TEMPERANCE ITEMS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4342, 11 February 1893, Page 2

TEMPERANCE ITEMS.

Tennyson Smith Again.

h [To hie EditobW.D. Times.] n Sir,—l believe in justice to me i- you will allow me to reply to your ), leading artiole of the MlijflßW^h ir I have, by chance, recently seeP^j e I may say that the fact of my reply--8 ing to your article endorses my belief 2 that you will give me fair play in r your ciiticism of my letter, as it would o be more than useless to reply to some n papers which wilfully pervert the meaning of their * I shall pass by the personalities in s which you indulge, merely expressing d my astonishment that they should e have been indulged in by a paper so is well conducted and self-respecting. I e do not know what Mr Alexander has 9 written to you (as, unfortunately, you appear to have suppressed hia letter), i- but I feel porfectly certain that in the o leading article upon itvou entirely ir fail to appreciate JjMßind of com-* ir plaint. I do that ho p complained of unfa*treatment of me, g personally, but of the very grave inis justice to tho cause which I have tho ;- honour to advocate by your treatment of the mission, and I know there was very great and very general dissatisfaction at the attitude of your paper 5 to such an important work undertaken 2 by an important section of the com* 0 munity. 1 I will ask you to remember that I 1 was announced on four ocoasions to 6 deal not with the Temperance ques-* i tion generally, but with Prohibition, B as it especially affected Masterton—--1 that I invited opponents to skteiheir 8 views or ask questions, as DftjTfll 0 elsewhere, and yon had no ground for 8 supposing that they would be slower to - avail themselvesof tho offer than other 9 communities. Moreover, as a matter of fact, a large number of most intel--2 ligent questions were asked by the 2 audience '(in writing)—questione 2 which with the replies were of suffi--3 cient importance in my opinion and in 9 the opinion of many others to have 0 been worthy of being reported for the 1 benefit of the community. Further, 0 let me say that some of your leading 0 residents presided »t the meetings 0 and expressed theirviews on this burn--0 ing question, and it is usual to report 1 such mutters. The grievance is, I - tako it, not that you did not di justice 2 to me, but that you did not do justice either to the mission or the Temper--3 ancecauae, The estimate you may form 8 of nny particular lecturer is of little 1 impoitance,but the estimate yon form 0 of, and the treatment you aooord to, 1 the work undertaken by the Temper--5 ance Societies of Mastorton, is of the 2 greatest importance, and lam glad 8 they hayo protested against the 0 slight you offered the cause. 0 In conclusion I would sincerely 2 thank you 'for the high compliment 7 you have paid me in reference to my - work iu the recent mission. In your 2 leading article upon the mission you 2 say," What Mr Tennyson Smith has - done has been, to unite thafTemper--4 anco Societies in this town into ono brigade and to equip them for tho e coming struggle and further" This is a tho point to which Mr Tennyson I, Smith seems to have brought the e party in this neighbourhood h lm now for the first time to k reckoned with as a political faction." Now/Sir, the British and Colonial Press throughout Australasia has said the most flattering things of my lectures, but these very soon loso their freshness, and a public man gets surfeited with them, but aach oriticisms B " of the result o/ one's work as that I have quoted, is ever to be valued , highly. Had you said that my stylo was superior to that of Gough, but the practical result was small, I might have felt discouraged. But you ' admit that in spite of youradverso , criticism of my style, etc, I have made it necessary henceforth for any caudidateforParliament,whomayhopetobe '' returned for Masterton, to avow his , adherence to our principles, Sir, I thank you. You have given me tho greatest possible encouragement, fori ' hare attained the object I aimed at . in Prohibition speeohes, and if I can accomplish the same result in every 1 district before the next General Election,Prohibitionwillbe within nieasurablo distance, which will bo sufficient ' reward for mo for live years of my life-work. You may expect me in ' Masterton again on the very first opportunity to assist tho Temperance people in their warfare. Allow me to add afeiv words on the 1 subject of eloquence. I believe the value of eloquence is to be estimated, tho mere power to please the oar stir the emotions of an audienoo, but by the power to lead tho poople to adopt the principles laid down by the speaker, and year by year I become moro and moro convinced that this power to load tho people to action can never be acquired, It is a God-bestowed gift, and lam more and moro impressed with the faot that the success of my work is not due to language stylo or diction, but to something higher, viz., enthusiasm ; not magnetism, as people are wont to call it, but enthusiasm. 1 turn to the Greek dictionary and I find enthusiasm, or to bo enthused, is "to bo inspired or possessed by the Gods, Sir, I believe that any man who is to accomplish any work for humanity must be first enthused beforo ho can create enthusiasm in others, I need scarcely add that abovo and beyond this enthusiasm, maJy.upon the Holy Spirit to touJHpps, enlighten the mind arid impresß the heart. May our cause even possess oloquont speakers, but above all may our causo ever be lod by enthusiasts! ■ Thanking you in anticipation of your finding space for this letter, I am, Sir, yours truly, E, Tennyson Smith,

A friend of my youth, an officer in her Majesty's service, and a young man of bright hope and promfse, had to be turned out of the army for drunkenness, His friends sent him abroad, and he would return homo from time to time, but still a viotim to the drinL On one of these ocoasiona I heard he was staying at one of the London hotels. I went to see him, and found him on a bed of sickness through his evil habit, I prayed by his bedside, and when I arose from my kneesinyfriendsaid, "It'avery good of you old fellow, to come and pray with jf Ime like this; but it's too late. lean- "T nob give it up." Oh, that cry—"Too late!" How manyliavo echoed it from tho saroo causo!-0. Ernest Tritton,

The Glasgow and Southwestern Bailway Company is understood tq enjoy an enviable position j Q regard to claims for compensation for sad re. suits of accident, To a certain eittoot the company proteots itself against negligence in a manner perhaps unique in railway management, A number of. inspectors are constantly occupied in boarding the trains, sometimes trayellingwith tjie engjno, and sometimes iu' the guard's ! Yan,''and,