RELIGION AND TEMPERANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 250, 19 October 1904, Page 5

RELIGION AND TEMPERANCE.

EIJMINATION OF PRIVATE PROFIT. URGED BY ANGLICAN SYNOD. MUNICIPAL CONTROL CO>_>F_d_v_D* Tho Anglican Synod of yesterday afternoon and evening discussed at some length the question of temperance reform, and ainrrned the principle that private profit should he eliminated, negativing a further proposal in favour of j establishing municipal control. The Rev. J H. Mason moved: "That in the opinion j of this Synod the cause of temperance reform would be greatly advanced by j the elimination of private profit from the j sale of alcoholic liquors; and also by ; the establishment of a system of muni- i cipal control over the liquor traffic.'' Before the consideration of this mo- j tion, however, the Synod admitted and | heard a deputation from the Auckland i Prohibition and Temperance League, headed by the Rev. C. H. Garland and Mr. R. French. The Bishop (Dr. Neligan) cordially welcomed the deputation. The Rev. C. H. Garland thanked the Synod for its courtesy, and justified the deputation in approaching it with two reasons: (1) The liquor traffic in every land, under every form o£ control, was attended with far-reaching evils and degraded their fellow men. The extent of I tlie evil might be questioned, but the I fact itself was beyond dispute; (2) It I was equally beyond dispute that neither | Church nor State coidd be indifferent to I such a grave national evil, aiid each was | bound to do its utmost to reduce the evil and its attendant misery, and, if | possible, to heal the wound. He hoped that the Synod would give consideration to the methods sanctioned by the Col- | onial Government and increasingly ap- j proved by the people—that of local option, a method which, if clearly under- | stood, would meet with the approval of | every elector as the best solution of the i I problem and the truest in democracy. j There was no fanaticism in the desire |of the prohibitionists or local optionists to have the will of tbe people given expression to. Mr. R. French said that the League i had observed a tendency in the Episcopal j Sjyiods to favour State control, and the League wished to ask the Synod to pause and consider fully the experience of other countries in the various systems of control. He quoted the work of Mr. Robinson Souttar ("Alcohol, Its Place and Power in Legislation"), in which it was stated that in municipal control the local police were more lenient to the municipal hotel than to the private one. Municipal control ended in police paralysis. It would be disastrous to have liquor introduced into municipal politics, and the League wished to bring this strongly before the Synod. Tbe Rev. Mr Mason, outlining his reasons for the motion, said that he considered it the duty of- the Church to support the temperance movement, and he believed these systems would go a long way to. suppress the evils of the liquor traffic. The great weakness of the present system was the principle of private profit being allowed, which practice demoralised the traffic and those in it. He had known many hotel keepers, and had endeavoured to remain friendly with them, but had never been able to" do so long because of. their practices. There was but one house which he knew could be called a model place. It was at Waingaro, and-was not run for profit. It was an eminent success, answering every requirement of the people, but not encouraging drink. From that success he argued for the success of the whole system. He urged immediate action, because the liquor interests were already dominant in the colony, and would increase yearly in strength. He did not believe absolute prohibition would ever be obtained in the colony, and he was not sure it was desirable, but this system he thought could be readily put in force, and a great deal of the evil would disappear. He proposed that the profits obtained should be used for public places of sensible recreation. He did not believe in compensation —he thought rather of. tbe people whose lives and dependants had been wrecked by liquor; but he though: 10 years' notice might be given to licensees that their licenses were to be taken away. Dr. A. G." Pnrchas seconded the motion, and said that he believed that prohibition was neither possible nor desirable. He had spent niany weary days in his youth fighting for prohibition, but, he had had to give it up in the end. He believed that if the proposal were carried out there was reasonable ground for hope that it would result in a diminution of the evils of- excessive drinking. Li the matter of municipal control, he could not call to mind any particular council to which he could entrust the control of tlie traffic. ("Hear, hear.") Mr S. Luke condemned the mover's disparaging references to publicans. He had found many estimable, worthy, and charitable people among tnose associated with the trade. Mr Thos. Gresham said that while not, a believer in prohibition, he thought that much good might be done in the interests of temperance reform by the elimination of private profit in connection wiih the sale of alcoholic liquors. Mr W. J. Speight considered that it would be greatly to the benefit of the country if there was no profit from the sale of liquor, and much more to the colony's credit if there was no sale of liquor at all. He advocated the education of the masses in the direction of temperance reform as the only true solution. The Rev. Mr Bolcr, the Rev. Mr Fortcscuc,- and Mr Stewart spoke more and less in support of the first part of the motion. Mr W. S. Whitley defended the hotelkeepers, whose interest he said was not to make men drunk. At that stage the discussion was adjourned till the evening. The Synod resumed at 7.30 o'clock, when there was a very large attendance of visitors, and most of the members were in their places.. The Rev. Nikarau Tautou. continuing the debate on the temperance question, sad tbe motion did not help them much. If they had a bad weed in the garden the best way was to take it up by tbe roots. They might pant blackberries and train them along a fence for a while, but soon they ruined the whole garden. When they saw a man under the influence of liquor wallowing like a pig in the mire, could they say he was as God made him, in His own image? Would anyone present like to" support a traffic that- produced such results? The Rev. Mr spoke strongly in support of the starting of a Church of England Temperance Society. He said twice recently inebriated men had come into his church at 8 o'clock in the morning on Sundays. The Rev. Bennett advocated total prohibition, as they had hitherto failed ±jtP regulate the lirjoor traffic. Tie only

