TEMPERANCE.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXII, Issue 42798, 28 October 1905, Page 1

TEMPERANCE.

THE BUM TRAFFIC.' —— : ' (Written especially for the ,T© Aroha News).: / (By Truth.) At present rum /selling is technically legitimate that is to say, it is not unlawful/ /But / since its consequences are what, we know and see daily it would" , be an abuse of language ,to term it respectable. But ‘ The Bum Traffic ’ does not stop at those insolent pretensions. It tells the people that it has . ;; ' / / THE POLITICAL POWERS at its back; that it is organized, ] and will fight reform /and f temperance with the voteis of the unfortunate it .has irabruted. ' *-\ This, then, is what the people./ of New Zealand have to face/ They must either submit ,tq the. political supremacy of .The Bum; Traffic, they must either accept its rule and bow to its standard.. of morals, and declare them to be entitled to protection [and - t respect, or they must'make up their minds to a conflict the aim end end of which shall be the »■ - overthrow of this abominable abuse and the protection of the . / masses against the very worst foe of civilization. The Bum Traffic' claims the ' right of protection but denies it to the people. It will oppose any reform whatever, and . the sellers think that they will be supported in this by the public ; whom they have fleeced and ; ; injured.. Hitherto they have unhappily •/■ : been justified in their depend- ’ ence. The people who had most cause to loathe the traffic, ' have been among the first to; uphold and fortify it. But a change is now passing over public opinion. It is becoming / more and more generally recouised that intemperance is at; 1 tne bottom of nine-tenths of the * social political and moral evi'a that retard progress and perplex and harass the. legislator. It is seen that an effective franchise demands sobriety and intelligence in the voter. It is being realized that the future' prosper- ', -|§ ity of the colony, nay, of the 'J|H Anglo Saxon race depjßnds ly upon mastering the elements which have their origin iand ’ J derive all their strength from The Bum Traffic and which militates against good govern- .tils ment, pure social conditions, 1 * * progress and religion. Iu a word // this huge octopus has got to die. Its death-knell is already sounded we but await the obsequies. Header, what about . .• '• Yourself ? Under which banner ■ art thou enrolled ? T * ' • k- ■' ■ *- ■ — .—