A LESSON IN TEMPERANCE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1367, 12 May 1898, Page 39

A LESSON IN TEMPERANCE.

That section of extremists which wrongly calls itself a temperance party has been given a crushing retort courteous by Lord Hampden, the Governor of New South His Excellency had been announced ns having given his patronage to a picni c hell undn- the auspices of tho Liceusod Victuallers' Association, and the secretary of the Local Option League had the bolduess—not to U3B a harsher word—to write to him asking whether the announcement was correct. At the same time the secretary inferred that the Governor should not have granted his patronage, seeing that he had refused it to the League. Lord Hampden's private secretary replied : '"ln Hi 3 Excellency's opinion the licensed vibuallers are a respoctable b ;dy of tradesmen conducting their business under regulations prescribed by Acts of P.uliamont, and he sees good re.ison why, a 4 the representative cf the Crown, he should eou ent to give his support to an entertainment having for its object the provision of a wholesome day's pleasure to a hard-worked bsdy of peoplo and the augmentation cf a fund devoted to the relief of aistressed members of the trade." Adhering to this definition of his own duty and the relation of the licensed victualler to society the Governor confirmed his patronage, thus vsry plainly intimating that the League partisans could neither frighten him nor dictate to him. The picuic was held, and was attended by the Premier, the Leader ei tha Opsuwsitftm asd many pTba&u&nt

members of both political parties. In his speech the Premier was even more emphatic in advocating a reasonable policy on the liquor question than the Governor implied in his letter. Mr R3id declared that both he and the Leader of the Opposition stood side by side "in a determination that the licensing trade of this country shall receive something like fair play." " I do not consider," he added, " that I am an enemy of the temperance interests of the country. On the contrary, I have always held that until you can create a new sort of men altogether they are bound to Want drink, and are bound to have it. But the question has always been to me whether you are going to degrade the manhood of the country in order to compel a man to slink round a corner to get that which he is honestly entitled to, or whether you will allow him to have it in an open, legal way under the sanction of the laws of the land." Mr Reid also made an important declaration in favour of hotels being open on Sundays for a reasonable time, "to enable the public to supply their legitimate wants." He was followed by the Leader of the Opposition, who said, incidentally, that "he did not think that the public believed in any fanatical desire to stamp out altogether the houses and the drink which they represented." We get from these quotations the views of tho leading politicians of the greatest colony in Australasia. They are opposed to any policy which will regard the publican a 3 anything but what he is, namely, a trader carrying on business under the conditions that the law prescribes —carrying it on, too, for the convenience of a majority of the people, and therefore supplying a need just as the trader does who sells sugar, firewood, or anything «lse. That this latter contention is true anyone may satisfy himself by studying the Customs revenue returns. He will find from them that a very large proportion of the revenue is got iu the form of liquor dues, which obviously would not be paid unless a very large section of the public wanted liquor to consume. No doubt there is a need for moderation and legislative caution in regulating this or any other trade. These, however, are provided for by Parliament and carefully regarded by all respectable publicans. The trade is properly regulated, and for the most part carried on in a decent way. In fact, if our " temperance " friends were as temperate as the other side we should be saved a lot of boresome, futile discussion and quarrelling.