To THE EDITOR OF THE MANAWATO HERALD

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 13 June 1890, Page 2

To THE EDITO R OF THE MANAWATO HERALD

Siß,~Mr#. Knott of Auokltnd der , livered one of Mr J. B. Gongh's lectures on temperance, on Friday , night, iti- the Primitive Methodist Chapel ; and If eel sure that all who h_d> t_s pleasure of hearing hin_ . will admit that tbey had a treat far beyond their. expectations.^. Mr Knott's elocutionary pbwei s are very- great ; and it-is not fal_e to say, that ha possesse** the qualifications necessary to a temperance lecturer in a very , high 'degree. Be has tlie happy knack of keeping the attention ofbis audience fixed upon him ; and one feels it a loss if but one word escape, hishear ■ins. It is a pity that Mr Knott had not a larger audience on Friday night, but as b^e M coming b*- k again shortly, no doiibt all those who we a unfortunate enough to "be absent will then be present Mr Knott is Well qualified to rouse and bestir tjiose who think the drink questiou a' light matter. It is without doubt .thigrtyMi evi|_ofthe present time, and i^aotattftoge that our legislators, fsaad other* in authority can tolerate such' a terrible evil in their midst, 'when it is within their power fco sweep it clean away ? On this point I disagree whh Mr Knott, (and niaiiylfll temperance leoturera are of K» opini^tt), i. c. that we 'must W_it. fbt some time, before we can do ."-^j 4 ; with the drink traffic altogether. If they mean that we must wait *»jsl wa.gefc the majority on our side, than wa hare that al. ready, and jye need not wait another year, aiousands of tfioie' who give all their, -earnings to the publican, who makip the public house their home because they have no other, would onljf l?e too glad to see every public jgogiaf in the laod closed, as t-^sajr.ofintbxicating liquors aire cory_erged. - They know, and ad ofi*, that flic pubic house is their ..ruin, but they ara too weak to resist the temptation put and kept io their way by those who * have the power, b.t want the will to remove it Now this is just what has to be done, the temptation must be removed. Prohibition pure and Btmple is what is wanted : wanted by the majority ef drunkards, and by the majority of the population. A gentleman who had been behind the scenes in Wellington told me, that even in the House, they had a majority in favour of prohibition. But says he, very gravely.., if such an Aot was passed, . the people would "rise en *nasse. It would, ac-ording to him, be interfering with the liberty of the subjects, fancy interfering with the liberty of the brute who starves his wife and children, to satisfy his own unnatural icrayings, and beats, and abuses them for cpmplainiug, beqausewe pass an ; Act preventing him doing so. As for the people rising to uphold the drink traffic, it is too absurd *'o giv** it a thought, and if they did they .would be on the losing sides, as tlv>se who rose in America to uphold slavery, were. — Sir; we must make ■this driuk question more of a political on©. It is true that many had been returned to Parliament who professed to be in favour of prohibition, btrtfthey did not think it a burning question, and therefore nothing came of it. Our member while addressing the electors the other ni-^ht told ns that we had no burning questions in New Zealand. But when we reflect that we spend two rnilliohß ol .noney yearly upon " intoxicating^ liquors, ■which not only doe. no good, but does an incalculable lot of barm. It fills our jails, our asylums and our Cemeteries!' It turns wise men into fools, and keeps good men walking in policemen's coats, to look after them, who would be better employed with 'their coats off clearing the land from scrub. And then when we think what could be done with two millions of money, spent in a proper, proper way every year "What a number of people it would settle on the land? What employment it 'wailed give ? And how it would help io increase our population ?- No one s this better than our politicei«_t*ryet thovdo not think this drink question ajbyrning one. Why should not tlie Premier of the Colony atump tbe country on thia greab question ; (he is, t believe a toM abstainer*. Why should not Sir Eobert Stout do the same ? It is bsoause they do not think it a burning question. Yet it is a- far greater evil than protection Was in England*. When John Bright A Cohjden went through the country 'prehpfcibg the . doctrines of Free T^rXde. Wbat ia the aim of all l^tgUhen ? ie it not to make the '. '. ".*'»'■ ■„• . „ 7 .•■ : 7. . it ■■ . i-. ■ : ■ • ■■ '.'ii.:' • fi. \ V'

leople happy and prosperous, yet walee pur representatives in every* 3essio_t of Parliament wrangling >ver question of little br no impoV iance, whilst the happiness of •housand. are mkrred ; and their prosperity reta ded by this awful jurae the Drink traffic I have, &c„ -■■"'« AvlfcLeofc *