Page 3 Advertisements Column 1

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1612, 27 November 1905, Page 3

PRELIMINARY ADVERTISEMENT. WILLIAMS & KETTLE, LTD., Aro instructed by Mr W. J. MoOliaklo to oiler by Publio Auotlon, At an EARLY DATE, HIS VALUABLE PROPERTY AT MANQAPAPA, Conaliiting ol about 30 ACRES FIRST-GLASS BUILDING SITES Moaily fronting Ormond Road) Now being Subdivided into Suitable Areas.

JUVENILE DRUNKENNESS. WHAT THE MATAUBA ENSIGN BASS

0 Gore. Tuesday, August 22,1905. a A T the risk of having our motives misa interpreted, and being ourselves de--1 nounoed as endeavoring to forment an agitation in favor of the liquor party, we deem it j a duty owing to sooiety at largo, though , possibly having more particular application | to the local community, that something should be done to expose the distressing extont to whioh juvenile drinking and juvenile drunkenness are now rampant In our midst. Some months ago the moral sense of the publlo was considerably shocked by a return forwarded to the Premier by Mr Wesley Spragg, a well-known Auckland temperance reformer, containing the result of observations direoted upon the drinking habits of the young men of that oity. Thosejwho have any regard for the future of our oolony must have learned with feelings of unmixed sorrow that youths of seventeen and eighteen had been seen visiting hotel bais, many of them being under the influence of liquor. But what shall bo said of the condition of matters suoh as prevails in Gore under whioh boys of from twelve to fifteen become intoxicated ? It is diffioult to approaoh a problem like this dispassionately, seeing the tremen- | dons issues there are at stake; and while we address ourselves to the task, fully oonsoious of the gravity of the evil to be exposed,, the feeling is a strong one that for the credit of the distriot much or all should be left unsaid. We am persuaded that it is the prevalence of this same reluctauoe to uncover AN UNSIGHTLY BLOT

that baa kept the subjeot beneath the surfaoe of general diaous3lon for bo long. However, the ugly fact must bs faced that boys In Gore are being ensaared by tho liquor habit. That this will be seized upon with avidity by opponents of no-ucense as evidencing the failure of reform goes without saying. But, on the face of it, juvenile drinking is not a natural oorollary of Do-lioense. It is due first of all to the perverseness of human nature—the inexplicable sentiment which forms the basis for the incontrovertible truism that siolen fruits are sweetest. Further than that, advocates of no-lioense in compassing the abolition of one particular system, with its elaborate ramifications of restrictive legislation, have failed to recognise that the moat complex system of all, human nature, has not been sensibly changed. The closing of the open bar does not entail the extinguishing of thalappetite for liquor. Tho d. inking habits of the people (though admittedly considerably diminished), woich indulged in reoognised centres under police and publio supervision, are now practised promiscuously, and the .absence of oversight is THE GREATEST MENACE they have to offer. Therefore, if there waß need for vigilance before on the part of those who had the moral and physical welfare of their fellows at heart, that need has since gained tenfold in intensity. Failure to recognise this faot, rather than any shortcomings of no.license as a system, has been responsible for the evil to which we have essayed to direct thoughtful attention. It is indeed terrible to think tbat even a few youths on the golden thre.-hold leading from boyhood to man’s estate are being marred by the habit of drunkenness, and if euoh were the inevitable sacrifice to be made for the purpose merely of saving a few topers from the coosequences of their lifeloag folly, we should unhesitatingly proclaim in favor of a return to the open liquor bar. But more than a few boys are cmoeraed. Thera is every reason to believe that the

MISCHIEF IS WIDESPREAD, and, aa from the force of oircumstanoeß it is driven underground, the diffiaolty of coping effectively with it is vastly increased. It is not confined to a olaaa that la morally depraved or naturally perverse. Parents in all ranks of sooiety, whose ohildren have received the most careful training, have had causa for grief in this matter, and there are many, doubtlsSß, for whom the shock of rude awakening to the praotioss of their sons la still reserved One of the most fruitful sources of this crying evil ip the ease with which liquor mav be impoited into no-license districts, and the apparent lack of discrimination as to the persons suoplrd. Admitting that possibly the drink that fo.ma the groundwork for these

JUVENILE ORGIES (many of whiob have beooroe notorious) may not amount to muah ia point of quantity, it is the fact that it comes into the possassion of boys at all that needs explanation. It is possible to oope with this hideous traffic, however. In the first plaoe, parents should exercise the fullest possible control over their families and maintain the utmost v gilanos in regard to their habits and companionships. The efforts of jthe police Bhonld be directed specially to the prevention and deteotion of JUVENILE DRINKING and the public at large should make It a MATTER OF DUTV and honor to encourage the strictest fulfilment of the law. Unless action is taken along these lines, the fruits of the temperance reforms of to-day will turn to ashes in the degradation of the manhood of to-morrow. To save the boys iB the whole objeot of what has already been aooomplißhed. Around us the field is white unto harvest. The laborers are many and willing, it is true, but they cannot have realised the nature of the task that is lying to their hands.

RAMS FOR SALE. WE are now booking orders tot BAMS as under, from beat-known Looa and Southern Bpeodera: LINCOLNS ENGLISH LEIOESTEBS BORDER LEIgESTEKS BOMNEYS SHROPSHfRES SOJJTHDOWNS COHBIBDALES MERINOS

WILLIAMS AND KETTLE, Ltd. OPOTIKI DISTRICT. FIRST CLASS FARMS TO BE SOLD CHEAPBK IA B TER ACRE FINE D -i" FARM of 500 aores, fenced into 10 subbiviaions; 350 acres good grasß, 100 aores very useful bush, 50 aores s'*amp permanent water in every paddook. Will now carry 1000 sheep. House, 5 rooms dairy cowshed, bnggyshed, eto Bohool, 2 miles; oreamery, 4 mips. Price, £5 10s per aore, on EASY TERMS, viz , £SOO oash, balance 5 years at 5 per cent.

PER ACRE RICE SEASIDE oWO LAND, 250 aoreß unimproved 50 aorea first class flax and ti-trea swamp, easily drainable; balance good dry land, excellent for grass or root orops; J easily plonghable. Harbor frontage; school 1 mile ; wharf and post and telegraph offioe, 2 miles creamery, 3 miles. Pnco, £3.. per aore. Terms : One-fiftb oasb, balanoe in 3 years at 5 per oent. SAMUEL VAILE AND SONS, Land and Estate Agents, Land Auctioneer , aud Vainers, 95, QUEEN STREET, AUCKLAND. S TO POULTRY FARMERS. ITTINGS of Black Orpington Eggs, from prize-winners; 10s 6d a setting. 3. WALKER BAIN. MpNJSI TO LENg M' ONEY TO LEND on Freehold Securities. 3. BLAIR. 6olioitor,| Gladstone Road.