TEMPERANCE COLUMN .*. i

Otago Witness, Issue 2848, 14 October 1908, Page 87

TEMPERANCE COLUMN .*. i-

THE DRINK BILL AND THE MAURITANIA. At the People's Concerts, North Shields, Alderman J. R> Hogg, in his address at the interval, said that since they entered that hall, or about the time of entering, that great vessel, the Mauretania, built on^JTyneside, would have started on her first voyage across the broad waters of the Atlantic Ocean. He was certain they all entertained the hope that in a very few days they would find out that, in addition to being the largest vessel in the world, she -would prove herself the fastest vessel afloat. He had been struck with the number of workmen who had told him lately that they had been employed on the ship, and how they regretted there was not another one to start with. But supposing they had six Mauretanias to build together on Tyneside. What an industrial millennium they would find ! Every painter, every joiner, every carpenter, boiiermaker, and plater would be fully occupied. Wages' would go up, their merchants .would all be baying motor v cars, their ' tradesmen would sing the " Hallelujah chorus," and the people generally would sing " Hard times come again no more." And yet with the money consumed in drink by the Tyneside people alone they could build six Mauretanias. If they looked at it nationally, they could give 10 such vessels to the Tyne. 10 to Glasgow, 10 to Belfast, 10 to Liverpool, 10 to London, and -still have 60 or 70 to spare, for with one year's British drink bill they could build no less than 131 Mauretania3. Bad as it was, it was satisfactory that they had the promise of ihe Prime Minister that temperance reform should be the very fif&t bill of the next session of Parliament. — Alliance News. SPEECHES ON THE BBITISH LICENSING BILL. Mr Arthur Henderson, M.P. (chairman of the Labour party), who had a rousing reception, commenced his speech with a reference" to the lamented death of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. Having moved a resolution in support of the bill, Mr Henderson said no, apology was needed from him that he/a representative of organised Labour in the House of Commons, should be found on that -platform prepared to speak in support of the Government measure.- He believed in taking up that position he was acting not only in strict accord with, his own convictions, but in strict harmony with the desires of the great body of the organised workers in this country. When the second reading of the bill came on he thought they would find the whole of the 31 Labour members in the Government lobby. — (Applause.) Why was the Labour party so united on behalf of the bill? Apart altogether from the general consideration oFthe subject economically, in their opinion, there was-.no trade that was responsible for such an amount of economic waste as the liquor traffic, and the more men drank the less capable did they become of being the instruments of their own social and economic deliverance. — (Applause.) * j The Hope of the Workers. He Jlid not want them to come to the conclusion that he held the opinion that the~working classes were more drunken or more intemperate than were other sections of the community. He held no such opinion. But, viewed from the economic and political standpoint, and having regard to the fact that the workers must eventually be the instruments of their own political salvation, he had no hesitation in saying that there was no factor which was keeping the workers back more than was to be found in connection with the liquor traffic. — (Applause.) There were other economic evils, social evils, and political evils, but if they could deli vet the workers from whatever contribution they gave to the drink bill — and whatever it be it was too much for them to afford, — he ventured to say that I the democracy would immediately become i in a position to deliver Itself from other I wrongs. — (Applause.) Extract from i speech at York, April 22, 1908.— Alliance j News, April 30, 1908.' SIR JOHN GORST ON LABOUR M.H.R.'S AND DRINK. Sir John Gorst, in a speech at Birmingham in connection with the wonderful combined effort referred to elsewhere, declared that it was the knowledge of the cruel wrong inflicted on children by drunken parents that had made him a temperance reformer. Ever since that had been brought home to him, 11 years ago, his life had been a failure. He had failed to bring his name to the responsible officials ; he failed with his colleagues in the Government, who never could be brought to see the importance of the amelioration of the condition of children; he failed in the House of Commons ; he failed with his own constituents, although they were graduates of the University of Cambridge. The only people who had appreciated the enormous national importance of the question were the leaders of the Labour party, the members of the trade unions, and the workers of the country, who did not think only of their own interests, but of the welfare of the country. — Alliance News. May 7, 1908.

Lord" Wemyss — better knew a 'aS Lord Elcho. for many years colonel of the, Lon-^ don Scottish Rifles, — now in his ninetyfirst year, lately tolcl an Express i-epre-. sentative that the only advice he could give to the younger generation was included in the three rules he had tried "to follow: — Be moderate in all things, sleep at least eight hours a night, eat well, and take plenty of good exercise. "If you wish to* be old you must also be extremely careful, in the selection of your parents," Lord* Wemyss added..