MR. FOX AND THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1110, 17 December 1869, Page 3

MR. FOX AND THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT.

1 .' .(From the "■ Warigfejuii Chronicle," Deo. 7.) The public may think well or ill of Mr. •J^ox as a political administrator, but there ekii : hardly be any difference of opinion among men who have the welfare of the cduiftryat Heart regardidg the nobleness of his position as a moral and social refo'rnier., There liiaybe, and no doubt tnere'lare^-diversities of view a3 to the best meang-of elevating the people, an& more especially as to the most effectual mode of combating the intemperance which is everywhere . working such havoc in . the. community, but unanimity only can exist as to the object to be accomplished. Aud it is very much to find the Premier of the colony coming boldly to the front as an advocate of totally abstaining from intoxicating drinks. All honour to him for the stand he has taken. His may not be the best method of staying drunkenness, but it is a> method, and anything is better than a-let-alone policy in a matter of this kind. It is impossible for a thoughtful man to put his hand to any good work and not find out in a short time that this vice meets and bafSes his best efforts at every turn. We observe that the people of Canterbury are bestirring themselves on the subject, It must be, so elsewhere. There is no likelihood of any permanent upliftment pf the population — no. chance of. a higher education— 'no hope of: An increase of? true religion-r^until drunkenness can be made to hide its head in shame, instead of flaunting itself at the doors of our publicThouses in broad daylight, reeking of stale tobacco and foul odours. The waste of substance, if ifeiwere nothing else, is appalling. . According to returns published, in the. j^ew Zealand Gazette the total quantity of alcoholic liquors, on which duty was paid in New Zealand during the quarter ending on the 30th September last, was 260, 142 gallons, being at the rate of 1,147 gallons per head of the European population, or , 4688 gallons per head per annum. Even the taxation .upon the amount of liquor, apart; from its price, is formidable. , The total quantity of revenue collected on these liquors during the quarter was £100,645, being at ;the : rate of Bs. lid. per head, or £1 15s^ Bd, per head per annum. And yet we cry out over our taxes. Such a state of things cannot be allowed to go on. Every man who has the honour of New Zealand at heart — every man who is sighing for a purer and serener air — must, feel that something should be done. If he does not approve of onereform let him try another, but he surely cannot stand idly by. The Press can do muoh ; it can point out and hold up to public reprobation the evils of which we complain, but society must iv addition take the matter sternly in hand and reform itself. The Church must be more faithful, not only in the denunciation of sin, .but in setting her mark of disapprobation upon unabashed offenders. So long as drunkards and profane persons ai*e permitted to occupy high places, her influence goes for little. The public conscience must be roused to contemplation of the hideousness of intemperance and its kindred vices. There must be stir everywhere. The legislature can do something, but you cannot make people virtuous by law. The moral tone of public opinion is low ; it has been pbisoned just as the blood is poisoned in cholera ; and the physician who would work a cure is far to seek. But we presume to think that the casp is not hopeless nor the cure impossible. Impossibility is not an a priori argument that can be recognised by brave men, or assented to in the nineteenth century. The task is formidable because it is complex—one great action or qoe distinguished man won't' accomplish it, mit a : combination of little actions and of good mien will. In a case of this kind what we most need is individual effort — each man doing Ms little part faithfully. The object is worth more than any sacrifice we can make for it. .