TEMPERANCE COLUMN

Otago Witness, Issue 2801, 20 November 1907, Page 90

TEMPERANCE COLUMN

(By arrangement.)

A LETTER FROM MR JUSTICE HODGES.

In connection with the Tent Mission being conduoted by Mr A. E. lilingworth at Brighton, the following letter was read on October 3 : —

"After close upon 19 Tears' experience In the Criminej and Divorce Courts I can repeat what I said publiotv some years ago, that drink ie either directly or indirectly responsible for more crime, more «in, more domestic misery than All other cause* put together. It is appalling to note tbe number of crimes that are traceable to drink, and still more awful to sit in ft Divorce Court and hear detailed the squalor, the poverty, tho domestic misery, the utter destruction of home life that result f^om lixoulgence to excess In intoxicating drinks. " I cannot say, for I do not know, whether VJptoria i« worse than other places, but. if it is not, there would be very little crime and very little poverty in the world if tbia cause were removed. Ac the physical character is formed in early life, so is self-control. "It is much easier for young people to keep control of their appetites and k pay filoni fhan it it, for them to re-acauire it alter it h«e once, been lost. It ie ea6y to

form a good habit; it is very hard tijl resist a habit once formed." Temperance puta wood on the fire, meal In the barrel, flour in the tub, money iff the purse, credit in the country, contentment in the house, clothes on the back, and vigour in the body.— BENJAMIN Franklin. AN OLD INDICTMENT. It m doing the same to-day. The follow* ing ie tha preamble of the English Gin Act of 1736: — "Whereas the drinking o£ spirituous liquors or strong waters is become very common, especially amontr the people of lower and inferior rank, the constant and excessive use whereof tends greatly to tho destruction of their health, rendering them unfit for useful labour and business, debauching their > morals and" making them to perpetrate all manner of vices; and the ill consequences of such liquors are not confined to the present) generation, but extend to future ages, and tend to the devastation and ruin of this kingdom. NEW SOUTH WALES LOCAL OPTION 1 POLL. Summary oi Results. Votes for continuance — 210,371 vote* for reduction ... 74,661 Votes for no-licenso ... 178,600 Total for reduction and no-license together , 255,261 Electorates carried continuance .» 28 Electorates carried reduotion ...- 65 Electorates carried no-license ..•■ 0 In }3 electorates a majority Vote was given for no-license. Allowrie electorate obtained a three-fifths majority for no-license, but failed to carryit owing to the votes for that issue nob totalling 30 per cent, of the electors on the roll. PUBLICANS' PROFITS. There is a form of "squeezing" by the liquor trade whioh does not evoke indigna* tion from the Bromley, Bennett, and Billson brigade — the squeezing " of the consumers. The evidence presented to tha Licenses Redaction Board as to tha profits fijom liquor-selling should convince drinkers that they pay "through the nose" for the gratification of their oalatea. In the case of the Taemani&n Club Hotel it was shown that liquor purchased for £988 was sold for £2717. and that, after making all de» ductions for expenses, the net profit upon which income tax was paid was at the rate of 120 per cent. What would the men who supply the necessaries of life think of profits euoh as that? The facto that many of the retailers of alcohol quid the business poor is further proof of tho rapacity of the xxrewew and hotel-owners. In the case under notice. Miss Isabella! Opie, the present licensee of the house, said that she had been in a hot«l where dry ginger-ale, costing l£<f a bottle, was passed off as ohampojrne, and sold at 7s 6d to 103 a bottle. This, of opuree, whew tJie customers were incapable of telling thd difference. Dry ginger ale for champagne would be more "sham"' and less "pain." If Bro. Jttdkins had said suob things w«ra done there would have been howl* of my donation, and a demand for the ' name. Mi 63 Opie said she was in the hotel where it was done — as an onlooker, we suppose— * and "the trade has accepted the st»t«* ment without a murmur. FUSEL OIL AND BRANDY. The question Mr Haddock, M.P., haa pub to the Government regpeoltng the manufac* ture of so-called brandy, nun, and whisk? out of raw-grain foreign spirit* ©alls atten* tion to a very common fraud that has long 5 been practised by certain so-called blender* (says the Tribune). M* Haddook asked bow muoh fusel oil per proof gallon la contained in imported plain spirit, and whether it i«s a faot that this spirit never matures, and ia sold coloured aaid flavoured! to represent brandy, mm, and whwVy? Mtf Runciman, Parliamentary Secretary to tn« Treasury, ;n reply, stated that the Custom House bad no toiowledge on the subject* No doubt this is so, for i* is not it* business to follow every cask of spirit once it ia taken out of bond, but. if it oared -to obtain evidenoe there would probably be little difficulty m doing so. In conversation with a representative of tfce Tribune on Monday, a phyaloian explained that cure brandy had a valuable mediolnal effect in certain oases, as ft stimulated the action of the heart. This was due to oertain ethers whioh were absent, or all but absent, ! from the chief Spirit imported and manufactured into brandy. A well-known publia analyst wss not inclined to agree that fusel oil was so deadly as was represented. "Aa a matter of fact," he said, "the cheap foreign imported spirit is run through a patent atlQ, and contains praotioally no fusil oil. That is why it is quite tasteless-. tt Is white, like water, as */c/ c *& *&&**?* brandy, rum, or what not— when nrat di«» tilled. The colour is obtained by storing it! in a wooden oask. Of course, the colour oan be obtained by adulteration." New spirit, he agreed, was wy injurious, bufl he was confident it was not the fue«l oil which made it so, for it waa that whioh gave whisky its characteristic taste. "It 16," he observed, " a singular fact that whila the consumption of spirits is increasing lunacy is on the Increase. It may be th&tl thia is due. to the fact that the spirits told are newer or less pure now than they were formerly." Foreign spirit could b© bought in bond for la Id a gallon, whereas whisky distilled hsre could not be. obtained for less than 39. That it was a fraud to sell a preparation of the foreign spiriti for whisky or brandy was laid down in the important oaee at quarter sessions of the Kensington Borough .Council v. Prior.

— The foundation stone of Buckfasfc (Devonshire) Abbey Church was laid re. oently by the Roman Cathollo Bishop of Plymouth. The monk* wIH carry out tho building entirely, by their own labour. By allowing yourself to become oonetipated you are slowly and surely poisoning yourself. When the bowels perform theirt work they expel all poisonous matter, butf when you allow yourself to Become constipated you absorb all this poison Into youn r system, thus laying th© seeds of m&njK diseases. Some of the signs of self-poison.* ing aro headache, backache, languidnesffj, weariness, melancholy, furred tongue, P"t» complexion, loss of appetite, etc, Th«j safest antidote to such poison is Chamber* lain's Tablets. These Tablets stimulate th<» liver and bowele to act naturally and gently. In doing so they cleanse the stomach and gurify the. blood, tfojr sale ever.jwh«re*