Drink At Dances

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 227, 8 September 1936, Page 8

Drink At Dances

OUTSPOKEN SERMON Low-Class and No-Class Functions in Hastings CONDUCT IN MOTOR-CARS Comment on the drinking and the general conduct, both inside the Assembly Hall and in the immediate vicinity, of a section of those attending recent dances in Hastings was made by the Bev. R. B. Gosnell from the pulpit at the Methodist Church on Sunday evening. In commencing his address Mr. Gosnell said: “If you were enjoying an ocean voyage and a man came up and commenced to tell you about the sinking of the “Titanic” you would say, ‘Leave us alone; we are having a good time and can well care for ourselves,” tor the last thought in your mind as you look at the blue sky and the deep blue sea is that of danger and death. And so, whenever I take up a subject such as the present one I feel that there are not a few who will say, ‘Leave us alone; you are interfering; we can well care for ourselves.’

“In past years,” continued the i epeaker, “temperance education was I left to the churches. Ministers preached temperance, Sunday School teachers Hand of Hope leaders taught temper- j ance, but now it is the concern, the deep immediate concern, of Cabinet Ministers, of politicians, of mayors of I cities and of towns, of school teachers and of public-spirited men and women both inside and outside of the I churches.” Instead, therefore, of in- | terfering, the speaker claimed to be the agent of others who did not have similar opportunities of dealing with the present-day evil of drinking at dances. “As a matter of fact,” he said, “it is part of the business of the Church to interfere. The Church interfered with slavery; the first to object to the iniquitous conditions of the working classes and to seek to improve their lot in life were members of the Christian Church. The Church is now interfering in the white«slave traffic and in the opium traffic, and the Church must and will interfere in this present evil until decent people can go to a dance and not witness what they are compelled to witness or else go home. I am not a politician; I belong to no party, but all credit must be given to the Hon. Robert Semple for his valiant endeavours to drive drinking motorists off the road and thus make the road safe for those who wish to use it lawfully, and while he is doing this, then the Church must take up the question from the other standpoint, that of modesty and shame, and drive drink out of dance halls. The attraction of •ex for sex is the most natural thing under the sun and no reasonablyminded man has any quarrel with any form of clean, wholesome recreation. SOCIETY FUNCTIONS.

“And now.” said the speaker, “having cleared the decks for action, let me get right down to solid business. Nothing lowers one’s sense of shame and moral responsibility quicker than the abuse of intoxicating liquors. My task ia not an easy one, but I am not going to refrain from speaking out plainly and in a straightforward manner. Prominent business and public men whose very duties have taken them to recent balls and dances in Hastings have expressed great and grave concern with reference to the prevailing custom of drink at dances. In certain instances they have been glad to leave early and have assured one that certain highclass dances have ended up by becoming low-class, even no-class, dances. I •in not referring to dances in small balls, but to alleged society functions in the Assembly Hall, just over the way from this very church. “But there is a question on which I can speak with authority and on which I will speak—that of drinking in motor cars and improper actions on this property on the part of young people witnessed at/ different times by myself and by officials of this church. I apeak to-night because I have lieen spoken to by men who enjoy a dance, not by temperance enthusiasts, not by so-called ‘wowsers,’ l|it by men of our town who are gravely concerned. I •peak without ottering any apologies, for the abuse of drink is the same everywhere, be it at the Chateau with a member of the staff of Government House present; be it at the Assembly Hall, Hastings, in a. house of ill-fame, or in the lowest hotels in Wellington or Auckland. Where there is drink there is the element of danger.NOT A NECESSITY. “The problem has to be faced from a different angle from that of 30 or 40 years ago. Then, after closing time at 10 or 11, it was o frequent sight to see drunken men lying on the footpaths or rolling in the gutters, but I doubt whether tho average boy or girl of 15 or lt> years has ever seen a really drunken person on our streets. To-day tile position Las changed, and 1 want to suggest that drink is no more a necessity at a ball or a wedding that it is at a funeral or after a church Reference was made to the action of • number of young people in Haw era, who, after the experience of a “terrific night” owing to drinking in motor cars outside a dance hall, had determined to boycott those who, by drinking •t dailies, act like fools and spoil a pleasant evenings for others. “1 appeal therefore,” said the epeaker in closing,' “to the dancing people of Listings, to society leaders •nd club member*. Have your dances, but in the name of God and for the sake of our young people see that drinking, hotb outside and inside the halls, is discountenanced and discouraged And to ’he young girls, charming and beautiful in your youthful Innocence, let me sav that just as woman can rise higher than man so •he can sink lower than man. and there uro women in houses of ill-fame, in gaols and in institutions, in hospitals diseased in tseli. mind and soul, who were oik-i- .- In-autiful and as innocent ns any ol you. In your very sweetness God ba- given you a gem of great rarity and greater worth. You can either keep it pure and clean or you can plav fast and loose with it and lose it altogether iu the whirlpool ol sin and shame.”