Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, JAN. 29, 1898. Prohibited Persons.

Manawatu Herald, 29 January 1898, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, JAN. 29, 1898. Prohibited Persons.

In this Borough there are a few p ergon 9 qualifying themselves for fine and imprisonment, and when their sins are fcuad out no one will pity them. So very frequently are wa brought by the conduct of our neighbours to notice that many amongst us are unable to take of that cup which cheers and inebriates without getting inebriated, they lacking that strength of mind to say 11 hold, enough " when they have tasted of their favourite beverage. By too much indulgence of their liquor appetite they become in time a disgrace to themselves, their families and the district. It is just within the bounds of possibility that gome relation steps in and under the Liquors Act secures the intervention of the law, who, in the person of the Stipendiary Magistrate, issues a Prohibition Order so that the person named in such order, shall not during its currency, purohase or procure any fermented or spirituom liquor from any licensed person within any district ie which such prohibition order is in force. This step is seldom taken until all other step 3 have failed and it is not taken to punish the person against whom the order is applied for, but for his own salvation. It can be readily understood how unpleasant it must be to the relatives of such persons to apply for such orders, and thus the necessity for one becomes apparent by their application. Any friend of the person so unfortunately afflicted with dire desire for drink should be ex tremely thankful that the aid of the law h*d been obtained which at anyrate removed one source of tempfa^ tion from his path, the prohibition from entering a hotel, the place where his greatest temptation lay. But most unfortunately we find from experience that even in cas«3 where tha person has been a consenting party to an order being ipsued againat himself, heio surrounded by a class of men, calling themselves his friends, who defy the law and privately convey to him those spirituous liquors the law says he must not purchase from any licensed person. No right thinking person can call ibis friend ship, and if investigated it would be found that the men who urge on this unfortunate man to further drinking do so to secure a drink with him and at his expense. Such actions only show to what a low depth tha desire for drink will bring men to, that they would keep a fellow creature in a maudlin baastly state io that a cheap drink could be secured for themselves. This is no fancy sketch, it is just what is happening in this Borough to day and for very many days past. A complaint has been made to us that a man against whom a prohibition order has been for some time in force, has been for a whole week drunk, and that the drink has not been obtained by him from any hotel. Everyone else also knows the same or a similar ease, and the question arises if the hotelkeepors do not supply him with the liquor, which we feel confident they do not, who does ? From what we have been told and a good deal from what we have witnessed we feel sure that there are some misguided persons in our midst who pander to tha tastes of tha prohibited person and seoretly and for profit, of drink or money, obtain liquor and convey it to him. Now we have not the slightest expectation of appealing to any fine feelings, for those who would so wrongly act can only be persuaded to do right by fear of the law, and thus, as we said at the commencement of this article there are some amongst us who are qualifying themselves for fine and imprisonment. It is in order that the danger they run may cause them to stop tha degrading aotion they now take that we, write, for, they may assuredly reckon that when proofs art obtained and they appear before the Magistrate they will probably receive the heaviest punish ment the law allows, as thin was made kjaown by him when fining one man 4}5 for just such an aotion. To make the matter thoroughly plain we give tbe-seotion in the Act relating to this offence, in full : — " Every person wbo, knowing that anyone is the subject of a prohibition order, accompanies him into any licensed premises, or in any way, directly or indirectly, procures liquor fer hi», or lAi ltn or mliii him it

procure or drink liijuor, is liable to a penalty not exceediug £10. la any proceedings under this section the burden of proof Bhall be on the defendant to show that he did not know of the existence of such prohibition order." If such warning is neglected we trust that prompt and sure reckouing will overtake them as the work of those panderers to other's folly, ia moch more disgraceful than the folly of the prohibited ona.

Mr H. E. A. Cameron, in another column notifies that he has commenced business as a general commission agent and accountant, and as a practical rent and debt collector. This latter title sounds significant of intense earnestness,- and judging by the energy Mr Cameron has already displayed, it appears probable that clients will be satisfied with the returns obtained by him. There is nothing like being practical with hard cases. The Editor of a Berlin journal Kladderadaich, has been sentenced to two months' imprisonment for insulting the* Emperor. Latest reports from the Indian frontier are of an encouraging character. Khyber Pass has been reopened for caravans. An offer of £250 for the old residence at Otaki was accepted by the Wellington Education Board, the purohase money to be devoted to a new residence on the school site. Mr Hammond, of Waitohi, has a very fine crop of turnips. The next English and European mail via Vancouver will close at the local office on Wednesday, the 2nd day of February, at 8 p.m. Another mail via San Francisco also closes on Wednesday, the 19th Feb., at 8 p.m. Mr Andrew is busy cutting the oats on the Motoa Estate. The crop is not a particularly good one. Mr J. R. Montague, who is about to take a trip to the Old Country, was entertained at Palmerston on Tuesday evening. Mr H. J. Taper el, who was formerly on the staff of the N.Z. Times, and for the last seven years attached to the Sydney Daily Telegraph, and latterly on the editorial staff, has been appointed editor of the N.Z. Times. All the telephone posts are now erected between Foxton and the Motoa homestead. The great stock-taking sale at Mr F. Loveday's drapery emporium will be held in a few days when great bargains will be offered. An advertisement to that effect will appear in our next issue. The residents of Tokomaru will give a farewell to the Rev. S. Barnett on Friday week, and the Shannon congregation will give one to him on the 16th February, and the Foxton congregation on the 22nd Feb. The decree commissioning the French mint to issue the new silver coins has been made, and in six weeks from date the new pieces will be in general circulation. The design is novel and unique— on the one side is a lady m a Frigian cap sowing seeds of some sort, and on the other side the seeds have grown into a bunch of something that look 3 like mistletoe with berries on it. . Sir Thomas Mcllwraith has succeeded in destroying his reputation. A'though a member of the Queensland Ministry he formed a secret partnership with tha manager of the Queensland National Bank, a semi-state institution, and without the knowledge of the Bank's directors used the Bank's money in wild speculations. The net result is a loss of £260,000 to the Bank. Mr Edmund Osborne's replaced advertisement will appear m our next issue. It refers to the important fact that the annual stock-taking sale commences at the Centre of Commerce on the Ist February, and will continue for a fortnight. Some quotations are given show the chances that are being given to buy a lot of drapery for a little money. Mr B. Spelman has two four-roomed cottages to let.