FAST LIFE IN DUNEDIN.

Evening Star, Issue 3742, 19 February 1875, Page 2

FAST LIFE IN DUNEDIN.

To the Editor. Sib, —Some little time since I remember reading in the Star an article dealing with fast life iu Dunedin and the enormous amount of immorality and vice which is to be found in the midst of us, and knowing tins not to be an overdrawn picture, and having had opportunities of judging the cr.ines I wish briefly to state what lies at the root of all tills. e are all aware effect must have a caus ■, and many are inclined to attribute the cause of this, or a great part of it, to the laxity of law as regards immorality, and the f-ct that “fast young men ” are placed on (he same footing in society as steady ones; and also think that a cure would be found if the ladies, especially the younger ones, wire to mark their disapproval of such conduct by a system of severe snubbing till they became model young men again, content not to stray from the paths of rectitude but to become patterns of good behaviour. Now people who reason thus only aliow the primary cause of this fastness to lie the inherent depravity of human nature, which they say has a natural love of vice bred in it. I however, attribute most of it to a very different cause, \iz., the want of a proper means of relaxation from the cares of business It ; s a fact 1 have both felt and noticed that after getting through a hard day's work, when there has been a constant strain on the mental powers, mere rest will not satisfy a man’s nature: it craves for a reaction cf some kin 1 and there are two kinds to satisfy it The most natural, best, and, in fact, the proper remedy is harmless amusement, whether it comes m the shape of a concert, a mixed entertainment, or a social gathering of friends. Dunedm, more than any other town in the

friends ; and Dunedin contains, without excep tion, the most reserved, unfriendly, an'! cliquish people to be met with in any town o. city in New Zealand, therefore the least likely for anyone to make friends amongst. As foinnocent and enjoyable amusements, there is a very decided scarcity of them. The othei resource, then, is one winch unfortunately has too much fascination and attraction, and comes in the form of the hotel, the billiard room, the theatre, and the company of minimal women The.'C pi (sent an amount of fascination an' 1 impure enjoyment which ivquiie the most nr > and deteimined mind to resist, especially wins: there is no moral curb in the way of religion, frieuas, or relatives. Now how could a system of severe snubbing and shunning be applied, supposing the ladies to be willing to do it, when moat of the guilty ones were oat of its read), and those within its influence perhaps only to be guessed at ? It is also an impossibility to make men moral by law, even the most stringent; for, as soon as one means of dissipation is blocked, others equally bad, if not worse, will supply its place, that is, so long as no counterbalancing influence is initiated. Men may be led from tbeii vices by moral influence, or by virtuous attractions, but will never be driven from them by law or exposure. The proper, and in fact the only remedy is to devise some innocent moans t# enjoyment which will exert an influence for and be a counterbalance to the attractions and allurements I have recounted above, and till this is done, I sadly fear the Dunedin young men will not lose the appellation of “fast.”—l am, &c., . ’ Niger. Dunedin, February 15.