TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 21, 4 June 1908, Page 11

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

o- — . . [The mat-tor .in this column is supplied : by r. representative of the New Zealand Alliance, and Tiif. is in no .■way-.■responsible for tho opinions ox--', pressed therein.] 'AMERICAN RAILWAYS AND .LIQUOR. ?Tlio action of tho American Tailway companies bears remarkable, testimony to the pernicious' influence of intoxicants. Ninety pof.'ceiit. : of them require abstinerico from alcohol on'the part, of their employees,while 1 oh-duty. Tho American Railway Association j'which" controls 160,000 mile's cut of tho 200,000 miles of main trunk mileago in . the United States, has, amongst its rules one which reads:— ./' The - use of .intoxicants by- employees while-'on. duty iis 'prohibited. Their habitual use. or frequenting of places where they aro soldi' is sulhcient- cause .for 'Many of tho! companies both in the Association .and out ,'of; it'malco tot.il abstinonco under all circumstanc.es, a prc-reqvisitc of employment. Tho vPittsburg Railway Company gave the following significant notico t'o-its employees on April 20, 1907. _ ' - , i"."Fdr the betterment of' the service and thorsafety of 'tho public it will fijom this date be; the'policy, of .this company to not , retain in its on-.pioy - men : who : use y intoxicating liquo'rs,: or cigarettes, or arc in-tlje habit of gambling..• •>... , • - What the ." Railway. Agesaid • a few years, ago ; is undoubtedly - truo-that the railways of' tho United States now constitute ;ono,bf:''!-tjie grandest and most effective temperance; organisations in., existence.'''.■ The Btatembnt'' is; equally 'true of the Canadian railways. *

. A GREAT SPEECH. '.. ,■ - ; The ! .' Right Hon. Lloyd-George, M.P., reoeivod a tremendous when he rose, to deliver, his- great speech on the Licensing Bill ai; tho Queen's -Hall, London. Speaking of 'thb'evil'\vithf;whiclr the Bill dealt he said : '• 'women "who; aro engaged in ' dealing with'tho poor'wreckages of humanity in workhouses, hospitals,■ intiiriiiaries, gaols, : lunatic . asylums,''-'almshouses,"..' wherever you gist'fa .poor,', miserable'human wreck; the men : ajbtl ■woinen/who'deal with .it come back and say that 'tHey/.caliV? find 'tho finger of drink, drmk,.' drink 'everywhere. (Hear, hear.) Who deriids .-the eyil-?-"Then is nothing tobo done?-, Is;.:it : ;.te;' bo-'siid 'in England—because it is • England; and in' Scotland is it to bo sajd-tliat that wrecks homes can ' wreck. Governments : tbo? - : (Loud cries of "No,v^.No } Vj. Hero r at least you have.got. a Government,-, say., what you will of it, cnticiso.-: it, cgijdemn it in any direction,. but; heiro..'it.least:,you'have;got a! Government ttiitis .'willing• to ,sttiko its -.existence—(loud •'applausb^to,,'. . ; between:,,tho liquor traffic;inU,ihe homes.it desolates. ( Bravo. I .') The/queSt/pn for-Englaiid is this—ls it going, fo;-sweepthis government out of tho way. withoiltfitSilegislation bein§ carried ? ("No;") ; ■ And opportunity in; your_ lifetime —. it;may:ibe.tho lifetimo of your children who ■ ;into\'a:- drink-ridden England—; are',fydu agoing '-to lallow it'to pass away? /"No;'• Thtffanswer will, depend upon v 'whi't-'j?bu^ibt } say but do.! •'(" Hear, i i hbat,\ '''and^'applausQ.); Itis} a ' dangerous : .traifib^lfeaf;''libar)— a' .powerful traffic, well' ,o'r|pni^^sl<Jlf.ully,.'directed, with ~no "qualms of -ygtii^sciejgo,''about th<? machinery-it utilises. 1 P§ckbam'ii*4, nbt merely .a .'political defeat, but a Moral-portont'.- ;It. is the measuro t-o which ■ the .demoralisation of -drink- is proceeding. It'has corrupted the tissues of tho conscience, '- and iiinless 'the manhood of England is 'suffi- ' oieiitly,,virile, sufficiently strong to throw off . this.-thraldbm, England is fated, to the squalid doop of thp drunkard. ■ '

t 1 THE VICTORY OF BEER. . - vJEhe,'drink .trade: had a great .victory at' Pepkham, comments tho firitish Weekly." . the- .universal testimony .-.the. Urewersj, and tho publicans, may , claim : the . \or^jt'pi r tills viqtorjTy. :Tha.''ilornii)g-P,os't," >.in'''svdr<3s 'ivhicJi' may ;becbnio>'historical,'.thus described' Peckham in .tho Vanloads. ;';pfhoarse-voiced.men, shout", up -aii<P. down. tho'. streets about Itheir beer;. whisky. distillers',.-wagons <ostentatiously parade the 1 borough .;, exaggerated leaflets .ate; widely . dis- ; . tnbuted j licensed '. victuallers: conduct an overlapping canvass; and paid orators make - wild; statements."..,' The .madness of Mafeking : was ;upon the people. . There is no reason to be„ out. of iheart. ;The moral forces of tho . . country, aro rallying, arid thejr will bo strong ■i 'enough:to cope with all tho sinister and evil elements that make a. covenant' with death. No:wise man of any party desires to see tho : trade .dominating j this country.' 11l tho. majority, report of the Royal Commission oil. '.'.the^jlicensing laws,,written after thrde years of/"..investigation, and. sigjied, among .others'by>■ eight; members of .the trade,' are the words: "It is undeniable that a gigantic • evil.romains to be remedied, ind hardly'any sacrifice would be too great which would result ma marked diminution, of this national degradation." Of the many lessons that might, bo drawn..from the campaign we will point - out but one. There can be no doubt that during tho last' twenty-years there has been'a steady; slackening of the Temperance ' forces. ( Tho crusade has nothing like tho vehemenco -. and tho lire which it had ' a quarter of a century ago. The Temperance forces must-be massed and organised onco more.; They may tako encouragement from ■ v .the. recent marveljous advance in America. Alabama and Mississippi have adopted Stato , prohibition, November, 1907, 'and February, 1908'; Idaho has adopted local option, December,..l9o7;;aud through- local option in otherStates, more districts have; become "dry." . Of the'eighty millions odd of inhabitants of the : U.S.A., over'. 33,600,000 livo in areas from;which'the trade in liquor has been ex- , pelledby popular .vote. More than half of the.iterritory of the U.S.A. is already " dry." Tho result is that, while in this country thcro is-'one pauper to forty or'fifty-of tho population,;in.the States there is said to'be only one-in ,8000. Judge Fort; a candidate for the Governorship of Missouri; says-.-"In Stoddard ;county;..where l wo had. 15,000■ dollars a year rfrom'the saloons,' our criminal courts cos'tjus'.froih 20,000 dollars to 22.000 dollars a -year.' Now that the saloons! have disappeared, tho cost is about 1,700 dollars a. year.",; The New York.Herald" points out in a recent'issue that more and more broad ahd: drastic Temperance ...statutes, are being enacted in . the States, thaji the liquor: question! was an important factor in nearly every . Statd'in the.last electiou,,and that railroads, banks, ; and commercial houses aided strongly ,in the^movement.. These,arc jjacts to be pon--1 dered.;-What can be dono in America may 'b'o done here. The power of the trado must bo broken. ./- ■