The Star. FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1902. THE SEAMY SIDE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7433, 20 June 1902, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1902. THE SEAMY SIDE.

s Rudyard Kipling, telling the story of how , '* he became suddenly converted to Prohibition, describes seeing two young girls stagi» ger in a state of intoxication from a drinking saloon, and, on being accosted by two , men, reel off with them " down a dark alleyway to God knows where." The tragic ellipsis, as much as the blunt-spoken word, speaks forcibly of a pitiable side of life, which is hidden away from publicity by that "prudence which comes with the \ light." This was an incident in the hot, ; feverish life of a big American city ; but 1 we have not to go from our own doors to < find a, domestic tragedy which is a parallel i quite as pitiable. In the Police Court yes- i '" terday, a female- first offender was con- ] victed of drunkenness and discharged. It was stated that though this was her first } appearance in Court, the accused, who was j married to a respectable working nyn, had been given to for some years past. , Her husband had taken out a prohibition . order against her, but she still obtained ■ d drink. She had a family of children, the ] eldest a girl of thirteen, upon whom the ( care of the household devolved. The youngest, it was stated, was a baby seven months ; old, and the mother had been practically . drunk for two or threo months preceding the birth, and for a similar period immediately following that 'event. The Bench . administered a severe caution to the ac- : cused, and told her husband, who applied : that she should be sent. to an Inebriate Home, that if he wished her put under re- '_ straint he must apply to the Stipendiary . Magistrate. Enquiries were also ordered ■' to be made concerning the condition of the children. Here is a remorseless tragedy at our doors that mocks at our vaunted colD onial purity of existence, and staggers our assumption that nothing but happiness reigns in our domestic life. We do not, of course, regard the incident as a type ; it must be an exceptional ease, bat where there is one such there are probably others. . In any event, it serves to poinfc several ,f very drastic morals. It shows that the pros' hibition order does not prohibit, and it y calls for the- severest possible punishment of those persons who supply drink to the [t unfortunates whose craving will not be de- . a, nied. If a woman who is the subject of l * such an order can remain practically drunk :o for months at a time, it should nofc be 11 difficult to - ascertain Avhere she procures . the liquor. Now T that this individual case has been brougnt under public notice we commend it to the careful attention of the police. The story il points also to the value of our. Inebriate f Homes, and suggests that a'much wider use y might be made of these institutions as hospitals for the curative treatment of cases of the drink disease such as that under con- ] sidteration. But the most pitiable feature , of the story is the unheard silent " cry of the children." If there is anything in the doctrine of heredity, "and we cannot doubt it, -what earthly chance in life. has that ; t pitiful little morsel of humanity who was , I born and nurtured in drunkenness? To be : 3 sure, he is to be visited by a policeman, "" who will inspect his condition and report . on it, but that can scarcely prevent his life c being a perpetual % " kicking against the , 1 pricks." Our whole' moral code and the whole practical machinery of our system ' . of social reform stand absolutely mute and \ S hopeless in a case of 'this. sort. It is eood to know that some of those women who aro i always waiting to help their unfortunate sisters are interesting themselves in this case, but even they cannot enter unin- _• vited into homes where a similar state of a things may prevail. When the last word has been written andi said upon the sube ject, we aire brought face to face with only d one conclusion : That if there is not J speedily a very much stricter control of cl the liquor traffic many of those who have * hitherto hesitated to adopt a policy of ab- , solutism will be compelled to throw in " their lot with the cause of complete proi. hibition. We cannot afford to those stories told in our Courts. •1- — "■ ;