AUCKLAND BRAND OF HOPE CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6578, 16 December 1882, Page 5

AUCKLAND BRAND OF HOPE CONFERENCE.

» — ADDRKSS FA Sill \V. VOX OX KKCKNX sJCCUUKEKCiiS. A soiree and conference of otlicers and speakers of the i'.arnl of Hope L'nion was In-Id yesterravevening in the Temperance Hail.—.Sir William box in the chair. The proceedings opened with prayer. Tin , Cicaii'.man having referred at some length t>l tlic cr.se of tiie mail Hardy, who died recently at the hospital from excessive drinking, said : l'.;;t there is more than that. A Coroner's inquest was held. The jury brought in a verdict, an honest and truthful verdict, that the poor man died from excessive drinking. Hγ had been murdered —lie had murdered himsei:, with the assistance of ethers. Yet the jury do not appear to have niade cue single remark, either of reproof or ceasarc upon these; persons -11 ho were a-jeessory to bringing this poor fellow to his tern':le fate. Tney state the bare fact that he died from excessive drinking, and th.it is all. What is the lesson which this dreadnil narrative teaches? What, but that there had been such agents and agencies about this man that ltd him on to his destruction, that these ru-ents and agencies were licensed by the law oi the country to do what? —to give him, without restraint, the intoxicating liquor that caused his death. And the jury passed all this over without any remark, without a word of rcprol.-ation for those who were more or less responsible. Xo»', such a record as this should induce us to ei:i:eavour still more vigorously to put down these drinking habits. Our business should be to animate the youiijr with a horror of drinking customs. 'There is a further step to which Mr. Newiran refers in a short letter, that appears in one of the newspapers. It is asserted that the police should interfere to puui.-h tiie guilty accessories to this man's death. Those who have read the newspapers have seen the evidence. The police thou'u be in possession of it. They know the persons who, out of their own mouths, have proved themselves guilty, and it remains for the police to take the steps by which ti igrant, impudent, and contumacious breaches of the law, without decency or propriety, may be punis-hed. Let us try and enlist the sympathies of ali, both vouul' and old. in an endeavour to pat down this liquor traiik. They have not the excuse of a lair motive who are engaged in it. No; it is lollowed —from the"greatest importer, from the biggest brewer, down to the lowest publican in "Headman's ljulhy" lor no higher motive than to add more gold to the gold they have got already, filling their pockets at the expense of the rest of the community. There iias been a ti;e iu Onehunga, destroying eleven houses, at .1 cost of .£ISOO. One is a public-house. How did that lire originate? In a stable or hayloftV It would appear that an old groom used to sleep there, and 0:1 this occasion had a "little drop too much.'' So far as the public-house is concerned, one 13 ii.clincd to say "serve it riiiht." Hut there were ten proprietors of other br.ihhiigs stripped of their property by this old groom gettiug a "little drop too much." We must give our greatest attention to two things. We must try and take the customer from the pubiio-houae, and we must take the publio-hur.se from the customer. We must establish the minds of the young by our own example of temperance. We must introduce iuto their minds habits of trmp'rjnci-, so that they never can be in such a po.-iti< 11 as the unfortunate individual 1 hare mentioned. We have got already a very large amount of power in our hands."i;i f< the (.lection of Licensing Boat's :.;:d" the three years' limitation. It we do our duty we: c;:n to u lar.iiv extent obtain control of tiie liquor traiiic, so as in time to extinguish it. iJut we must he prepared "to do. ' not "to talk." Powerful arguments against «t:-o:ig drink arc- all vrry well in '.heir way. We muit use .-ill cur power to prevent tke r/rf ,-itioii of new drinking nstablishiner.ts, and we must eni'eavour with all our to prevent the rising g-::;i n.lion from adopting the old li:.biis which h.-.ve caused such whol,-:-.!e evil and detraction. Mr. (i.-orge IJemus ndiir.-ysud the n.e.ting previously to his leaving !oi'l'JUL'laml. 'liie fc-eerttari-s of tiie various Hands of lloj.-i: | brought up their reports. Mr. .). H. ..'(.in-.s i "■..ve a " black board' , a.Mr.-ss. Mr. l-V-neh I ?ea.j.-. p.-.1.-rcn Jsand of Hope work. The 1 speaker:; 'of the Union also m:u!c reports-. Upon the sever.-;] i-.-pon.-- discissions it.Micd. The t> nrniKitcd v,-ith devL-tii;ii;il exercises.