SOCIAL REFORM. ASSOCIATION.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8123, 7 November 1894, Page 4

SOCIAL REFORM. ASSOCIATION.

The Inaugural mooting of the Sooial Bofprtn Association wan held In the Athonwura Halt on Monday evening, when the Rev. Mr Sobh-Smlth oooupied tho obair. In opening he Bald feho objoot— thfl Improvement of tho eooiftl and moral well-being of the community — commended itself to all, and ho read the draft oonstibution whioh woa for tbo meeting's adoption, end which appeared In oar Mondny'd Issue. Bofore considering tho oooetlfcatlon the ftev. Mr Dewdney delivered nahorb address to whlob he pointod oab that bhe scope of the socleby was to promote tho eoolal and raoial welfare of the commaoity. It was not a prohibition orga&iEabion, bat ib vrould geo that tho law aa it exiabed was carried oat, The eergeanb of policy bad admitted that nly'grog Boiling existed In Osmaru, and ib would be the work of the Sooety to exekcioe its moral foroo bo uapprees the illegal salo of drink, Tbo laws relating to drink were being broken ; aa were also the law in relation to gambling la almost; every public houee, not only in Oamaru, bat throughout New Zealand. Ho referred to the law relabiog to tho aooial evil, and said that it would be tbo duty, of the Exeoutlve to sob the Inir in acwtioo, and arged the polloo to take nbops to do their duty in this reepoob. Having travereod the other poiate in bho constitution ho apologised for bhe abaonoe of the Rev, W. B. Mar boo. Mr D, W. M, Barn aa'd bhe 'movement in Oamaru for bhe moral roform and prrgreis of the oommaoiby waa not aa isolated one. He referred to Mrs Aldu's ormado in Auokhnd,| the Women'o lastibuba in Ohrlfltohurob, and the Reform AuoQ'&tion in Duno« din. He also referred to the work going on in England and the United t3*abee, and mentioned the work oJ Rod Mlsb Francia Willartl, Dr Baebnell, L«dy Soraerseb. He epoko of bho work done by the Salvation Army ; referred t3 Mr stead's suggeebioa towards a olvlo churob, and other aids to moral evolution, and noted the moral iofluoocos of the Praobloal Progress tTniooß In America. Ho pointed out that in dealiog with a 1 social queßblone prevention was batter than oaro, and tbo only way to d.amp an evil oat wae t) remove the c»uoo or causoa of it. Concluding his remaike, Mr Butn said : Tho true function of your Leaguos, Asoociationß, and churches is to tench, and beach, and yot again toacb. They uhould bo tho expooibore of tho worlds best though tin on matters social, gatbored from Chri&b : an docbrino, from tho truths of scionce, from the wibingß of philosophers, and bhein motto ohould be over " Lob thero be light." Mosb surely do 1 hold that human beings naturally burn to what is good andbaaubiful — that, aa Mathew Arnold puts ib, thoro is a powor within us bhab makes for righbeousnesß. Ib is nob a dolighb in wickedness that makes men lower than bhe brutes that they so ofbon despiso, but ignoranco of bettor fchiagi ; and onco »gain I nay bbat if the Oamaru Aaoocia* tion or any othor Association of the kind is to have moro than an ephemeral existence, if ib io to becomo an active factor in our social life, it rausb recognise that its truo work is forming ratbor than reforming ; bhab its great fan civ cm it bo eduoato through pUbform press and pulpit, to raise through all and every igenoy conceivable to loftier national Ideal of oonduo*.— (Applause.) At tho close of Mr Burn's remarks, the baßfo of tho Aescolation was read seriatim and adopted, The only imporbonb alteration wqb bbat of reducing the ago at wblch peraoas woro eligiblo for racmborßhip bo 18 years, but only too over 21 ytnra to be eligible for iltcbtan to bhe executive.