people who weTe doing much in the cause of temperance was' tee Prohibi- ' tion Party. If they paasad the resolution tliey would not be much further ahead. He would support the motion, and any other motion, calculated to bring about temperance reform. Rev. Beatty said the. duty of the Church was to regenerate men and society from within. As clergy ..they were not called upon to devise schemes for I the regeneration of men from the out- j side. The main work of i; the Church was spiritual. Clergymen were unfitted to pronounce upon political questions. At the same time he deploreir intemper- , iyice, as every Christian must. All who tried to teach true Christian principles must be striking a blow at in- ' temperance as well as other evils. ; Mr Upton urged that the resolution j shoiild be passed. It did not mean j legislation. There were evils, which they all deplored, and it was a good i thiiig for the Synod to declare its general sentiments deploring the evil of intemperance. There were great evils j in both national and municipal control I of the liquor traffic. The Bishop of ! Chester of Lord Grey had tried the ex- j periment of having hotels from which the element of private profit was eliminated. The system of moral suasion had already done a good deal for temper-1 unce. J Yen. Archdeacon Willis said he be- i ; livved in the Church of England Tem- | perance Society, which had its abstainers and non-abstainers sides. He did i not feel it was his duty to withstand J prohibition, and yet when he looked at j places like Clutha he could not help I l>eing struck by the fact that adjoining j districts had al?o adopted prohibition. ' The President said it was at his rej quest that Mr Mason introduced the motion in its present particular form. He wished the matter to be discussed on its merits. He considered if the two j I parts of the resolution were adopted it j I would do no harm, or commit themj selves to any immediate change of I policy. It would be well for the Angli- ! can Church of New Zealand to be able to go to the Government and say they agreed upon the advisability of the elimination of private profit from the sale of liquor, and that there should be a measure of mun"°ci~al control. To ] have State control would be worse than the present system, unless it was by a separate department enlir-ly independent of any change of Government. (Applause.) The Rev. Mason, in replying, expressed pleasure at the tenm°rnte character of the discussion. H? could not agree with Canon Beatty the duty of the Church was to regenerate men, but not to devise schemes to repress evil. The question was then put to the Synod, when the first portion of the motion was adopted, but the second part advocating municipal control tfas negatived. C. OF E. TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. The Rev. H. Mason presented the report of the committee appointed to organise an executive of the aroposed Diocesan Branch of the C. of.E. Temperance Society. An executive, it was recommended, should control tho policy and similar matters,, and a council to transact the local business of the Society. The basis of the Society should be union and co-operation on perfectly equal terms,- between those who used and those who abstained from intoxicating drinks. The following is the provisional executive: Keys. E. C. Budd, H. L. »Suow. •H. Mason, and Messrs. W J. Speight, and C. J. Tunks.