THE PRIESTHOOD OF PUMP.

Timaru Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 6065, 26 September 1894, Page 4

THE PRIESTHOOD OF PUMP.

Herbert Spencer notes the curicus fact thai the more things improve the louder beoome the ezolamations about their badbesr. ''A century ago, when scarcely a man oould be found who was not occasionally intoxicated, aod when inability to take one or two bottles of wine brought contempt, no agitation arose against tbe vice of drunkenness; but now that, m the oourse of fifty years, the voluntary efforts of temperance societies) joined with more general causes, have produoed compara tive sobriety, there are. vociferous demands for laws to prevent tha ruinous effect* of the liquor traffip." V ihepe demands tafce no account of the'wishes or charaoterof the people* The faith of the Kquor prohibitionist m tbe power of, law to destroy natural appetites is alone sufficient to discredit his intelligence. For all nistory, all philosophy, endoreea Buckle's diotutn that" to seek to change opihtbhs'by lawi is worie than futile. It not only fails, hutit oauiesa reao'ion which leaves the opinion stronger than ever First alter the opinions, and then you may filer tbe l»w." Thus the success of the prohibition movement m Maoriland is bound to oauae a reaction proportioned to its success. Possibly, with the aid of women's vote?, the ideal of the pump fanatio will be reached, and th». manufacture, ssle, and use, of intoxioating liquors will be abiolutely forbidden by law. What will follow ? This.: the law wfll be inoperative m proportion to the number cf men who refute to submit to the attack npon their liberty. If theie are m the minority, the traffio prohibited by law wiU be oarried on m «pite of the law, and with worse results to the community than at present. If they, are m the majority, the law will not be enforce j. The effioaey of women's votes is largely overrated. They are effective only as they are backed by the TOteß of the men, or m questions upon whioh men are indifferent. Should an iisue arise whioh divides the aexes into hostile oamps, and the women have a nominal constitutional majority, the men will simply appeal to foroe. That is the final test of lupremaoy. The weakness of tbe Prohibition case has recently been illustrated m Bydney by the Eev L M laitt, a Maoriland lectnrer with a glib tongue, a fine talent for buffoonery, and tbe versatile impudenoe of a quack com. dootor. Now it is easy to pile up blazing rhetoric about the evils of drink. It is easy to tickle the ears of the groundlings with coarse witticiims and coarser saroasm. But it is hard to compose a ooniecutive argument whioh deals with every fact and answers every objeotioQ. It is hard to see truth steadily and aeo it whole, when one is earning a good living as a psid advocate of & single side of trutb, Men of the laitt stamp, even when they know better, will always cooose ease, and shun difficulty. They will always prefer to fool fanatics to the top of their bent, ratherthan try and convince reasoning men. That is preoiiely j what the Beverend Isitt did. His ltolures j were excellently caioulated to charm emptiona)! ignorance and disgust critical intelligence. He j never supplied a fact where he oould substitute a Bounding phrase ; he never arrajed ar. | argument wVen he could introduce clap tra^ invective. Kven when he spoke tbe truth be suppressed the side which did not suit him. He told his audienoe that at the iiedical conference m Holland last year, tho Dutch doctors advocated total abstinence. He did not tell them that the British section, through its president, Dyce Duckworth, spoke m favour of moderate drinking. lie said that the fact that tbe Prohibition States m America had not altered the law showed that they were satisfied witH its effects. He did not say that of 17 States wbioh have tried prohibition, ten have abandoned it, and m the others tho lav is a dead letter. Prohibition has failed signally m the United Statei. This is the conclusion of an authoritative and impartial observer, Mr Michael Herbert, attache to the British Embassy at Washington, whose observations are published m a report on "Liquor Legislation m the United States," recently issued by the British Foreign Offloe. Prohibition has failed signally m Canada. The Scott Aot, whioh gives every province the power to step the sale of drink within its own borders, is—the present writer, who lately travelled m Canada, speaks by the card—inoperative ; and the cry is now for Dominion prohibition, whioh only a war could force upon Lower Canada. Prohibition would fail signally m Auotralia. It ha* bocn tried at Mildura, with the result of demoralise ing the community, and tbe residents have now by a three to one majority deoided to do away with it. Not hare, where the sentiment of liberty is so strongly rooted, oan eticb an intolerable tyranny he established. Everyone who tbioks sees this. What man of note, what roan of intellect, advocates prohibition m Australia p What newspaper approve* it P Its supporters are the diseased brains of the community, the unhealthy minds m unhealthy bodies, the men of stunted physiqee, narrow foreheads, pimply faces, flabby muscles, shrunken legs. Take Ne*. South Wales Parliament as representing the pooole. Compare G D Clarke and 'Hindi*, leading abstainers, with Dibbs and Park's, leading drinkers. On whioh side am the brains, the manliness, the vitality P Will anyboriy baok Clark for two roondj with Dibb» ? Will anybody wager that Hindle wi 1 be a father at 70 P Tbe contrast everywhere holds go?d. The craving for intoxicants ii natural and universal* lhe ability to manufacture intoxicants marks th« great._di.v-Biop between man and brute. )p.nce>fvi ">n p.rogrjtwod.so far tbat fbe prehistoric ape-man learnt h w to make s formrut, tho rest was easy Civilisation followed a§_ a toiutr. ofcourse. And all through history the/nation loved its liquor wbs never beaten ?ice( t y..,.th« nation that loved its liquor .bettrr. itome, founded on wicp, conquered 'he world, and Ml partly because, aft r the introduciiorj of Christianity, the q->:li'7 'fib* wirie ottori.orstv.d; .whi'e, tbe heaiccu Gothic bcor ff&e unadulterated and strong. The golden age of England wbb tbe beer age the age of Elizabeth, the age of Drako and tjhakapeare, when tea, coffee, and ooooa were unknown, and men, women, and obildrcn drank, humming ale continuously. Scandinavians are tc-day the bijjgett and strongest man m, Europe—also the most drunken. Germany is the strongest military nation, with the moot enormous heerooo* sumption. In faot, the world has never been sober since the dawn of history. If there were any troth m the eloquent ptotures of diseased livers at wbioh teetotallers groan, the raoe would have been extinct long ago. And English medioal men are now beginning to find out that district* where tea and sop predominate show a yearly lost of vitality, while the brutal beer and meat oomurner dies a centenarian with 87 children. It is no use arguing tbat if Australia gave up drinking she would save ever so many millions a year. If she gava up fond and clocking and went to roost m a tree every night she would lave ever so much more But Bho is not going to do anything of the sort. A purely vegetable existence may satisfy the apostle of Pump, but it is far too languid and uninteresting for a young and lusty nation, whioh means to eat its bread with joy and drink its wine with a merry heart, and live joyfully with the wife whom it loveth ali the days of the life of its vanity. Drink is a natural instinct, and tbe desire of morbid zealots to suppress it is of a pieoe with the unwhslceome sanctity whioh ref.-aioa from marryiDg and washing itself and paring its nails m order to keep the carnal man under. The world is gradually learning that the carntl man cannot be kept under; that natural instinots are right, and need only regulation m the light of experienoe. We, have too long crucified the. flesh at trio . bid ding of bigot creeds j and monastioism aod asceticism, m blighting life, have straugipd progress. Luckily, human nature ii eliistic, and human appetites are ornshed only to rise ag&iu.—(The Bulletin, July 14th.)