I.O.G.T. MEETING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 721, 19 March 1881, Page 2

1.0. G.T. MEETING.

After the sports were ended, and tea partaken of, as reported in our yesterday's issue, the new Town Hall was prepared for the meeting. The Secretary of the Committee, and one or two members, went to the station to receive the visitors who had promised, if possible, to attend, but on the arrival of the train, it was found that they had not come; and the meeting had to bo held without their assistance, a good audience having assembled. Bro Rush opened the meeting, and proposed Bro., W. Norman, W.C;T., of the Greytown Lodge, as Chairman. All prooont tlion joinod in (Sill]key S hymn, v " Hold the Fort," after which Bfo. Norman took the Chair.

Oil mounting the platform, Bro. Norman said lie would liked to have seen someone else chosen for the position, as though perhaps as old in years as many there, he was not as old in the cause, and ho would have liked to have heard their experiences. He claimed, liuwever, to have the cause as much at heart as any. He would now call upon Mr D. McGregor 'to address them,

Mr McGregor, who was greeted wi applause, had not expected to be callei upon quite so soon to say what he had to say to them, He regretted they had not a symbol of their Order on the platform, in the shape of a glass of water, as it would he encouraging to speakers, and would help them in their efforts, The proceedings on that occasion were a union of the Lodges to bring their Oauße more prominently before the public, and he had hoped to have seen a larger attendance. There was no doubtall were agreed that the drinking habits of the people were a blot and a disgrace on tjie human race, and thus far, all would go with them, But what was the best means of coping with this evil which was admitted to be so fatal 11t had been said " remove all restrictions on drink; let it be sold anywhere and everywhere, and it would become so common that people would not care at all for it," The system had been tried to a large extent in Liverpool, where grocers' shops, &c,, were allowed to sell spirits, and the evils resulting therefrom become so great that the system had to be suppressed by the Legislature. In most things the demand created the supply ; but in the liquor traffic this was reversed, The supply created the demand,;. and every effort should be made to suppress the trade. It was well-known that if a drinking shop were placed at every street corner, each would soon have its ring of supporters, Some said moral suasion should be the means used, and he thoroughly- agreed with that; but something more than this was needed. Legislation was necessary, in order to correct the evil, They ought to insist by every means in their power that the Legislature should cope with the plague. Legislation had been tried in other places and had proved successful—(Hear, hear), They all knew how hard it was to induce their representatives or the Ministry to deal with the traffic, and why 1 It lay in this; the the people, the Government—those who administered the law—allowed the influence of " vested interests" to overcome the duty of remedying this great evil, Many railed against the publicans, and he had no aympathy with the class. The traffic was an ungodly one. But the publican was not the cause of the traffio. In Scotland at one time smuggling was carried 011 to a very large extent, and the State could not suppress it; and why ? For the very , same reason that they did not now suppress the liquor traffic—there were " vested interests" in the matter. Direotly those vested interests were removed smuggling died out almost immediately. It was a thing to be deplored that representatives and the Government did not give the matter more Berious attention,' and that they allowed vested interests to overcome their conscientious scruples. Were we to see the misery caused by drink for ever ? Was it a weed thatcotyld be removed by cultivation, or a plant that carried its own destruction 1 He felt inclined to think it 'was the latter. It was: well-known that Bome plants flourished bo vigorously and grew so plentifully that finally they died out through their very ranknets, and it might 'be bo with drink.lt ha'd been said'that the great law of life was ti do the duty nearest to hand. ' They all had a duty to perform in this matter; were they doing

if? Was eachono doing his utmost to eradicate: the noxious weed ? He did not see that Good; Templar sociotiea could ac-' complish the task', but they had the great object in view,;,and' it was the bounden duty of all to support and encourago them ' in the work; .- Another tiling was! that' they ought mqre" especially to instil ~ the principles of abstinence into the minds of. -young children, not; only by words but by their own examples, He strongly depreciated the extreme views of some temperance advocates, There were men. ;who could take one glass and no more; but the drink was an,insidious foe, and he knew of strong-minded men and good public servants who had been ruined by it, though.at first moderate men. Similar examples of the power of drink they could see round them daily, and it was the duty of all to fight against the evil by eve.y means in their, power.- , Mr McGregor,' who had been listened to with great pleasure and attention, then resumed .his seat amid considerable applause.; The Chairman stated lie had listened to Mr McGregor with great pleasure. He tjiought individual opinion was very much

like a cyclone, which was several storm points meeting in one head, and its effect was overwhelming. Isolated publio opinion when drawn together into one focus would crush intemperance: He would now call on the Rev W. G. Thomas,

