TEMPERANCE ITEMS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4148, 25 June 1892, Page 3

TEMPERANCE ITEMS.

During, the hearing at Carlisle Assizes, on Wednesday week, of the case against a man for setting tire to tho bed in which his • mother was sleeping, becauso she would not get up and make the drunken fellow some supper, Lord Chief Justice.Coleridge laid down once more ■ the principle that" drunkenness was not, ought not to be, and he was sure never would bo a defence for a crime, A man might go into a public house, deprive himself of the reason which God had given him, and commit any horrible offence, nd theu and there tho counsel would txplain to the jury that he was under he influence of drink, and that because he wis so they must not find him guilty. That was not the law, it never was the law, and the few years he remained qpou the Bench it never Bhould be tho law in any Court over which he presided, ■ He hoped it never would be, Drunkenness was no defence and ought not to be. Had the police not arrived and interfered, the prisoner's mother and the house might haYebecn burned do'.vn ; if that had been so the prisoner would .have been tried for innrdoiy .ind.piis-.'uer would have been lunged. . The Manawatu Times says:—The fact is rather a curious one, but.it is understood, tho more (imminent' of the temperance people at Foxton are quite furious at the rejection of the application for a license for a ne« hoiel, heard there tlieotherday, They are of opinion tbut vinleas the traffic is suppressed altogether, the trade should be open to all who provide suitable buildings and conduct them properly. In oilier words they recognise that tho present tactics of the extremists go in the direction of creating a monopoly, as some hotels are sure to exist despite all their efforts, .

Sir George Trevelyan, M.P., delivered an address at a political meeting in Bayßwater recently, Referring to the coming London (bounty Council election, he said:" When the Tones talked of privilege and monopoly they should look to the liquor traffic, At Bristol there wero 287 public-houses in the Imnds ot one person, while at Blackburn on« person held 132, and in Liverpool 143; in St Margaret's parish, Westminster, there were 38 public-houses owned by two brewers. Jt was exfcromely necessary that a reform should he broughtabout in this matter,"

Under the heading of " The Sham j Liberalism of a 80-Called Democratic Government," the .Rev. Frank W. . Isiit, of Nelson, writing to the Evening Post, says:—Soruoyeara since, the then leader of tbo late Government said in the House that lie uud his colleagues would leave it to shaft Liberals to talk Liberalism,' while they addressed themselves to tbo task ol passing really Liberal measures, A signal instance o{ the sham Liberalism referred to has jtißtbeen afforded us in this'district, In May, 1891, an effort was made by two Nelson brewers to force an additional, licensed house upon the residents in Motueb, some . 22 miles distant, It was defeated by the common sense of 4-sths of the Licensing Committee, and by the presentation ofa petition against.it which was'signed by 150' residents, Shortly after one of the .Committee died. As the present licensing date Was reached, it was known that another one had been won over to the brewers' side and that a new effort would be made to defeat the wishes of the people. The balance of power would thus lie witii the ,unknonn individual whom a Liberal Government should nominate to till the vacancy on the committee. It is statedthat the names of two residents of unquestionable fairness and of moderate views were submitted to the Govern* ment from official sources.; But either of those so named, though not Prohibitionists, would have given effect to the wishes of the ratepayers, and not to those of the Nelson brewers referred to. On the 11th of May the Hon. R, Seddon passed through Nelson, On the 18th the New Zealand Gazette notified tbo appointment to the vacancy ofa resident who was one of tho ten petitioners for the license last year. Two hundred and forty adult residents at once signni a new petitioD of protest; There oannot be more than' three hundred adults in the whole district, When the committee met on tho 7th inst,, Mr Richmond Hiirsthouso presented the protesting petition, with a characteristically vigorous speech. Amid the enthusiastic uproar of a crowded Court, he twice called on tbo Government nominee to quit the Bench, that the wishes of the residents might not be roughly overridden, A third Nelson brewer, not personally interested jn the case, who was, strangely; permitted to act as solicitor for tho applicant, solemnly adjured tho nominee to stick to bis post, and " not be a traitor to his country and his God." To the disgust of the whele community the licenso was granted, The present socalled Democratic Government may rest assured that the aid they have given to this Bbameless disregard of the wishes of the people will not be forgotten when there is another appeal to the ballot-box. It is to be hoped that some M,H,R. who is a Democrat in practice, as \vell us in profession, will ttt the- proper time bring this libel upon Liberalism before the notice of the House, and demand an explanation of the action of tbo Government, It is to, bo feared that the exigencies of Party will ; efleotiially close tho mouth of tho ; member for the district, • Under the heading 0f,," Encouragr > ing (Signs of the Times" the Dunedin I correspondent of the "Prohibitionist" , wiites!—'vDuring'tbe past few weeks , jjuveial most gratifying and encouraging facta have cqm'e to [ny knowledge > which indicate, in a striking manner, ' tho trend of publio, opinion on the ' liquor question. First: In one large , business concern in the city a pledge , book is kept, with a view to the enrol- , mentofall theeraployesas teetotallers; > Tho principals b&ve set the. example, t and jjead l|ie list. " Second - !' The ' manager of another concern, one of the. 1 largest manufactories in the Southern I Hemisphere, is himself a total ; abstainer, and fast developing into an ) earnest Prohibitionist. Third; In f another mercantile-house, employing i a'large number of hands, in which a a supply of'liquorwas wpnt'to be'kepi 9 fpr the treating'of customers,, and from \ybich "more fhan one or two' ' have, to my knowledge, gone tp ( the . bad, a complete reform has been effeos ted. The drink has bgen poured out, ut orders given for the sale of the c}ecan.1 ters ftntj glasses, ant} a caution given * to all hands' that any employe 1 seen ' under the influence of liquor will bo I reprimanded, and on a second occasion be immediately disoLarged,". .