t-OBLISHED DAILY.) &uivant la. v&nie*. •/'. TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1883. A SUBSTITUTE WANTED. ♦ ... .

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 214, 14 August 1883, Page 2

t-OBLISHED DAILY.) &uivant la. v&nie*. •/'. TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1883. A SUBSTITUTE WANTED. ♦ ... .

A. sub-leader ia Saturday's " Wanganui Herald forcibly points out that notwith. standing the labours of the Blue Ribbon Army, drunkenness is not decreasing. Our contemporary arrives at this disheartening conclusion from the statistics firnished by Parliamentary papers, giving the cases of drunkenness which have' come before the police courts during the last two years. During the year 1881 no less than 2314 cases of drunkenness" were dealt with m the North Island. In 1882 that number was increased to 2601. In the South Island the increase is more strongly marked. In 1881 the cases numbered 3274, and m 1882 that number was increased to 4259. As our contemporary points out the Blue .Ribbon Army must go to work m a different manner entirely. Iv the present state of affairs, the pothouse is the labouring man's club, and until something mere attractive is provided, it will remain so. Let them consider the subject of providing: counter attractions, to whioh they can draw those who, having noticing better to do, saunter into tl c bar or the biUiarcUroom of hotels, and

-;e it i. dunk wlim hh<>uid #o to Ai- i support of their families, or he invested . ior their own fwofit and the general good. Other towns have their working men's clubs, which are provided with all that will conduce to their comfort and intellectual improvement, and which have a most beneficial effect on the working class. There is no doubt the Herald is right m this matter. It is the drunkards whom Temperance, organizations should take under thei banner, and not the sober going comnvinity and school children, who would eoneider th« moral disgrace of drunkenness the greatest penalty. It is sad to reflect . that among females the vice of drunkenness is increasing. In a recent allusion to this feature, the Rev. Father (Jarbw, when preaching m St. Patrick's I Church, said he was sorry to admit that while he had known many men who took the pledge remain firm, he had never known a sin le case of a womati doing so. If we are to fight drunken * ness successfully we must lure its victims by potent counter attractions from their downward path ol moral, social, and physical degradation.