ALCOHOLOGY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 147, 30 September 1910, Page 7

ALCOHOLOGY.

THE PASSING OF NEHA. (Published by Arrangement). Neha was just an ordinaryMaori r and, like many others of 'his he ''imbibed intoxicating liquors a b$ freely."' We may presume thltt he'goV his'liquor in quite the legal way at. the places' Where It is sold witt the approval of the' powers that be. H6'^'ofe i W''inuth; he was unable'to'drive lias horse; and. gig, with the result that he'.collided with'dnothet vehicle on the road and met' with 9U<;h serious damage that he' died about six Kours afterwards ait the hospital. It' is usual wh'eti.a death"occurs but 6f the ordinary way to hold an inquest to en-' quire into the cause. In-this case" we were told that "no-inquest will be held, as the coroner is satisfied as to the' cause of death." 'lt"is quite true'that' the coroner knowii the cause, sb'do ffte police, the doctors, the nurses, a,rid the bystanders who witnessed the occurrence; but do they at'all grasp the position: a man killed by being trodden on by a horse aridpassed over'by the wheels of a gig. That'is, just the bare facts as seen by those tiieritiohe<J above, perhaps; they are so used to it that ;they fail to comprehend what it means, They will T)e satisfied to see it aHentered up in .hospital and other official record's as "accidental death'" 'without consider-, ing' further. They' said that .when'" he started out from the stables he was able to "look after himself all right." But' was he? He, was" not whai the, authpri-, ties on "drunks" (such as puibticans ttrid. policemen) wou|d ,call drunk; if he drunk in thjeir eyes he would !be,harn>less to others, hut he, ws^s;in' the ipost dangerous state'of c all.- IJe fchoughrt he. could do anything, when.;in reality he was.unfit to he itrusted to (Jo the simplest thing. 1 Now;'' • ,; ■ ■"'• ; ; : ! ' -what . kii,L|p sfeaif.-

-I Some will say he waskUJeftby the horse 'J or tbe gig, or both. That is only part of 1, 1 1 the truth. Some will go 'further' 'and l Say "-[that the drink was '(jjhe'-'cause ; of 'his lj?)'death, and here'' we ore; : v&y >v Tiea:P the' f.jfflark.. The question Jsy .'■ :v ''.' '''•. : '; : ..', ?: {•.';■''. who was RfispoNsißtE?' ■ ; ft Not the. liquor itself, for, if: left in the }-,' bottle or cask, or. thrown into the gutb,',ter, it will do.no; harm: if usedior; I what it is really-useful •it will do good r. (but the .decision on this point must I I wait). Clearly-**he -liquor was not re-- \ I sponsible.;' Many will say fohat Neha him-' , ,self was responsible, for he voluntarily f {.took the liquor. That is true, only we i must- thatr-he was a weakling ~ i before a glass of' strong drink,, and we u gan't hold men responsible for their weak: > - ness. Here the saying of a local J.P. ':. is applicable. The J.P. said that when. ', a Maori was before him for drunken- '* ness he felt like apologising to the Maori > rather than punishing him, for we .pas'- kehas brought the evil thing here and taught the natives to drink.it, and therefore on us rests the shame of Maori drunkenness. But to go on in quest of the responsible party. "The publican was - not in that position; he is, licensed to . sell, and sell, and sell, and only to stop when the customer is drunk and. when that evil state is reached his duty is to turn the erstwhile customer out into the road or streeit-4ie must not harbor , drunkenness. It is as.plain as anything can be that the.publican is licensed to make men drunk; so he was not responi s-ible for Neha's death. Nor is the law, as albove interpreted, to. be blamed. The • law says that if "the people of Tara'naki - do not want liquor sales theyean abolish ' them if they wish; and if they do not wish it or do not act on that wish they -must shoulder the- responsibility. Per- - haps it would be unkind to put any particular blame on the doctors here, yet they , must hear a great share if they at any time recommend the beverage use of alcohol. The doctor's word is law to many, and even his permission is often twisted into an order by weakly patients and their foolisih attendants. In.the search for the responsible party to this untimely death-—and for many, ■ many more such untimely deaths—we are driven to this conclusion: The responsibility rests, and rests heavily, too, _ on all who in any way support," or. even fail to do their utmost to abolish, the evil drinking customa'of tihe, day.''