TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 190, 6 May 1908, Page 5

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

[The matter in this column is supplied by a representative of the New Zealand; Allianco, and Tjie- Dominion is in no •way: responsible for the opinions expressed therein.] ROYAL EXAMPLES. ~ Tho practico of altogether : from alcohol -, has widely . prcvaded . tho highest circles of. society. Queen • Victoria of Spain docs not know' the taste of alcohol.. Her special "tipple" is made from oranges—the fresh fruit squeezed into a glass, . which is, filled up; with aerated waters. Oranges aria her favourite fruity and at Cowes she ;was. "accustomed to eat them freely. For years Princess Henry of Battenberg was a teetotaler, but of lato she' has? suffered , so much from rheumatism that she has been ordered a little whisky, which she regards as a penance. • Both Princess Christian's; daughters, tcoj are i 'teetotalers.. The Princess of Wales,' who' is; an' exceedingly considerate . mistress, once ■dismissed. an on the spot; because, contrary to instructions, sho had ; given Prince Edward, when 'ho was five, a . sip .of ;the wine, allowed her. for lunchr. AIU • • the children of the Prince and Princess are; / being"' brought up strict teetotalers, and 'save-for the one taste of iWne .Prince Edward had from his nurse they know nothing 'alcohol;' Princess Patricia ~of Connaught'and her married sister also abjuro ' ; wine. ,V Another royal teetotaler is the ' Duchess .of Argyll, and the two' young daughters of the Princess Royal,. their Highnesses Alexandra and Maud, havo. . never'm their; lives touched' wmo ' . 7,000,000 UNDER., PROHIBITION 11 IN ; FIVE MONTHS. \ ■ The cablo man in America, . who keeps New. Zealand informed of Uncle Sam's /doings,:; evidently .imagines that 'the . Dominion's: interest, runs to .tho' shady side of . things; . • Such gruesomo items as tho ThaW' .trial are consistently ' cabled; but . reform developments aro" left; almost unchronicled. The cables, for example,, have had not .a line to record the' remarkable .fact' that four great States have' "gone dry,';''/ within : the last; ■: five months. The, manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor^have'been' prohibited! by law during :that j)eri6d-by the States pf Georgia, Okla- . homa, " Alabama, and 'Mississippi; with 'a population *of about seven million people. AndVconcurrently, with, these remarkablo' Temperance .triumphs,- in • other States', in -which. Local: Option father than State Pro-, hibition prevails, largo rural areas , arid many considerable tewns have declared for 1 .' No-licerice. "Uncle Sam" is nb: fool. \ This '■ , . ever-widening Prohibition area' is'' the com,pletest i answer to, those who are always prating about the: dismal failure of Pro- ■ hibition :in America. At' any - rate,;'the 'Americans are so'enamoured of thefailure that, like . Oliver Twist, they are constantly Asking, for - more —and getting it,, too. : ENGLISH LICENSING BILL. • ' Temperance folk,throughout the' Dominion ■ are'delighted; at'/the'.'bold -stand '.the .British Government, has :taken 'over the- Licensing* Bill/;.. -Mr.; Asquith's.statement that, .despite " the .unprecedented storm" of misrepresentation:"aiid'vituperatioh,.riothing,'the:Liberals have ; done-for years has giventhem'a more real foothold among intelligent- people," ■ will. * be (luestoined by-ai good mapy in- vieiv of '. the; by-elections; be no ques- • tion.; that the; selfish • financial interests of.; a wealthy monopoly—whose'voice has been most strident since the;introduction of the "Bill— ■ willnot be ; alone considered : by l tho peoplo. - Over--against.-the'greatpetition i of. I'the intorested.'Liquor Party ;of>iLondon sounds the " cry of, the children,'? voiced by G. R: Sims. ■ The: Black Stain;"; 1 which . this well-known ■v journalist'has' : just-published,"with ! its.,almost- - horrors, hds .touch-' : ed :the, conscience- nnd sent a thrill; of. sh.imo through', the-hearts' of.jtho; peoplo .such .things should';bo; 'in r?/; nominally;. Christian i. • land. Anglicans, Catholics,, Nonconformists, ,Trades Unionists, and Socialists ; will join; their forces,, determined:that other interests than gold shalLbe considered. ! ''They look up, with their pale and sunken faces/: .■ • ; -,And their look is dread to see, For they mind you. of'their : angels in high i ■ places, ■ ..' • ' '■ •With eyes meant ,for Doity;— 1 ' How long,' they.say, ;' how long, - O cruel ■ . nation, 1 j . Will you: stand to movo the j world on a child's heart— Stiflo down ..with. a mailed . heel its palpita- . tion,. . - • •And tread, onward to your throne amid the - . mart?' \ ■ ■Our.blood splashes;upward, 0 our tyrants, ~. .'And your purplo shows j-our path; - ; But the child's sob curseth deeper in'the . ....- silence . , ■ Than.the. strong man in his wrath!' ' 'V ■ "THE CHILD'S SOB." . - This is how. G. R. Sims describes it:."Here is a House; of Tragedy, in the. East of London. In'one room there lived a man, his wife, and, five children.' ' The wife was ill' and weak, ;the man was strons and a heavy • drinker. : . The domain died, and the man left her dead on the bed, locked the'children , in with the body,, and went out to drink. •" When the woman had been dead two days a rumour of the horrors that were being enacted behind the closed'- door, reached the ~ ears; of ; - some fnoishhours, and' a' cbmmunica- ; tion was .sent, to the "authorities., When the room' was entered, ;the,man was lying drunk ', on the; bed'by-the side of the dead woman. The : children, terrified,' dirty,' arid ravenous for food, were, huddled together in a corner. Tho; father had given them no food since ; . the .mother, died;. Night ; and- day the wretcKed ; children had clung>together-in their ~ silentmisery, mot • even, daring,, to cry lest . they should be,, silenced with blows."' ; i . , Here is another; case:: " Within' a.'.short walk; is another' Home, of-Tragedy; and,'again' it ,is a tragedy ,of a'drunken father.' One room.,;lri:this one room a sirl of,thirteen, her., mind affected,, by'. the, horrors ■ through whichshe passed; lives;'and sleeps with,a' brother of fifteen, and a sister of six, and her. father. Tho: children are ragged, verminous, and emaciated. The mother die'd ; a short'time ago, nnd the baby died. The baby beforG that.one died, arid the baby before .that,also.-Theirs was the better fate. The life of, the children -who survived has • been- upon; earth. ; When ;tho-mother's , -dead- body Vl lay. : .in; the coffin,, the man, .mad . with .drink, - struck of the ,corpse ;in the presence of .-the", weeping; children;" The man,_who.had.brutally-ill-treated-and starved' ... his children, tried, 'to', steal something .from , tho cofßri of their dead mother that he could pawn for drink." ■ • .And so on, through page after page, the author-tells'of..cases even worse/than these ..-where -drink-besotted' mothers "treat their , children in a; way '/which would ; wring .the heart of a'femalo Hottentot." ' Mr. Sims insists that the cruel neglect; of children ," is ~ riot in -any great degree due; to the stress of 'poverty.!' . "It is chiefly attributed to alcoholism .on the part of the parent or , parents.",'• "The great Home Ofiice expert with all the figures in front of Kim, is on ' my side," says Mr. Sims:, " The hellish tortures, ivhich have been inflicted in tho few . . j-ears during which a record has been kept on over a million little children in this, our .England, are chiefly due to alcoholism .in the home.". .