REFORM AND PROHIBITION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9026, 12 April 1888, Page 3

REFORM AND PROHIBITION.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,—The spirit of partiality which bo consistently characterises the writings of the Good Templars, Prohibitionists, Ac., towards the brewers and the trade generally are such as to call forth a few words in defence. Mr. John Lamb, in to-day's issue, asks, " What influence on the community a church composed of brewers, publicans, and their assistants would have ?" It is singularly unfortunate for the churches that so few of that class—, brewers, publicans, &c.—exist in Auckland, as inquiries from the parsons reveal the fact that thuy are very regular attenders of their respective churches, and that their contributions are both regular and liberal. Why the very church that Mr. J. Lamb tabes such interest in now, was resuscitated by myself (a brewer), with the assistance of a few friends, and who maintained it for several years at a terrible disadvantage, Until the population increased. Who can say that the brewers in the old country do not attend their churches regularly, that they do not contribute their thousands of pounds occasionally to their respective churches. Has not Sir A. Guinness, brewer, contributed over £1,000,000 in the erection of, or addition to churches, besides his enormous contributions for their maintenance ? To the query : What have brewers and publicans done to improve the condition of the working classes ? Much has been done. Employment has been given to thousands of families who, as a rule, are composed of people of good moral character, honesty of purpose, integrity, sober and industrious, who generally lend great aid to the State, and assist very largely indeed to the payment of the consolidated revenue, whereby the machinery of the Government is kept going, and such men as Mr. J. Lamb enabled to march through the progress of civilisation. Recent writers, such as Messrs. J. Lamb, J. Newman, and others, infer, that by prohibition, or a very small use of alcohol, crime would be lessened, the morality of the people would be better, and the country in a more flourishing state. While lam willing to admit there are very many evil effects from the abuse of alcohol, and that the coarse lesions produced by excessive drinking are among the most obvious lessons of the dissecting-room or the pathological museum, yet they are more than compensated for by the good effects of its use. It wards off disease, it offers effectual resistance when disease invades the frame, it contributes to a more noble, powerful, braver, and bolder colonial history. Can anyone quote an instance where anything has been done in the progress of science, or nations, over a glass of cold water ? It may be very good to cure typhoid fever; but there is no buoyancy in it to float to success the national prosperity of the colony, or the world. It also may be a very good drink for those whose faculties are so weak that they dare not trust themselves to drink anything stronger. And because they dare not even taste without converting themselves into beasts, others must not be allowed to use their own pleasure and discretion. As for the morality point of view, let me quote France, a nation that uses very little alcohol compared with the United King-. dom, vet its birth rate is far less, and its mortality, criminality, and suicide rates are far grater. Italy consumes very little alcohol, its criminality is appalling. Spain consumes thre- times less alcohol than Italy, yet, horrible to relate, its criminality is double/ Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, with a population ol about one-third of Italy, consumes about foil*", times the alcohol consumed in Italy, ana yet the criminality of the former is very "mall indeed, while that of Italy is fearful to contemplate. Russia consumes four times the alcohol of France, yet its birth rate is almost double. I might go on quoting, but have shown enough to convince anyone who does not look through one eye (and that half-closed), that the most vigorous, the richest, and the •most moral of all the nations are those who consume most alcohol. .If France, whose vitality and Parliamentary procedure is at present undergoing a severe crisis, were amongst the nations who consume most alcohol, she would serve as an excellent argument for our Good Templar and Prohibition friends, but unfortunately for them, those portions of France which consume most alcohol are the most vigourous and progressive, their vitality greatest, and criminality least. Take our own colony. Some years since, when every respectable person who was the direct owner of a building suitable for an hotel made application for a license, it was granted. The trade of the hotel were free, the earnings of the proprietor Was his own, the public supplied with pure alcohol under its various names, the revenue of the colony much larger, the percentage of crime much less, and the vitality and progress of the colony much greater. But now we have a few one-eyed mortals, who are eternally preaching prohibition, who bring discredit and ridicule on our (what ought to be a still prosperous) colony; who have succeeded in monopolising the alcoholic trade into the hands of a very few (who can supply what quality of alcoholic beverages suits them best); who are trying hard to gain a majority in Parliament, when if they do I pity New Zealand. Auckland is the laughing-stock' of all the other Australasian cities at the present time owing to the lethargy of her people, quietly sitting down and allowing matters to drift according to the dictates of a very few very intemperate temperance people.—l am, &c., W. J. Suiter. Newmarket, April 11, 1888.