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New Zealander, Volume 10, Issue 890, 25 October 1854, Page 2

LEAGUE OF 'ITERANCE. ADDRESS FROI THE COUNCIL OF THE AUCKLAND LEAGUE OF TEMPERANCE TO THE SETTLERS OF NEW PLYMOUTH, WELLINGTON, NELSON, CANTERBURY, AND or AGO. T7ELLOW COLONISTS,—The founders of the T Auckland League of Temperance originally contemplated the formation of a society, which, embracing the whole Colony, should bo called “The League of Temperance for New Zealand;” but, after reflecting on the circumstances which have led to the division of the Colony into six Provinces for all public purposes of a local character, they perceived insuperable difficulties in the attempt to organise any genera! movement under central management; and they resolved accordingly to constitute only a Provincial association, and to invite the co-operation of settlers in the other Provinces, by means of the formation in each of them of an independent league, having principles and objects similar to those which we, the Council of the Auckland League of Temperance, have now the honour to lay before you. We respectfully recpiest your attention to the accompanying Resolutions, which were passed at two public meetings held here on the 3rd and the 9th instant, and by which our society was constituted. These set forth in general terms the principles and objects of the League, but without explaining them as fully as the novelty of'the subject appears to demand ; and they leave untouched some considerations of a practical character which we beg leave to submit to you. In alluding to the novelty of a proposal for legislation designed to hinder the sale of intoxicating drinks, we have regard only to this Colony. In this Colony, the proposal is entirely new, and therefore very startling, because it involves a manifest departure from the principles of free trade, the necessity of precautions against a diminnti >n of the public revenue, and, what appears to us still more important, a most serious restraint upon individual liberty. Rut in other countries the proposal has been considered, discussed, opposed, and defended for years, so as to heroine thoroughly familiar to the people, and has at last obtained the sanction of legislative enactmea*. It seems worthy of remark that in those Sovereign States of the American Union whichlhave by law forbidden the sale of spirituous and fermented drinks, the representative system of government is in full force, and the right of voting f r the election of popular representatives in the legislature is next to universal. In each of chose countries, it was a majority of the people who impelled the legislature to pass the law. That law has been for years popularly known in America, and is now so known in Britain (where an active agitation for obtaining it has commenced), as the LIQUOR LAW OF MAINE, or the MAINE LAW ; the legislature of the NewEngland State of Maine having been the first to adopt it. This is the law which the Auckland League ‘of Temperance trust that the people of New Zealand may induce their General Assembly to adopt. We will now describe its character and operation. Long before the idea of the Maine Law occurred to those with whom it originated, they had been promoters of temperance, by the well-known means of societies, publications, pledges, and every .kind of persuasion. But after long and earnest trial, these measures were found inadequate to their object. Even their partial success depended on the lives, the devotion, and the. eloquence of individuals ;; and it was seen that so long as a general facility for indulgence was permitted by the laws, all merely moral efforts would he counteracted by abundance of temptation to form and relapse into habits of intoxication. Then, for the first time, arose the question of restraint by law. Such a question would probably never have been originally broached in a country where laws and government did aught but reflect the wishes of the people. In the State of Maine, the question was, not whether some of the people should, for their own good, be restrained against their will by a few, but whether society, acting for the good of ell, was justly entitled to put the necessary restraint upon individuals. In a country where all had an equal voice in making the laws which all would have to obey, this question was of course decided in the afhrmative : and then arose another, which was long the subject of controversy ; namely—What is the proper degree of restraint ? The mos't zealous foes of intemperance insisted on a law which should totally prohibit the use of intoxicating drinks: the practical good sense of the New Englanders of Maine led them finally to resolve, first, that the proper degree of restraint was the smallest degree which would accomplish the object in view ; secondly, that the object of promoting general temperance would be attained by a law prohibiting the sale of spirituous and fermented drints, but not interfering with the importatum of them. This then is the principle of the law of Maine. It permits brewing, and importation, for use by those who brew or import, hut not for sale; and it absolutely prohibits sale, both retail and wholesale, whether by publicans, storekeepers, or merchants. Under this law, therefore, all who please may obtain beer, wine, or spirits, by means of a deliberate act, such as brewing or giving a specific order to import: but. on the other hand, nobody can obtain such drinks on a sudden, by means of purchase from another keeping them for sale. Trie publican can neither sell, nor keep for sale; and thus the greatest of all facilities and temptations is wholly abolished. The shopkeeper can neither sell, nor keep for sale; and thus there is not substituted for the tap a facility and temptation only somewhat less mischievous. T he merchant can neither sell, nor keep for sale; and thus, lawful taps being abolished, there is not substituted a facility and temptation to retail sale against law, such as would operate even more mischievously than licensed public-houses. On the whole, this law appears to have hit the golden mean between excess on either side, by allowing the maximum of liberty, and at the same time enforcing the minimum of restraint, compatible with the aim of legislation; not obstructing moderate and decent use by any, but cutting up, for all, habitual drunkenness by the roots ; neither attempting impossibilities, nor doing less than what is necessary ; and, lastly, taking a course which, since it aims at no more than the cure of evils which all acknowledge with regret", recommends itself to general approval, and may ho expected to meet with general support. This last consideration appears to merit distinct notice. Every effort to bring about permanent total abstinence amongst au entire people has hitherto proved unsuccessful, and, in some measure, because none could be earnest in promoting them, except those who had themselves adopted total abstinence as a rule of their lives. Whereas efforts to promote the adoption of the Law of Maine may he consistently made, not only by the friends of total abstinence, who would rejoice at a step so far in the direction of their own peculiar views, but also by two other classes—the large number who neither see wrong in, nor would consent to forego, the enjoyment of stimulants in moderation and decency, and the unhappily numerous class likewise, who habitually ami publicly drink to excess. So that, excepting only the very few in comparison, who have an immediate personal interest in carrying on the liquor irade, there is no class from whom support of this cause may not bo reasonably expected, more or less, of course, as to individuals, in proportion to their sense of the miseries which arise from intemperance in every part of this Colony. Amongst those who have an immediate personal interest in carrying on the liquor trade, we are far from being disposed to include the importing merchants, because, under the Law of Maine, they could not fail, as general dealers, to share in the general increase of wealth which must arise from the greater industry of a sober people, and from a saving of the greatwaste of capital which intemperance occasions.

You will observe that one.of the Resolutions adopted by the three branches of the General Assembly, which now form part of the constitution of the Auckland League of Temperance, acknowledges that such a law as that of Maine cannot be rightly exacted until after the people shall have deliberately asked for it. This declaration, no less than a regard for the political rights of the people under our new Constitution, indicates the necessity of obtaining petitions to the Legislature from a considerable majority of the electors, praying for such a law. We do not regret this necessary condition of success to the labours of associations such as ours. On the contrary, we think that it tends to provide for a greater success*than the mere enactment of a law of temperance. Such a law might be repealed by the authority on which it depended, and assuredly would be, under our Constitution, unless it had firmly fixed itself in the affections of the people. Those, therefore, who desire such a law, are not only subject to the necessity before mentioned, but it is equally incumbent on them to avoid catching at any hasty enthusiasm in favour of temperance, and to spare no pains in the endeavour to make the whole subject generally and thoroughly understood before they ask any one to sign a petition to the legislature. In the opinion of our own League, it is their principal duty at present to collect and spread information on the subject of this Address in all iti branches ; as to the character of the proposed law: