Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1873 "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 297, 9 October 1873, Page 4

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1873 " MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Among the rejected measures of the last session of our Colonial Parliament is the Licensing Bill of Mr. Fox. The object' at which fchat Bill aims musi cc«qipen,d, I ttself to every, one who has the interests of the colony '-&& -heart. It is neither more nor less tharr'an attempt to lessen, the drimkenness of the land,' with Its' cotos'e4u'ent poverty, errniej lunacy, disease, and premature deaths.' : Though we may not be able to go all the length Mr. Fox advances, we, notwithstanding, would congratulate him on his perseverance in grappling with an acknowledged evil, and in offering what ' he Believes to Jba a proper remedy. If nothing else comes of his plan, ,the. country, at large ought to consider the question, and, as the outcome of many counsels, some mitigation of existing *~pvils Tni&lF Ke"dbta?ned. "f" f Our readers are aware tnat for many years moral reformers have .been grappling, and still arer^-vHUfifoiS gigantic -e vi^, . o T,h^ fan • • the temperance And. -teetotal societies, the &ntii-gh6uting. T soei&ty, ftclliiUl now we Haye 1 Sons 'of Temperance and . the' Good Templars working in ihe same, direction. - We- confess that this last .movement is not to.. our - mind so satisfactory as the former methods. As we understand^the movements, a',person takes a pledge without any solemn appeal to heaven, and with liberty to withdraw from it at. pleasure. But, in Good Teniplarism it is different ; the party takes a pledge or vow for. life. The words of the ritual v are :< *' "Vlan, in a fu.lL belief in the existence and power of Almignty 1 God (in presence of witnesses), do solemnly aiirj unreservedly promise >riai? you ; will. pot make, buy, si sell, ' use^furnish^or cause to be furnished to others, fts.a. beverage, f any\spiritiioup ( or ..map liquors, 'winpf'.oft/jijlpr! and that. *n all honorable- ways you will discountenance 'their u&i in fcb6 cidm-

placing his ngBrWT on his heart, is expected to reply : " I promise." But it may be said that this does not imDjv a life-long i&e%e. '— TVa6,^^«ltother question has been previously put to thecandidate, and to whichhe has given an affirmative reply, viz., "Will sypu faflffrar fiQtenfibp^d3e^b abstain 'ym* e^^ffonr*the' i use or, ot giving to others, as a beverage, anything -thal^wm^ißoxicate." Now, in the interests of truth> tyeJ do' ,obj€fet'jto\bind>y^u^g, persons for life to a solemn vow before thejr * can 'fully • 'kttbw* ' "their own B?in,d,; , px\ /have measured their strength to keep such a vow. Much as we sympathise with the object of rearing up the rising tpneFation*^ denial, w&;feelequally^desrr^as/tliat th^.Bbi^l(^QJiraui^OdKap«^futh and fidelity. We hold that that mind is t i£urtdfeifl&y be hopelessly injured, "&t'f^.Ke^such a pledge, and then in a week or a little more recklessly violates it. We leave it to better ;( eaßtHsis %than^e^are»tft determine Iwheltheri ; a rain or one reckless of solemn vows, taken valongp^with solemn appeal to God, 'm^&fk worst for the community. That there is a danger of Good Templars furnishing a large per centage. of violated pledges has already amply borne out by the published statistics of the society in England. . According i .^o .a- recent file from England, the fourth annual session of the "Grand Lodge of England^ was held' at Bristol ; the report iiead, at which, shewed the following* startling figures : — Number of Good Templars in good standing, 183,982; violated, 18,8^ showing a falling off of 10 per "cent. NpAv^lookingpat intemperance aJainoralevi^wewouldsuggesttoour friends, the Good Templars, that the cure of it should bo attempted without presenting ,to ps so large a number of persons who have at their investigation placed themselves in a 'position from which retreat was imppssible, and, .yet who, have so .basely retreated ;.and we think that this may be done by means of the simple form of total abstinence, .suppqMngg.they..^hoUi4J^t to be the .bxTQ f Wxlkubt i£is/ijar those who have acquired the curse of drink. A simple pledge given to a fellow creature" involving liberty to withdraw from it, does not, even if violated, hurt the mind and weaken the moral sense to a like extent with a vow, along with appeal to God, broken." , Moreover, room should be left to such solemn consideration as is alluded to in the Old Book : "It is better not to vow, than to vow and not to pay." It is quite true that as yet.no Goo.d Tern plari&m has been initia.te*l^i^i^e,_rvnJ tlais criticism. ma} 7 appear as yet to be uncalled for ; but it may be ; and it is better that we should consider its merits calmly, and apart from'ihe excitement usually attendant on its propagandism. We will in our next issue review the different methods employed in legislating to suppress the evil, with a view to awaken enquiry as to the best means, if any, to be resorted to in this 'direction.

