TEMPERANCE ITEMS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4166, 16 July 1892, Page 3

TEMPERANCE ITEMS.

At the Worcester (Englnd) Quarter sessions; Recorder ArapliHt made some very fltrong observation!! in hit) nddrpas to tho Grand Eeferringto tho plea of drnkennes set up by John Wistwood, who was charged with wounding. His Hoiios took, occasion to speak of tho proporr lion of ci linn which was duo to drinkunci especially to the recent remark of Mr Justice Hawkins that 90 pe cent, of offences resulted from drink Thi? was ut duinniblo state of affair, There was a time to speak and a time to keep silence; and it seamed impossible to maintain silence on the subject whilo such observations were made, when it was known that though thny were perhaps exaggerated they contained much truth, They ought all to try to stop so grave a social plague, He very much regretted (hut a matter of this kind should he dragged into tho vortex of politics. Some people said publichouses ought to bo decreased in number, bomesnid publicans should receive- compensation, others said they should not. Some said Sunday closing was the cure. Some said local option was the remedy. Hii' lie was sorry to think that these matters were invariably decided by the lines of party division, and the result was that yery In tic if anything was done, to relieve tbeiu of so grave«x, cial evil. Ho must express his deliberate belief that ono half of the crime of the country might be stopped by. the firm and active administration of existing laws, without- having recourse to violent measures, This wai a subject of keen interest to tho public at large and those concerned in tho trade

Why was this drunkenness permitted 1 One would suppose that the police were blind with one oyo and did not care to see with the other, He could not understand why steps were not taken to remvoo the evil of which he bad spoken. There wero many n tho licensed trade who wished to carry oa their business in conformity with the interests of the law, while others less conscientious, were careless what was the condition of people to whom they supplied drink, Tho licensing laws imposed sufficiently severe penalties. But how faint-heartedly the law was administered I A great many of the police endeavoured to do their best to discbarge their duties, but when they brought oases forward justices dealt out the law with too great lenience. He considered that much might be-llone by a firm and vigilant administration of the laws against drunkenness, if applied to the fountain head of the evil. Ho was sure that tho city police would receive the assistance of all civic authorities in trying, as far as they could, to stamp out the horrible cause and ever-fertile source of crime.drunkenness,

The Hon. Mr Munro, the Premier of Victoria who was recently Home, was one of the speakers at a great publio meeting held in tbe Freo Trade Hall, Manchester, He said:—"l have sat upon hundreds of platforms in our colony, and havo advocated | personal abstinence, which I believe to be the right thing. 1 believe it is now generally admitted that total abstinence men can work better and longer than those who aro not. J stand before you us a life abstainer. So lot);' as this accursed traffic is carried on, so long as you plant public houses at poor men's doors, you place temptation in their way which is difficult for them to resist. People talk about education being a preventive of

drunkenness, I have seen ministers of my own denomination, the Presbytorian body; 1 have seen men who occupied high positions in society, begging for a shilling to pay for abed, all. through intoxicating drink, I have seen men in high positions given over lo the custody of policemen, and taken to the lunatic asylum. 1 have seen men-who filled the very highest positions brought down to the lowest positions by this abominable drink. Do you mean lo say that we are founding a grand empire in a southern land, who will be your customers in the future, and who are tbemost loyal subjects of Queen Victora—do you think that we do not feel the effects of this abominable drink upon us? We entered upon the possession of Victoria 50 years ago, and there were then 13,000 aborigines in the country. Today there are not more than 600. What has lecome of them? We did not shoot them nor drive them away, They havo been ruined by drink. While drink is in the country the Natives will have it, and the cure therefore, is tho absolute annihilation of the traffic. You send missionaries to foreign lands, and a grand thing it is; but, you send iheni with a Bible 1 in their right hand, while the hold of the vessel is filled with alcohol, to destroy the very men. the missionrries are sent to save, And you call this doing Christian work. Wo behove we aro raising a grand empire in the south; we believe we are giving free-, dora to our people, We are thoroughly democratic, and we have done everything inourpower to make our working classes comfortable. We have I say, tried to elevate otiv men; but what is their positiou? You have doubtless seen one of these ele«

vutors in large warehouses, used for carrying people or goods to the top of the building. We are trying elevate our people, but there is a screw press at tho top, and while the effort is being made to raise them, they are b'eiug pressed down from above by the liquor traffic,"