of intemperance, what the limly of tii; ,eoplo wills that it shall be. "The State, .aye Father Eicknby, P.J., "thus become he organ of public opinion. There is i lear trend of public, opinion to widei iirlher and further still the region o Government control. . . . .In the natu al order of things the guardian of puljli noralitv is-public opinion, or (as in iln .•nnection it is called) the public con ciHice. ... On tho matter of tlr inner traffic wo find tho public confront ,1 liy a eliips interest; we have still Mop ,f tiio Statn Bt-oppiiiEt in to good oltcc hern." and .Moral Essay? !P \inoii!! tiip floknowledsMi nnd uiideni li'lo ovilo nrisiiiß out of tho drink tra.lhc s at parriod on. are (in variou i-'imlilp dpn-pes) the followinß:— , I. It is vlie opoasion of a scnou mount of vice nnd crime. •> U give--. ri«e to acoi'.siderable arioun t"(!i-Mse: and this, in turn, to a speci c drath-ralo. tho full ext"»t of wind ; not at present ascertiiiimble. :i. It oppnsions a grave amount of do ■cstui strife and misery. ■I If. occasions a- serious total econnim ;il loss in such directions us the followii": (a) Tn tho linmes ol'.ihe intemper to; (b) in the extra provision required ii police, in courts, in prison's nnd reirmiitorics. and in State and church or■hanages, for tin: direct and indirect ictims of drink; and (c) in lowered in-

dustrial efficiency and extra industrial and other accident arising out of overindulgence in alcohol.

Apart from mero arrests mid convictions, not one of these scries of classified evils is at present capable of statistical expression except to a quite insignificant extent.

By fur the grittier part of iho e-ils summarised above are in tho soeio-eco-tinmicnl or civil mid political order. As swell, they fall fully within the jurisdiction of the Slate. Within tho limits already several times mentioned, tho State (and the electors) have, on Catholic principle', a wide discretion in determining whether the drink traffic, as now carried on. is opposed 1o the "public welfare" mid "the temporary happiness of the citizens." With the same reservations the State, rr the public conscience, is (on Catholic principles) free to restrict further, to control, or to abolish, tho occasion or oaufe of the evils mentioned abovo-if it is satisfied Unit such restriction, control, or abolition is leouired in tlin public interest or for the temnorary well-being of the ;;eople, "Thi> use of intoxicating limior," says i)r. M'Govern, Catholic Bishop nf Chevenne. "in not wrong in'itself; but. on the other hand neither is its general use an indefinable right that may not bo forbidden or restricted by proper authority. Consequently, if. in practice, such izenerril use is found to be onposed to the public welfare, it ninv bn forbidden bv law. For the object of law. be

it noted, is not precisely virtue or morality, but the common good; jret j>3 the end of nil sovernmont is the temporary happiness of the citizans"

Personal Libery Question, Over a wide area of social relations ne.rson.il liberty must yield to what the Pope terms the "general prosperity and the common qood." Uvcry law. lxith human arid Divine, is a restriction on the liberty of the individual, with a view to spciirinir the greater liberty and welllieinsr of all. And such restrictions, by Stnto law, are justifiable when they are fnr the common ironrl and within the limits of the jurisd'etion of the civil authorities. Such, for instance, iwc the limitations imposed on individual freedom by State food control, by State regulotion of prices, by restrictions on u?efi'l though dangerous nr noxious trades, and bv statutes forbidding tho sale of nicoholic liquors in certain areas, or before or after given hours or on certain davs, or by unlicensed persons, or to minors, or aborigines or prohibited persons. Such restrictions are in no way opposed to Catholic, doctrines or principles : they aro purely n "civil and political business"; and they are part ond narcel of the exercise of the power vested in the State by the Creator of human society. Given due safeguardinE of rielirs of worship (which are. Grown Kit-Ms of God), and a proper regard for rights in justice, suYh further restrictions as Stote ownership and control, or national prohibition, are equally a secn ; lar and "civil and political business, which the State and the public conscience may fr»«ly determine, as the common' good of the people may <=eein to them to renuire. With time■ «me ■provisos it follows that the Catholic elector mav vote hereon as his individual judßmnnt may favour and his conscience mav dictate.

Free Opinion and Action. 4s far as was feasible, we have limited ouselves to the statement of principles end 0 certain outstanding facts covering this thorny problem of the traffic m alcoholic drinks. Outside and beyond these fa and principles there ,w or Any-Uan's-Land of debated and debatable matter which each Catholic must examine and determine for biuiselt. . . • The No Man's or Any-Mans Land, ot which we have just written above ui a re»iou of complete freedom or peuonal opinion and action. And of that ireedoin abundant use lias been made on every side both by our bishops, clergy, and people. A great part ot the Catholic hierarchy of Canada, for instance, favours National. Prohibition, bo too, do many Catholic bishops in the United States whilo others u-many are opposed to that measure, some of these las also many bishops elsewhere) favouring one or other of the systems of &tato control. •V considerable divergence of opinion also 1 "exists in Catholic journalism, the _ pronouncement made by groups of single i member-- of the Catholic episcopate upon various-..nd often opposite-sides ot this controversy, present the following general features:-(l) They all alike man; test a I true zeal for temperance; (2) all alike are weighty and conscientious presentments of tlWir several (often opposite) points of view;.(3) they naturally show no divergence in statements of Catholic doctrine, but differ greatly in matters of freo opinion, such as thosa referred to above; and (4), so far as wo are aware, not one of them professes to bind tho people, as a matter of precept and moral obligation, either to support or to reject this or that particular scheme of temperance reform. For Catholics, this question, as stated, is a fre? one, to be determined, in its last resort, by the individual conscience. Wo conclude with the following words from our first—words which are of general import and have a. special reference to present electoral isaue-s: "In this vital matter, as in education, the be'it of all campaigning cries is: 'Back to the child!' For all the voung-nnd for all of every ase-an excellent motto is: 'Mount tho water waggon, and slay there!'" Such total abstinence, as an act of religion and. good example, lias the warm approval and blessing of a series of the Suprenie Pontiffs of our Church.