RULES FOR THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 51, 21 December 1899, Page 2

RULES FOR THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

INTERESTING DISCOURSE BY FATHER FAUVEL.

(Prom our Temuka correspondent.)

A very practical instruction on the dnties of publicans was given at Temuka on last Sunday by the Rev. Father Fauvel, S.M. The Rev. Father took as his text the words of Isaias v. 22 : ' Woo to you that are mighty to drink and understand to make others drunk.' The preacher opened his discourse with a reference to the recent Prohibition agitation, which, after mighty threatening, had lef c the interests of the hotelkeepers in the electorate intact. He wished them happiness here and hereafter, and therefore deemed it his sacred duty to give them a salutary advice, and wished to God that his voice was powerful enough to carry hi 3 worda throughout the length and breadth of the Colony. M There is no effect, said the rev. preacher (whose words ■ summarise), without an adequate cause. What is the cause of the agitation that has banded bo many thousands of people together heart and soul in an efforb to shut up public-houses for ever ? There are, perhaps, several contributing causes, political, sooial, or other. But we have not to go far to find the chief one — the frightful vice of drunkenness, which degrades a man's humanity, and ruins him in body and soul. And yet, to the disgrace of our common Christianity, it is encouraged and favoured by a certain class of publioans. It is no wonder that people have got tired of this. It is no wonder, too, that many, confounding the traffic with a gross and sinful abuse of the traffic, have left no stone unturned to utterly put a stop to it. The number of hotelkeepers in my parish is small, indeed, but that is no reason why I should not explain to them their duties and obligations— what they are to do and what to avoid— in connection with a trade that offers bo

many dangers to salvation. Conscience, the faar of God, honesty— these are the gaiding stars on which the eyes of their souls must be ever fixed. \ ' THE GOD-FEARING PUBLICAN / In this business, as in many others, there as* to be found two classes of people : the conscientious, honest, and God-fearing • and the unconscientioua and dishonest. The former class is the model for the Catholic publican to follow ; the other is a warning example to shun at all costs. v 1. The upright and God-fearing member of the trade is one who, obedient to the voice of conscience and the Divine command never allows intemperance in or about his licensed premises. ' 2. He firmly and— if I might say it in a sense— mercilessly refuses to supply drink to persons who are already under the influence of drink. 3. He never adulterates the liquor he sells. 4. He does not tolerate in his house impure, irreligious, or blasphemous discourses. ft. He never allows games, dances, or such-like amusements in or about his premises for the purpose of attracting young people and thus inducing them to drink. 6. He refuses drink to intemperate fathers, on whose wages he known their wives and families depend for a living. This is a picture of the God-fearing publican. ' He can conduct his trade honourably and bring up his family in virtue and respectability ; he can prevent many and great evils ; he can stand well in the eyes of God and his fellow-men ; and he can win a great reward in the world to come. AN EXAMPLE TO AVOID. The unconscientious publican, on the contrary, has bis hear* and soul fixed upon the gains of his trade. He is determined t n make money anyhow, lawfully or unlawfully. 1. He serves drink indiscriminately to all who ask for it-even to those who have the ' signs ' of it upon them, or who are half • drunk, or quite intoxicated— with little care whether the unfortunates can get home safely, with little thought of their risks of falls from horse-back, or of being run over, or otherwise sent unprepared to their last account. The man that acts thus is the devil's accomplice in compassing the eternal ruin of the soul of a fellow-creature. This man's chief thought and aim is merely to avoid trouble with the police. 2 Again : he scruples not to keep drunken persons on his premises as long as they have money to spend— even though this may cause grief and tears and heart-breaking to the unhappy wives and children who depend upon the drunkard's wages for a living. 3. He encourages antusements of various kinds merely to draw people, young and old, to his bar. 4. He sometimes adulterates liquors and thereby makes illici and unjust profits— every sovereign of which will hang like a mill stone around hia neck in the world to come. SUNDRY POINTS. _ All trades and callings have their peculiar dangers and temptations. But the considerations I have placed before you will show that the calling of the licensed victualler has perils to salvation that are most urgent and pressing, and hence the great necessity that he should be an honest, conscientious, and God-fearing man. The Rev. Father then exhorted all publicans to follow strictly and faithfully the six rules mentioned above as being the guides and safeguards of the conscientious hotelkccper. He took up each point separately and expounded it and enlarged upon it with great power seasoned by practical wisdom. He declared that it would be more tolerable for the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah on the last day than for Catholic publicans who encourage drunkenness for the sake of gain. He set before his hearers the example of the pagan magistrates of Sparta, who, in order to inspire their youth with a horror of the vice of intemperance, exposed a drunken slave from time to time to their gaze in the public squares. On the first occasion that these noble youths saw the drunken slave they cried out : ' Oh, whence can such a monster come, who, with the face of a man, has less Bense than a brute V Dealing with the old objection : ' If I refuse him drink, he will go to the next public-house,' Father Fauvel said : Well, let him go. What is that to you ? If your neighbour makes up his mind to go to perdition, it is his own affair. You have to answer not for hiß actions, but for your own. The sin is the fame for the drunkard, but not so for you. The rev. preacher likewise condemned the exorbitant rents or prices paid for licensed premises ; but he warned his hearers that this was no justification for unjust or dishonourable or unchristian methods of trade. Nobody forcei the licensee to rent a house or the owner to buy, and a business which cannot be carried on in an honest, upright, and Christian manner ought never to be undertaken. Let hotelkeepers, therefore (said the preacher in conclusion), understand and consider well the obligations of their very responsible position. They can effect much good, but also much evil. If they conduct their business on the lines laid down the blessing of God will be with them. But if for the sake of filthy lucre they allure to and encourage drunkenness the malediction will surely fall upon them that was spoken by the Prophet Isaias : ' Woe to you that are mighty to drink wine and understand to make others drunk.'