PERIODICALS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1320, 17 March 1877, Page 4

PERIODICALS.

In the December CONTEMPORARY we have several papers that will repay pe1 rusal, though nothing of the sensational kind that is sometimes to be found here. A paper by Mr F. Peek will be read by all those who regard the question .of intern-, perance as a thing to be examined and reported on still, notwithstanding the incessant efforts that have been put forward for so long. We find in Mr Peek's writing the. usual striking kind of word-painting which the crusaders in this field have almost made their own. Nevertheless, there is a certain ! sobriety of tone which renders the article before us better worth reading than a great many of its oongenera. Considering the question of how best to diminish the number of the drinking shops in the country, ke says : — -• . We are constrained to the conclusion that, the chief remedy to be sought is the diminution of these places. This conclusion has baen forced on almost every one who has carefully considered the question. 1 But the difficulty arises — how to apply the remedy? Some would allow each parish to prohibit altogether the sale of intoxicating liquors within , its boundaries— these may be termed the prohibi- 1 tionists ; while others would alter the existing arrangements for licensing, or place the whole drink traffic under the respective municipalities, with some such system as prevails in Gothenburg. With regard to the first of these reformers, it is to be feared, that, as yet at least, their proposals have done' much moreharm than good to the cause they have at heart ; as for example in the Permissive Bill which is brought forward year by year by Sir Wilfrid Lawson; not only because it is in itself open to many grave and insuperable objections, such as that it would plunge every community into periodical contests of a bitter nature, and would have no effect in the most drunken districts where it is most needed ; but? still more because the continual advocacy of so unattainable a measure stands in the way of more attainable reforms, and, still further, because it has come to be recognised as the inevitable yearly debate on the subject whose futility and failure are foreknown, and therefore it excites neither the enthusiasm of reformers nor the fear of opponents. Were, however, fits conditions more satisfactory, yefc any legislation in the shape of entire prohibition, except under most special and rare circumstances, has one fatal fault, Eam»ly, that it goes far beyond the general feeling of the country, while in every self -governed State the first essential to all successful reforms is that they shall have the support of public opinion. Any legislation, or any attempt at legislation, without such support, must fail: and such will often produce a reaction of feeling which hinders not only

