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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 132, 4 June 1881, Page 2

To the Editor of thb "Evening Mail." Sir—ln Mr ElcuuYohd'is Speech at the Port he iS reported to have said, "He half excused the Temperancia party, who believed one of tb/e 'greatest eVila of society could be arrested oy legislation, and insisted on postponing every question to that." but in connection with the present election I don't see how the Teteperance party can be excused if they do not individually by their voting on Tuesday show their diagusl at the unholy alliance that is being attempted to be made between the Good Templars and the publicans. By voting for Mr Levestam I consider every Good Templar will be stultifying himself and ignoring the good cause he ought to have at heart. I quite agree with Mr Richmond that the demon drink iB not going to be crushed by legiolatlve tinkering with public houses. The only way to cope with the evil is without doubt the providing of a substitute for the public housa by the erection of coffee palaces, as is being dona witb such marked success in Great Britain and her colonies. Working-men must of necessity have a place where they, can 'congregate of an evening and exchange ideas, and where they will find some means of recreation; the public ho'itae alone supplying such a want at present in Nelson, and until some place with similar attractions, minuß the liquor, is provided, men who would prefer going to where no liquor was sold, will, aa a matter of course, continue to frequent the public bouße. In regard to the present political contest there can, I think, be little doubt as to which of the two candidates is the r«al friend to the working-man. Certainly not the one who flattars him to the top of bis bent, trying to make him believe the world was made for him alone and such like rubbiab, but rather the one who speaks the truth to the working classes, because his sympathies ara really with them and he wishes thtir welfare, I wonder if the working-man will ever cease to be made the tool of designing demagogues, who, with a glibness of tongut and absence of conscience, will, when seaking bis political support, promise all sorts of things, but who, whan their object is gained, kick the ladder from under them and become the willing tools of designing men in the legislature. The working-men of Nelion ought to take warning by what has happenod elsewhere, and of the two candidates before them, assist in electing the one who is above being the tool of any party, and in whom they would find a real friend. It is quite needless to say that I hers refer to Mr Richmond.—l am, &c, Anti-Fkoih. Nelson, June 3,1881.