Prohibition.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12117, 7 November 1902, Page 6

Prohibition.

A REPLY TO MR J. F. DEEGAN ! BY THE REV. P.W. FAIRCLOUGH. (Communicated). ' (Continued from yesterday) "I could quote the statements of • jujdges, gaolers, and chaplains from; all over the world to the effect * that . drink is the chief cause of crime. 1 , content myself with local testimony, j The local gaoler, the local chaplain, j and the late Inspector of Police here all agree that drink is the main cause of crime in Duinedin. As to insanity, there are some that will go mad -with or without provocation." But the charge against liquor is that it drives men mad who would otherwise be sane all their lives. As to poverty, Mr Charles Booth says that 14 per cent of it is due in .London directly to drink, lnut a much larger percentage indirectly. 1 put it to you : The British nation spends £170, 000,000 a year— £4 per head— on driuk. Two-thirds of this comes from the working class. Is is possible that working men should "spend £115,000, 000 a year out oi their wages on what is not necessary, on what shortens life, and stimulates disease, and unfits for work, and not produce an appalling amount oi poverty ■? . Our friend told us "that our army in Africa was not teetotal, and that oui* success there was due to drink, if the ilag had been guarded by teetotalers it would have • been a dishclout before now. 1 have heard of "Dutch courage," and of a man being- 'pot valiant," but 1 did not know Britons were cowards when sober — [ would not asperse our national honour even in defence of my church, and I cannot hear, without protest, our nation's glory besmirched in defence of this trade in iiqjuor. Was Lord Roberta thinking of Dutch courage when he besought us not to tempt his brave comrades to drink ? Was this in Lord Wolseley's mind when he allowed no liquor on the march to Ashanti .' There was a test a few years ago in India of bodies of men mardhing, one with liquor, and one without. "Mo liquor" won, and then the treatment was reversed, and the other body won. Of f 70,000 troops in India, 22,379 were abstainers a few years back. There were 2, (108 courtmartials held in the year, 73 being on teetotalers — less than a tenth of- their share. And these are the men to turn- the flag into a dishclout, are they ? . . Our h 'c-nds are very solicitous for the revenue. It is true, they may trade in hours that they haven't paid for, may introduce a little water that hasn't paid duty, or may even have a cask or so with no beer stamps, bi*t at election time they love the revenue. 1 once wrote a fable : An old pig, as he rubbed vigorously against the wall, was heard grunting, "You miserable fleas, you'll pick my bones, and me trying to £ret a bit fat. If I don't rub some of you off and tramplo you in the mud I wish I may be turned into sausages."- Next day tho butcher

looked into the sty with a knife in his hand, and the pig squealed, "Spare me ! Spare me ! .What - will the poor ileas do when I'm gone V The following quotations will relieve the anxiety of our liquor patriots. The Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain said, in a speech at Sheffield, "If I could destroy to-morrow the desire for strong drink nn the people of England^ what changes should we see? We should see oar taxes removed by. millions, we should see our gaols and workhouses empty, we should see . more lives saved in. 12 months than are consumed in a century of bitter and savage war." And Sir Stafford Northcote, whea Chancellor of the Exchequer, said, "1 venture* to say that the amount of wealth such a change would ' bring to the nation would utterly throw into the shade the amount of revenue which is now : derived from the spirit diuty ; and we should not only. sue with satisfaction a diminution of the revenue from such, a source, but we should find in: various ways that the Exchequer, 'would not suffer from the losses which it , might suffer in that direction." We were told that the more severe the restriction, the more drinking there wotuld be. Why, then, do brewers object to restriction ? But is the statement common sense ? If a man has to "go hunting round in stuffy holes" for a drink, will he go oftener ? "WiW the boys learn as they do with the open bar ? Ido not favour secret bars, but I don ? t think they are w,orse than operc ones. We were assured that if some publicans broke the law, that was no reflection on the law. Well, ii & few break the s:w under no license is that the "fault of th<s law ? There run through, our friend's argtument two opposite as- . sump+^onjs— one, thit p>v>JiW^»i..n inci»>}cs the consumption of Honor, .^e otho*. that pro 'roil Sin is_ tyrniiiw. * aad will force a riran 'r 110 soher against his will. >*ca/, \\)vc\-> : ? » -true? Mi Peegan can hare it e : iher way. but Ke can't have it both «.**vs. 'if prohibition increases r|rin?-%i:gr, *vbat i«? one half of yo*c aveunonr 'r>»/ut? It prohibition -stops, .djinlrit'ar,, wh«t is the other tinlf J abbui ? *Vo were a little startled to ' U'nva t ha* Tronic bition , turns - the comiinni*y into 'sntf.ks, hypocrites; and lia-3. '. Whov forsooth, is .the* community-? The . malcontents- ' vfsiV*i as •Hn'r/rciha ? Does it, ever occiy: «v> 1 Ye. Uouor puty, that there is a iri>:3 c\r pc of ; « rcjr-.. selling tinder license. »mi th it ?if*<*npf'3.' men do it ? AU selling- o'*-. cf hours arid, on Sundaj/ is s'y groaf pel-M^vr-' - Wa Kave been told, ihai"f.'." gcventv years teetotal utterances hay*> !»i>ej; in_ driLger of being aeiv>ted ig.-iruc because they have notl-epji ?efu{..d. " 11. ai is exactly whore i-hey are tonije.ht, they, hate "*o^ fcyV.n r^fu'ecj, and I believe - t=h.'U plthouirlt - our frimdhas? come ar'l sp-">k(«i. they are no* refuted . yet.;, Xi is n curious « thing* to.- me that,' though more speeches have b«en made, on temperance than on- any .other social qjuest tipn, thoug-h the cause has grown and , p-rown till it vast interests. tbe.^sfVitement? made have never bqein refuted yet. Thousands, of proposals v have, fisen uo only in be ptmffed 6*ut. ,- in a moment. Kut this. whi^Ti ig - -;o* va^t -importance, has lived^ 70 years j and become, stronger every year-^-r>artlv because -of the clearness of teetotal ,h,ead? — » mainly "because there is pternal trutli at the back r>f rt, and the eternal object 'lessson of, -the = trade to illustrate it to our »eyes."