THE LIQUOR TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4488, 1 April 1876, Page 3

THE LIQUOR TRADE.

To the Editor of the Herald. Sin, —In your leadiug article of yesterday on the liquor traffic, you refer to a letter, of mine published on Saturday, and in doing so give me credit for seeking to accomplish what I have never sought. Hence it makes my answer more tedious than it otherwise need be. For instance, you state that I seek to draw " analogy between compulsory legislation; for.-; the sale of liquor and the authority of the Decalogue." In liiy letter I drew no such aualogy. I merely stated that the Decalogue and all our laws claim the right to restrict the liberty of the subject when it interferes with the well-being o£ the community. Upon this principle, the Good Templars seek to restrict" the number of licenced houses when one-third of the community fail to recommend the licence being given, or rather, they wish the whole question of licences to be left to the vote o£ the people rather than to a limited number of irresponsible commissioners whose sympathies are all .with the Government who appoint them. If you admit the right of the people to seek to bring about a better state of things than at present exists with regard to the liquor traffic, this is all I ask at present; the mode of procedure is a matter of detail, as to how we can best accomplish the object. If you have any better plan to propose than the one afc present adopted by the Good Templars, by all means produce it ; but pray don't twist and turn my arguments until my meaning is altogether perverted—for instance, I have never advocated the entire prohibition of licensed houses, but seek to restrict and entrust them to such, men—(and we have several in-Auckland) —who will not for the sake of their gain knowingly sell a person grog to make him beastly drunk, and when they commit this crime, I can see no reason why the seller of the grog should not pay the 'penalty instead of the person, for with many individunH it has become a disease, and they cannot refrain from drinking so long as it cau be procured ; and the. Manx or Isle of Man Legislature taking this view, have enacted that any person .supplying a confirmed drunkard with grog, after written notice from the father, mother, son or daughter of such drunkard, shall be fined £20; and notwithstanding all you say, I think they are right in denouncing the act as a crime against the family, as well as against the individual and the state. I am also at issue with yon when you make the following assertion, viz.: "We dispute the right of a section of the community or a majority to enforce their will in such a matter," but so long as we live under a free constitution wo must be ruled by majorities, and I fancy you have taken high ground against. Good Templars, which you cannot sustain by facts or experience, when you assert that "it is impossible under favourable circumstances to prevent the sale of spirits." I beg to refer you to Saltare, in Yorkshire, where the population amounts to over 5000 people, and not a single liouso open for the sale of spirits, and there, I need scarcely say, the police courts present a contrast to our " own. lam not prepared to give a lecture on total abstinence, or define the meaning of Scripture passages, I leave that to abler writers, but I well remember that when the slave laws were under discussion, there were self interested legislators that could prove, to their own satisfaction, that the slave trade was a lawful institution and sustained by Divine sanction, and leading editors were found to advocate the same views ; but when light was thrown on the subject, and public feeling came over to the other side, it was pleasing to find how the Times and other newspapers veered round. Naturalists tell us that there is a I certain bird that shuts its eyes, or nearly so, when daylight begins to dawn, but the daylight advances nevertheless. Vested interests are very powerful in the liquor trade, and light dawns very slowly upon such, people. But the advance, although slow, is certain, and I fully expect, Mr. Editor, that you will not long refuse the Good Templars the right to seek to bring about further restrictions on the liquor traffic, and justify the majority in enforcing such laws. In reference to the share mania, I admit the •evil and deplore the effects, more deeply, perhaps, than you do, for I have seen more of its sad consequences than you have ; but " two wrongs do not make a right," and the evil was so rampant in the one that it soon cured itself, but the drink is like the brook, "It goes on for ever." —I am, &c, Joseph NEWimf. March 20, IS7G.