The Thames Star. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1897. PROHIBITION.

Thames Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 8608, 12 March 1897, Page 2

The Thames Star. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1897. PROHIBITION.

| The "Tyranny of Prohibition " Jis ' tlie subject of an interesting letter ; from the Eev. S. J. Serpell, President' of the Thames Prohibition League, who writes under yesterday's date as follows:—

"In your leader of last uight's issue, in referring to a pamphlet, entitled ' The New Heresy,' you say "In his preface the author draws a very fair and right distinction betweeu genuine temperance work by moral suasion and the tyrannical demands of Pro- ; hibition." Would it be asking too much to ' ask you to devote a leader or two to the task j of pointing out to the people of the Thames what £ire the ' tyrannical demands of Pro- • hibition ?' At the late election, nearly 2000 ' votes were cast in favor of Prohibition. If there be anything • tyrannical' in our principles or policy, I can assure you, sir, I for one—and there are many with me—will alter my principles and change my policy immediately the tyraany is pointed out. lam a Liberal in politics, and have always believed our principles were in harmony with those of the. Liberal Part}', i.c , government of tho people by the people, for the people. Our policy is, 'The greatest geod of the greatest number'; but, I hate tyranny. Kindly point out what our ' tyrannical demands' as Prohibitionists are, and you will obb'ge most of

your subscribers." j Now, to "poiutout" tue tyranny of Prohibitionists is oue thing, but to convince Mr Serpell and his followers and colleagues is quite a different matter. ; Prohibition is tyrannical because it represents tin effort by a certain section of the community to enforce the imperial veto on the remainder. Dcs- , potio though it may seem to many . minds, the simple act of prohibition— ; avo are now speaking in a general sense, minus the capital P—is not in itself tyrannical; it has been with us . ever since mankind aud society has existed—a sort of necessary evil. The ten original prohibitions of Christianity ! were first entrusted to humanity on : Mt. Sinai. The first four, the religious , instructors tell us, deal with our duty : to God; the last six deal with our duty . to our neighbor. Thou shalt not steal ' —thou shalt not bear false witness— thou st?.lt do no murder - these are all worthy corner-stones of our present

day society. In the times of the Tudoi's, however, tyrannical Prohibition found a field under the cloak of the earlier commandments. The Tudor inquisitions professed to look after . the spiritual welfare of man, ! without troubling about his diet; the present day tyrants will grant him freedom of conscience, but will restrict his appetite. To extend the comparison further, the bigots in the days of Mary I, used iiery fagots to conrpel their victims to worship God in "the oue true way " ; the bigots of to-day would use Prohibition—with a capital P—not to force man to do his duty towards God, nor yet towards his neigh-

bour, but to tell him what lie must I put into his mouth. The prohibitions J which are necessary to regulate society " and to enforce neighbourly duty are ! \ fair and right; tho Prohibition which f endeavours to supervise the functions I of tho human, tody is a tyranny. " The quesdon as to the moral and ,

physical desirability of total abstinence is quite another matter. If it is desirable, ab:,uinence must be taught by force of example and moral suasion. It cannot be commanded. Furthermore, tho argument of Prohibition is capable of indefinite expansion. We might be forbidden, on the grounds of physical and moral welfare, to drink tea, to smoke, or to eat anything which does not como within tho creed of the vegetarian. Who is to say whether an inveterate smoker might not be a worse specimen of humanity than. a confirmed drunkard ? Whether we have herein failed or succeeded in making out a case against Prohibition, we certainly are not prepared to take the responsibility of altering Mr Sorpell's advanced principles. They are the property of Mr Serpell alone, and this is an age of toleration.