CHURCH AND NO-LICENSE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 246, 14 October 1908, Page 5

CHURCH AND NO-LICENSE.

DISCUSSION BY THE SYNOD. DEBATE NOT CONCLUDED. A lengthy discussion extending over : about an hour and a-half ensued at the sittings of the Anglican Diocesan Synod 1 last evening on the following motion brought forward by the Rev. C. A. B. •■ Watson: "That in view of the widespread evils resulting from the present licensing • system, and also in view of the benefits i accruing to the people Wherever Nolicense is honestly enforced, this Synod earnestly recommends all churchmen and eburchwomen in this diocese to support ' No-license at tbe forthcoming local opI tion poll." ' The mover remarked that he knew the ' matter was one which would cause dissension, even in his own parish. He hoped almost against hope that it would go through the Synod. Even if not he would desire to have an expression of opinion at the present juncture. By the nature of their lives there were not brought home to most the terrible results of the drinking habits under the present licensing system. In a return laid before the House it w_e shown that for the last 12 months there had been 5851 first offenders in the Police Courts of the Dominion ; 872 were given as oversea offenders, leaving 4979. Of these, 243 were - women, or a proportion of one in every i 20. And these figures did not represent i in any way the full extent of drunken- ) ness, as very mamy cases did not come f under the notice of the police. Were they : i to rest content becaiuse things were not | - as bad as they might be, or as in other countries? When they knew of the blast- ; ed lives and degraded existences of so i many unfortunates, were they to let it . | ail go by? Must these conditions always r I exist, or was mo remedy to be expected? 5 If they believed in a God afbove, and in f the words "'No drunkard shall inherit II the Kingdom of Heaven," were they takI ing the question at its proper basis? For 3 ! the 20 days following August 31 there x were 87 men aud 7 women before the . Auckland Police Court for drunkenness, i In seeking for State or national control of the traffic they would be opposed, not j only by the liquor party, who would lose s in private profit, but also by Nonconformist parties, »*hich, on conscientious ■ , j grounds, declined to become, as members : I of a people, the part proprietors of the i , I traffic. By striving for such municipal j , ; control they would only be riveting the ' I bonds closer around the necks of the ■ j people. There were many who were . i looking for the Church to give them a , lead on the subject, and they had an opportunity in this ooming poll to give forth no uncertain opinion. The liquor , trade was doing as far as possible itbest to minimise the real results of No- ' license. Apparently there was an increase in orrme in Invercargill, but why '_ did not the liquor party refer to other 1 No-license areas, in which very different statistics were present? During the last ' year of license in Qamaru there had been ' 352 cases; in the following year 134. In AsKburton it had fallen from 18S to 68. In Mataura. for the two years before Nolicense there were 202 cases, which had 1 fallen . to 67, of which 17 were from license-areas. Now, in Invercargill, also, the police area covered a large extent of license area. (Hear, hear.) It was stated > that General Booth was opposed to Prohibition. On tbe other hand, the General ' had stated that he was a Prohibitionist, ' and a Taramaki paper had also published 1 an official refutation from a branch of thp Salvation Army of the statement. The} 1 must bear tbeir share of the re3ponsi 1 bifity for the 5000 -who would this yeai ■ again be manufactured into drunkard- '■ because of the open bar, which Bishop Julius had said was "a disgrace to ; civilisation." (Applause.) He waa glad to say that a change was coming over the ' Anglican Church in this connection, and i they could not do better than fo*How the I lead shown them by others in this great- , est social movement of the age. (Ap--1 plause.) \ THE VOTER'S RESPONSIBILITY. ! The Rev. Clarke, seconding the motion, said that many of their Noncon- ; formist brethren were looking to them for > a lead in this matter. They should • educate their people from within, aud i enable them to resist the temptations. ' But with a man who was craving for • drink, how could they deal with him, un- : less he was led to know that - he could not get liquor? If pass- . ing this No-license would help only 10 men in their community, it was their - bounden duty to do all in their power s to have it passed. They should stand ; faithful to the movement to remove this i cause of degradation. • Mr. C. B. Coulter said that the ques- [ tion was one affecting the realities of the Christian life. Referring to the domestic aspect, the rearing of children was difficult, but it was rendered immensely more so by the facilities for obtaining drink. Even if a mother's child was not ruined, they had to consider i other people's children. Not only the worst, but also the best men, went under in the temptation. He thought this move would encourage them in the fight in other directions. The Rev. Smallfield regretted that the church had not previously been coming . to the forefront in this matter. He wished that every one of the clergy in the diocese were a total abstainer, not only . for himself, but for the influence which he could exert iv the community. If licenses were to be thrust on an unwilling ' community, that would be tyranny. The . taking away of licenses would not be taking away the liberty of the people in [ the least. If the Church took the leid in this matter, it would have a very great ' influence in this portion of New Zealand. In Canterbury, Bishop Julius and his clergy were speaking in no uncertain I voice on this question, and it was said there that if the Anglican Church threw in its weight and its voice with the move- " ntent, their efforts would be successful. . Everyone who gave his vote to continu- . ance would have to take upon himself his individual responsibility. With re- ' gard to Mr. Palmer's recent utterances as to Bacchanalian orgies in Queen-street during fleet week, the speaker could say , that he bad seen these himself. The time , was coming when peoples -would look back -on this year, and wonder why their descendants had not had the courage of their opinions to speak out more strongj! ly on this point. 1 THE EMPLOYMENT OF BARMAIDS. . The Rev. E. W. Lush said that he was (j not a total abstainer, and had been kept ,- away from the movement previously by 1 something of a disgust at the actions of v some of the temperance parties. Previously he had voted reduction, but this a year he was going to vote No-license. ►• Nowadays there was a very large nunit» ber of colonial born who were addicted J to drinking. The reasons were first that A they lad not been (brought up properly, ii and secondly, because so great a temptar tion vrae offered. To many of these y<nrt-_», the e_jp_o____»t of a barmaid

