NOT SATISFIED.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIV, Issue 10705, 15 July 1895, Page 2

NOT SATISFIED.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— Not being a prohibitionist, I am not satisfied with” their intemperate language. But, on the other hand, I am disgusted with the way the law is allowed to be violated by publicans. The prohibitionists need never exaggerate the slightest; in fact, they can underestimate the evils of the drink traffic and then make out a very big case against the trade. I like a glass of toddy myself, and can occasionally do with a long-sleaver, but I am not blind to the misery tbe drink causes to those who cannot take it in moderation, and I am quite willing to give up what I take when the people demand it, but I would like to saa the prohibitionists take a higher stand than they do. I don’t blame them for trying ‘ to prove a self-evident fact —that the hotelkeepers wink at the law, and that the police do not always do their duty. They may not go the right way to work about it, but we are all liable to make mistakes. Nor would I blame them for insisting that no adulteration should bo allowed, except by water. But what Ido object to is their gross personalities. There is no need to vilify all who object to their method of procedure, as by doing so they may be making enemies of some who are actually friendly to their cause. Let me make what excuses I will (or their intense earnestness, I cannot shat my eyes to the fact that they lack wisdom in stooping to use words which do them no credit. They must not take all the people to be fools, as many can see as far as they can see, and some can see that they are far too rash with their too-ready assertions. If they would try to make the workingclasses’ homes more comfortable, and insist that temperance should be taught in our schools, and try to provide places of amusement for our young, where alcohol is not dispensed, and leave off personalities, they would have far more with them than they have at present.—l am, &c., IMPARTIAL.