CHURCH AND PROHIBITION

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14836, 13 November 1911, Page 5

CHURCH AND PROHIBITION

An .address was , given by the» Rev. R. S. Gray, of Christchurch, at the Opera House yesterday, on the prohibition question. There was a fair attendance. One or two in the audience were inclined to ejaculate now and again, but were effectively silenced by the lecturer's ready retorts. Mr. Gray spoke on the attitude of the Church towards the liquor traffic, and said it was the churches that did not oppose the liquor traffic that required to justify their actions. The liquor trade, he maintained, was working more hurt to* human kind than any other evil that could be dealt with, and therefore it should be dt-alt with by Christian nations. He contended that the principles denominating the Church should also denominate the State, and legislation suppressing the liquor traffic was quite as logical as legislation with regard to sanitation, factories, etc. The speaker devoted some time to replying to statements made by Professor Sal'mond, and dealt with several other aspects of the prohibition question. Mr. Grey gave another address at the Grey statue in the evening, and to-night, in St. James's Hall, he will give an account of what he saw in the prohibition States of America. i