CORRESPONDENCE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2296, 15 September 1908, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

[Correspondence on public matters is welcomed at nil times, but it must bo''vlistinctly understood that this journal is in no way associated with "tlio opinions of its correspondents.] . QUlt MEMBER. [To tub Editor.] Sir, —I notice dur member at 'tho 'Parliamentary party lunch given at tlio Tauherenikau racecourse said a close inspection of running at every meeting is desirable. Somebody sii .uld,: ’be. on .the,.spot: to watch the horses.’ Is this what .we send «i member to Wellington for? I have seen it mentioned that Minister's are sadly overworked. 1 think so, too, and 1 ■'thirds there is room lor. another inenrber in the Cabinet. I should suggest that there be a new portfolio added, namely, Minister of Races, and who could better All it than Tima .Kara? —-I am, etc,, ■ “SPIELER.” P.S.—I don’t mean the human race —they don't count. —“S.” TRUE TEMPERANCE AND NO LI CENSE. [To the Editor.] Sir.—l thank Me P. G. Andrew for liis kindly criticism; I also wis.li to avoid controversy, yet there are a few, points in Air. Andrew’s letter which seem to demand attention. . I know, of course, that the man with the drink craving in his bodily tissues will not stop anywhere in getting alcohol; and that the more removal of easy access to his poison will not arrest his destruction; yet I look back on his past lifo, and thnik I see those early days when, easy access led him into, first the indulgence of a depraved appetite, and from that into the establishment of a habit' and I cannot but think of the fact that if access to stimulants had not been so easy for him, and if those who thought they were his friends had dono their best do stop and warn, instead of praising and encouraging him, he ought never have become what he is ..}

My opinion is that the habitual inebriate “should” bo shut up, not in a cage, as Mr. Andrew says, but in a home; and “thou- slialt ; not” “should” be branded upon liis mind. It is the only way to-save him, he has -a bodily and mental disease; -and it should be treated as ate,other diseases.

Shattered nerves from over-smok-ing, and impaired digestion from overdrinking of tea (which, by the" bye, is not a- “narcotic,” as. Mr. Andrew says i t is) I have seen : but never the undermining of the moral sense, and the crimes of violence and the waste of money which alcohol in excess brings with it. Even morphine and cocaine, those twin devils, have not tho same horrible power to make a man dangerous to others that alcohol lias. Mr. Andrew touches on the old, old question, “does, the sty make the pig, or the pig make.the sty,” which will perhaps never be answered in oiio way or the other; because - both are true. I may point out that Mr. Andrew -himself, in spite of his declaration of belief that poverty causes intemperance, yet- appears immediately afterwards to cancel that declaration by saying that drink is as common to wealth as to poverty. I would remind Tiiin, by the way, that the possensiou of wealth does not mean that a mail is a gentleman, a man with self-respect and'respect for others; and that in the West End of London amongst gentlemen excessive indulgence- id- alcohol is now regarded as ungentlemanly, whatever the wealth of the individual may be; formerly this was not the case.

When all is said, the proportion of wages which goes in drink .amongst the iudustrial'classes in the Old Country “is” such as to muse poverty, as thousands of wives will testify, and this in spite of the fact that thereare others of the same class who do not spend an undue proportion of their wages in drink. Alcohol may be' a “comfort” to many; that is it may be termed a “permissible indulgence”; it is scarcely ever a necessity ; and, in my own humble opinion, everything which de.monstrates to all young men this fact is good, and everything which makes it less easy and less popular for him to begin this indulgence is a step in the right direction. I hope wo have by now given up scoffing at the total -abstainer; he may abstain only from motives of se'f-regard, because he finds liishealth it i'tts best that way ;bnt he may also; seeing his brother offend in this matter, feel as did . Paul; of Tarsus with regard to any other “permissible indulgence,” “If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth”; and this in spite of the fact that such indulgence might be a “comfort” or even-.a beuefit to himself.—l am, etc., GERARD SMITH. NO-LICENSE.” [To the Editor.] Sir, —It is pleasing to read the sympathy that is being accorded the No-license movement by many of the kb,or unions of the Dominion, and it'is to bo regretted that there are u, few who stand aloof, and will ■not commit themselves to any definite policy. Why this should he &o it is hard to understand, seeing that the worker has to gain and nothing to lose in supporting a measure that is decidedly to his advantage. The opportunity is one which every worker in the district should 'not fail to. support and show they -are in earnest in the matter of reforming and bettering their conditions. A short time ago one of the party said to me that No-license if carried would improve the value of property, and therefore he could not give his whole-hearted support to it. The liquor party (deeply concerned?) were crying out “that it would depreciate the value of property,” and as they -are so ready to catch Hold of any straw that might give them a new lease of license, the above may be useful to them, for they are ever ready to cluth at anything and everything regardless cf truth -and equity, if they- think it will -answer their purpose in their endeavors to get clear of the rocks -and breakers which will eventually wreck them. If the banishment of the liquor traffic will improve the value of property then it will' certainly improve the conditions of the workers, for it ig common knowledge that the worker is degraded by the presence of the liquor traffic; and has not this traffic been carried on long enough without further prolonging this degredat-ion? Does the drink traffic elevate the.worker, or make his present condition any the happier? “Unity is strength” is the fortress of the labor party, but as long as we have iveaklings in the party that arc constantly being unfitted for service by the liquor 'tirade, we shall never bo impregnablo from assault or destruction, for it cannot bo denied tint it is the liquor 'traffic that breeds drunkards and weaklings-, makes cruel husbands and unkind fathers, breaks women's hearts, and degrades children, fills our penitontaries, our -alms-houses, and our gio'.s, and stands' and laughs with callous imlifforenco at all the ruin it creates, and with cruel, effrontery seeks to befoul those who attempt to lift it up and ameliorate the degraded condition of its own victims. And wherever these conditions exist they are the dry rot that is eating into and destroying the foundations on which the labor' party is seeking to build its temple of equity -and justice. -I am. etc., “LABOR ITE.”