Archbishop Kelfy's Views

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9, 2 March 1905, Page 30

Archbishop Kelfy's Views

The Most Rev. Dr. Kelly, Coadjutor-Archbishop of Sydney, in an interview granted to t>he lepresentative of a (Hiristchurch paper, gave his views on temperance. There were three classes of people (said his Grace) whom a temperance preacher had to reach. The first was the persion addicted to drink, the habitual drunkard who co.ild not abstain from liquor whenever he got an opportunity t(<) take it ; the second was the ocrson who drank sometimes, in moderataon ; the third was the person wl o had not commenced to drink, who had yet to aeauire a taste for liquor. These three classes had to be treated from diiYeren-t standpoints. To the fust, the drunkard, it must be said : ' You must <\o wilhout di ink ; it is ruining you, body and soul.' The second, the per/son who took a glass occasionally, must l.curgol to stop at that pointy and the Ihird must be convinced that lie should not commence dunking at oil ' Who a voting man commences to dunk he tuns info a thoii < -a r id faults,' said Dr. Kelly ; ' a man is so mush mo /c a iran without drink. I always Tell young people That Total Abstinence is better tbjaln a gold mine to them, and older peonle realise this trufth. What woman would piefer a goldmine to a sober husband ? What father would rat nor have a gold-mine than a sober son ? A shilling a day, or a shilling a woek, is nettei spent for tbe needs (f a home than for tihe gratification of an appetite at a hotel.' But though he was fully conscious of the virtue of total abstinence, Dr. Kelly contiim.ed, he rcogm.s-ed that there were cases in which liquor had its uf-cs. D;ink was not bad in itself ; it was the abu«-e of drink which was a bad thing. God had made t(he flowers, and God had made music for man's delight, and He had al°o made wine. lie (Dr. Kelly) could picture a map advanced iB years, worn with toil, to whom a glass of liicor a day would be a benefit, something which would add a little cheerfulness to his life And Mere were occasions, too, such as a marriage feast, at which wine would rightly have its place, for use, -but not abuse. If lie were entertaining guests, he would have wine for their disposal, leaving it to individual discretion whether this form of refreshment should be taken or not. Of course, if he knew that one of his guests was addicted to drink, he would advise him that he must not touch it, but he would not find fault with other persons exercising a free choice. ' I look to the individual ma/i, to the free wi'l of man, lor the improvement in tamper are: c,' he sa,id. He hoped to win people over to temperance by appealing tio their common sense, by swaying their minds and hearts towards it by personal appeals, but he did not consider that Restrictive Legislation would make the people sober. That would only drive th- traffic underground, and no good could come from that The people would get drink somehow if they had any appetite for it, and they nius.t be weaned from it by force of moral suasion, not by a prohibitory Act of

Parliament. But, of course, it was the duty of the legislature ik> encourage temperance in every way as it was for the public good. Conve-ts to temperance helped to set public opinion favorably towards the cause, and assisted by tiheir example to make weaker persons amend their habits. Thus, by winning a few at a time, the army of the temperate was ever increased, and a nation was brought to sec that temperance was a very desirable characteristic, and that liquor, if used, must be used only in a legitimate way. While speaking of tne legitimate uses of drink, the Archbishop said that temperance workers were eager to effect a change in the drinking customs of the community. ' Treating, 1 or ' ahoutyig,' as it was called in the colonies, was a bad thin^. if a man felt that he must ha\e drink let him take it in privacy, at home, where he wofuM not set a had example to others. Generally sneaking, people did not need liquor, especially young people. There was a plentiful variety of non-intoxica-tiregidrinls at Uieir choice, if they became thirsty. Asked whether he considered State Control preferable to the private management of hotels, Dr Kelly rejplied that this question was fraught with difficulty. He would say, howeve-, that it was a crime for a Go\ eminent to increase its revenue by the liquor traffic. Any Government that thought it had an advantage in gotting revenue from drink was making a mista! c. With the individual it was quite a different thing, but it was not to the good of any person to be in the liquor trade. I/t was not, generally speaking, morally wrong for a private person to keep a hotel, but he would advise licensees to change their occupation. ITotelkeoping was an idle kind of life ; there was no refinement in it for a man, none for a wife and family. There were people coming into hotels who injured themselves by drink, and this caused a lot of unfiap-pin-neis and brought no blessing. Summing up his views, Dr. Kelly said that liquor in ltf-elf was not an evil ; even poisons had their uses. Tho evil lay in the abuse, and this must be shown clearly to the yoking men and young women. Intemperance wus a disease, a pathological problem, and the disease lay in the v,ill of people. It was only by strengthening the will that men could be brought to total abstinence. Resttictive legislation was a dangerous weapon, anl there was no knowing where it would stop when it bad en c been applied in a particular direction. There was c a great danger in class legislation. A party of Socialists or a party of landlords or anti-lajidlortis, for instance, might come into power and. adopt measures to suit tihemsielves, to uhe detriment of other members' of the commiunity.