THE Wellington Independent. " Nothing extenuate; Nor set down aught in malice." TUESDAY MORNING, 21st APRIL. LAW FOR THE DRUNKARD.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1858, 21 April 1863, Page 3

THE Wellington Independent. " Nothing extenuate ; Nor set down aught in malice." TUESDAY MORNING, 21st APRIL. LAW FOR THE DRUNKARD.

Thebe are some people in this world who have unlimited faith in the power of law, to put down everything that isetil or objectionable. Is there some crying sin of the day rearing its headinunblushingtiirpitiule, — doessomespecial form of vice offend their sense of propriety ; of is there anything exists in our social condition that shocks their pre-conceived notions, then the aid of the Legislature is at once evoked, and a panacea sought in the form of an Act of Parliament. This kind of thing has gone on for years in England, and many a legislative experiment has been tried, to deal with some of the dark phases which are developed in modern civilization. Have we not heard and read of restrictive enactments which were to make men sober and virtuous, and does not the history of those experiments show how utterly futile were such efforts P If there is one social evil, which more than another, is the bane of Great Britain and her colonies ; it is the rice of io temperance. It is pioduetive of an immense amount of vice and destitution. All this is of course a mere truism ; so let it for the moment be passed by, while we turn to the means which are adopted in the varioup provinces of New Zealand, to neutralise ijs influence.

In Wellington wt have a Total Abstinence Society, which has, in its humble way done au immense deal o/ good. Commencing its opera, dons in an bumble room, where three or four persons met together and pledged themselves to become abstainers, its sphere has gradually extended, until, at the present day its members can be counted by hundreds. By lectures ;by soirees, by gatherings and fetes of little children, a powerful influence for good has been exerted, while even yet the Society is but in its infancy. It is by means such as these that the demon of intemperance can he combated, and its evil influence lessened. So long at temperanoe societies rely on moral suasion as llie mainspring of their inflnence, so long will they have the hearty sympathy and good will of a majority of the community.

But it now seems the colony has developed a new order of apostles of progress, whose ope* rations have been commenced in the Province of Canterbury. These enthusiasts are not 'Content with the thousand little influences for good which /nay be exerted on men's minds by leason, by precept, and by example. They go to work by a much easier and shorter method ; they see the evil of intemperance and they are resolved to put it down- An Act is accordingly passed through the Provincial Council, providing that on its being proved to the satisfaction of certain Justices of the Peace, that any individual has become an habitual drunkard, they are empowered to publish a notice, forbidding any publican or other person from supplying the same with liquor under a penalty of £20. In case of any doubt arising as to the identity of the dipsomaniac, his or her description, is to be published in all the newspapers.

Such, then, is the law which exists in that Province, and the first fruits of which are now being developed. The first victim, it appears, is a woman, who has frequently figured in the Police Court. This wretched creature wai recently brought before the Magistrates of Cbvistchurch, und her habitual drunkenness having been duly proved, she became the sub* ject of the following advertisement, taken from a recent number of the Lyttellon Times.

Whereas it has this day been proved to the latisfaction of us, the^pnderjigned, being three of

Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace, acting in and for the Colony of New Zealand, and sitting at tho Resident Magistrate's Court, at Christchurch, in tho Haul Province and Colony; that one Mary Ann Robertson, of Christchnrch, who is described at tho foot of this notice, has become an habitual drunkard, and is injuring her health by excessive drinking, we hereby under tho provisions of tho thirty-third clause ot'the" Public liouse Ordinance 1862," #ive notice that we prohibit all persons from supplying the said Mary Ann Robertson with any spirituous or fermented liquor whatever, for the space of two years, from the date hereof. And we also give notice th*t any person who shall knowingly supply, or cause to be supplied to the said Mary Ann Robertson any spirituous or fermented liquora whatever during the said space of two yeara from tho date hereof, ia liable to a Penalty of twenty pounds (£2O) sterling, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for the term of three calendar months.

This woman it appears "is about 32 years of age, she is of slender build, fresh complexion, and has a snub nose. Her forehead is prominent, her features round ; she has dark eyes; is a native of Edinburgh, and speaks that dialect. We have gleaned these particulars from the much fuller details furnished by the advertisement itself, in which the description of the drunkard is given with almost photographic accuracy. And now we ask the question ;to what purpose does all this tend? Do the solons of Canterbury imagine they are going to dam up human nature by any clumsy, tne- ! cbanical contrivance like this ? Do they think that the inordinate craving for drink will be allayed by an ordinance which forbids its being supplied ? If that were so, the drunkards career would be easily checked, but alas! it has been found out long ago, that you can't make men or women either sober by Act of Parliament. The only effect of legislation, such ns this, is to drive the evil inwards, to exchange open for secret drinking, and to raise a feeling of bitter antagonism against the operation of a law, which is repugnant alike to the judgment of the thinker, and the ieeling of the community at large.