New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1877.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5085, 11 July 1877, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1877.

At almost all meetings held for the ventilation of temperance principles—a most laudable object no doubt—very ridiculous things are said, and thus an air of ridicule is thrown over the whole affair, which ought to be viewed in a more serious light. Amongst the most absurd utterances on the subject we have heard for a long time is the following from the mouth of his Worship the Mayor of Wellington :—“As to the way drunkards were at present treated, he (Mr. Hutchison) thought it would very often be well if when a policeman saw a drunkard reeling, instead of doing something to him to make him sufficiently noisy to justify an arrest, he were to quietly .see him home.” What the “ something” is that policemen do to make a drunkard “sufficiently noisy to justify an arrest” we dont know, but the idea of a policeman seeing a reeling drunkard quietly home seems to us a most nonsensical one. A “reeling drunkard” is usually a very difficult subject to handle, and in nine cases out of ten the very last thing a constable would be able to do with him is to get him to “go quietly home.” A man overtaken by drink who is inclined to go quietly home is rarely, if ever, interfered with by the police. The class of drunkards which are “run in” are for the most part those who are quarrelsome and inclined to strike or kick anybody who comes near to them, or else are so helplessly intoxicated as to be unable to move. How the police—even if they could find time apart from that occupied by their other duties, which we greatly doubt —could succeed in getting such people “quietly home” we are at a loss to conceive. In practice such a system would never work, however well it may appear in theory to Mr. Hutchison. Probably there might be a better system devised of dealing with these cases than that at present in force, which it is obvious does not act as a great deterrent; but the Mayor’s panacea is certainly not, in our opinion, likely to be very successful.

Ifhilst fully admitting the many and great evils of drunkenness, and the desirability of lessening habits of tippling amongst the people generally, we are not of opinion that Wellington can fairly be called a drunken, city. On the contrary, we believe that it is one of the most orderly and well conducted places in the British dominions, and here we agree with Mr. Hutchison, who made some very sensible observations on the point which makes it all the more surprising that he should have talked such nonsense, as it certainly appears to us he did talk on another branch of his subject. We cordially agree with those who say that the temperance cause will be best promoted by other means than by appeals to Parliament, and in former articles we have expressed ourselves to that effect. Dr. Newman appears, at the recent conference, to have hit the right nail on the head when he said they should go to the root of the matter, and endeavor to ascertain the cause that led people to drink, and then provide, if possible, a check. Personally he was of opinion that drunkenness was caused through want of comfort in the houses of the poorer classes, and want of proper nourishment. “ What they wanted,” said the doctor, u were in-, stitutions where the working men could go and spend their evenings rationally. If we could discover a means of ameliorating the condition of the lower classes ; educate the women who were destined to become the wives of working men ; make them really domestic, so that the many thousands of houses would be a source of comfort and enjoyment ; instead of, as was too frequently the case at present, a source of misery and general discomfort. Working men’s clubs might also be established, and the result would be the attainment of a higher social standard among the working classes.”

This is talking sound common sense. There can be doubt whatever that although wages are high and the great majority of the working classes are in almost constant employment, the homes of many of them are anything but comfortable. If there is plenty of food it is often illeooked and has little variety. Prom house rents ruling high here far too many people are often crowded into one dwelling, and the inmates are surrounded by discomfort from which they are glad-to escape, and almost the only place they can go to at; present is the public-house. The wonder to us is not that there is so much drunkenness, but that there is not more. The speeches : made on Monday night are, with the exception of a portion of Mr. Hutchison’s observations, on the whole temperate and sensible, but whether they will lead to any practical result remains to be seen; The Rev. Mr. Paterson says “ the whole thing has ended in smoke ;” but let us hope that some fire will be elicited from it. Ix fumo dare lucem is a good motto for the members of this temperance conference at the present time, and we hope at their next meeting that something practical will be arrived at. But talking nonsense about policemen seeing reeling drunkards quietly home instead of locking them up will only throw ridicule over the whole affair.