Mr Thomas was glad to Bee so , many J present, particularly in regard to. the ® younger members of the community. As 8 a Minister of the Gospel he looked upon * tlie eril of drunkenness in its moral effects, c and instanced the degradation caused,by 1 a drunkeri.l father, and the pernicious ( 'example'/ it >was to young ohildran. He £ thought that the vice of drunkenness was a ' greater evil in its moral sense, than in its ' social one. He thought educating public 1 opinion was one of the best remedies that 1 could be adopted, The publio were not ' ! sufficiently, informed of the' dreadful J statistics of drink. He also.dwelt on the importance of educating the minds of. 1 children on the subject, alludingin favorable terms to the establishment Juvenile Templar Lodges at Greytown and Master- ; ton, and concluded by urging upon all to make the evil a matter of prayer aa well ' as work, The rev gentleman .then resumed his seat, his speech meeting with approval ' from his hearers. Song—Bro. Greaves; "There's a Wound in my Spirit," Very well sung, and vociferously applauded. Bro, Rush then addressed the meeting. He regretted that, through an oversight, their regalia was not there so that the Good Templars among tliem could be recognised. They had had many misfortunes that day, and had been disappointed in the non-arrival of several visitors from Wellington. He proceeded to give a brief sketch of the earlier efforts . of reform, which reminded him of an anecdote, A gentleman had ordered his servant .to cut his dog's tail off, The man proceeded to carry out his instructions hut his master, hearing a continued howling on the part of- the dog, went out and enquired of his servant why the dog did not cease his cries. " Oh,"'said the man, "I'm taking it off a joint at a time." And it was the same with drink. The task was slow and and painful, Reformers first left off drinking spirits, but they found they could drink too much wino, and the conclusion arrived at was that total abstinence was the only remedy, They had many sympathisers, but they wanted more downright, real, earnest work. He did not believe in moderate drinkers, their example was not a good oiio. A man who . had been drunk was thus acccosted by his clergyman—a moderate drinker:-'.' John, you were i drunk last,evening,, and lam ashamed of | you—you OUght to bo aahanied of yOUV- | self." John-said:—" You take your ( gkss sir, why shouldn't IT "Ah yes, John, but,l only take one at a time." "So do I sir; one at a time, but as ; many as you like to give me." Now what ! influence could the words of that minister , have over his parishioner 1 His power j was gone, though he only took one glass. . He (the speaker) spoke highly of the , influence of the ladies, and thought the great success achieved by Good Templar ■ Lodges was through' ladies belonging to thein, He urged the necessity of training t young-people in abstinence and pointed I out the success attending theirefforts with , the rising generation (Applause). l Songs—Bro, Greaves:" Be kind to thy father," and " Why Art Thou Silent and 9 Sad, Love." (Loudly applauded) j Bro. Baker then addressed the meeting, a Ho strongly advocated'the training of j children as the best means of preventing 3 the spread of drunkenness, and instanced 0 the necessity of doing this through the readiness of tho rising generation to be j led into evil habits, He followed much 0 in the same lino as previous speakers, and resumed his seat amid applause. [ As they were short-handed that evening, ;1 Mr McGregor was again called upon by the B Chairman. Ife gave, as a recitation, the j "Trial of Warren Hastings," by Macau- . lay. It was given in a style that chained j his hearer's attention, and.on its conclu--1 siou was heartily applauded. ;1 Song—Bro. W. Betty : " Mother 0 Kissed Me in My Dream," Received ;i with applause.

Bro. Girdwood then addressed those present. He thought ho was the oldest Good Templar in the room, as lie had been one all his life. Women had a very great influence, and could help the cause from the infancy of their children. Ho had promised his mother when five years old that he would not touch drink, and ho nover had. Some said they were going too far, that God gavo them the drink for their own use,'and they should use it. But he would say God never intended that his oiyn image should be disfigured by inebriety, and if this wafj the result of using the liquors .they should abandon them. He considered that if every Minister of the Gospel did not work hard to eradicate the seed of intemperance, the good seed ho had to sow would be choked by the thorns of drunkness. A temperate drinker deceived himself, and he related au instance of a man who at first was prosperous and happy, and who was a temperate drinker, but upon whom the drink gradually secured such a hold that he sunk to the lowest degradation. His home was ruined, his children were afraid of him, his wife half starved and barely clothed. Though drifting so far on' the sea of intemperance, he waß saved by ' the Good Templar Life Boat I He was again a happy and prosperous man I The speaker concluded a very earnest speech, by reciting some lines composed on the case he had just described, at the conclusion of which he was greatly applauded. Bro. Hart said he would say a few

words, and thus close the evening's meeting. He had been a teetotaller for 68 years, and as an instance of the influence of parents .examples, he might say that out of his seven children, six had never known the taste of drink. He believed in all combining to save children from drifting to a drunkard's grave. It was noble to rescue drunkards from perishing in the Beaof intemperance, but if they trained up the children aright, there would be no necessity for societies to save drunkards'. There' would not 1 be any. After an eloquent address, slightly, illustrated by an " example," who walked up to the stage in order to hear,him better, 'tlie speaker called upon those present to sing the poxology.; ;r: •; • : The Chairman then declared the meet-' ing. closed. ' "