PRESBYTERIAN GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4280, 8 December 1874, Page 3

PRESBYTERIAN GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Monday, December 7. The Assembly met at the Provincial Hall at eleven o'clock this morning. Prayer having been offered by the Moderator, the minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. Thanks were accorded by general consent to the Kev. Mi\ Hill, ex-Moderator, for the able and exhaustive sermon contributed by him on the opening of the General Assembly. NELSON PRESBYTER}'. ' Permission was granted to the Nelson Presbytery to sit in this city. DEPUTATION FROM OTAGO. The Clerk drew the attention of the Assembly to the presence of the deputation from Otago. The Moderator had great pleasure in expressing to the deputation the welcome of the Assembly. Personally it gave him great pleasure to receive deputations from Provincial Courts, and to welcome fellow-laborers in this land. report op the committee on intemperanceThe committee reported that thirty-five queries were issued by them, but they regretted to state that but thirteen replies were received. The proportion of hotels to the population of a district was represented as varying greatly, ranging from one hotel to sixty inhabitants to one hotel to about 000 or 700 inhabitants, the average being about one hotel to every 260 people. From the general tenor of the replies, intemperance appeared to be in proportion to the number of hotels to the population of a district. In one district, in which there is no hotel, the committee were happy to report that there was no known drunkard. As to the causes of intemperance, the replies were very uniform with respect to the evils produced by public-house facilities for drinking, while various other causes were given, among which were—depraved human nature, facilities which the number of public-houses afforded for procuring intoxicating drinks, the inveterate custom and absurd notion that life and its business requires intoxicating drinks, early acquired habits, and unrestrained constitutional habits. The general temptation to drinking appeared to be the multiplying of public-houses. The assembling together on market days, the objectionable habit of holding public meetings in public-houses, and the system of enticements held out by a certain class of publicans, also induced much drinking. Among other causes, prosperity and adversity —in other words, high wages and low wages—were to be reckoned. The bad qualities of the liquors vended, badly situated and unhealthy houses, and ill-managed and uncomfortable homes also tended to inebriety. The committee considered that the facilities forobtaining strong drink, the unrestraint peculiar to colonial life, a want of truly religious principle, ignorance, unbelief with regard to spiritual realities, moral indifference, personal inherent wickedness, and family discomforts arising from carelessness, were also to be considered as causes leading to the same effect. Morality and the means of grace were stated by one contributor to be greatly hindered by intemperance, in the way of bad example at home; and, through want of suitable clothing, parents were kept from church on Sundays, and children hindered from attending day and Sunday schools. Profane swearing, indifference to, and neglect of, Christian ordinances, were all attributed, in a measure, to this vice. Peace, comfort, and happiness in many homes were known to be absent where all might reign were not one or other of the parents addicted to intemperance. The evil of Sunday traffic is expected to increase as the railways through the country are opened, it being' probable that the inhabitants of many of the centres of population will avail themselves of the trains that are certain to ran on Sundays, and that intemperance will greatly increase in those rural districts which may be subjected to the unhappy influence of excursionists. With regard to the corrective measures now in use, these are stated, in addition to the preaching of the Gospel, to be a reduction in the number of hotels, the circulation of moral and religious literature, and the operations of the various total abstinence societies. The keeping of places where drink would be sold at a minimum, and the opposing of new public-houses, were considered to have a most beneficial tendency. Legislation which would increase the facilities for drinking was to be discouraged ; but the committee thought that illicit means would be found to circumvent legislation which had for its object the extirpation of the drinking habits of the people. Legislation which would provide for the inspection of drink, and which would treat the publican as responsible for the drunkenness arising in his house, was to be desired. No hope of any improvement was entertained until the Legislature visited the transgressor with the utmost severities of the law, and nothing short of a strong and unflinching application of the extrcmest measures would put down the accursed business. Till men wore changed, and their hearts renewed, things would grow worse and worse. Schemes of human enterprise were of no avail in eradicating the evil, and the writer who expressed those opinions considered that the root of the evil must be got at. Till then small measures for lessening the evil must be tried. The committee thought that one day in the week should be sacred from the. liquor traffic ; that hotels should be opened late, and closed at a proper time ; that they should be under strict surveillance ; that condign -punishment should be meted to offending publicans ; that power should