ON BACKBITING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 117, 8 May 1908, Page 3

ON BACKBITING.

To the Editor. Sir, I have no wish to revile for tl sake of abtuing the purveyors of Uriiil and still think 1 ain inside the bound of courtesy. But you shall judge froi f facts 1 will place before voi "hile in Bloouiiugton 1 stayed with man who had resided there for abou 30 years, and he told m e thiugs. Onc upon a time he was asked it he wouli stand lor the position of mayor, aiu he consented alter hi- employers, tin * A A. Ilailway Company, said the) had no objection. W hen questioned a■o his attitude towards (he saloons, in oaid he would make tlieni keep the law or shut them up. lie was told, "i'oi would get shot," and he s aid that woulc lie his lookout, that he was prepared tc take the risk, as he knew the law wa> oolated in selling after hours and selling to minors and one other point thai ?° E | f 1 ! 0 ' 1011 - Consequently, he was not elected, they choosing a man who let the saloons do their sweet will as usual. I went with him to Chicago one Saturday, and when in one of th e side streets he said to me: "We won't l-o any further.' "Why?" I asked. "Because, said he, '■ the „trect is full of low drinking dens, and our lives would not be safe after dark," and it was nearly dark at the time. I took his advice. \isiiing another part of Chicago later on, and passing under a railway arch. I was told that the place had au unciuiable reputation. "Why;" | asked. "Because it was the resort of the folk who frequented the dives, and several murders had been committed there. While in St. Louis, the City Council decided that the saloons should close from midnight to 4 a.m., and there was .1 howl of indignant protest, as formerly they kept open the whole 21 hours. The present nave of sentiment that is spreading all over the States, is because of the deadly toll the saloons arc taking of the tlesh and blood of the youth i)i both sexes. Those who have read The Jungle" will know what 1 mean. 1/ 1 saw a child in the jaws of a mad dog. would I be guilty of discourtesy if I Rilled it a brute or brained it with a cluh? Why quote a Hook written thousand-* of year- ago when the economic conditions were entirely different, when lots of chemicals now used in the manufacture of the "poor man's beer' were unknown; when the poor man was not ground under the heel of the owners of machinery, nor the children forced into factories, or child-bearing women compelled to work 12 and 14 hours a day or starve. Christian forbearance, lor-oothi— when are on the verge of starvation and hundreds of thousands in the workhouses, anil a continually increasing number are tilling the madhouses of (ireat Britain, par excellence the most Christian country ill the world; followers (a long way oil; they are of the Man who rtaid, " In my fathers house are many mansions?-' We are anii-tomed to speak of Gladstone as the "Crand Old Man of Kngland." and a most beautiful Christian, for did hp nnt write - The Impregnable Rock of Holy >v-rintnn'"v Vet lie introduced the imltle licence when in power. Why? Because he thought it would minimise the drinking habile of the people if tliey could get it at th:grocers and take' it home, instead of going to the open bar for it. Hut, alas! it «a- the other way aliout. -And so all the way down the ages. The more palliative the measures for the regulation of the traffic the worse the result-. | It was my pleasure and delight to visit several no-license towns and to talk with th P editors and clergymen a- lo the result, and they all said, "We vote no-license every time, for we have all Our young folk growing up, having never seen a drunken man in all their lives." From what 1 saw thev were as bright and prosperous as the peop.e where the drink was sold. [f Hr». Enroth likes Scripture what about, "God made man upright, but man has sought out many inventions." and if the modern concoction called drink is not the result of many inventions, whit is it? The fnilt of the .Spirit. 1 take it (partly), is to remove the stumbling block out of my brother's path, lint enough for the time.—l am. Sc.. •T. A. HUBERTS.