"ST. PATRICK'S" CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13693, 8 September 1906, Page 7

"ST. PATRICK'S" CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I said in my original answer to "St. I'atfick," on August 23, that I would eipoeo the absurdity of his contentions and then close tho correspondence. He then wriggled off on to another point, of which I took no notice. Because, in accordance with my original statement, I did not roply to his last wrigglo, lie is chortling in his glee and; claiming loudly to havo " 6quelohed me." This is a term worthv of a defender of liquor bars; but we wiil let that pass. As he has challenged me to show tho ' absurdity of his new agument I will do so. Briefly, tho position is thus: I claimed on Anpist 16 that the attitudo taken up by the Anglican Church in Victoria on the gambling question, since a man was kicked to death at Flcmington, supported all my arguments in regard to the. liquor traftio up to ilie hrlt. Their attitude is that adherents of their Church should abstain ' from. even apparently innocent forms of gambling, such as bazaar lotteries, becauso. tliev are part of tho whole vice of gambling, and becauso of what they lead to. I.used a similar argument to urgo abstinence from modcrato drinking. "St. Patrick'.' attacked this in a strongly personal Jotter, olaiming that this (irffuiient would-lcad'to us adroMting

the prohibition of religion becauee some people went religiously road. X replied that jit was all a matter of proportion." "Religion did nearly all the good: there was . very little harm " , campaign' against religion on account of, the small harm it did would be foredoomed to failure "; and instanced Amerioan college football, which js rightly in danger of being abolished because it does a lot more' harm than good. "St. Patrick" then abandoned .his first ground, and amidst: another 'frightful rain of personalities said that "Dowieism, Kddyism, of Christian science have done- more harm than all tho drinks nut together," and they ought' to Ik> abolished. Ho > loudly challenges me to disprovo the position. Nothing could be easier. In the first place, it is. only St. Patrick's" idea that " Dowieism and Cliristian science" are bo bad as all that.

I can easily prove that it is not 60. In (■rcat- Britain at least 120,000 people arc slain each year through drinking alcoholio liquors. 'This is Dr Norman Kerr's estimate. He started out to disprovo tho teetotal assertion that'6o,ooo were so slain eaeh year, but finished up as above. I do not think that 100,000 people in tho world havo' ever been affected for good or - ill by Christian science, Dowieism, and Eddyism nil put together. Many oven that have Iwen touched by these things have been benefited in health. There beliefs arc far from being all bad. To come nearer home, thero is no religion' in New Zealand that has ever <lone harm to any but a few scattered individuals, and most have donn great good.' In the DuncdiiS papers alone in tho last three months, through drink, thero have licen rcoorded 488 abominablo happenings, ranging from 15 deaths to 70 prohibition orders and 56 cases of indecency and obscene language. If any religion except .the " religion of the beer mug " produocil' such a orop and did no good it wotdd havo .been abolished long ere this. Tho way the " Doulchobore" wcro dealt with in Canada when they imagined that they woro commanded by their religion to make a pilgrimage in a nude state through tho enow, and dcelincd to uso animals in scrvico, is a case in point. The strong arm of tho law stepped in and restored them to reason and sanity. If tho "goings on" of tho.Woman Catholic priest at "Cassan," or thp elopement of married Wesley an ministers were general and not occasional, both tho Roman Catholic religion and the Wesloyan would go down, and bo no moro known, and that right quickly.

The strength of the campaign against drink: lies in tlio terrible evidence dailjr to hand of its destriictiveness. If "St. ratrick " is bo brave I will publicly debits tho original proposition with him when and where he likes. -Now, "St. Patrick," do no vapour about "squelching" mo, but como out of your shell and take j*our gruel liko a man or eke retiro from the Sold and mako room for someone Ices timid.—l, am, etc., G. B. NIOHOUB,