FEILDING.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 58, 9 May 1877, Page 3

FEILDING.

0 dPERANCE LECTURE BY fcttHE HON. W. FOX. meetings ever held i^^Sok place on Monday evening, 30th. April, m connection with the Feilding Total Abstinence Society. As lad been previously announced the Hon. Wm. Fox delivered his inaugural lecture as President of the Society. The Rev. Mr Jones, on being voted to to the chair, m a few appropriate remarks introduced the hon. lecturer. Mr Fox- on coming forward said that perhaps some of the Feilding people might ask why he wa's present that evening. ' In answer to which he said, that m the first place he had been invited, m the next place he had had the honor of having been elected President of the Society, and also as an old colonist who had watched with great interest the progress of the Colony for the last thirty .years. He then referred to the early settlement of the Colony, and the enterprising spirit of the colonists, who brought with them health of body and soundness of mind, which would have enabled them successfully to overcome the difficulties of colonisation; but deeply regretted that along with these, ■ m the hold of every vessel that came, there was brought that which weakens and impairs all the physical and mental energies, viz., strong drink. He had. looked upon Feilding as a~promising settlement, and had. hoped at one time that the curse of public houses would have been averted from it. He came to Feilding personally when the first public house was proposed, m order to prevent; if possible the license being granted, and would, he believed, have been .successful had he only been a little earlier m the field. A march, however, had been stolen on him by those favoring the interests of the publican, who had secured the necessary signatures before his arrival. In this*way the people had sanctioned "the admittance of an evil which to-day many of them would be only too glad to abolish. He then spoke respectively of the causes of drunkenness and the remedies that should be applied. The immediate cause he traced to the publican, who across the counter dealt out the stupifying potion to the poor victims who frequented his bar. In passing through ' Edinburgh m his travels he visited a training institution, where the following story was told : — In the days of Cromwell a trumpeter was thrown violently down the stone staircase, and falling upbn a certain step received injuries which proved fatal to him. And now is to be seen all the steps worn away -by the trampling, of the boys, but this particular one remaining square and smooth as m former years, not a boywQuld be found to touch it, because theW'Sb^ blood upon it. With a~f eeling Very much akin to . this he crossed the threshold of a public house. The primary cause, however, he traced to the _ wholesale . dealers, who occupy the first seats m the Senate, and who roll m ;fcheir golden carriages— the fruits ' of their unrighteous gains. The remedy for these r . evils he thought was a very simple one. ~ Remove the drink from the people if you cannot remove the people from the drink. To prove the efficacy of this remedy, he cited the condition of several states and towns he had personally visited, both m America and England, 1 and m every instance the result was all that the most sanguine social reformer could desire. These states and towns were all characterised by an ab- . sence of crime, destitution, and above all of policemen. So long as the tempta- . tions remained, he saw no remedies for the evils that invariably attend them. Remove the cause^ and as a matter of ■course the effect must cease. He expressed his intention of bringing m a Bill during the next session of Parliament, for the purpose of mitigating the evils of the liquor traffic; and he earnestly requested the hearty co-operation of all who have at heart the social and moral well being of their adopted land. Theßev. Mr McGREGOBin proposing a vote of thanks supported the lecturer . m what he had said, referring more particularly to the financial phase of the question. In turning up soitie statistical 1 statements he came across the report of a committee that had been specially appointed to investigate the matter m ; the Home country, The result of which showed that m some cases the amount spent inrstrong drink reached as highas j 60 per cent., , m some 30, and m the lowest 20, He could not help applying this, not only to lew Zealand, but also

to FeildingV and found that according to the lowest standard, a sum little short of £100 per week went out of Feilding forthis one thing alone. He was pleased to hear the hon. lecturer express his intention of still following out the same policy m this matter which had characterised his parliamentary career m former years. The motion was seconded by Dr. Johnston, which was carried by acclamation. A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings.