THE Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JULY 1, 1911. SOCIAL EVILS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10276, 1 July 1911, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JULY 1, 1911. SOCIAL EVILS.

A very large section of the oommur • &fcy_ in New Zealand is oblivious of the (fact that there are several giant evils working havoc in the land. So much attention has been devoted to tEe drink traffic, that other stupendous social ..vices have .been allowed to flourish unrealised, amd consequently unchecked. However important it' may he to the well-being of a community that the excessive indulgence in alcoholic liquor (which saps the manhood of its victims and blights the homes and lives "of thousands), should be restrained, it is equally important that the other ngppeat national evils should receive attention from sociologists. What are tßxos© evils ? It need hardly be said that they pertain to gambling

and sexual offences. If reports be correct, these vices have taken possession of thousands of people in the Dominion, and are overwhelming the,m in misery and destitution. The assertion has been made that in No-license areas these evils are becoming more pronounced than in licensed districts. This assertion is probably the concoction of some person or persons not altogether disinterested in the maintenance of "the trade." Nevertheless, it is a fact that the two great evils to which reference has been made have taken a hold of the people, and are producing fair-reaching and terrible results. The Legislature has heen tin- j kering with the gambling vice; but it has made no systematic or rational attempt to eliminate it. The bookmaker has been warned off the racecourse, but he pursues his illicit trade with daring impunity. Totalisator gambling has, at the same time, increased enormously, and "TattersallV sweeps are openly patronised by the .people. As for the social scourge, it has ibeen talked of j at medical conferences and written | about in the Press for years past. A false isen.se of modesty and sentimeaitalism has, however, prevented the discussion of the subject from the public plaitform and in Ba.vlia.ment. The time is coming when this veneer of alleged respect-ability will have to be removed, and the evil exposed in all its hideousness. Is lit too much to ask that those ladies and gentlemen who display so much enthusiasm on the liquor question will devote a little of their energies to the other evils mentioned? It is not enough to save a man from the drunkard's grave. His family must be rescued from the perils of gambling and social impurity. It is, of course, impossible to manufacture saints by Act of Parliament. It is, however, quite possible to make the I social environments of the people such that (the grosser evils- which afflict humanity will be minimised.