South Canterbury Times, TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1882.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2740, 3 January 1882, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1882.

Not the least significant of the “ sign® of the times ” is the fact that of late years the time-honoured festivals of this season are marked by a diminution of the riotous and disorderly conduct that used to characterise them,, ia the good old days. The time was when the ordinary Englishman knew no higher enjoyment at Christmas and New Year than to, deliberately and off “ malice prepense,” get thoroughly drunk. Having satisfactorily dis.chargcd this duty he felt that he had kept holiday in real old British style. The consequence was that on the morrow he went to his work with flagging step, and a dry throat ; if, indeed he escaped an interview with “ the beak ” and a few hours in a cool cell.

This state of things now belongs to the. past. The “ working man ” of to-day is an entirely different person to the working man of a few years ago. In the natural course of human progress he has advanced a long way ahead of his traditions. “ Beer and skittles ” no longer constitute the sumnmm bonum of his enjoyment. He has learned two grand lessons—to control himself and to consider others. No radical change in the disposition of any section of humanity can be without interest to a thoughtful man, and to the most superficial observer it is apparent that great social changes are now going on. The vices and brutalities that led to such terrible scenes in bygone days, if not actually disappearing, are at least ceasing to be prominent features of society. It is no very great time ago since the sober man was a conspicuous member of society ; now it is the drunkard who is conspicuous. The provident man was, not long ago, a marked man ; now it is the spendthrift that is pointed at. Once the individual exercised his rights as a citizen only at the bidding of authority; now everyone may act for himself on his own conviction. Once the laborer or handicraftsman sought only solacie for his leisure hours ; now he employs them in gaining knowledge, in cultivating his mind, nor perfecting his skil I. Once the superiors of these men held the rod of sovereignty over them; now they begin to recognise that every mind has, more or less, taken part in the common advancement. The spread (the all but universal spread) of education has been the great instrument of reform; and out of this has grown a correct and healthy view of social relationship. The “ dignity of labor” is now everywhere recognised and respected ; a nd if a man has “ real grit’, within 1 dm, all ranks and classes fall back respectfully and cordially to let him pass onward to distinction. So far as the qm jstion of sobriety is concerned, we cannot too thankfully acknowledge the surpassing services rendered by teetotal and temperance societies. We are well aware that very opos'fte opinions are held on

? ject of total abstinence. There *;i ome who not only decry a:, oness, but denounce liquor as an iis e poison, not to be bandied . ed with impunity; who can iti : e no medium between total / nee .and intemperance; who ! ■ iat tbe “accursed thing ” has ■; }. There are others who with

equal earnestness, though perhaps with less fervour, contend for the use, as opposed to the abuse, of intoxicants ; who regard intoxication or the habit of drunkeness as an evil that will, in time, he looked upon with disapproval by an enlightened community. The one party would make the world sober by Act of Parliament, the other would wait and hope for the devlopement under cultivation, of common sense and a clear perception by man of his duties as a social being. Tbe one clamours for repression, the other is in favor of option ; the one allows no room for private judgment, the other insists on individual self-govern-ment. For our own part, we believe tbe latter (the “ moderate party ” as they may, in a double sense, be termed) will in the long run be found to have done the most good in the world. But this conviction in no wise prevents our perceiving plainly that the world is under boundless obligation to the apostles of teetotalism who have first sounded the warning trumpet in tbe ears of the ignorant, the besotted, and the weak, and have brought them to at least paifse and consider their position. Total abstinence is the initiatory step ; the only safe one for many to take. Everyone is not a philosopher, or a reflective individual. It is within our own knowledge that many men and women of humble condition have, for the first time in life, been awakened to selfrespect by voluntarily undertaking a certain obligation and joining a company of persons of the same mind. This is itself a proud reflection, and tbe pledged teetotaller is upheld by bis natural pride, which forbids his disgracing the company he has joined. All honor, therefore, to these agencies, and their every effort for the social amelioration of mankind. Their various workings have tended to produce one grand result—a result now as evident as it is cheering.