THE REV. C. H. GARLAND AND THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11953, 3 April 1894, Page 3

THE REV. C. H. GARLAND AND THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

♦ TO THE EDITOR. Fir,— l happened to be in one of our suburban churches yesterday (Sunday), and witnessed the following scene. A mail, very drunk, came into the church during the service. After the Scriptures had been read, he staggered up to the rostrum and commenced an altercation with the minister. "With a littie persuasion he fab down, but when a hymn was sung he f tood before the audience beating time, but knocked over a form in attempting to steady himself, and but for the timely help of a lady would have been BttetcheO upon the floor. He then put on his hat and staggered half-way down the ohurch. By this time the long suffering of the officials was exhausted, and he was assitted out of the bmlding. This soemed to. me a disgraceful scene for a Sunday afternoon in a country where public houses aro supposed on that day to le closed. It is possible that he drank the liquor in his own home— [How incongruous such a word as ''home" Bounds with tho word "drunkaid"!];— but, considering all the circumstances, highly improbable; and the incident furnishes another illustration of the difficulties of regulating the drink traffic. We have excellent liquor laws, and, on paper, the trade is well guarded against all possible abuses, but if the publican likes he can treat our excellent liquor lavs w'th the utmost contempt, and sell his liquor at any hour, on any day, to any one, in any condition; and., unfortunately, there are too many publicans who do so like, and who recognise no liquor lawa but those made by their customers. After some few years of observation, I have come to the conclusion that the drink traffic cannot be continued without thoße attendant evils which every Government has endeavoured fruitlessly to separate from it. There are some law-abiding publicans. I know such, and I respect them, and if all publicans conducted thoir business as they do we should never havo heard of prohibition, but they are in a hopeleEE minority. The history of social politics in New Zealand for the last 12 years baa proved beyond d/mbt that, so long as the liquor trade continues, there must continue those consequences which no man will blame me for calling "horribls." Wise citizens will cease struggling with the problem "What law will separate the use of the liquor traffic from its abuse j" and will address themselves to the consideration of the alternatives. '' We must either let the trade alone and suffer its ills, or we must prohibit it," And if a timid citizen says, but tho prohibition of the liquor trade will only lead to darker evils, we must say to him, " Let us prove it by ex* periment," The evils ore dark enough, now ; dark enougn to justify us in giving " prohibition " a trial. If I may trespass still further I will give you a hitherto unrelated anecdote. In the month of February of this year a drunkard having spent his all in liquor and dying for another drink, sold his cuff-links to a dealer in Wanganui, not far from the Post Office (but not a pawn-broker) for 4s, with the agreement that they should ba returned on the payment of ss. My friend (for I had made him Buch) called with the ss, but our honest dealer replied, "You are two days behind time; I must charpe you 75." I told this to one or twc men, one of whom was a Commissioner or the Licensing Bench, and ho Baid : "I an not astonished ; that same honest dealei was waited upon by a drunkard whos< friends had just supplied him with a nev Buit of clothes, and he bought them of the man for 6s, including a pair of boot: bought that same week for 225," Sucl landsharks -ye now have in our town, am not so foolish as to blame the liquo traffic for thoir existence ; but I canno get away from the idea that thei existence is a corollary of the " tracle."I am, &c.i C. H. Oakland.

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