Cause and Effect.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 116, 22 April 1885, Page 3

Cause and Effect.

Under the heading "Wellington Morality " a correspondent of the "Wimganui Chronicle writes as follows : -In your issue of this morning you quote from the Post and Now Zealand Times to show the desperate Btate of the City of Wellington as regards the social evil, drunkenness, and larrikinism. But to constant readers of these papery it looks very much like the devil preaching the Gospel. It is not very long ago since the Post advocated very strongly the keeping open of publichon.se 1 * to a very late hour ; and it is not very long ago «mc • the Post supported Mr Fitzherberl's Hill to legalise gambling on the racecourse and putting money Mn the totalisator, &c. The New Zealand Times followed m the same strain. The Times too takes a leading part m Freethought ami SpirituaiKsm. ■ Tho deplorable condition of things is simply the natural outcome of their own doctrine*. It is not quite good enough, to ask people to believe m thi'ir sincerity when one day they advocate the cause of the evil and the next the abolition ot the effect ■;- foster pnhlichouae ' keeping and late hours, and bolster up the racecourse aud its attendant evils, und then talk m a pious way about the growing evils iv the City of Welling- ! ton is like the jriou* man who prayed very fervently : "Oh Lord thy will be done, lint give me Betty." No, such goody-goody writing only show* ■what airant humbugs and hypocrites they are. Let those good papers ap- j peal, not to the philanthropic and religious of the community, whose faith rests on the Bible; but to the disoiples of Tom Payne, Voltaire, Ivo,and others of that school. Let freethought find a remedy. Let Mr Balance give us some legislation on the sub. ject that will ineet'the case. Let the Poland the Times go out and mis-; giou the streets of Wellington. Let the Post's proprietors take Te Aro j end, the proprietoi-s of the Times the J other end, Thorndon,! think you call is. Let the one preach Spiritualism and Freethought and tlio other, " We •won't go home till morning," '• The publichoußes are open yet," li Let ns hay« another glass," &c; and see how long they will be m reforming the ntievt 'Aralis and bring about a state .of >f>cietv better tban any we have had. In these days of advanced thought the ■ Bible is not good enough, its morals and teachings are antiquated and only tit for the narrow-minded and biijotted—not fit for our public schools at all events. lam anxiously awaiting that superior system that will take its place and effect a ■ better result. I am waiting till Freethought and Spiritualism reform the world, but then this will nerer be done till it is done by the gentlemen I have named. Under this admirable code the larrikins will disappear' from the streets. The social evil will never be heard of, and the old-fashioned churches, Sun day Schools, and Salvation Army will no longer be required to teach morals. Tho millenium will then have commenced m real caniost. :