was only an added temptation to drink. They conoid -not get satisfaction from the hobeltaepers in this respect. The .brewers were largely to blame, and having practically a monopoly, could brew whatever rnbtHßh they liked. One night in Auckland 80 officers and apprentices of a visiting vessel'had consumed 960 bottles of beer, and had not Ibeen drunk, merely because they were drinking good beer. In Auckland there was an enormous amount of shouting, which he thought was a cause of much mischief. Mr C. Hudson stated that, coming from Mt. Eden, a No-license district, he could say that they were perfectly satisfied with the conditions prevailing there. It seemed to him that the temperance question was being shelved for other things less important. He thought the only way to accomplish their object was to become total abstainers. A great change was coming over the people in re gard to the movement, and it was for the Church to take its part. THE CHURCH AND POLITICS. The Rev. W. Beatty observed that he regretted in some respects that the matter had Wen brought forward. Drunkenness was not in itself a cause of evils, but an antecedent of other evils. While he acknowledged the importance of the subject, it was a matter to his mind distinctly outside the Synod—(hear, hear) — and while he thought they had every justification to take up the temperance question, he thought the No-license matter was a question of politics. This clashing of politics and clerical work was a thing of which he did not approve. He did not think that the clergy should interfere with the minds of the laity as regards lay questions. Clerical interference might do untold harm in New Zealand. He would protest against such interference with the lay conscience, even if he were in favour of No-license, and i the stoppage of the trade without com- j pcnsation—which he was not. It was an ! interference with people's consciences, i and though it might surprise some people > to hear it, yet even people who did not j support No-license had a conscience. Their ! proposed action would have very little effect on the community. When the public I saw that the Synod was not disposed to | take up energetically questions concerning j j the well-being of the Church, would they j jbe disposed to be influenced by the! I Synod's action in a question which did j j not concern the Church? It was thisj I kind of apathy which would drive the i people away from the Church. Again. : where were they going to end? They : might abolish what was known as tho I trinity of evils, including drunkcnnes* | and gambling, and would they have a godly nation? Their business was to regenerate people from within. One very great cause of drunkenness was the want of healthy occupation and interest in th» minds of the people. He considered soma provision of rational amusement or recreation, such as reading rooms, etc., in the same way as had been provided at Ponsonby by th» Leys Institute would prevent the publicbouses being so largely used as clubs by the working classes. Such a movement could be taken up by the Church of England Temperance Society, and he would gladly assist in this direction himself. One speaker had said that the Church should "get off the rail" in this matter. Did this mean that he was to approve of everything brewers did and support "lambing down" hotelkeepers, or else he was to approve of everything "No-license" advocates did, even to intemperate language. The Anglican Church could not be construed into an organisation entitled to dictate to the people on the liquor question. The vote of the Synod bad no binding effect' on the people in a matter like this. The Synod had no right to • dictate to people how they should ' vote at a political election. If this motion was lost, would No-license advocates feel bound to vote for continuance because the Synod had told them ; to? Why, then, should those who ; did not believe in prohibition be expected j to vote for it at the dictation of Synod? St. Paul had coupled together the sins of drunkentiess and railing. (Laughter.) He had not much sympathy with the brewers, but they, too, had wives and families, and it was a principle that they did not war with women and '• children. A voice: "But the trade does." (Ap- ; plause.) Mr Beatty: "Yes, but two wrongs . don't make a right." Continuing, he said be indeed felt for the hotelkeepers in their positions in tied houses. One unfortunate effect of the manner in which the campaign against the liquor trade : had been conducted was to decrease the number of free and to disincline many first-class hotelkcepers from taking up an occupation at which so many reflections were cast. If the abuse of anything was a reasonable argument for its prohibition, where were we going to stop? There was not a thing we used in this world that was not capable of being abused, and even religion was subject to abuse. Mr W. J. Speight asked what respect the trade showed to the people who were brought to destitution through the traffic. The work of the parent was to remove the obstacles which were threatening the welfare of the children. Wherever licensed bouses stood the young . men must fall as prey. The trade could not live without them. Of houses in existence there was a large number which ' did not want lodgers, and in which there was no hospitality for the man who did : not drink. (Cries of '"Question" and applause.) A voice: "It does not apply to a fair ' number." Continuing, Mr Speight asked if condi- ■ tions would be changed for the worse if every bar in the country were closed. i (Cries of "No!") Then would it be bett ter? (Cries of "Yes!" and applause.) He , considered the matter belonged not to . politics, but to the Church of Christ. If i the saving of a single soul could be i hrought about by the closing of a single [ bar, they should see to it. A motion to suspend the standing or- ■ ders by sitting after 10 pan. was lost, . another to adjourn the debate being car- ■ ried with only a few dissentients. I . j RESOLUTION BY THE PRESBYTERY. At a meeting of the Auckland Prcs- ; bytery last night, the Rev. Douil moved: ' "That in the judgment of this Presby--1 tery, the traffic in intoxicating liquors ssrves no useful purpose, is the parent of much evil, and its continuance is a menace to the welfare of this IXmunion.'' (b) "That, in view of the success' which has attended the carrying of No-license 5 in six electorates, where it now prevails, t this Presbytery would urge the members 7 and adherents of the Church to vote f 'No-license at the coming local option - poll. * A. Miller seconded, and the motion was • carried without discussion.