BOOKS V. BEER.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 27, 16 September 1882, Page 2

BOOKS V. BEER.

, • ♦ Oub Waaganui neighbors are much exercised over the number of lunatics thaC~ day by day declare themselres on this West-Omsk JJo regsonabl^ pan7*ffcny experience can doubfc ihat id feany cases of madness or idiotcy, the first contributing cause has been strong 4?ink,, either direct or by heretage from pVrent:* oT intemperate habits. As to why men drink, the best rtply ever giren yet to the queition is Btbon's— " Man being reasonable, must get drunk." Very few men begin 1 to drink from a liking of the thing itself, ; except where the craving is hereditary. I& most instance's social meetings and the social glass lay the foundation of the disease. A common cause is also found in a- so-called unhappy ; home.. . When this is closely examined into, it is often found that drink has already been at wprk therein. No. woman of any spirit, independence, or ordinary delicacy can possibly welcome a man who comes home recking with the fumes of drink and foul tobacco smoke. She may par-

don an isolated offonce. ,bnt the habit I of excess grtfats on the finhapjgy man, the .most, amiable and gentle woman may be changed into a scoMinfc-, virago. What might, under other circumstances have been a happy time, is ciiajnged intq a den 6f «nisery. Then, are tjie^mseranle man and Y unhappy woman justified in their own foolish minds in seeking comfort in the insensibility of intoxication, each blaming the other for making home miserable and unattractive? It becomes, at this stage, merely a matter of time — the inevitable madness or death. Children ; born of such parents are nearly always i drunkards, and if they are not from accident of their surroundings, from good exam fries,' or inability- td gratify the passion, they develop some new evil from ■ mental aberration, and become criminals in. a hundred ways. Let us reverse the picture, and see something more pleasant. We will take tbe home of a man of . moderately studious habits — that is, a man who likes to read a newspaper or a magazine, or books of travel aud fiction, or perhaps he may choose literature of a higher character. This man has always before him good «x imples, for there are very few works of fiction written where virtue not rewarded and vice punished. The reading of one book excites a desire for another. The wife of such a man must be comparatively happy, . and will therefore make every effort to make her home comfortable and attractive to her husband. Their children,, continually having the benefit of good: examples before their eyes, must grow upi i steady and respectable members of the j society, and a blessing to the community. ' It is the duty of every one who has tbe \ interests of his fellow-men at heart, to I promote so desirable end as the rearing of good citizens. One of the easiest and best ways to encourage men to avoid the stimulant of drink is to find a stimulant to the mind by providing plenty of useful and entertaining reading matter — by the establishment of Public Libraries, where there are attractions- for everybody whose inclinations lean in that direction. This is not a question for one or two to take up. It is the duty of every one who has " a soul above buttons " to assist in promoting such a desirable object. The money that each would have to contribute is so small, and the correspondiug advantages so great, and so. well-known, that it is a matter of surprise that so much difficulty is experienced in getting a Public Library in Feilding, where it is so urgently needed. All that is necesiary is combined action among a few for several months, to secure such an object, and it is the <iuly of the clergy, and the better-informed of the citizens, to m ke an imm< diate movement in so desirable a direction. •-<