DRINK AND SOCIAL REFORM.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 12863, 23 May 1905, Page 3

DRINK AND SOCIAL REFORM.

To the Editor. Sir,— -I am rather amused at Mr Wil-

liams inferring that Mr Herbert Spencer is considered out of date hy up-to-date Socialists, as if a Socialist wa« the climax or standard to measure a philosopher' 8 convictions by Tho word Socialist has a very wide signification and means almost anything, but as a rule a Socialist see-

In£r a social knot or entanglement proposes io cut it off, while the propov course Is to unravel i?. lam not a Socialist, although T have road much of their literature. The very best authorities are agreed i"haib to attempt 'io remove ih'e law of competition, as many Socialists propose, would bo disastrous. The world lia« soen several stage's of Socialism, and lh<\y have all passed away for the simple reason thai natural law was disregarded, which moans extinction to communities as well as individuals. The only road to success, po-aco, and abundance Itf to discover wha^ natural law is. and obey it by conforming Tmhietn law Iwjthf' natural law.\ ( Nlow T know enough about the law of wages undor the present system of private appropriaKon oE ground rent to lenow that what Mr Williams says about the

money now expended in the IJquor trade finding its way into trade channels under prohibition to be untrue, for it would do nothing of the sort, it would erystalize in the form of higher land values, and that is why the rating of unimproved values both for local and general government is so alli important and expedient^ Mr Eoberts and Mr Christopher boih explained their point, and Mr Williams agrees with Mr Christopher in one truth and not with me in the same truth, and that truth is that under prohibition wages would tend to fall rather than rise, unless land reform kept pace with it. The second batch of sayings are from poor authority, as was the first and only go to show your cor- i respondent's weakness. — T am, &c. E. STEVENSON.