A DRUNKARD'S OPINION OF THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume II, Issue 108, 27 April 1881, Page 4

A DRUNKARD'S OPINION OF THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

Sib, — A correspondence on the drink question has appeared in the Star, in which the views of the abstainer and the fleller have been well represented. There is, however, another class who are deeply interested, and I think have a right to express their views on the subject — that class, of whom I am one, is the confirmed drunkard's. Temperance men fall into the somewhat common «rror of thinking what is good for oneself is good for one's neighbour. The drunkard is aa little capable of understanding or appreciating the insipid pleasures that satisfy temperance philanthropists, as the temperance man is of conceiving the wild, delirious rapture «njoyed by the drunkard. The drunkard looks upon the temperance man as the most degraded and despicable of human kind, and the temperance man returns the compliment together with interest in the shape of a little sentimental pity, which is not the least of the barriers that prevent the possibility of sympathy between the two classes. Drunkards fill an important place in society, especially in a country like this. Had we no drunkards we would have few or none of that useful class who perform the most laborious kind of manual labour. Were it not for drink the majority of our British laborers would become employers, and in that case what a calamity would befal us— we would require to admit the hated Mongolians to do the mere manual labor of the ■community. It is a -wise provision of the (Legislature that the drunken laborer is supplied with liquor in sufficient quantities, and that his wages are such as to admit of his indulging frequently in the greatest joy he knows. The drunkard labors at any work, there is nothing too high for him, and nothing too low, provided he gets the means to reach the goal of his ambition — perfect drunkenness. He will labor night and day, he will starve himself, and his family too, and for what? To reach what temperance men would call a state of degradation and misery — no, but to strike off all recollection of the past, all fears of the future, and for the present to plunge into a state of ecstatic joy, so great and so alluring, and so unalloyed with fear or pain that, for the time, he experiences the utmost joy that human nature is capable of knowing. Life is worth living when pleasure is in greater proportion than pain. The drunkard, the temperance man, and the liquor dealer have all their places in society ; but it is not always pleasant when the three are forced to come together, as has lately been the casein a neighboring township. Such meetings are apt to cause the partially drunk to hurry through the intermediate stages into that pi total muscular collapse, thereby losing a considerable amount of joy which would accrue in a drunk more leisurely conducted. It is not often that wo trouble to dofend ourselves on this subject, as we nave no fear of losing our just rights ; we are always well represented in places of power; we contribute largely to the revenue, and heaps of folks make money out of us directly and indirectly, and we are willing that they should do so. We know that we get ample return for our money in that exquisite joy that is known only to the drunkard. Do away with liquor, and would the temperance men pay the deficiency in revenue P Temperance men travel through the country and get accommodation from the only class of men who can give it — the liquor dealers— end the drunkards pay 50 per cent, of the board and lodging of these travelling temperance men. As the liquor dealers and the drunkards do this 'willingly, is it fair they Bhould be reTiled by those they help to feed and clothe P—lP — I am, &c, Confirmed Drunkard.