MR. FOX'S TEMPERANCE LECTURES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4023, 9 January 1875, Page 5 (Supplement)

MR. FOX'S TEMPERANCE LECTURES.

TO THE EDJTOJ!

bjis— Having road a report of the above in lust wee* s Witness, 1 desire to correct one or two inaccuracies stated therein. In or.c v^rt of his lecture the hon. gentleman alludes to n place called Saltaire as a grand illustration of the benefits arising from the prohibition of intoxicating liquors. Now, as i formerly resided in that locality for several years, ami within a couple of miles of it f H r {(Bother few ye;-rx it will be dipped that I ought to'1 know a'litfcle mare about it than My Vox, who, perhaps, has only seen {something concerning it in print, or, at most, paid it a visit, nf n f« w hours' duration ' A short description of itas it is may not be considered amiss. Saltaire, then, was founded by Sir 'fitus S-.lt about the year ISSi, it was mimed after himself, with the addition of Aire, a river which flows through it, and-is situated within three miles of Bradford, in Yorkshire. It was a very small place at first, but the owner gradually acquiredthe adjacent land, and built houses on it, until at the present time it is above half a n,ile scuaro in extent, with a. dense population numbering uearly five tliousan 1, .Saltaive is contiguous to" anil is generally inuluded in, a larger town called Shipley, as they are both underihe same municipal government, and when Mr Foxsays there are no police there ho U r-at strictly correct, for the Khiplsy force are told off \a da duty in it as well. Another misstatemeufc of Air Fox is, that "no i; iUipcrs are to.' be found there; " the truth is hir Titus built a collection of alnig houses Jn the centre of his t-o\ynship,'uiict he' has a' lot'of old people rp.-iding in them to whom he gives from §3 to 10s a week each : r do. not see r<\\\ah difference between that an;} bejng kept bv'a Poor Law Board, ejfpept f hat they are much better off in Sidtaire, These alms-houses would rivid in appearance, design, and solidity, any buildiii"about Ouuedin, being made of freestone of good quality; I may say that all the houses in S-J----take are built with the sane kind qf stone, raid are fitted \ip with every convenience, incWlin™ gas, wator, &c. If some of thosa houses rented at 5s a week and less, were located near Dunerlin, they would readily fetch £2 or more per week. I may here mention an instance of the superiority o% a pr'iViito fin ( i y»:er. a public company inconductin" business : Sir Titus supplies'his tenants with gas at 3s 0d per 1000 cubic feet, and makes it pinwhilepeople only fifty yards away, c6iisu.mii>g tj;e blUpley Cp,ss g:is haye tq pay -Is 2.1 per 1000. \V ith regard tq the question of sobriety, I boo- to say that the Saltairiests drjnk nearly ac much as the inhabitants of any other town ; true, there are no public-houses in Saltaire, but within a hundred yards of it are three beer-shops, chiefly supported by them, and about two dozea more are situated less than a milo asvay, for tlieii- convenience. No man is allowed to live in S>.l v- ■ unless he \yurks in their ttctary, and of course they \yill uqt long em'ploy'a habitual drunkard, so they are constantly engaged weeding out th'-ir bad characters, This pi-f.oesi les«ens iho evil to a great extent, hut still no one living there will deny but what drunkenness exists to a middling degree. Sir Titus Salt coidd not test properly the abstention of his tenants from liquor's, unless he was able to keep every b^er-houso atleast three niiloa away from them, which is utWlv impossible far him to do. In conclusion, Sir, I may state that lam a teetotaller myself, ami have been so for many years, and no one can desire more than I do to see the total abolition of public houses all over the globe, but that is uo reason why tho truth should not be told, and no reason, why csa<™-era-tion should Ue indulged in.—l '^nrj, &c, °° . ' ' ' W. H. Invereargdl, Jan. sth.