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Wellington Independent, Volume XXIX, Issue 4072, 7 April 1874, Page 2

Wfi have pleasure in affording space, to-day, to the letter of the Hon W. Fox on the Temperance question. The common soldiers who were lately so valiant in the columns of the local journals have left the cause to their great commander. We may, perhaps, take this as a compliment, ani proceed to make a few remarks on the honorable gentleman's observations, with no more than this passing allusion to the sneer which pervades them. Enthusiasts seldom see a subject with other than colored spectacles, and because they are warm themselves cannot understand why others can be cool. The honorable gentleman is no exception to the rule. We cannot without dissent allow Mr Fox to imagine that in this little crusade againßt customs which are almost as old as day and night, he can ! take his stand by the side of those great - reformers in Church and State, whose names are honorably recorded in English history in connection with the movements to which he alludes. There is no parallel, no comparison, but an immense contrast, between the men who fought for political reform, the removal of religious disabilities, and the abolition of slavery, and those who are now crying out for Repressive under the name of Permissive Measures — just as there is none between the agitations themselves. We have no objection to Mr Fox classing himself with General Neal Dow, or Mr John B. Gough, or any other of the leaders in the great " Rum Agitation " which has set in in some parts of the United States ; with the Scotch apostles of Temperance, Mr Forbes Mackenzie, and Mr Duncan M'Laren ; or with Mr - Longmore and other leaders of the cause in Victoria — but we must draw the line there. This movement in which Mr Fox is engaged is no doubt well-intentioned ; but it has its origin in a mistaken notion of the principles of personal liberty ; it is illdirected ; it is resisted because it is an effort at social tyranny; and that it will not and cannot be successful is proved by its non-success wherever scope has been given to its supporters to endeavor to work it out. Mr Fox says this is not " a mere discussion." It is " a practical attempt" to impose the will of the minority upon the majority. If the General Assembly changed the aspect of his bill in that respect, it did not alter the character of the attempt. It was just such another, in that respect at least, as that of the Jameses to impose a form of religious worship on the people of the West of Scotland to which they were opposed, and which they resisted to the death. A homeopathist might as well attempt to " force " conviction into the mind of an allopathist, as a total abstainer ask leave from Parliament to* debar the moderate drinker from his wine or his beer; yet some "radical reformers" in this Temperance movement gravely propose to " strike at the , .-root of the evil" by sweeping away \ breweries, distilleries, &c. Why stop there? Why not forbid bailey to be

cultivated, or the grape grown ? Mr Fox admits he is not lukewarm. He is one who would impose his will, because he thinks he" is right, by force, on those who thinks he is wrong. What more did the Jesuits do when they had the power of the Inquisition at their back ? Mr Fox cannot speak of " the publican" without running into the excess which is usual with Temperance men, and which passes^into the ridiculous. There are men in the trade, no doubt, who are not troubled with many scruples ; but the law has been forced to deal with other unfair traders as well. The publican is specially taxed in the matter of his license because it is a convenient mode of raising revenue. The auctioneer has also to pay a license ; ' the vendor of stamps must be licensed ; and time was iv. England, when the stage-coach proprietor, the hirer of horses, the publisher of newspapers, the sportsman and gamekeeper, and scores of other classes, were all specially looked after by the tax-gatherer. If the hon. gentleman were in Tasmania now, he would have to pay a tax for his manservant, for his carriage, and for the use of his coal-of-arms on his note-paper. The malt tax was not imposed to lessen the consumption of beer by raising its price; and its repeal has not been resisted on the ground that its removal would demoralise still farther the beerdrinking Englishman. It, too, is a ready way of raising taxation, and for that reason it has been retained while reductions in other taxes have been conceded and other imposts abolished altogether. The publican is not regarded by the law in any different light from any other citizen, beyond this, that the business in which he is engaged exposes him to trouble at times from the visits of objectionable persons. The business of the licensing bench is to take oare that improper persons shall not have the opportunity of encouraging such persons ; and if the bench does make a mistake in granting a license without due consideration, the remedy is not difficult to find. It is possible enough that if no licenses were issued to houses in the country, travellers of all sorts might be entertained by hospitable residents. We venture to think, however, that even a philanthropist so liberal as Mr. Fox would very soon become tired of supplying all travellers with food and lodging who might apply to him, even though he should hope one day or othbi- to entertain an angel unawares. There are people, too, who are proud if they are* comparatively poor, and would prefer to pay for their accommodation in " the worst inn's worst room" than be entertained in the kitchen or parlour of a private family. These people may have ridiculous notions on the subject of the " hospitality" they would prefer to share, and they have a right to hold them whatever another might think. An innkeeper charges for what he gives, and why should he not ? No one desires to drink or to eat in a city hotel or a roadside inn without paying for his entertainment, glad of the opportunity, perhaps, to rest and be tb.au kful. We repeat that we have every desire that the Good Templar should succeed in the work of moral suasion. It is because Mr Fox and others go far beyond that limit that we oppose their efforts. In all social, as well as in religious and political matters, it is better and safer to lead than to drive ; but the Permissive measure men would drive. To attempt to change the habits of the largest section of the people by force of law, as the minority desire to do, is not a whit less objectionable than if the Conservative majority in England were to attempt to coerce the Liberals ; or the Episcopalian should endeavor to drive the Dissenter past his own Chapel or Bethel, and [into the Church where, perhaps, a Ritualistic service was progrossing. Repressive laws have been tried and miserably failed, and have worked much harm. Because a few miserable creatures appear again and again before the magistrates, and quarrels and assaults often result from drinking to excess, it is not to be argued that public-houses are the great causes of seriouscrime. Are schools and colleges to be put down because education has brought forgery, embezzlement, and frauds of all kinds in its train ? Are the efforts of the clergyman and the missionary to be discouraged because every lunatic asylum in the world contains unfortunate persons whose minds have been unsettled by religious doubts ? Are Christian churches to be put down because a sect has arisen in a neighboring colony who argue (and with almost Satanic subtlety) that Christianity was the latest invention, and is doing the work, of the Devil ? Is it the drunkard who has brought about baby-farming ? Is it the drunkard who chiefly follows the fashionable vice of pursuing virtue for its destruction? Yet the Good Templar would persuade us that the one habit of the people to which he " has no mind," is the great cause of crime, serious, we presume, as well as comparatively trivial. The drunkard is a poor creature, to be pitied and advised with. But there is no reason why something like physical, instead of moral force, should be applied to him more than to any of the other sinners who, like the poor, we are likely always to have with us.