CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 668, 24 December 1902, Page 28

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

The present issue of the “ Gazette ” is virtually the Christinas Number, and before another publication shall have taken place the festive season, so called, will be full upon us, and the majority of our readers will be busily engaged in holiday-mak-ing. It has been said that the AngloSaxon takes his pleasure sadly, but we doubt if the application of the aphorism can justly be extended to this part of the Empire. Christmas may, indeed, be a time of sadness to some, whose miserv is accentuated by comparison with the general hilarity around them, <>ut the va>st majoiity of the population are, fortunately, in a position to give themselves up to the delights of the season without the accompaniment of any disquieting thoughts for the morrow. As ai colony we have been passing through a period of exceptional prosperity, and it is in the highest degree i gratifying to think that at the present mo- j ment there are no . signs of a change, i Croakers there are in the community who ; predict “ lean years/’ and a universal I slump, hut they have been doing this for j years past, in face of the logic of facts, and ; ip spite of the repeated falsification of I their gloomy forebodings. Politics, save in j so far as they bear directly upon the in- } terests watched over by this journal, do • not come within our range, but it will not be out of place to say that the signs of the times indicate a continuance of good fortune, while at the same time they are not without a, hint of warning. Prudence and . caution are just as necessary in the conduct of our public affairs as they ever were, j and the electors have shown at the polls that they are averse to anything like ‘/plunging.” So far as the Trade is concerned, the year has not been uneventful. The increase ifi the prohibition vote throughout the colony indicates that the organised opposition to the liquor laws has increased in strength, and points to the necessity for counter-organisation, not only amongst those directly engaged in the Trade, but On the part of those citizens who desire to retain their freedom of action. We have in the past issues devoted considerable space to an examination of the gross falacies of prohibition, and it is not necessary to repeat our arguments, but we cannot too strongly impress upon our readers of every class and condition that they are in danger of losing their liberty unless they make a. determined stand. The spirit that (should animate us all at this’ season oLthe year finds no place in the breasts of ' the - , prohibitionists, who / are absolutely destitute of that “ goodwill ” which we are enjoined to entertain. For what is that desire worth which would deny men the decencies of an hotel, and drive them to the sly-grog hell ? This by the way, however. We have again to congratulate the hotelkeepers of this city and province, and, indeed, of the whole colony, upon the fair record of the past year. With astonishingly few exceptions the law, absurd as it is in many respects, has been faithfully observed, under the most difficult conditions. . The tension has been severe, and it is difficult to say j whether any further strain could be borne, but we believe it may be affirmed ( that in respect of the observance of the li- 2 censing statutes, New Zealand is a model j country. The moderate portion of the f community have set up a high standard, j apart from the prohibitionists, and the re- 5 suit is satisfactory to all but the fanatical c teetotaller, who cannot trust himself, and does not want to let anybody else drink. < Efforts to improve the class of houses and the accommodation have not been relaxed, t though the irritating frequency of the , local option poll must tend greatly to dis- £ courage operations in this direction. There < is still room to hope that the law may be ' £ altered with a view to giving greater secUr- f ity of tenure to those engaged in the trade, but the power to do so rests with the people at large, whose freedom of ac- j tion, as we have already said, is menaced. ‘ x During the year • there have been many r changes, and tome faces that were familiar i to us l in our daily life last Christmas, have j Been withdrawn into the land of shadows. Many of our readers have suffered losses, c and have been stricken by sorrow, and we , can only hope that Time, the great healer, £ will deal with them as he has dealt with 1 so many generations before. We trust that to the saddest, Christmas will give some- j thing of its joyousness, and that to all it will give peace and renewed hope. It was ( not for nothing that a bountiful Providence 1 disclosed to mortal man the prime qualtfe itias of beef and turkey and nut brown j ale!