THE GARRISON BAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 259, 8 December 1909, Page 4

THE GARRISON BAND.

To the Editor. I Sir, —1 was somewhat surprised by tfie staLemcuts made by our worthy mayor ill presenting the new instruments to the | Garrison Jiaiul, as they displayed a want »t knowledge oi Me bamls past uno. present history., I can only assume tliut | All*. Tisch has not been an honorary | meiniier oi tlu? City Band, or perhaps ilike* others he ceased to subscribe .tc ! tiieir funds aince they became the tiar- ] rison As 1, consider the townspeople Jiave always stood linn to inc j present hand, no,- matter under what 'name they J beg .to say for U.s' | information of those who are not aware f of the fact that their first start was by l means of a'long list of honorary mem- | bers, which continued until they became 1 the Garrison Band, when, li believe, many of them fell away. The ladies, who are always to the fore when money is required for si good purpose, got up two bazaars on their behalf, which each netted over £IOO. Jt is hardly ir or encouraging to those who hav<- ~iuck loyally to the band to he told tiiey have done nothing for them. 1 consider the mayor lias ample scope to carry out his proposals and show an interest in the band, even if it is his lirst time to do so., as the place is now much larger than when the City Hand was organised. We liad then two bands to support, whilst now we can devote our wnole . energies to our only band, the more so . as it is now irf the hands of such an able and accomplished conductor. " The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, ■ is (it: for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. 1 The motions of his spirits are dull as ' night, and liis affections dark as Erebus. ' Let no such man bo trusted."—-J am, ' etc., EX-BANDSMAN. J THE CANTEENS AND THE CHURCHES ' To the Editor. Sir, —Ifc appears to be high time for those who believe in the Christianity of . the New Testament to enter their strongest protest against the debased | } type, of religion to which we in New ! Zealand are being treated this week. Tile papers inform us that, obeying the 's mandate of Mr. T. E. Taylor and the j New Zealand Alliance, meetings were (r held in various local churches on Sunday last, at which " strongly-worded resolu- _ tions" were pass'ed by the congregations j. against the proposg.l in the Defence Bill for continuing the canteens m military <r camps—where they are very properly i- placed under the control of the C.0., with certain regulations as to their non- \. use by juveniles. One limy say in passing that nothing can be better than making 3 . provision for the requirements of the Cj men in this way, where proper and due v, control will guarantee the soundness of the men's' drink, as also that no excess t, will be permitted; the C.0., like the head of a largo family, may always be deV ponded upon in both these important |. matters, than which there are no others { [ ) that concern any but those narrow's minded faddists and busy-bodies that | lv are one of the greatest nuisances of this 1 i'e dominion, eis well as some other parts of the Empire. That canteens so conducted ed are of very great value none wri'to e, deny, except those who, by taking oaCis to suppress the use of these good gifts of se Cod which are there supplied, have put tl themselves outside the pale of reason and temperate views, and are nothing but extremists on whom reasonable arguments and Divine commands are aiiKC lost. An illustration of the benefit of authoritative control of this" sort is furnished by a correspondence which took place in September last between the Port Admiral at Queenstown and the 111 Lord Mayor of that city, arising from a complaint made by Vice-Admiral Prince i,r bonis of Battenberg that his men had suffered much from the 1 quality of the ls whisky sold them when there, and sayl!'l ing he would like to briug his licet there !o again, but for the bad drink sold there. l ">lt transpired that there was nothing L,,) poisonous in the whisky, only it wtis too new. and therefore unlit for consumption. and instructions were issued to the inspectors under the Food and Drugs Ac t to prevent tlje sale of such liquor in future. Of course, people who falsely assert that all whisky is poisonous like (> . to roll facts of this sort as a sweet 'j* morsel under their tongue—the worse the liquor is* the better they are pleased; but reasonable people, will draw another moral from it. This by the way. What I wish to protest against is this system of using the organisation of the Church of Christ—or what should be such—to forward, iin agitation which is entirely iV <» uu-Christian, and thus to assume that u l the Christian faith and the prohibition , s> movement are identical, whifch ,I*' enV( , tiivly false. What an object lesson we :st have Jierp. A political organisation lv issues its instructions am] certain reiv ligious bodies from one end of the do|.i minion to the other fall down and worKir ship the prohibition fetish! Ilow arc ( »il the mighty fallen! These churches have tacitly admitted 1 heir disbelief in the truth that the religion of Christ and { \ His Apostles is a complete and sufficient to' remedy for all the ills and failings of V y humanity unless assisted by teetotalism; and having thus proved their lack of od faith and their inability to cope with C( l the wants of the human heart, they es > naturally take second place and allow d* the Alliance to leiuj and direct their ac,,l* tions. lu carrying out their orders, we have church officials and committees falling into line with these machine-made resolutions, which show how true wfc're the words of the ex-President of the Auckland Conference when he said " tho in , world has conquered the Church." How 4 ( | can it be otherwise, wlibn the time which to used to be taken up with a prayer meeting is devoted to carrying stronglv/a worded political resolutions? We see e ,l fulfilled the prediction of the saintly to Matthew Henry—that when ministers of / ( j the gospel take up -politics they will lose the leadings of the Holy Spirit. Here ! we have them nufliing. pell-mell into 2 S< politics, even in their Sunday services, j] s while kliabod" might be painted on nearly all their places of worship. H is monstrous that Christianity should thus be dragged in the gutter of politics. Arc we never again to have teachers of that pure spiritual faith which has nothing E. to do with meats or drinks? Is there to be a total eclipse of faith such as 1 od these resolutions indicate—the splead of as the noxious heresy that to be a good '»r Churchman wo must judge others in the >n- matter of food and drink. Has not the my time come when true Christians ill all of the churches should organise themselves ve against this pernicious' teaching and Jo- tyranny and stand up for the liberty i's wherewith Christ has made us free, and nt for the rointroduction into our churches of the teachings of the New Testament, ly which are quite other than those of llie irti New Zealand Alliance? It is worthy of iVn notice how this deceitful system begets a habit of misrepresentation, which not '*. v Infrequently becomes positive untruth. We have an instance of this' in the letter of your correspondent. Mr. 0. H. Maunder. who states (and, no doubt, believes) j 1 that tho Commonwealth Defence Bill ''excludes all intoxicants from military . encampments." Such a provision was ' c passed in the Assembly, but the Senate threw it out, and the Lower House has pj. agreed to this amendment —as it certainly is. It will be well if we do likewise ■ (^r here. It will ns'suredly be more in the n „ interests of true temperance tlian the n !j extreme views of our intemperate _ friends, who wish to force us all into their ranks, but who, acting in direct opposition to God's Word are foredoomed to failure in more ways than one.—l ve am, etc.. B. ENKOni. ey ————- ml