NO-LICENSE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2235, 6 July 1908, Page 2

NO-LICENSE.

MR. H. D. BEDFORD'S LECTURE'. Mr. H. D. Bedford, M.A., L.L.D., who is visiting Gisborne on behalf of the No-License movement, delivered the first of a series of three lectures in His .Majesty’s Theatre last even ing. The heavy rain that fell daring the day no doubt had the effect of keeping a. lot of ..jynia.inhisors away from the meeting, bnt'desp to ihc inclement weather tliero was a Ijr’r audience. • Mr. John Townley ocunied 'tlio chair, and in introducing the ;ec:uror, said he was sorry ;o see such a small audience, hut he was sure these who had braved tlio elements nouJd hear a-better lecture tlnn the tvi .sillier justified. Mr. Bedford’s b-*r, ire was entitled, “What j.bo Mori.lists lunik of the Drink Traffic,.'’ >ud :n t'peaking to the question fiul lie wo.nd ay and show the relationship of the No-Lie-eiiGO movement 1.) ( lrbstiiii.ity. Before Christ rime tlnivsv.re many codes of morality which dealt with prohibitions, that said “thou shalt not do this, and shall not dp that,” but when Christ came He said “thou shalt do good,” and made morality a command. Christ said in the parable of tiie talents that “inasmuch as ye liave not done these things thou shalt receive condemnation.” He believed that it was the duty of Christians to exert themselves- in the cause of those who wore poor, in distress, or in any 'kind of need, and :it wap their duty to help tlioso who were stricken under the curse of strong drink. Wherever, there was a home in misery though excessive indulgence in alcohol there was a call from God to go and help to stamp out the curse'and the misery. Indulgence in alcohol and the liquor traffic were the strongest preventatives of the formation of a good character and a strong morality. It was of more importance to a country to have good, strong men and women, than good, strong, cotton goods, wollen goods, or hardware. It was strength of character that always made for national strength and national suprennicyj and when the national strength of character weakened, the paramo untey of the nation would he weakened with it. The decline of the -national character was the cause of the decline of tlio Roman Empire. Strong national character was the greatest asset a people could have, and without such character a- people could hope to have no success. The liquor traffic undermined the national character, the morals and the prospertv of the people. The liquor tradt ondcred lio contribution to the bene .its of society. The brewer and tlu publican pleaded it was not their fault that men drank to excess, bid wherever the public-house was there was also ,a police station and a policeman. The liquor, trade boasted that the hotels were .egularly visited by the trade every wc«'k; but lit would ask them what other trades wanted police supervision at all: No man ever advised his Gon to go to a public-house to get his education or any moral advancement. Even publicans-and brewers in many case: kept their sons, ’ wives and familiet away from the hotels. Drunken net.: was, in the opinion' of the head gaoler at Wellington, responsible foi 80 per-cent', of crime, and crime was nothing if not the overthrow' of the moral character. The Chief Justice of Great Britain said the principal cause uf crime was intemperance, and Judge -Hodges, of Victoria, declared that drink was responsible for more crime, sin and domestic unhappiness than all the other causes put together. A traffic that caused every crime in- the calendar had no right to exist. The -liquor traffic was cursing and blighting thousands of chil dren before they were boro. Statists showed that 82 per cent, of the hildr ?_n of total abstainers were •ound in constitution when they were born, whereas 73 per cent, of the children of excessive drinkers were unsound in constitution before they were born. It was necessary to look after the children. Innocent children were neglected, condemned, and handicapped in life by the intemperate habits of their parents. It *was a terrible fact that, alcoholism in either of the parents was a. fruitful cause of; crime in the child. When a traffic not-only destroyed the present generation, but destroved the generations to come, it should not be treated leniently,' but should V stamped out from every corner. He wished to know what' the people of Gisborne would do to save the children from drunkenness, for children were not born drunkards, but were drawn into the vice by its evil influences and temptations. In the NoLicense districts of Massachusetts 61 of out every 100 children went to the high schools, against 51 per hundred in the licensed districts. The liquor traffic was a pest that affected human boings, and the State took more energetic measures to\stamp out the codlm moth that attacked fruit than it did against a deadly pest that preyed upon the iuhabita'nte. (Applause.) / At the conclusion of the address a collection was taken up, and a vote of thanks was tendered to the speaker. This ovening Mr. Bedford will speak m the Theatre upon “What the Economist thinks of the Liquor Traffic.” Archdeacon Williams will occupy the chair.