TEMPERANCE.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXII, Issue 42797, 26 October 1905, Page 1

TEMPERANCE.

■ ~ THE SUM TRAFFIC. . ■ll (Written especially for the To K Aroha Sews). ] (By Truth.) I ; It has been well 'said that, the perpetuation of the drink is ‘SrifiKer. And'we would like to put'this j| question.; to such a one:—' | “Is it becoming in you, as one well-disposed itowards your fellowmen, to continue a habit which strengthens the drinking customs of society, and this indirectly binds „ the fetters of ‘J\ drunkenness on weaker men? Do you not know that you will

be held responsible for the'influence you exercise on men and:j|J women around you ? My God in His mercy soon make yoti more conscious of this, that - “No man liveth unto himaelf.” We know a rich man whose son had been brought home to him intoxicated, when he re- , % proached him, saying ‘I havb f| done everything for you.’ ‘ Yes,’ . said the . son and “ You taught me to drink wine’? and he struck his father to theillfH earth. 1 Besides no moderate drinker -Ail is himself safe, free from danger. Indeed, it is from his. ranks’ the terrible sad host of drunkards is made up. Oh ! young man J| beware of the seduction of tha wine cup “ Look not upon the I wine when it is red.’ It'- may seem delicious to the taste, but £§■ s tingeth like an adder and ]■ l e adeth to destruction. !■ Rather dash the sparkling cup jH from thy hand to the earth, else there may come a time in your I history when you will see yourfiM dissolation outlined before you : ■« going down, down the pricipice of degradation, with no power yU to arrest yourself ! Again we say,‘Beware!’ *. And what must we say?off||M the Traffic—a trade which H flourishes upon the ruin of its supporters, which derives its K revenues from the plunder of JM| homes, the degradation of mankind, and the ruin of both soul ■ and body. That trade which minsters to every vile and vicious passion; which makes A : .H drunkards, thieves, gamblers, ■ wife-beaters and murderers.. ;■§ Such a trade ought not to claim o.H respect, and should certainly A®! not receive the support and en- H[ couragement of respectable men and women, not to speak 'of A®! Christians. y |H It indeed indicates the exfceiit>fH| of the prevailing demoralization that a business so unquestionably against public polity, so .» Hj| destructive of all social stability, SB should have been permitted toABB establishes itself s® firmly, that HI those who pursue it areconvineed '-'HS not only that it is legitimate, AHji but that it is entitled to tectien and respect. But upon what grounds do H| these bold claims rest. What flB constitutes a legitmate respon- ■ sible business ? Is) a businesfti|H which debauches, jures, yea ruins the public either HJ| the one or other ? When such iBH questions have to be asked it is aHH time they were settled definitely. H§f