THE PROHIBITIONIST.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4088, 13 April 1892, Page 2

THE PROHIBITIONIST.

PuhMd by the courtesy of the Editor of Wairarapa BaiiyTim, wider tk . auspices of the }fev> Zealand Alliance for the prohibition of the liquor traffic, Masterton Auxilhry. When ratepayers demand the entire ra- ■. tfiiicfion of all places for tk sale of liquors, theirprayershould begranted. —Charles £ttxton, Brewer. [Communications tor this column must bo addressed to " The Prohibitionist," care of Editor of Wairarapa Dailv Tisibb.] There are not a few who still ask-: Does Prohibition prohibit ? As an authoritative answer to these people; wo would point to the recent testimony of the Hon. Secretary of State at Washington, a Maine man, Mr : James Jf. .Blaine, who. saysf) Ins tempfiraiice haa steadily decreased in Maine sinoe the first enactment of the Prohibitory Law, until now it oan be said with truth that there is no equal number of people in the Anglo-Saxon world among whom so small an amount of intoxicating liquor is consumed as among the inhabitants of Maine." Successful enough this, surely, even though it were admitted that, by disreputable hole-and-corner means, liquor oan i still .be prooured. . It was stated by. a correspondent in Ifo Liverpool Mercury of January 2?th : tbat'a very hard-working and successful Church of England clergyman in Liverpool (now a high dignitary of the Church in another diocese) being asked, with regard ti the large number of public-houses within his own; district,; how many of these licensed houses were the cause !of more evil than all thj good his Church with all its efficient agencies at work, could effect, the answer was"Any two public-houses do more harm, morally and socially, than all the good our Church is able to accomplish." "Then, as far aa that district ig concerned," the said, correspondent goes on to oalonlate, "it is twenty to one against Christianity, the number of licensed houses 1 being some 40 or more." "This maybe an extreme case," he adds, " but in more or less proportion the same applies to many districts in Liverpool. 1 ' In.view ofa fact like this, it must he the bounden duty of Churches td range themselves en masse against the lioensed liquor traffic—at any rate of the Cburcheß of any locality in which the agencies for good are thus so obviolisly counteracted.

According to the Christian Leader (Glasgow), " the licensed grocers are slirewd men. They can read the handwriting on the wall,, and they know enough of Bible history to understand the futility of coming together to cry aloud 1 for about the apace of two hours I' 'Great is Diana I' when their craft is in danger, Nevertheless, they did it again last week. The report mourned the progress, sjow but inevitable, of the' unjust principles of Looal Veto,' The passing of, the second reading of the Welsh Bill last year gave new power to the teetotal iconoclasts,, and there were grave fears expressed that in a little time 'all their gods' high temples would be broken down,' It is strange how exactly the arguments for' the trade' correspond - with 'the old arguments for the continuance of the slave traffic. The report eays: The proposed ■ legislation would unduly harass a lawful-and respectable trade [the;slave trade]. The powers given under the Bill; would prevent men of respectability and character from engaging in the trade.' The separation of the liquor from! the grocery trade [the , slave trade .from cotton growing] would ruin the latter, and the provisions of the Bill are unjust and ■ grossly inapplicable to Scottish [West Indian] law and custom.' The Scottish licensed grocers must have obtained somewhero a minute-book of the Slave Traders Defetice Association. They should look after their Secretary, however, and not let him plagiarise too clcsely. It causes remark. Better dismiss him, and hire with their twopound surpluaaprofessionalmournei'."

In Surgeon Parke's new book of " Personal Experiences in Equatorial Africa," it is interesting to : note his reference to the part drink plays in producing sunstroke. He says (page 4sjf); '.' I have no doubt that the rernurhable'immj]nity'pf our fflen from sunstroke pari be partially grfjdjted jo tl)e fapt that the lead's of the. carriers werp a'ways protected by their loads during the march, hut' 1 do not by 'any moans think that their safety was altogether duo to this, As a matter of faot, I lmvo seen more cases of sunstroke in one day at Aldershoi than I have ever met with in the wliolo course of my seven year's African experience, including tho Egyptian war of 1882, and the Nile campaign of 1884-85, although in the latter I went lis far a? Metarnmeh —within sixty nnles of Khavtouni. Drink is oeUaraly the most powerful predisposing cause of the development of the symptoms of sunstroke."