ON TEMPERANCE SPECIAL SETTLEMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7786, 4 November 1886, Page 6

ON TEMPERANCE SPECIAL SETTLEMENTS.

[BT OOWNPS.]

There is » movement in Auckland in favour of the formation of a special temperance settlement in the King Country. It may be •uocessfal or it may be otherwise, for an enterprise like this, dependent to a large extent on popular aooepUnce and involving many elements, and some of them possibly disturbing onea, may prove a diaaatroua failure despite the excellence of its cardinal principle. That the principle on whioh auoh a proposal is based aa a aound one, will I think not be *eriously queationed by any one. There is a good deal of controversy on the question of the application of compulsory abatinenoe to a mixed and settled community. There are queationa of man's natural liberty and civil rights, and there are questions of men's social hablta and personal tastes, and there are questions of vested intereata, all of whioh diaturb the consideration of the vexing question of compulsory abstinence from alooholio drinks. But I venture to say that there is not an intelligent publican or spirit dealer in Auokland, who, if the question were put to him as a man and a oit zen, would not say that a oommunityof people voluntarily separating themselves and settling far away from the presence of intoxicating drink would be likely to be a prosperous and a very happy one.

Teetotallers sometimes form very erroneous ideas of the real character and inner life of that bete noir of their imagination the retailer of alcohol. Hβ is biassed by his personal interests, it is true, as any other trader is; but he has seen the miseries entailed by alcohol as no other has, and more especially if he is a parent the perils and hopeless woe involved in addictadness to intoxicating drink are to him as present, and as sad realities a» they appear to any other man in the oommunity. And if the question were put to the botelkeepers of Auckland whether life would or would not be better away in some sequestered valley where intoxioating drink was never known. I am convinced that by a large majority the verdict would be in the affirmative. For the question involved in the speoial temperance eettlement is wide aa the poles apart from that of what is known as local option or compulsory prohibition. To auch settlements only thoae would go who from choice had elected to live away from temptation and far from the madding orowd of drunkards; and not only would there be no interference with personal liberty, but the publio opinion would be in opposition to the introduction of the common enemy in any form. No wrong could be felt to have been done to any member of tbe oommuity, no violation of vested right; but while the absence of deaire would give no discontent, all the money elsewhere spent on drink and all the hours wasted in a atate of fuddle, would her* be ao muoh added to the production of wealth. To say nothing of what is commonly claimed for abstinence as a preventive of crime and all its ooatly and unpleasant oonsequencet, it is hardly possible for »ny rational thinker, however biassed, to question the paramount value of the principle of the speoial temperance settlement. Now, luckily for those who would put the principle to the test, there is an opportunity presented in the legislation of New Zealand for forming such settlements and protecting them Against intrusion forever ; and it will be to She lasting discredit of those who feel the priceless benefits of absolute freedom from what is the damning curse of the Anglo-Saxon race, if they let the oppor. tunityslip, and do not seize it while it lasts of turning the whole of the country owned by the natives into a hnqe City of Refuge, where the weary can find rest from the tormentor, and to which the poor fugitive can flee and be safe from the furies of irresistible temptation. It is known to many, though not to all, that nnder a oiause in the Licensing Act it has been made possible for the native owners of any property to apply to the Governor, who on their application can proclaim a specific area owned by them exempt from the operation of the Licensing Court, and that for ever. It matters net through how many hands subsequent y that land may pass ; whether it is afterwards owned by native or by European ; unless an Act of Parliament is passed specifically removing the prohibition, the »t»mp of teetotal abstinence is on the land itself for ever. The operation of that section has been partially applied, but it should be made to cover every acre of these lovely islands yet in the keeping of the native race, which might thus be converted into a scene of peace and happiness not to be equalled in any other portion of the Australasian colonies. If the full benefits contained in this beneficent clause were realised, who could adequately tell the amount of human happiness that might possibly be oontained in such an oasis in the moral waste ? The area would be so large as to afford the sphere for men and women of every calling, fleeing from the demon of drunkenness, to come and practise there the avocation of their lives. There towns would ar.se with no policemen and no gaols ; where almshousea would be unknown. Thither in his lucid moments would flee the physician, whose learning, talents, skill, honours, had been trailing in the mire, and who, far away from tbe terrible temptation which he could not reaiet, would once more rehabilitate himself in honour and the respect of his fellow men. Thither the lawyer besotted, blear - eyed, the butt of the streets, the grief and dishonour of hie friends, would come to find his genius brighten up again; hi* talents, learning, eloquence, blazing forth sb in days that had seemed to himself and all concerned in him as hopelessly gone forever, and olients, comforts, wealth would attend him instead of the sponges and sots and blacklegs of the days of his degradation. And what a refuge to the minister of religion, whom the one fatal and incurable weakness had reduced to the condition in which his name was a byword, and whose talents and zeal and genuine worth freed from that one irresistible power, would raise him once again to usefulness, respect, and honour. And how many a broken* hearted wife bending weeping over her soared and famishing children would look wistfully away to the land of promise, where her husband, for ever away from the rntaleas hand of the tyrant, wonld be once again the tender, thoughtful husband, the loving »nd indulgent father to his little things that now fly trembling at his coming. No human tongue could tell the blessing each a refuge wonld be to New Ztaland. There are thousands and tens of thousands who would never require it; but they would have the prospect of being freed from the presence of other thousands who are a weariness and offence to them, tbe pest and nuisance of society. But to thousands and tens of thousands now and hereafter, such an area of country and towns if so developed by temperance settlements would be a very heaven on earth, where the sorrow of life would be lifted from hundreds of human hearts, and where tears of joy would fill many an eye over the rescue of father, mother, husband or wife from shame and sorrow that were worse than death. The promoters of the present movement in Aookland, seem to contemplate touching bnt the fringe of this great cause ; but it is a humble step in the right direction ; and if there is any social enterprise on which one could fancy angels looking over the battlements of Heaven and gazing with loving and tender interest, it is the founding of such oities of refuge; where the fugitives from life's bitterest curse and from the oause of nearly every sorrow in domestic and social life wonld find shelter and safety from the destroyer.

THE CURSE OP EDUCATION. SCFPLEMBNTABY. I like to reply to my critic*, but Mr. "Henry Percival," who, in a letter published in the Herald on Saturday last, criticises my article on the " Corse of Education," does not appear to have comprehended the drift of my argument. Eeeides when a critic's grasp of a subject does not go' much beyond questioning propriety of expressions, 1 do not care for the bother of measuring swords with him. Mr. Percival—who adds to his name—l don't know why—" Of the University of London, Licentiate of the College of Preceptors"— Bays: " Let us take the most sweeping of the many wild assertions of " Colonus," 'I have not the smallest hesitation in asserting that next to alcoholic drinks, this craze for education is the cause of more personal and general unhappiness than any other oause with which the race is afflicted.' In the first place I do not know what 'Colonus , means by being afflicted with a cause." 1 am sorry for Mr. Peroival. It is his misfortune, not his fault. Fever is a cause of death, and a man may be afflicted --?■»•• «mmu 4U •«tlJ*ll«*ifc . -*a. a. CJUMUt of

blundering, and a man may bo afflicted with ■tnpidity. I see no difficulty in understanding what it is to be " afflicted with a cause." Mr. Percival says he does not know it. That is perhaps beoauae he is "of the University of London, and a Licentiate of the College of Precept or a." If he had not been that, but only a common person, he would have known it. Just another illustration of the " Curse of Education." The rest of his letter does not require reply.