TEMPERANCE MEETING.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 45, 21 February 1878, Page 2

TEMPERANCE MEETING.

Advantage was taken last night of the Rechabite Conference -which has recently met iu Nelson to hold a " monster " Temperance meeting, and the anticipation of hearing two such well-known public speakers as Messrs Fox and Saunders attracted a very large audience, notwithstanding the unpleasant state of the weather. The chair was taken hy Mr J. T. Smith, who tpok the opportunity of referring to the Order of Reehabites, and produced statistics showing that there were a much smaller percentage of its members in receipt of sick pay than in those Friendly Societies which did not adopt teetotalism as their leading principle. Mr A. Saunders then called Brother W. T. Bond on to the platform, and presented him In the name of the Good Templar Lodges in Nelson with a handsomely bound edition of Staunton's works of Shakspeare, aud in doing so referred in well-chosen terms of the highest praise to Mr Bond's untiring and unassuming efforts to promote the cause "of temperance, his patient continuance in welldoing, aud his unswerving- adherence to the paths of rectitude and virtue. When the volumes now presented to him were handed down to his children they would show to them that their father's services in the good cause were not unappreciated by his fellowcitizens. Mr Bond briefly returned thanks, saying that r.om its commencement he had been connected with the Good Templar organisation, which had now become so fairly established in Nelson. He had met with many and great difficulties, wFch at times quite disheartened him, but he should take fre3h encouragement from this token of the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and continue to persevere in hia endeavor to remove the cause of misery from those families which were now suffering from the evils of intemperance. He wished more of the people of Ntlaon especially those of education, such as the Bishop and clergy, would join their Lodgas, where, from the homely way in wl-'ch they could speak to those they there met, th«y would, he was sure, be the means of doinf much good. The Hon. W. Fox, avlio was received with loud cheers, said that he had great satisfaction iu addressing an audience in Nelson where he had been a resident for many years in the hard old times. He had been here on several occasions since then, and had always made a point of visiting the institutions of the i own, amongst which were the lunatic asylum and the gaol, which, but for other institutions which were spread broadcast over the place (he referred of course to the public houses) would not be required. Some might say to him aud tho; - e with him on the platform that night; What right have you teetotallers to come here bothering us with your I ideas, and tormenting us before our time? He would reply that they had no such intention, but that they were there to expriss their sympathies with them, and to enter their protest generallyagainst drinking habits and tlie i: ciuor traffic. They had a right to do this as members of the great human j family, as colonists and taxpayers, and as fathers of families, and he wished it to be understood that they were waging war not only against drunkenness but against drinking in moderation as well. Nearly all the crime aud open vice, the destitution aud poverty, a large portiou ot the sickness, and nearly all tlie misery they saw around them arose directly from the drinking habits of thc^ people, and lie would gr-irautee that not.ung that could be said by the most fanatic teetotaller could come within a thousand miles oi the evils i„ bo traced to this cause. Ihe number of hearts it had broken, of lives it had shortened, and of, souls it

had destroyed would never be known until that day when the secrets of all hearts would be made known. The pecuniary loss it occasioned was enormous. In the United Kingdom no less than 140 millions sterling were spent upon drink every year, or nearly double the whole cost of governing the British I«les, being an average of £4 per head for every man, woman, and sucking child. In this colony with a population of •130,000 the amount expended on drink was over two millions, or as much as the whole consolidated revenue. We grumbled at the actual taxation we had to pay, but snapped our Angers at the £5 per head we spent oa drink. It was the little dropdrinker who contributed moat to this total, the man who took his glass of sherry over a bargain, his little drop before going to bed, or his glass of beer with his dinner. The laborer earning his £1 00 a year spent £9 5s a year on his single glass of beer per day reckoning it at sixpence per glassspent, that was, one -tenth of his iucome on drink for himself without consulting his partner in the firm— his wife— who was left at home to darn tho stockings by the light of a farthiug rushlight. Look at the neglect of the children, the waste of power, the waste of wealth that were to be traced to drink. Were not these a sufficient argument to induce them to rouse themselves and look the evil in the face? That a very large proportion, if not all, of the crime with which the law courts had to deal was owing to drink was now generally allowed. Testimouy was borne to th's fact by the Judges of the higher Courts, grand juries, Justices of the Peace, governors of gaols; and superintendents of workhouses. But for drink we might do away with the police, who were nothing, but the fighting barmen of the public houses. If a landlord had a rowdy customer or a man too drunk to drink any more in the house he called in a policeman to turn him, out. Instead of watching the public houses and' dealing with the consequences of the publichousen the police might bo put behind the plough, or turned to some other useful account. Mr Fox then dealt with the saritary branch of the subject, and quoted Sir Henry Thompson, Sir W. Gull, and Dr B. Kichardson to show that alcohol was not' only an unnecessary but a harmful drug, J>r', Richardson's verdict being that it is ''an agent as potent for evil as it is helpless fo?" good." The question was how thiß great evil wst to grappled with, how they were, to get rid of this skeleton which was to be found in the cupboard of every family — of those of the highest education, of doctors, lawyers, aye, of ministers of religion? Many of these gradually sank and disappeared from sight, and upon enquiry it was fouud that they had been laid in a drunkard's grave. Education was quoted as a remedy, but though that might assist it could never prove a national cure. Some people said that religion should be tbe cure. True, religion might do much if she made temperance her hand*maiden, but sho did not. He attended church services pretty regularly and had done so for many years, and in his life had perhaps heard from 3000 to 4000 sermons, but of those he could only remember four that had been addressed against intemperance. He was glad to notice, however, that at last ministers of religion were turning their attention more to this crying evil, and that there had been a great shaking of the dry bones in the churches at home aud in the colony. It was cast in the teeth of the Rechabites, Good Templars, and other similar organizations that after 40 year3 of agitation the drinking habits of the people were worse than ever, and consequent^ that these Societies had done no good, but were not the 3 J millions of teetotallers iu the United Kingdom a proof that their labors had not been thrown away? And that teetotalism was beneficial was proved by the fact that none of those who adopted the principle ever found their way into a gaol or workhouse. The great difficulty was that the liquor traffic had the law on its side, and under its protection it flourished to such an extent that for one school they had twenty public houses, and for one Athenoeum or reading room, fifty. The Local Option Bill would go a long way towards remedying the evil, for it would place a check upon the number of public houses, as it would leave it to the people of a district to say whether or not they would have a license granted in their locality. Tue necessity of supporting such a Bill was earnestly pressed upon his audience by Mr Fox, who after speaking for an hoi?" and a quarter resumed his seat auvd loud and prolonged cheering. Mr Saunders, in a most amusing speech, moved a vote of thanks to Mr Fox. After the long and interesting address they had just listened to, anything he might say would be like a dish of cold potatoes after a good feed of mince pie. He would, however, take another opportunity of addressing them on the subject. Mr Frazer, of Wellington, seconded the resolution, which was carried hy acclamation. Another vote of thanks to Mr J. T. Smith, the chairman, was carried, and the meeting broke up after singing the National Anthem.