'Considerable grumbling at' the 'Provincial Executive exists in the Tevibt district, and not without cause. The residents of that im- , portant district have been deprived of their Warden, and from what we can learn are likely to receive an answer to. their petition for another lone -in the- negative,kas- our friend and correspondent, " Theodosius Glunderbutz," Jast . week predicted. At the late sitting of the Provincial Council, a resolution was passed to^ open a block of 2500 acres. und§r Die s dfeferjred^j>ayment system in the Teviot district. We learjinthat Mr. M'Kerrow was to "visit the Land this_ week, and to report 'upaja it.: <From what we have seen of this gentleman's reports, we !6£n&s RR.f'ntoii\&6~i are Favorably impressed-ivith his ideas of j^ricultural; ,land. r . He. ;has already reported upon land in the Teviot district, and pronounced it to be unfit for .agricultural purposes. We hope that on his ' visit this .tlmeQie will find some person to point him, to Ovens Hill Station as a likely 'place where agricultural hand-- might be found, such as the Teviot 'people would be glad to get the chance of occupying. We know nofc of any district which has been more completely sat upon than has. that of the Teviot, arid for what reason ho onecaD explain. It appears tphe se f t 'apart by ea^h. successive G'oy£rn» rneqt r !as ,'a fajr^ |fil^ ( ' pjutj^er, . Fifty tboasarxd'agres^of land. onT pjie sand acres on the : «jc^er Jsavehllfen sol^i to i u&pleHJsk >ihM jpi»vinoial coffers, and"«lfile<i'ine dißtrict ha& been"-tKtfe"c(3i«lribiitn^ 7 60 JurocU

* , tomely to the revenue, the poor man has been unable to get a blade of „ ;grass> for his cow, unless* by the sufferance of the runholder. • This gross injustice has existed ever since' the district had any population in it. It is true a commonage was givqn to this down-trodden people dome twelve miles away, over a . high range of mountains ; but it is inaccessible six months of the year from the large quantity of snow lying thereon. Some two years ago a block of land was surveyed, but it BtUl remains in the, hands of the runholders. , Previpus again to that time, block after block was surveyed, exchanged, thrown open, and withdrawn, till the people got sick of the subject, and retired into their shell, where they have since been "nursing their wrath to keep it yraxm." There is splendid agricultural land in the runs of Captain Henderson -and Messrs. Cargill and Anderson; indeed if the whole of the former run known as the Ovens Hill were thrown open, it would be none too much for the requirements of the people of the Teviot district ; but an ugly rumor is in circulation about this run, and it is this, that the greater portion of it is to be sold to the lessee. We do not think the present Executive will be so foolnardy as to do such a thing with the action of the late Government so. fresh in their memory. If they do, the Teviot district will be once and forever extinguished — the last hope of the people blasted, and the necessity for railway extension done away with. Had there been land opened for settlement in the Teviot district some years ago, the population would have been at least double ~ what it is at present. Men who had made money on the diggings and wished to settle, had to seek further afield for the opportunity of so doing. It is a well known feet that the climate is not surpassed in New Zealand, and any one visiting the district in summer caYi testify to the fact. Wheat has been grown on Moa ITlat weighing sixty-eight pounds to the bushel, and fruit trees of all kinds bear amazingly. It is the intention of some of the. fruit growers at Coal Creek, during the incoming summer," to forward large quantities o£ their produce ho Duneciin, as the supply far exceeded the local consumption last season. Let it be observed that this is the fruit of a district which has been slighted in every conceivable manner by our provincial rulers. However, better half a loaf than no bread; the 2500 acres about to be thrown open under the deferred payment system — that is if Mr. M'Kerrow can see as much agricultural land in the district — will give land to a few of the Teviot residents, who have been wearily waitingfor it for some years. But we would recommend pur Teviot friends not to become too elated until they are in possession of the land. .The old proverb, "There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip" has been forcibly experienced by them in the past. Let us hope the turn in the tide, though long looked for, has come at last.