AT THE QUEEN'S STATUE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 190, 6 May 1908, Page 8

AT THE QUEEN'S STATUE.

, THE;REV.. J. J. NORTH,AND THEWORKERS. , | Tho Rev. Jj J. North, Baptist Minister, who is well-known as a fearless opponent of; drinking arid 1 ; gamblingj arid for his hard? hitting frankness, is evidently not v too' popular .with"aJl wharf labourers of the type that • gathered, round the Queen's Statue at noon yesterday. His,reception; was of the lively order,/arid' tho crbwd had just as much to , Bay as he had. The open-air meeting; grqw increasingly; exciting as the dinner-hour Iwdre itself out.. ': .... '• .• Mr. North declared that gambling was the eroatest curse of the community; and the Bookmaker was an excrescence on civilisa''liony or;words to'itlmt eficct.r:: '> | -r..., This roused the,ire of ono-who announced : himself as "H. J. Baker, and many of you ■ know me." ' " " !' ; - " Mr.- North here," ho said, " wroto ! a letter 1 to the City Council, which was novcr 1 published, but-the'letter was passed round i amongst the councillors, arid I've got a copy. I won't divulge the' name of. the councillor who gave it to mo."' (Hear, hear.) ' ; ; At • this ;.stage ;" a' - man' jumped • upon ; 'the platform, and began to " call Baker down'" —and . made some Uncomplimentary remarks, but' After a time Mr.; Baker re-asserted himBclf, and said:—' A i -"In the letter Mr.'-'North said, that'—i-f- ---" arid' -p-^-used their .billiard-rooms' courage their business as:bookmakers—^to;'en r . courage gambling." ■' ■"Look," said Mr. Baker, waving his'hand -■ ■. excitedly; " I'll give £10 to. any, charity; if Mr. North that these i bookmakers -. use the.billiard-rooms;as.a'eloak,-'ifor.:book- ; / making.- ! If Mr. North fails to' do so |he is to forfeit £10. I'm a poor man, not: so well 'able to afford it as Mr., North (Mr. North •smiles), but 1 will give: £10 if he can do it." " I'll do it! " said Mr. North. "Here's iny money," said.Mr. Baker, as he deposited • a tin- of tobacco and a pipe on the ;seat, and pulled-nothing at. all- 1 out of his .inside coat pocket. ,i ~ At this-point the crowd became enthusiastic, in Mr.; Baker's behalf; and Mr. North . : c'ast anxious eyes at the clock, now on the i tick of 1. p.m. : ... Then a,grimy youth juniped up and said: ■ —" Mr. North says that gambling is ' the worst'thing for the working man, meaning that-we are all gamblers. '(A voice—" What .; rot!"). Why. doesn't' ho 'toll us something about the earth we're'on now, not tho hereafter." '(A voice—" Oh! get .work!.") "The. Post Office clock struck ; 1 p'.ih., as the . youtH' rambled aimlessly on. Mr. North ali lov.-cd him a little rope—more than ho deserved— and then announced that he would be' there again to-day at' noon. ' - THAT CHALLENGE; Sir, —My action ; regarding billiard-saloon licenses was publicly, challenged before a largo concourse of" men yesterday. I; am . asked to donate £10 to charity if I am proven wrong in my assertions; • I .-.will '.cheerfully do so. Some penance ought always, to, bo • paid when a wrong of such a sort is done. Thoro is a Court of AppeaKin all such cases. If. tho bookmakers concerned aro enjoying tho sensation' of injured innocence let thoni sue m the.Courts for redress. ; . I'- maintain that billiard licenses ought not to be granted to bookmakers., I maintain, that bookmakers' billiard saloons have, in the fixed tendency of things human, become betting rendezvous. It this be slanderous, if the facts cry out. in it, I will cheerfully. pay the price.—l am, etc., J. J. NORTH. '■ May 5.