A PERSONAL EXPLANATION.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12844, 29 November 1905, Page 3

A PERSONAL EXPLANATION.

JIE. HEWITSON AND THE TOP LINE. To the. Editor of the "Tunaru Herald." Sir, —Somewhat unwillingly I find myself compelled by- the persistency •with which the Rev. Wm. Thomson has given prominence to my name in his " Continuance " campaign, to take some notice of his remarks, so far as they concern myself. Several copies of the "Timaru Herald," containing a report of one of Mr Thomson's meetings have been sent to me, and i have also received a circular which is said to have been, distributed broadcast in the N.'E. Valley. On the front page of this circular there is a quotation from a letter i. wrote to the " Outlook" in November, i 896—16 months after I settled in the colony. The quotation is followed by these statements :

"Words by Rev. W. Hewitson, of Knox Church, Dunedin, Nov. 28th, 1896: Therefore Strike out the 'lVo Bottom. Lines at the Local Option Poll." Strangely enough I have never seen the connection, expressed by " therefore," between my words and the course of action recommended by this circular. On previous occasions I have struck out the top line, and intend to do so again on December 6th. I would not be concerned in the slightest if anyone could show that my opinion to-day on the liquor question are inconsistent with those' I have formerly expressed. ' On quite'- a number of matters my opinions have changed as knowledge and experience widened. • ■ It k part of my business in life to induce men. to change their minds and their actions, as it is also the business of the temperance and the liquor traffic advocates. On this question, however, I do not think I have changed my mind. The use made by Mr Thomson of the quotation from my letter has reminded me of a remark that one of my professors used to make when a student gave an irrelevant answer to a question, "Very gcod, Mr So—and— So, but it don't belong there." Mr Thomson seems to think that what I wrote in 1896 is very good; I am rather a prejudiced witness myself, but as I try to look at it dispassionately I feel that I can venture on the hearty Scottish commendation that " it is no' so bad." "But it don't belong there." It is certainly out of place as a preface to the direction " therefore strike out the two bottom lines," and the passage quoted, in the connection in which I wrote it has nothing to do with the no-license vote. In my letter to the "Outlook" I dealt with two aspects of the temperance question—the personal aspect and the political aspect. 1. The personal aspect that confronts a man is—rShall I be an, abstainer or a moderate man in the -use of alcoholic beverages 1 In dealing with this' subject, I maintained that total abstinence must be based on expediency 5 and that we are not justified, cither by Scripture or by our experience of Christian men, in regarding the moderate use of alcoholic liquor as ia itself sinful. I :have heard it said in so many words by a few extremists, that such moderate use is sinful in itself, and this position appears to me to underlie the arguments of some other ' temperance advocates who would not rise the words.- I 'have no sympathy with, on the contrary, I find myself in definite opposition to such a position, and' also to those persons who would like to make abstinence a test of membership or of office in the Christian church. Archbishop Tait, on one occasion, was .asked by a correspondent if the Lord's Prayer should not be supplemented by such a phrase as "for Christ's sake," used in concluding other jjrayers. The Archbishop's chaplain replied, "In answer to your letter, I am directed by the Arch- : bishop to say that it does not appear to ; him to be necessary that you should under- : take to make any additions to the Lord's Prayer." I have much the same feeling in the matter of tests for Church membership. Our Lord began his ministry by - preaching " the Kingdom of God is at . hand, repent ye and believe in the Gospel," and I think that these two conditions of ■entrance into the Kingdom of God may well satisfy us as conditions of entrance into' the church, in the meantime. The " greater part of my letter to the " Outlook " was talien up wilh this personal question of abstinence or moderation, and the true ground, as J conceive it, for abstinence. As the quotation Mr Thomson makes from my letter is taken from the, part dealing with the personal question, it seemed necessary that I should refer to it now. The personal aspect, however, is not the one now occupying the public -mind, and so it may be dismissed. 2. In the , closing part of my letter, I referred more briefly to the political aspect of the question. At the time of writing that letter, I had been only 16 months away from Victoria where no license was not a living question, and I Hid not .say a single word in writing to the " Outlook" as to my opinion about continuance, reduction, or no license. Upon one point only did l express my- judgment, •namely, that legislation s such a matter ' should not l>e based on a bare majority vote—an opinion I still hold. The two aspects -of the question, the personal and the political, are quite distinct. I have met men who are not abstainers who have no license, and the same thing will probably happen again. On the other hand, I can conceive how a man who follows abstinence a 6 the rale of his personal conduct, may yet hesitate to vote no license, at least in a city. _

These two questions I kept distinct in my letter to the " Ooutlook," ' and -upon the legislative aspect I did not give a gleam as te the way I would vote. I am much perplexed to' find how Mr Thomson has so complettly failed to understand my letter that he has been able to see in it a basis for the claim he makes about me. I feel that, notwithstanding all the practice I get in expressing my thought, I am but a confusing writer. At a later period of my residence in the colony, I did take up a definite position on the legislative aspect of the question, and it is that some things I have said and done in this direction may not have come undeT the notice of Mr Thomson, seeing that he is a comparatively recent arrival in Dunedin. As an (honest man, Mr Thomson was surely ignorant of these words and deeds of mine; I cannot explain his use of my name otherwise. It is, of course, open to Mr Thomson, in view of the position I took up in 1896 on the personal question, to say that " therefore to strike out the two bottom ; lines" is the only political -position that is logically open to me. I have judged and continue to judge otherwise. Upon the personal aspect, I have always advocated that abstinence, on the ground of expediency, is the more excetlent way for a man in normal health and circumstances. Liquor legislation appears to me to be a subject to be determined by political expediency; and on the same principle of expediency, I base the political action: which cur liquor forces me as a voter to take. I think that the present system of licensed houses has produced and continues to produce great* iuman wreckage, and that it is expedient we should have a charge. I am not prepared to

say that no license is the best or the final change to make, But I am persuaded that it is the only, door through -which we can pass to what may be the best and final system. It will clear the ground for any system that may prove better in the future. lam certain that, in tie event of any scheme of nationalisation or municipalisation of the liquor traffic proving a failure, it would be harder to change it, owing to the revenue it would yield, than it would be to change no license, in the event of it proving a failure. Until no license has been fairly tried, I do not think that the temperance sentiment of this country makes it possible for any other scheme to get even a decent hearing, much less a fair trial. I am, etc., WM. HEWITSOX. Knox Church Manse, Dunedin, November, 1905.