UNITED FREE TEMPLARS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 173, 13 July 1876, Page 4

UNITED FREE TEMPLARS.

At a recent meeting of the Order, held at Onebunga, an was delivered by a Mr, Cox, from which we extract the following j— " The Order is a Colonial organ isa tion, free from American bias ; all its arrangements from first to last are in harmony with Colonial tastes and modes of thought ; and if at any time there should arise a|necessity for constitutional or other amendments, we are not obliged to cross the Pacific for permission to act. In tbe matter of abstinence and prohibition we enjoin co-operation, and, if thought desirable, affiliation with agencies having for their object the accomplishment of the same great work. We do not aim at the overthrow or absorption of other reformatory institutions. Whilst we may be permitted to think highly of our Order in the hands of the Supreme, by which He is accomplishing the purpose of His love, we nevertheless desire not to think more highly of it than we ought to think. Our officers do not disparage the labors of the men who have gone before them in the temperance field, nor is it in any part of our programme to repudiate the self-deny-ing exertions of those who decline to prononnce the Shibboleth of caste. If there is a Temperance Society in the town, we say support it all you can — attend ils meetings, encourage its officers, and assist its funds. If there is a Band of Hope, we commend it to the kindly consideration of the Lodges. We never counsel the formation of a rival Band. If there is an Auxiliary to the United Kingdom Alliance, we rally round its flag ; and it is a bright feature in the history of our Order that all its leading men are to be found identified with every Order of Temperance. And why ? — Because, instead of issuing an Order in Council prohibiting affiliation with other Temperance Associations, we strongly recommend fraternal cooperation with every other branch of temperance. I must say in conclusion, that Good Templarism has done good in some Lodges where charity was properly exercised ; but I am convinced tbat, had the same Lodges been working under our Constitution, ten times the amount of good would have been the result. ' A nobler or more moral object than that contemplated by our Order never called true men and women together in council }' and, with God's blessing it will be the means of making thousands of drunkards' homes happy by bringing them into our Lodges. Our principles and policy are making rapid progress in all parts of the colony. Our friends of the Order have only to he steadfast, immoveable, depending on the Lord for strength and His blessing on their efforts, and a glorious success will be the happy result."