OUR LETTER BOX.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 262, 4 December 1903, Page 3

OUR LETTER BOX.

(We are at all times willing to publish correspondence on matters of public interest, but it must be distinctly understood that we are not identified with the letters of our correspondents.—Ed. Daily Nows.)

IJ SEX SING LAWS. (To the Editor.) Sir, —I have read with interest the letters of your correspondents 'Thorough" and "R. Gleyg'' on-our licensing laws. The reference to the ancient records of Babylonia made ■by ••Thorough" is very instructive, and from it we learn that thousands of years ago strong drink was a trouble to the State. The laws .were terribly severe, punishing- with death those wiho sold it if they allowed riotous behaviour in connection with its sale. How do outlaws stand compared with those ancient records ? We punish with fine or imprisonment the unfortunate victim, ami if anyone in his delirium kills another, we don't drown or fourn- bim, we bang him ; while they Who get all the profits go free. The trade under our laws has evidently gained a point. The trade now, as in' former times, is terribly demoralising. Already in this beautiful land of ours a criminal and pauper or dependent class is being formed —chiefly the result of strong drink—and the industrious settlers are taxed to the amount of hundreds of thousands annually for their support. •*' Thorough" still considers the public ought to be satisfied with the present law, especially if that ninth clause of the defunct Act could !be added to it. Mr Glegg favours State control I think a trade that causes such terrible demoralisation ought not to be allowed to ply its calling at every street corner, however much might be paid for the privilege. For the sake of our boys and girls the temptation ought to be removed from the public path. A mighty struggle is on. On the one side are a lot of fanatics, so their opponents say. It does not appear that there is any profit attached to their fanaticism. On the other side a combination of capitalists, with their money invested in the most money-making trade under the sun, as evidenced by the annual report of Guinness and Co., tk» •great brewing firm of Dublin, showing profits of over one million. The) directors, after writing off a large sum for depreciation, declared a dividend of 6 per cent., and a bonus of 4 per cent.—2o per cent for capital invested in the trade in the Old Country. In New Zealand we may reasonably suppose the profits are much greater—2o, 30, and it may be 40 per cent. What needy man in any position could refuse an offer of a few i?hai-es in such a paying* concern, and influence must be had to secure such profits. Why, the very thought of it is almost enough to contaminate the church. But what can we say of a person who takes a passage of Holy Scripture, twists it into a false meaning-, and publishes it to the world as the saying of the Prophet Isaiah. That is praetienily what ••Thorough" has done in both Ms letters. He ought to have read the fifth chapter in the Book of Isaiah before he published those letters. The Prophet savs, "Woe to them that are mighty to flrink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink ; which justify the wicked for reward." Nowhere in the Book of Isaiah the Prophet is strong urink referred to as a blessing. When persons of such high, pretensions as Ihorough" have to resort to such tncks the public may be assured their cause is a bad one. My object in writing is to correct a wrong and, -if possible, to get people to think, and, when the proper time comes, to act, so that our laws shall be made in the interest of the people, regardless of any trade I tun, etc., y A LOVER OP TRUTH.

"POLITICAL MALINGERERS." (To the Editor.) Sir,—There are probably few of your readers who will not cordially agree with the opinion expressed in your leading article of this morning, that those members of the House of Representatives who absented themselves while the final Estimates were rushed through in the last hours of the session, have been guilty of a disgraceful violation of the trust repose in them. You mention the names- of a number of members \tho left Wellington when they ought to have remained to watch the interests of their constituents, but the list does not include that of Mr 10. Metcalf Smith, of Taranaki. Is it to be understood that our ever vigilant representative remained in his seat in the House, and did not raise his .voice when his political chief rang on to the country a vote of £15,000 as the colony's contribution towards a statue in London ? I hope Mr Smith will soon explain to the deluded 'back-block settlers in his district how he came to support this extravagant donation to a wholly unnecessary monument (for our good old Queen needs nothing of the kind to perpetuate her memory), while they are left without the roads which are included in the contracts under which they took up their lands from the Crown.—l am, etc., ELECTOR, Dec. 3, 1903.