Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News. TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1908. THE ENGLISH LICENSING BILL.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 43344, 30 June 1908, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News.

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1908. THE ENGLISH LICENSING BILL.

This above all—to thine own self be true , &.nd it must follow as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man Shakespeare.

Mr Asquith’s reference to the Licensing Bill, as reported last week coupled with the Bishop of London’s deliverance on the same subject is calculated to impress the whole Empire with a sense of the strenuousness of the Government’s attitude.* Mr Asquith’s declaration that he staked his own political fortunes, and as far as he could the fortunes of the Government and Party, on the Licensing Bill, is the utterance of a man who possesses the courage of his convictions. The speech of the Bishop of London appears the only possible reply to

the insult which has been offered to eminent prelates of the Established Church. That interested persons should have threatened to withdraw their support from the Church if she supported the Licensing Bill

is only less of an insult than the direct offer of a bribe would have been—if indeed it is less. That the opponents of the Bill should even

withdraw support from charitable institutions and children’s holiday funds, and should indulge in unseemly riots is not the best way to retain the sympathy of even that section of the Church which unfortunately does not yet grasp the full seriousness of England’s

position with regard to her ruinous consumption of alcohol. The Bishop’s reply to the threats of the Liquor Party was a manly expression of alarm at the enormity of the national Drink Bill and of respect for the Government’s action in “ Taking their life in their hands and proposing this Bill.” To us

Britishers overseas, perhaps no part of His Lordship’s speech is more significant than his remark that “ when colonists come home they are ashamed of the' Old Country.” This remark , clearly 'proves, how vitally the newer lands of the

Empire may, and sometimes do assist in promoting a more healthy opinion in the Motherland on social and economic matters. That the Motherland should have been. so tardy in dealing in anything like an adequate manner with the enormous destruction of wealth which her annual expenditure on

drink entails may well cause its to wonder. The Licensing Bill, with its scheme for reducing the existing ■number of licenses by one third in fourteen years, under compensation, of granting from next year local option with regard to new licenses, of withdrawing compensation at Ihe end of fourteen years, and bringing in full Local Option is a bold measure. But it is not one whit in advance of the present need. It is to be hoped the -Nation will rally round her leaders and support the reform, as she has done in other instances, thus putting restraint upon a most serious drain upon her moral and economic strength.