be given to treat confirmed drunkards as lunatics ; that some enactment should be passed which would make drunkenness more opprobrious by the method of punishment inflicted ; and that associations should be promoted which encouraged habits of temperance in young and old. Free trade could not be interfered with. It would be better for ministers to act, not as destructors of human institutions, but as instrumental saviours of men's souls. Grace made men sober and moral. Good effects might accrue if the Government were to cease to profit by the liquor traffic ; if they took measures to see that liquors sold wore pure ; if all light and wholesome wine 3 were admitted froe of duty, and especially those from Australia ; and if the making of wines in this country were encouraged. Good influence would be exercised if the bulk of the population had more social and family comforts, such as a better class of houses, and more cleanliness, which would dissipate the feeling of comfortlessness which fosters a desire for stimulants. The committee added a few statistics to their report regarding the effects of intemperance in the Auckland district, and which, mutatis mutandis, would apply to the colony generally : —The Auckland police in the.various districts in 1878 made 2300 arrests ; 1292 of which were for drunkenness ; drunk and disorderly, 233 ; and for vagrancy, 218, the latter being almost wholly caused by intemperance. No doubt a large proportion of the remaining arrests were the result of strong drink. There were between 140 and 150 inmates in the gaol, of whom three-fifths, no doubt, were there through the effects of intemperance. Tho number of lunatics in tho asylum numbered 140. In the best work on lunacy fifty per cent, of the cases were attributed to intemperance and its results ; and if this was a correct estimate thero were 70 people in the Auckland asylum deprived of reason by tho curse of drink. Thero are about 40 inquests held annually in tho province, but from tho recorded verdicts it was impossible to .toll how many wore caused through drunkenness. The committee was pleased to think that by appointment of the Assembly a sermon was preached from all tho pulpits during tho past year against this evil. It was one of the most efficient ways of creating a healthy public

opinion on the subject, which was tho basis of all measures for mitigating the dreadful evils under which the land groans. The committee, however, did not suggest that another sermon should be preached this year by appointment of the Assembly, but they would" joyfully concur in any measure which the Assembly might deem proper in connection with the subject. They sincerely hoped that all ministers would give countenance and encouragement to any effort, local or otherwise, which they judged fitted to promote the sobriety of the people. Mr. McLean disapproved of the use of intoxicating drink, either in the homes of the people or at social meetings. Ministers ought to set the example, for if they did not it was not to be expected of the congregations. Ho related some amusing facts which ho had culled from a home journal, which stated that a minister in Scotland had presided at a social gathering, and during the evening had requested the company to drink no fewer than thirteen toasts. Mr. Frazeu hoped that instead of one sermon on intemperance being preached, there should be four during the year. The Rev. Mr. Paterson agreed with the previous speakers. Intemperance was not only an evil in itself, but productive of other evils. The evil, he feared, would never be thoroughly eradicated ; it had prevailed from the earliest times. They should grapple with it, and endeavor to eradicate it, not in a visionary but in a practical way. Although not a total abstainer himself, he gave all credit to those earnest people who tried to suppress it. The evil was not in the use, but in the abuse of intoxicating drink, and he was of opinion that a temperate man was quite as good an example as a total abstainer. The tenor of all his preaching tended to show the virtue of temperance, and the sin of intemperance. He believed in the principle of the Permissive Bill, which allowed two-thirds of the population of a district to decide as to the opening of new hotels. No doubt hotels affectecl districts for evil, more or less, but sweeping denunciations should not be brought against all public.-.ns. Many hotels in which he had stayed, when travelling, were conducted with propriety, and equal in comfort to many boarding houses. But he was sorry to say there were many, perhaps the majority, in which such was not the case. Mr. Horner, a missionary to the Maoris, testified to the misery caused to the natives by the evils of drunkenness. It had destroyed every moral sentiment, made them idle, useless, and dirty. They had frequently told him, when attempting to point out to them their wickedness, to go and teach his white brethren, who had brought the gospel in one hand and spirituous liquors in the other. He was sorry to find the number of men who were so sordid as to profit by the sale of liquor to the natives. He had found it useless to proffer precepts unless accompanied by example. Mr. Murray agreed with Mr. Paterson as to the necessity of hotels in some districts. But the Government should be very circumspect to whom they granted licenses. He thought hotelkeepers should be made responsible for drunkenness which occurred in their houses. The men who most suffered from the effects of drink were those who had no homes, and who worked in the bush. They frequently spent six months' earnings in one drunken bout.