legislative progress, but alao the very formation of that opinion which is so desirable. A reform is often seriously delayed by crude attempts to accomplish something for which the public mind is not sufficiently educated or matured. It is therefore most earnestly to be hoped that all friends of temperance will recognise thi3 truth, and be content to concentrate their efforts on such reforms as present a reasonable prospect of attainment. So much misapprehension has arisen about the method adopted in Gothenburg of chocking drunkenness that' it is worth while to repeat the following. Not long since, we saw the fear expressed that the adoption of the Swedish system meant cheap grog, and therefore more drinking. Nothing can be further from the truth. A brief account of this plan will form a fitting illustration and proof of the truth of what has been advanced regarding the cause of intemperance, and the means necessary for its cure. Gothenburg, the second city in Sweden, and a seaport, containing at the present time about 60,000 inhabitants, had long been, before the present system was established, one of the most drunken cities in the world. In 1855 the apprehensions for drunkenness amounted to more than one in ten of the population, and the report of its condition was, " that probably in no community was brutish coarseness and deep poverty so common." In the year 1855 a change was made : the greater part of the spirit licenses were purchased by representatives of the municipality^ who first reduced the number of bars, and placed the remainder in charge of persons who, it was intended, should derive no benefit from the sale of intoxicating drinks. At th^' same time the houses were inspected, made cVmforfr able, and furnished so aa to supply food' arid unintoxicating drinks, on. the sale of which the person in charge derived considerable benefit. It need hardly be pointed out that no cry of class legislation (the strongest weapon 'in the hands of our opponents) could be made to this system, nor any accusation of "paternal" legislation. For every one who desired it:could obtain strong drink ; but at the same time, all temptation to injure customers by inducing them to take too much, or by adulterating' the liquor, would be taken away. The profit on the sale of alcoholic liquors in Gothenburg belong 3to the town, and has had a considerable effect in reducing the rates, while the apprehensions for drunkenness, under a far stricter enforcement of the law than previously, have fallen from 1 in 10 to 1 in 26 of the population. This is undeniably a great improvement, and shows what might have been accomplished had the beer-shops, of which there were in 1873 no fewer than 400, and the licenses for the sale of strong drink in music saloons, as als? the retail spirit licenses held by grocers and private persons, been acquired at the same time. This striking change has also been accomplished, notwitstanding a great increase in the prosperity of the town, and a very much higher scale of wages, which, in general, results in increased intemperance. Mr Fitch has given us an excellent paper on the " Universities and the Training of Teachers." The question as it appears to him is this— How to make the universities more accessible to the. teachers of tho common schools, so that they should not lose the gain of a liberal education. He! points out that training colleges are. always liable to this evil, that they tend to cause .the teaching staff of the primary education schools to be drawn from those who .have not been at a university. '■ He speaks of the new claas of teachers thus i~ ' , , ' , Yet those who entertain the truest respect for him, and who' have had the best opportunities of testing and appreciating his work, must also be conscious of his special faults; and must have grave misgivings as to, the future pf .a gigantic system of national .education which to be held exclusively' in his hands. 'As a clas3 the elementary teachers have had few opportunities of general culture. They 'have passed the whole period of their education' and apprenticeship in the primary-achooL r Every- . thing, they have learned has been acquired. in view of its direct bearing on the standards and the code. Even at the training colleges' their life has been' spent- in the midst of other students of • the same origin and destination, and under the care of tutors and. normal masters, a considerable number of whom have been selected from the same class. Afterwards they become assistants or masters at once, and begin their life's routine, having neverduring their entire career come' into contact with' the outer, world of thought and culture}. or had any opportunity of, comparing their own acquirements with the standard which in other, prd.fessions represents a liberal education. Their minds are bornes in every direction by the traditions and the somewhat close atmosphere of the elementary school ; and they evince a frequent tendency to over-estimate the importance of mere method and technical drill, and in the same proportion to undervalue the necessity'for an ample, varied, and accurate knowledge of the subjects closely akin to those they have to track. With his dread of the evil mentioned below we cordially concur :—: — In' attempting to forecast the future of English public education, the one thing most to be dreaded is that uniformity of type which is the inevitable result of too great rigidity in official requirements, and sameness in the .class of agents employed. . So long' as certain indisjMfe sable conditions of efficiency are fulfilled, tsEe larger room- we can leave for varied forms of excellence, of' achievement, and of aspiration in our elementary schools, the better. But this will, not be t attained unless there is freer access into the ranks of the teachers for persons of somewhat different intellectual training and associations. The ordinary certificated teachers, .who have begun their career at the age of 13, are all of one class : and admirable and efficient as_ their training is,' are weightedjfchrough life with some" of the disadvantage of their early position. lam far from wishing to supersede or to under-estimate a class of men and women thus honourably consecrated from childhood to the discharge of important public functions ; but I earnestly desire to see associated with them, in the discharge of those functions, a few of those who have been attracted by more mature and conscious preference to the teacher's profession, and who, having obtained their qualifications in other ways, will help to give greater breadth and variety to elementary school work, and to place it in truer and closer relations with the secondary schools, with the Universities, and with the larger intellectual life of the nation. Automatism and Evolution ia a bold attempt by Mr Charles Elam to show that Evolution is utter nonsense, unwarranted by anything certain in science. We commend its perusal to all those who have already made up their minds in this direction. -It will not convince anyone else.

From Riverton we learn by telegraph from our own correspondent that Mr Henry Lyon, J.P. and an old resident, died on Saturday. He had a stroke of paralysis about a week ago, from which ho never rallied,