GOOD TEMPLARS AND THE LIQUOR TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4482, 25 March 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

GOOD TEMPLARS AND THE LIQUOR TRADE.

» . | To the Editor of the Herajld. - " ' Sis,: —As one who believes in the princii pies of Good Templary, I beg to thank you , for the leading article'in your issue of the i 22nd. Ido not think readers -will blanre . you for, having a bias towards the Templar I movement,' and yet you have dealt so fairly T with the question that lam tempted to ask i you to further consider it. A portion of - your article.is merely an outline sketch, and 1 a rather imperfect. one, . of the business ! transacted at the last sittings of the Grand I Lodge ofNew Zealand North. Of- course, > neither yourself nor any outsider is expected 5 to understand, or be interested by such de5. tails 1 - of 'busuxess.:; You deal most closely r w ith that portion of the Templar platform,' • which relates-to political action; and it is ' to this I now refer. lam afraid a great deal E of misconception exists even among, peup'e i : who have professedly, studied this subject. ■ It can hardly be wondered at then, that I busy people, like yourself,' make mistakes L when at best you can only afford it a passing > glance. I befieve that objections arise-from : the fact that this Tempiar project has the ■ appearance of being an : interference with ; other people's affairs. It is this which deprives us of the valuable aid of those who , cheer ns on in our attempts to reclaim the . drunkard, and who, like yourself, " cordially sympathize with our objects." Knowing the value, of your Bpace, I will be as brief as ppssible. ' You express sympathy with our objects. That is sufficient admission that there are evils connected with the drink ■■ traffic. Personally I have seen sufficient of the misery produced to cause me to work for the reclamation of the. drunkard. Two years ago,.a company like minded with myself, set to work. By patient perseverance we picked up one after another, in some cases literally out of the gutter, until we had some two dozen reformed drunkards under our care. We watched' them carefully, fraternized with them, in short we tried to be all, that moral-suasion-people would have ua be : to them. For myself I was perfectly satisfied. I too, believed in moral suasion, and honestly believed that ours was the way. I thought if we'"could get the drunkard, and keep him, the publicans might be left to take care of themselves.' Two years have passed. I am not conscious that we have relaxed one whit in our anxiety, to keep those men and women sober. We have worked, watched, argued, and above all, pointed to the most excellent results of the change from drunkenness to sobriety. Our proteges have declared themselves to be possessors of peace, happiness,' and plenty, and have always spoken bitterly of their past folly ; and yet, such is the accursed influence of the appetite for drink, that one by one they have relapsed until six or seven only, remain of the twenty-four, and God only' knows how many of these will be able to resist the temptations which surround them. My experience with these people has forced upon me the belief, that, if there is to be any salvation for these, and the; thousands now growing up into drunkards, it must be. by the sober people shutting up the liquor shops. Iu this days' issue of the Herald, an account is given of a poor old man falling over a eliff, and meeting his death while drunk. That man must have had a miserable, worthless soul, if it was not of greater value than the business, building, interest, and all of the shop where he got the drink. You have had plenty sucli locals, and may expect plenty more, and yet we scruple to ask permission to close these places. You say our political faith is narrow, one-sided, etc. It is a very simple faith. We admit that there are heaps of abuses in this world. We believe this to be the biggest. We say kill this first, then attack the others. You fear that, in our simplicity, we shall become the dupes of political charlatans and adventures. You will be glad to hear that we have sufficient of the knave element among us, to give us an average chance of detecting, and properly disposing of a " carpet-bagger" should he appear. We are further told that we shall never accomplish our intentions. All I have to is, we mean to try.—Apologizing for the length of this letter.—l am, &c. W. S. March 22, 1876.