THE BLUE RIBBON ARMY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1155, 22 March 1884, Page 2

THE BLUE RIBBON ARMY.

A meeting of the Blue Ribbon Array was held last Thursday evening in the Volunteer Hall, Temuka, to hear Sir

William Fox, The hall was crowded. The chair was occupied by the Rev. Mr Wills, and after hymns were sung by the choir and prayer offered up by the Rey. D. Gordon, Sir William Fox was introduced by the Chairman. Sir William Fox on coming forward was received with immense applause. He said it was not the first time he had had the satisfaction of addressing a meeting in Temuka, but it was so long ago that he supposed very few present remembered him. It was a great satisfaction to him to see such a large audience present. He was reminded of an American story, in which the man that told it had boasted of being present with five hundred others at the lynching of a criminal, and that they all took an interest in in. He was glad to see so many taking an interest in the Blue Ribbon movement. He came to Canterbury 34 years ago, when only four white men lived between the Hurinui and Waitaki, and imagined then that the day would come when the vast extent would be dotted over with villages, but he never dreamt the population would be so great in his day or that he should witness such evidences of industry or prosperity. Ships had come from England laden with people, with money, with hope, but they had also brought with them a commodity which he wished they had left behind—he meant strong drink, —and they had introduced the system of licensed houses under the sanction and piotection of the law. It looked rather mean to discuss this question from a pecuniary point of view, but still the man that had most money was thought the most of. Money enabled a man to gain privileges. With money a man could buy a constituency, and sell it again. He would give them a few facts. The revenue of this colony was £3,000,000 a year, half of which went to England as interest on borrowed capital, and the other half went to pay the expenses of State. People complained of this tax as a millstone around their necks, but they . would not feel its weight no more than they would feel the weight of a feather only for the curse of strong drink. They paid a volunteer tax in the shape of money for drink that amounted almost to L 3,00 0 5000 every year. If this money was spent in reproductive works, it would add greatly to the prosperity of the colony. The colony was spending £500,000 a year on education, and some people objected to it as too much. The sum meant £1 per year per head of the population, which would not amount to a quarter of a glass of beer each. Were they so mean as not to give up this quarter of a glass of beer to get their children educated. If they had started the Maine liquor law at the same time as they started the public works, the one and a-half millions they were sending annually to England would not now be going there, for it was the drink traffic brought the whole of the debt on our

shoulders. He pointed out that a man who drank one glass of beer each day spent £9 5s a year, and deprecated the idea of married men spending money in drink. As soon as John Smith got married he was no longer John Smith, but John Smith and Co, ; his wife and children were partners with him in whatever he possessed, and he was robbing them by spending the partnership money in drink. He wished to direct their attention to another view of the matter. He reckoned that 2200 people died directly from drink every year in this colony. Supposing Chinamen brought a disease into the colony which would kill a few colonists, would we not take immediate steps to drive every Chinaman out of the country ? Here were 2200 killed annually by drink, and no one said anything about it, He would tell them how he had come to find out that 2200 died annually . from drink. There were 2200 public A

bouses in this colony, and he had concluded that each house killed one man every year. If they thought this an exaggeration he would cat it down by one half, and add the number that died from the same cause indirectly —he meant the widows and wives find children. He gave instances of wives dying from the effect of their husbands’ drunkenness, and stated that if such cases were taken into consideration the number that was killed annually from the effect of strong drink directly and indirectly would be found far more than what he had stated. Everyone who countenanced this w.as morally responsible, whether he was the greatest aristocrat in the land or the unfortunate publican who kept the Devil’s Arms at Deadman’s Gully on the diggings. He did not care how respectable a publican was ; the more respectable the worse he was, for the more drink he sold, and it was selling the liquor that did the harm. He did not know how publicans could sleep in their beds at night withouthaving their repose disturbed by the imaginary ghosts of the unfortunate drunkards whom they had sent to a premature grave. He pitied them, but if there was anything more mean or contemptible than another in connection with the traffic it was the annual dinners of licensed victuallers. These were great affairs at Home, and were attended by Members of Parliament, Justices of the Peace and sometimes Clergymen, but very seldom. They reminded him of Joseph’s brethren, who had sat down and did eat bread after casting their brother into tbe pit. These people had a dinner in Wellington once. They sneered at him (Sir W. Fox), but while they were sneering at him he was going home from the House of Representatives in the rain, and stumbled over a man lying dead drunk on the middle of the road. He would far rather have been that miserable wntch lying drunk there in that gutter than any of these publicans. The drunken man was responsible only for his own sins, tho publicans were responsible for the sins of hundreds. He asked, why should th'B go on ? Nobody got any good of the money spent in drink ; if it had been spent in stores of the town it might do good, A drunken father was once telling a dream he had about seeing a fat rat, followed by a blind rat, which was in turn followed by a miserably lean rat. His little boy interpreted the dream as follows :—The fat rat was the publican, tbe blind rat was his father, who was addicted to drink, and the lean rat was his mother, who was hungry at home. How long was the fat rat to lead the blind rat ? They had tbe power in their own hands to take the drink from the man, and the man from the drink, The law gave them the power to shut up the public bouees. Licensing Committees bad the power to consider not only whether the publican was a fit and proper person to bold a license, but also whether there was any necessity for the house to be licensed at all. Some time ago a big brewer at the Thames owned

