TEMPERANCE MEETING.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10503, 26 November 1901, Page 1

TEMPERANCE MEETING.

A temperance meeting was hold in St. Paul's Hall last (Monday) evening, under the auspices of the Wanganui Ministers' Association. The Rev. R. M. Ryburn presided, and there was a fair attendance. The proceedings commenced with the singing of a hymn and prayer, after which the objects of the meeting were explained by the chairman, who then called on the speakers. The Rev. A. Dewdney, said that those present knew, very well that those who occupied the Prohibition platform were constantly asserting that the Prohibitionists were driving the political aspect of the question so strongly and so continuously that they were forgetting tho other eide of the question — that which had to do with moral suasion; and v that 'they wcro leaving that work .undone in their eagerness to accomplish what the other side said was an impossibility. But, said Mr Dewdney, it was vory remarkable that the only people who wore doing anything in the direction of moral suasion were the Prohibitionists. Mr Dewdney said there were' two things in connection with strong drink about which he wished to speak. The first was "We can do without it"; secondly "We 'ought to do without it." Liquor in! any shape of form was not acnecessity of our existence. If it were, the reasonableness of the Prohibition movement would at once' fall to the ground. Statistics of insurance societies showed without fail that total abstinence made for longer life. He ridiculed the idea that men could not be made sober "by Act of Parliament, and stated that the police records every day proved that they could. Mr Dewdney, after expressing the opinion that liquor was not necessary for man's enjoyment, proceeded to show that it could be done witfiout, quoting a number of instances of men of intellect and position being degraded by the use of strong drink. After dealing with the danger of sending forward to others, the crave for liquor, the speaker made a stirring appeal, to each individual to do all in their power to bring about tho day when sobriety would rule. The Rev. R. Dewsbury, in the course of an"* eloquent address, referred to the fact that people who were eminently respectable, and who attended ohurch regularly, had never looked in the face of the question of total abstinence. They had never felt constrained to lift a single finger against the drink evil, they had never felt bound to give up any of their luxuries, and they had become a standing scandal in the church. He used -the word "scandal" in the New Testament way of being simply a block- in the way of those who wished to do good. Professor A. B. Bruce had made a startling statement that many men had < broken from - the church in order that i they might become Christians. Of course the writer intentionally expressed himself in that startling and paradoxical manner in order to fasten attention upon what he said, but, said jrtr Dewsbury, there was unfortunately too much truth in the statement. One of the principal reasons why so many people no longer entered places of wor*

ship' was because some of the -people who attended those places and were exceedingly particular in all that per1 tamed to external forms of religion failed to apply the ethical principles to their own social life.' We had the statements made by eminent statesmen that the prosperity of the country was arrested and that the wealth of the country was being drained by the waste in strong drink. Reports by the highest judicial authorities in the colony showed that from 75 to 80 per cent, of the crime of the country was brought about as a result of the awful curse.. Quite- familiar were the statements made by keepers of gaols, asylums,charitable institutions, and homes for the fallen and unfortunate that the majority 'bf these cases were tho result of drink. We had known of magnificent brains being driven to madness, of the loathsome diseases that were inseparably connected with the awful liquor, and we stood and looked wrathfully and indignantly at what we regarded as the excesses and extravagance and exaggerations of those who liad gone into the forefront of the battle, and were trying with arm and heart to grapple with this deadliest foe of humanity. Was it .any wonder that men ] forcsook the church in order that, they might become Christians? Was it any worfder that men, seeing churches get money by public houses, and men in churches augmenting their incomes by dividends from brewing concerns, should ask the question, "Is that the church of the living God?" The.speaker touched briefly on the question of heredity, and said we had to face, the exceedingly ugly, unpleasant, but nevertheless indisputable fact, that the British people of to-day had 2000 years of.drunkenness in their veins. He, concluded by appealing to all who were not prepared to stand in the forefront, not to binder those who are bearing the heat and bidden of the day. The Rev. Mr Cooker endorsed the previous speaker's remarks, after which he moved the following resolution: "That this meeting expresses its appreciation of the action of the Government in passing the Opium Prohibition Bill, believing that the prohibition of opium wiH be helpful to the improvement of the morals of the people. " This was seconded by the Rev. H. R. Dewsbury and carried unanimously.' A motion of condolence with the Rev. Mr Wills in his serious illness, and. of oppreciation of his valuable services to the cause, was passed unanimously. The meeting concluded with the Benediction, pronounced by the Rev. Dewsbury.. At the conclusion of the meeting a number of those present signed the pledge cards.