LORB SALISBURY ON THE LOCAL VETO BILL.

Evening Post, Volume LXI, Issue 30, 3 August 1895, Page 2 (Supplement)

LORB SALISBURY ON THE LOCAL VETO BILL.

Speaking at Bradford on Kay 23rd, Lord Salisbury said :— I cannot refrain, speaking at this moment, from referring to the circumstance, of which the newspapers tell us, that this is rather a critical period in our political existence. We believe that at this present hour, there is assembled in Downiug-street a committee oi statesmen who are consideriug the situation as it presents itself to them in no very attractive or fascinating form, and that one of the questions they will have, to consider is whether they will seek safety amid the curaes of the teetotalers, or whether they will range themselves behind Sir William Harcourt for one desperate rally that is to decide their fate under the banner of the Local Veto Bill. lam not concerned to decide that question for them, and they certainly would not listen to my advice, but there is one consideration connected with! this Bill of which I confess I have not seen much notice taken in the ducussionß that have taken ' place, but which yet interests me very seriously for the future of our country, and especially of our country districts. Supposing that you give to eaoh community, by the votes of the majority, the power of determining whether liquor shall be sold within such a parish or such a petty sessional division or not, of course there ivill be two parties formed ; one party' will go for extreme restriction, the other for freedom. My own impression is that when the English people are asked to consider — and they have not yet been asked to consider — tiio matter for themselves, each man will Bay to himself,- " Well, if I support a measure to prevent the working man from having his beer, I cannot go on drinking wine at my own table," and the result will be that every one who is not prepared himself to be a teetotaler will be forced to vote against a proposal to prevent the sale of liquor to tho working man. Just consider what that means. In the matter of temperance we are in a fairly prosperous condition. The promotion of temperance is increasing year by year. lam old enough to remember when the state of things among the less educated class was much worse than at the present time. Drunkenness is rapidly diminishing by natural means, and by the only safe means, and that is by the power of public opinion aud by the fear of tho censure of our fellows. The growth of temperance may be slow, but on such a basis as that I have referred to, it will be a growth of security, and one more satisfactory than any that can be brought about by prohibition. This I may fairly say, that it has been by the growth of such public opinion that there has ceased to exist among the upper and middle classes of society a state of things which was their disgrace a hundred years ago. It has taken a long time, but the result has been complete. Changes that aro to endure must necessarily be changes that are brought about naturally, not by leaps, but by slow degrees. We aro undoubtedly steadily marching from the disgrace which, in common with other northern nations, we were at one time suffering from, and are learning to enjoy the gifts of Providence without abusing them ; but if you step in with your legislation and insist that iv eaoh parish there shall be form.d a party of temperance and a party of freedom, and so create, as it were, a party of temperance and a party of freedom, you will strike a blow at what ought te be the greatest blessing that a nation or man can possessnamely liberty— and you will also take away from the cause of temperance the enthusiasm which is engendered by no other force than that of freedom, becau6e yoft will have enlisted against it that enthusiasm for freedom for whjoh men have so much suffered. If I could speak to the Council that is sitting in Downing-Btreet at this moment, I would exhort them to do anything rather than pledge the fortunes of a political party, even in the cause of temperance, to oppose the cause of freedom. In the course' of a speech at Bradford on | the preceding day, he said : I do not believe in Lucal Veto, and I earnestly hope it will not pass, because it would be certainly followed by a terrible outbreak of drunkenness throughout the laud.