fifty houses, and the Licensing Commissioners shut seven of them up. The brewer come to Wellington to try to got compensation, but a Committee of the House refused to gixe it to him. The Lord Chief Justice of England had decided that a publican’s license gave him no vested right ; that the license was only from year to year, and his vested interest terminated at the end of the year. At Wood end a Licensing Committee tock away a publican’s license ; an appeal was made to the Supreme Court, where it was held that the Committee had not acted legally in taking away the license, because they called no evidence io show the house was not wanted. He did not agree with the Supreme Court in this respect. The people of this town, if organised, could put men on the Committee that would carry out their instructions ; any number of the temperance men could give evidence that the house was not wanted, and if a Committee had the evidence to that effect before it, it could take away the license from any bouse ou the ground that it was not necessary. He found out that the Licensing Committees down here did not understand they possessed this power, but in Auckland they had found this out, and were acting upon it.

A few hymns were here sung and a collection made, and about ] 2 new members were added to the roll of Blue itibbouists. They were with one or two exceptions women and children. After this, Sir William Pox addressed the people again, on the religious aspect of the question. After a few preliminary remarks, he went on to say that the Bible was full of total abstinence teachings, and quoted several passages, including “ If thy right hand offend, etc,” “ I will not eat meat nor drink wine, whereby a

Weak brother stumbleth,” “ Bear one brother’s burden.” He held these quotations had purely a total abstinence meaning. He went on to show that of all evils the evil ot intemperance was the greatest, and went on to tell the story of J. B. Gough, who had once been in a respectable position from which he fell through drink, He was in rags and misery, and shunned by everyone, till a Christian young man spoke kindly to him one day and induced him to go to a temperance meeting. He took the pledge, and became the apostle of temperance, A fine of 5s Would not have reformed J. B. Gough, but the kindly, tender, soothing words of Christian charity had pierced his heart, and converted him. He next told the story of the young man who went from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves. There were thieves in Jericho to this day, and it was an honorable profession ; and there were licensed robbers who wounded young men not only in their body, but in their brains, in their hearts, and m their souls till they were brought down to a drunkard’s grave, or to the lunatic asylum. He instanced the case of the Samaritan who took up the young man and nursed him, and asked when they had such examples before them who would dare to tell them to mind their own business ? It was not enough to wear the blue ribbon, they must do more. He then wound up a very forcible and eloquent address with an appeal to all to do their best in the cause of temperance.

The speaker was listened to most attentively, and sat down amidst great applause. The JtieT. A. Hamilton moved a vote of thanks to Sir William Fox for his address. He spoke at some length of a family in his parish. The husband had taken the pledge some time ago, and had a comfortable home. He however, had broken it, and when he (the speaker) had last visited it there was nothing but bare walls, children hungry and the wife in tears. He appealed to the moderate drinkers to go forward and sign to give the unfortunate man courage to again take the pledge, and to help in the great cause of temperance.

The Rey, D. Gordon seconded the motion. He felt it a great privilege that the people of Temuka had the pleasure oi hearing one of New Zealand’s titled nobility. He felt sure his address would have the result of making those who had taken the pledge stick to it.

■ The motion was carried amidst great applause. Sir William Pox thanked them. He required no greater thanks than to see so many present to listen to him. He had learned that 462 had already joined in this town, and he considered that glorious work. There was one thinghe would advise them, and that was not to neglect literature. There was nothing like printer’s ink to carry on the work, and without it progress would be slow. The meetings were right enough, but what was said there was only heard by those present, while papers would gc far and wide and into the remotest corners. He thanked them for the patient hearing they had given him and the vote of thanks. (Applause.) The Rev. Mr Hamilton offered up prayer, and the rev. chairman pronounced the Benediction, and the meeting dispersed.