Mr. Anderson, as one of the deputation from Otago, would say a word on intemperance. Drunkenness is a tremendous evil, and every known remedy should be applied to cure the people of it. Entire total abstinence he believed to be the only positive method by which to abolish drunkenness. The ministers and elders of the churches should set fitting examples, which would be followed by their congregations. Each day impressed him more with the fact that drink to people in health was altogether unnecessary. He had studied many scientific works, all of which set forth that every drop of alcohol was injurious to a healthy person. The oldest minister in Britain had now attained the age of ninetyeight years, and he had been a total abstainer for over fifty years. As an example of the benefits of total abstinence, he would refer to the experience's of some of the assurance companies of Great Britain. In two companies in which moderate drinkers—not drunkards—were insured the ratio of deaths to the 1000 was fourteen and twenty-six respectively ; but in the third society, which insured only total abstainers, the number amounted to the low ratio of seven. This he considered uncontrovertible evidence. E very man was morally bound to endeavor to use his influence for good upon his neighbor, and each could not do better than set a good example by abstaining from spirituous liquoi-3. Ministers of the Gospel, above all, ought to set a worthy example ; and he considered one who sat at a festive boawl and responded to toasts occupied a most humiliating position. Mr. Calder thought, with regard to appointing a Sunday for temperance sermons, that the Assembly should not decide specificially as to the day. Ministers naturally preached against intemperance and all other evils. They would be best able to decide as to when the subject was most appropriate, and would exhort their congregations accordingly. Mr. Bruce was sorry to hear that of tho thirty-five to whom requests were made to contribute to the report on intemperance only thirteen had responded. The report commended itself. There was danger in extreme views, and the report, he was glad to say, was correct in that respect. He respected total abstinence, but temperance, in his mind, occupied a higher position. Temperance was the virtue of the strong ; total abstinence that of the weak. He was not a total abstainer. He deprecated the manner in which total abstinence was preached ; but he hoped the attention of all would be drawn to the evils of drunkenness, and that ministers would advocate a spirit of temperance. Comfortless homes drove many to the public-house, and if better homes were furnished the working classes' drunkenness would diminish. The unhealthy residences in many places ought to bo rased. It was not so much the quantity of spirituous liquors that was drank as their character. Stimulants ought to be good, and he believed that the detestable liquors sold at some public-houses caused much of the misery which existed. It would have a good tendency if Australian and other mild wines were admitted free of duty. They should all aim at what is possible. He did not believe in the Permissive Bill, for strong and oppressive measures only evoked opposition and a desire to avoid the law. The Rev. Mr. Kiuklanb expressed satisfaction at the report. He did not preach a temperance sermon on the day appointed by the Assembly. It appeared to him that the instructions to preach a sermon on a certain subject on a day specified by the Assembly was an error-. Ministers should be allowed to select opportunities for introducing tho subject when they thought best. The town from which he came (Hokitika) had soventy-fivo hotels in its principal street. Congregations exerted considerable influence outsido themselves ; and he knew cases on the West Coast where church committees had met and arranged church affairs in public houses. Ho believed it had occurred elsewhere, 'and he would ask the Assembly to mark its disapprobation of that mode of conducting Church matters. Mr. Smith thought that the setting aside of a special day for sermons against intemperance showed the world that the Church was on the side of temperance. He had known cases in which converts had been made to the temperance cause by the preaching of theso special sermons. There was no cure for drunkenness but total abstinence. Men who winced at the customs of the day simply countenanced tho evil. Ho hoped the Assembly would not discontinue the practice of allotting a special Sunday for temperance sennong. He would move to that effect. The Moderator drew attention to an inaccuracy in the report. In regard to the maximum number of inhabitants in any district in which there was but one hotel it was stated to bo 700. In his district thero wore 1500 peoplo "to one hotel. A discussion then ensued as to whether or not a particular Sunday should ho appointed on which temperance sermons should be preached in tho churches under the control of tho Assembly. The second Sabbath in March was ultimately fixed upon as the day.

CHUKCir PKOPJSBTT. The report of the Church Property Committee was read. The Rev. Mr. Bkuce hoped another session of the Legislature would not be allowed to pass without an effort being made by the Presbyterian Assembly to get an Act passed which would give it a title to church trusts. As convener of the Church Property Committee he would tender his resignation. As he resided in Auckland he could not attend the sittings of the committee when Parliament was in session, and he would therefore suggest that the present committee should be dissolved. The Rev. Mr. Patkkson did not wish to see the committee dissolved. It possessed knowledge which would take a new committee a long time to acquire, and ho trusted Mr. Bruce would retain the office of convenor. Mr. Gillies, of Auckland, ho thought to be a most fitting gentleman to. become the law adviser of the committee, which office was made vacant by the death of Mr. Beveridge. The Rev. Mr. Bkuce decided to resign the office. After some remarks, the report was adopted. ItKFORT OF THE SVjSTEN'f ATION FUND COMMITTEE. The report of the above committee was read ; but, as it was stated to be only an interim one, it was decided to adjourn its discussion till a full report was submitted. PRESBYTERY OF WELLINGTON. Leave was granted, at the request of the Rev. Mr. Paterson, to the "Wellington Presbytery, to meet at 9 o'clock on the following morning. The Assembly then adjourned till C. 30 p.m., when a report on church extension, and a report on the Widows and Orphans Eund, were read and discussed, After which the Assembly adjourned until this forenoon, at 11 o'clock.