Correspondence .

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, Volume 1, Issue 34, 22 November 1901, Page 2

Correspondence .

The column* of tis j 'inn 1 .re <>.>■ n lor ()■» diiei^ssioQ of all subj-wt* t) it nrt d ■> nit n c -- •Wily identify ourselves with the o|iii)i-n» expmied.

EEERrTE\. TO THE EpiTOK

Sir, —Your oorre.spqrulont, " True Informer " seem* to t^ink that tlio.se dreadful pyohibitlqui-ts treat Uiuj very bvlly. He ad.n'fcs lie evils <>i the dpink tiaflic fj,i}d evpij pvqpo§e> «a remedy, '^.-he ido;} of jj, prop rly conducted liotel is, ljrj'yever, ' nqt yory flattering tq t!je ijresou^ lictjjsod victuallers ,cf iko Colony. IJiijt if temperance reform can qnly }jo attained parallel wj^,h the ejev^tion of lonian nature, the ppqhjbi^iQnist in, mentally ,7-n4 njoralh', several eoiit^i-ies al>oad of tlje n}Q(}pj.ate drlnkgr. THp remedy proposed by tl^ moderator has been triad in i^ngland fqr 2,00Q yeays. e4icj; [ssijetj. by tfye Emperqr Q^liomc t]yit quo half the vineyards in Jlr^airj. should be de.sltyoyed and ij.«) ujovp planted, In the peijjn oi Qftly one aieliquse aUfj^ofJ -jn flaqlj parish,

In 1552 tl].-i lnavpstiiato-; wove empowered to suppress ftlol^sos Ui any

town,

In 1556 this distillation Jof spirits Tfas absolutely prohibit^ though afterwards allowed a.f q, sgurue of revenue for way purposed, In 1699 distillation was stopped as the grain needed for food,

In 1751 this wjfs again done, Iv Ireland, in the famine yeftrs of 181 M? and 1818.H 4fßtfH:««i'ii was prohibited and it was proved from Parliamentary returns that during the years of gp&rflifcy the p.DQj \e were better clothed and fed tbftn m years of plenty, owing to the diweased consumption liquor.

During the present oontury there have been Boer Acts ond Liquor Laws aimqst innumerable, in ft vain endeavour to regulate and moderate the evils of the drink traffic,

The net result of 2,000 years of moderation is that there jg more drinking and mor* drunkenness in England than ever before, and will be no better until & real earnest effort is made to grapple with the question in a statesmanlike manner.

,True Tein.pera.nfle consists in a , moderate use of good things, and total '. abstinence from bad things, Modr crn science pronounce* alcohol a poison ! and it« use as a heveriige liavmful, , Therefore all true reformers and true , temperance people are seeking to encourage the practice of total abstinence for tho individual until «ttoh iimo as public opinion shall relegajde^ilcohol , tojits proper place among other^langer- j ous drugs, I remain, j _ _ VjfUrs etc., ! Dome Yallo}'. < TO THE KDITOtt, ] Bear Sir,—ln your issue of the 15. inst., a "True Reformer" (with a capital T please) has attempted to sit rather heavily on the Prohibitionists. ] I do not suppose they will be much ] injured thereby as th*y are used to 1 such treatment. I suppose your cor- ! respondent is one of those men who ' have been alienated from ih« prohibit- 1 ion party because of the latt«*rs in- ' temperate attitudes etc. It is a pity, ' Mr. Editor, that these men who aye of | course all true reformers in principle, do not use their discernment and sound judgement, by doing a little towards the cause they still profess to adhere i to. As it is they leave it to the prohibitionists to do all the work and get i the blame. Rightly or wrongly, tho prohibitionists do not believe that a licensed liquor traffic is compatible with Christian citizenship. Yet for the sake of humanity they have st iven to enforce a law in which they have no faith. Moreover, they have established and supported morally and financially, Bands of Hope, Good Templar Lodges, and Total Abstinence societies of all descriptions. By means of the pledge and;the moral suasion that the liquor par^y talk so much of at election time, they have attempted to lift up their | drink-cursed brothers and sisters from the deepest depths of shame and misery. They have spent time, money and; lives in the woik of moral reform; j and( as their reward they see True ! Reformers go to the ballot box and j vot^ that the accursed traffic should continue, and they get sneered at, and called fanatics, liars, informers, nted> dlejsonie fools, and hypocrites* What is more disheartening still, they find that while they are moralty persuading one unfortunate drunkard to reform, the licensed liquor traffic and traffickers are immorally persuading two others to take his place* The liquor party pnt a licensed hotel in out midst (whether we want it or no) and tell us to keep it respectable while they lobk on and see i breaking the law every week. They look to us to suppress sly j grog-selling, while they are aiding and sympathising with the seller. Why do ; not the 143,000 voters who favoured ' the licensing of the traffic at the last poll, try and make the license law work ? They beleive it will work, we don't, so let them start in and make I the thing respectable if they can. j Prerent the traffic, if they know how, from destroying thousands of lives and ruining thousands of homes. Let; them reduce or efface the crime, pauperism and insanity caused by the liquor traffic, and prevent" % the unL necessary expenditure of millions 5 of ponnds spent in liquor every year. . When that is done they will at least j have proved their sincerity, and have deserved the gratitude of their fellows r fdr hating proved that which the prohibitionists believe, from the etpet* ience of <$e&turies, to be Animposfiibil*

ity ; namely, that the license la-.v in any uliapo or form can conTol the liquor traffic so as to make it my tiling but an unspeakable injury to the hunan raoo. Until this is done 1 fear hat there will still be such extremely disagreeable beings as shallow mmd I t)(1 ranting piohibition fanatics. Faithfully Yours, Alfred E. Hartneli. Port A^CTf. Nov. 16. 1901 £\Ve are pleased to note that the writer is. nqt ay.erjje to publishing his \ nain,e. On a question qf rhisj kind we j oannqt see wlj.v (uy.ftrv.qi^e sl^jj]"} not dq uq. •" ' | ■rq Ticp EOiTou. read with interest «tnie Bet'qrnier's^' letter, a>.d his argunjLentK re a i;&s.pe(4atyo lj.qtel being coadusiv** \ to teipperance, lead n\p iq asjk liiin, j VY-is this the cause oi n^injvjs^less j nun^b/ujs qf "Vyarkvrqrth men and boys l-ollin^ and staggerjng about the sjtreef; drunk,recently ? If so I feel that his arjQ?um-n£ is not quite a succ<ms, .and l"am. thankful, that ye have no '! rf'fjpeotahle l^otol" (f) in q^» part qf tho district, I was alsq surprised to hear that tye hithertq vespepfcable Warkwqrth people shqijld have go far forgotten V«Ufs truly, A. Mother. Kftipara Fiats.