Occasional Notes.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 27, 14 January 1875, Page 6

Occasional Notes.

> I' observe tlie Hbh; W. Fox has beetiSf : '-nl^'hobby-:h6rae^aj^iH^| in Dnnedin,' and' has- been making hlff^fi noble steed'show his. paces, for. the edi'-f^fi fication and : delectation* of the goorjfjH folk of that same 1 village: I wish' thftßi hon gentleman would' exhibit a be'tter'JH knowledge of horsemanship^ Vy "^col-IB lecting" the;brute"| he is in the habit ofJH mounting, and not let the animal strugdM gle- in the manner he seems to do.JB Well, perhaps we ought hot to i ridiCultS one who has assumed the position of a»jjß great leader in the good, cause of,eman--^B cipating humanity from the bandilM which the demon of drink has castifl around it, but unfortunately MV Poi.jß lays himself rather open to ridicule.' ll am surprised that a highly intelligentßl man like Mr Fox, can allow himself to^B give utterance to such perverse sen-JH tences as appear in a portion of this flj speech; Mr Fox calls the saying " youj fl cannot make a man moral by Act of B Parliament" a foolish, ridiculous, child-- fl ish, silly saying. It is a very wisa-B saying, pregnant with truth, .and .this I Mr Fox. well, knows, as he Quotes ittfl himself admitting truth. of\it afij little further on. What does Mr Fox 9 mean, . however,— after speaking of thefl sale and consumption of drink* iafl Dunedin, in. a manner leading to the fl supposition that the whole town. mustfl be absolutely saturated with alcohol, fl and liable instantly to Bare up,and'goß off in a flash, by the simple application.™ of a lighted match to one of the bricksfl of the houses, or the garments of one B of the citizens, — what does, he meanj iafl response to his own question, " Mow M .come it there ?" — answering, " by legis-aj lati^>n- ,, How in the name of logic- 1 can legislation be the cause of drinS.fß Legislation controls and checks the W sale and consumption of drink. If it fi were not for legislation drink might he- jf sold in every nook and corner of the- fi city, and every house might have it& 9 private sill, as Mr Fox says was at one- 9 time the case in Norway and Sweden., fi How can that be the cause of drink — 9 legislation, more of which — legislation, 1 Mr Fox is calling for to putVsrop to 1 drink altogether? No, no! Mr Fox,, g as you and I are well aware, though fl you don't like to say so, the- person I most to blame in the matter is the 1 Almighty Being himself, who- created I both men and alcohol, and has per- i niitted the free use by men of alcohol I by men without any restriction, leaving 1 it to men's reason and moral, faculties l to- teach them, that consequences more- I or less grievous and terrible inevitably | result from the abuse of a valuable 1 commodity, given to them: for the amelioration of their condition- and I comfort during their soj,ourn in this 'j world. For his own wise purposes | moreover, has the Creator given men I this liberty. That men should live | altogether comfortably and happily in | this world is not the only purpose of'l Divine. Providence,, but" rather the- 1 illumination of perfected souls by sub- 1 je.cting human beings to temptations | and trials of many sorts, in order to | tench them self-control and self-denial. | While, however, God has treated men | like men, and trusted them. Mr .Fox | and his coadjutors would treat men I like children,' and prevent them from I doing evil by taking away from them 1 the power of committing it. Then Mr | Fox quotes a very sensible extract from | the 'Argus' newspaper in support of i the right of individual liberty of action f and says it appears to him (Mr Fox) 5 that greater nonsense was never written. | "What," asks Mr Fox, "is the whole j Statute Book composed of but qf inter- 5 ferences with private liberty ?.. Living i in the social state means a surrender of , private liberty in every item that, interfered . ;with public good." Why, Mr 1 Fox, the very purpose of human laws 1 is the preservation of .human, liberty of ; action;., to enable,: a, man to : act and ; speak freely, without being liable to.be knocked in the head ; , to enable a man ; to possess property withputbeingeonstently liable to have it taken from. him : by anyone. more, cunning or, stronger ' than himself... :. Every enlisrhtened^community recognises a certain amount of freedom; of action.; as the .birth-right of", the : individual, and every, attempt to ; interfere with. that: liberty . is ; a wrong and injustice, whether such attempt I •proceeded , from another inrji vidua! «- or ■'■■ from, the aggregate, of individuals csdled. ' the. .State.. .That: State or Goyeim ment. ! action, cannot ..be allowed to begarried out to an, indefinite, extent is indisputable; .Without .defining .or/ studying a. definition pf^the proper, limi?s t rd;. State action, the instinctive sense ..of .justice in men's minds- will teach them when a Government^ does and^when .it : does not transgress the bounds within '- which- its action -should be controlled. .That, for instancy J it [cbmes iproperly -vyithin .the proyince^of op vein ment^ tp ' aecuYe"tb^il'a.:^an.''sii^ll' jiei-ambiilat^, -.the . streets', witbouiiy in- , ; curring ( the danger, pf Li . being ,^eizedvby the, Acruft^pf j-his.t neckband haying hispockets!.: rifled^ by„;a man rtw;ice as big and strong as :himself willber generally -admittedpbutthe gen'erality^of J <peopl* cannot, do not; a^d s probably 'never 'will., ysee, s thatr ; Goveriiment^'has^ a?*ri^tft to , •stop 'TiKe ri sa-fe: : altbgether SviinfMee£WsW r^ the consequences of the liquor ,traflao, occasionally are. "* i,,, - i -.