THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3904, 24 January 1884, Page 3

THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION.

[To the Editob of thb Daiia" Tei/egbapii.] Sir,—lt is strange that, after some fifty years of repeated refutations of absurd statements (for they do not deservo the name of arguments), temperance advocates should bo repeatedly called on to reply to tho same objections. .Yur leader of Monday is in subetanoo what you and other opponents of our work have been " trotting nut " for at least fifty years—l suppose it is your "British blood" will not allow you to acknowledge yourselves beaten. Not having been at the meeting on JFriday I do not know what "huiribug" was talked. We do fearlessly say that we believe the wine at the in Cana was unintoxicating, for the following reasons:—l, Wo know from history that always:in tho East they have had unintoxicating wines; 2, because the Jews did not and do not now use intoxicating wines at their religious feasts, and a marriage feast was a religious feast with the Jews ; 3, wo boliovo that Our Saviour would not have Countenanced by his presence "a drunken epree," and you would make it nothing Short of that. The word wine in our version of the Scripture is a generic word, as wood or timber, therefore you have no more reason to argue that tho wine used at Cana was intoxicating than I have to say, because your office ie built of timber, that it must be of British oak, for that is timber. The grape and its product is quite capable of making glad the heart of man without being made intoxicating, and I think we address ourselves to the intelligence of men when we placiG before.them the facts of history and tho result of scientific investigations." The old adage, "One-man's moat is another's poison," has long since been proved not to bold good with regard to alcohol, it is poison to all who drink it. You say that drink is not the chief cause of crimo, if so would you kindly inform me what is, and in reply to tho balderdash in the Pall Mall Gazette please print tho enclosed cutting from an English, paper received by last mail. You say "the real source of crimo exists in some influence or some failing in moral rectitude outside tbat which leads to intemperance." Kindly tell us what this is, for until you do, with our present light, wo shall continue to believe it to bo the use of alcohol as a beverage ;if not, how is it we have so little crime where drir.k is absent. —I am, &0.,

Jonx Hakdino. Mount Vernon, January 22,1884. [Wo have not space to insert thrcoquiirters of a column of what cannot bo considered any answer to the statement, taken apparently from the Alliance Newt*. -Ed. D.T.]