FRONT RANK MEN, ETC.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 63, 8 April 1909, Page 4

FRONT RANK MEN, ETC.

To Ihe Kditor. Sir.-II is hard l« .follow Mr. Enroth. Hi- began 111.0111 liislorv. gradually gcttill!,' on his ipcl anlipalijy. which he sometimes rails icclotalisin. sometimes |ii'oliiliilioii, ami unnn more opprobrious names slill. I;i fuel, lie can write on nothing, from Moses to Dr. Ooodo, without bringing in his bete noir; lie is a second edition „f Mr. Dirk and King Charles' head. The history r|uos,tion seems to have been satisfactorily settled liy "A Sunday School Teacher,'" anil now we are at bedrock—or something not quite so hard, whisky (tliouprli it lias a Inivdciiiiift effect, as chemists and criminologists tell us) —that hateful "ism." Now T want to know wliieh it is Io he: teetotal or prohibition? Mr. Enroth should know that one does not necessarily involve the oilier; one is a question of personal opinion and practice, the other of public policy. There are niativ teetotalers who are not prohibitionists, and there are thousands, in New Zealand even, who vote against the licensed liouor trade but arc not teetotalers. Then, as further digressions, we are off into tlie region of finance and compensation, or take a tilt at tin' Yankees in sympathy with Mlardent patriotism of the day. or again we are called into the serene atmosphere of the •■'most intellectual and saintly men" of his acquaintance. In his letter on front rank men be takes up what 1 «aii]. that the leaders in reform and philanthropy "are" largclv total abstainers. The strange pari here , i» thai be quotes me as using tile present feline, anil at once argues and proves (to his own satisfaction) I hat 1 am wrong, as though I bad used the past, tense. Mr. Enroth must please note thai it is not who "were." but who "are," prominent in reform movements: though, in the face of all the names be quotes, some of the old leaders did eschew intoxicants. I will nnl attempt to follow him cverywlrrc lie wander.-: let. us keep nearer our own lime anil place. T <-an onlv ask again iliat. he will state some aspect of this liquor question that he wishes to discuss, or some error in our principles or practice, and T shall be glad to be enlightened and to'the best of my ability to explain. Finally, I promise to conclude without anv •■anathema."—! am. etc., ' fi. IT. MAUNDKR.