PROHIBITION AND POLITICS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1611, 25 November 1905, Page 2

PROHIBITION AND POLITICS.

(To the Editor Gisborne Times. >' Sir, Tlie . reply given to my former letter in your columns by the. Rev. F. W. Chatterton does not in any sense or in any degree confute, or even modify, the statements ma e by me upon the authority of the Bible. I take the rev. gentleman’s replv as a summary of all that can be said by Christian prohibitionists upon the subject. Not only does Mr Chatterton fail to answer the arguments put forward in my letter, but he proceeds by illogical reasoning to defend his own position. I do not deny his or any Other person’s right to an opinion upon this question, nor do I wish to prevent the/ free expression of that opinion, f however, strongly dispute the right of Mr Chatterton or any one else to compel me to adopt and conform to his opinions by force of law. If any man ' or body of men choose to abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors, believing that they are doing right, I, admire their conduct,, hut that is an i entirely different thing from forcing their opinions upon other men. The one is the exercise of liberty; the other is a tyranny against which those who love freedom will always protest. The argument which Mr Chatterton uses is directed against'the issuing of licenses. This “No-licensing cry” is entirely disingenuous. What the party means is prohibition, and nothing less ; that is compulsory abstinence under threat of punishment. Mr Chatterton points out that ini'

Biblical times there, was no such thiDg as a licensing system, but he doe's not state the fact that in those days any person couldjmanufacture. andany person could sell- intoxicating liquors. The production, the sale, and. the purchase of wine end strong drink is expressly authorised in the Scriptures. In the 14th chapter' of Deuteronomy, at one of the feasts the congregation of the Lord are commanded to eat and drink the tithe of their corn, their . wine, and their oil in certain places. “ That thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to. set his name there, when the Lord thy God shall bless thee, then shaltjthou turn it into money and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt bestow the money for whatsoever thy soul desireth, fer oxen, or for sheep,jor for wine, Or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy Baftl asketh of thee, and thou shalt' Ctit there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thy household.” In every age since the flood, and among every race,|with two exceptions, intoxicating liquors have been sold and bought and used, down to the present day- The two excep« tions are comprised in the disciples o! Mahomet, and the descendants -ol Jonadab, the son of Bechab. - - The position of the Mahommedans in the civilised world I propose to touch upon later on. The descendants of Jonadab still exist in large numbers, and are among the fiercest and most cruel and treacherous of (the Arabian tribes but they have kept to this day th« command laid upon them three thousand years since by Jonadab, thei] father. Dr Wolff, the great traveller spoke to one of them at Jalooka ii Mesopotamia, and having asked, birr from whom he was descended receive for answer that he was a son ( Rechab, that he and his people residec, in the deserts around Samar, Meccs and Sanna, and that they drank n< wine, planted no vineyard, and sowed no seed, and lived in tents as Jonadab their father had commanded them Among this people no stranger’s lift is safe. Three thousand years oi pro hibition beholds', them thieves, liars and murderers, without a semblanci of civilisation, or law, or order. In al ages there have been inns or lodging' houses for travellers in which wine and strong drink was sold. It was at the inn, where Joseph’s brethren stopped and found their money, as they opened their sacks to give their asses pro vender; It was to an inn. the good Samaritan took the robbed and wounded ,wayfarer after he had poured oil upon his wounds and given hin wine,to drink, when the priest and Levito passed by on the other leaving him to die, possibly with the excuse that “ he was drunk.’ 1 It was' to the inn - keeper thai the good (Samaritan confided the wounded' man, knowing well that he would supply him with wine or strong drink should he require it, and it wae to those who opposed him that the Saviour, after uttering his : beautiful parable, said, “Go thou and do likewise.”-. ''■ : ■' • . .

Do tlie prohibitionists mean that if licenses are done away with, that all people are to be at liberty to manufacture and sell intoxicating drinks ? Licenses are not granted as favors to individuals, but that there may always be a legal supervision over dealings ia intoxicating liquors in the interests of the public health and safety. It is complained that the sale of liquor has become a monopoly. To some extent this is true, but the prohibitionists would do well to remember that they . have done more than any other class to bring about this result. It is contended by Mr Chatterton that many things are prohibited in the Bible. That as a matter of course is obvious to all, but it only makes the case againt prohibition in this direction stronger. If other things be prohibited as they are, why is not the use of wine and strong drink prohibited ? Do these gentlemen pretend to be wiser than their Maker, and to be able to make better laws than the great Law-giver ? Because the use of alcoholic liquor is sometimes turned into excess and abuse, are the people generally to be denied that refreshment and stimulant which they desire ? This is indeed tyranny, and

such a law will never be regarded as morally binding, because it is a flagrant outrage upon commonsense and the liberty of the individual. For thirty years I have been of opinion that there should be no private sale of liquor for personal gain, but that houses of accommodation and the sale of intoxicants should bo under Government or municipal control; but I am also strongly of opinion that where a man’s license is taken- away, except for wrong-doing, that ho should receive compensation. [ The Waiapu Temperance Reform League in Gisborne, of which the Rev. Herbert Williams, Mr Wallis, Mr W. D. Lysnar, and myself amongst others, were members,, attempted reform in this direction and sent petitions to Parliament but unfortunately they were unsuccess-

ful. If the ministers of the churches and the no-license advocates in Gisborne really desired reform, why did they not join this league and work to gether with it for a common purpose a Instead of so doing they used terms o* abuse and vilifi' ation towards us ridiculed our efforts, and many went so far as to say that wa were the advocates of intemperance What is tho result upon the character of men and women who identify themselves elosejy with this movement ? Let us take Gisborne, the place in which we live, and the people of which wo know, as an instance. In the case of, ministers

the Gospel has ifc not raised friction and ill-feeling among the members and communicants of every church ? Has it not laid an interdict upon all spiritual advancement ? Has it not seriously impaired that charity without which no church can flourish and no individual be useful ? It has riven members of families apart, and it has done more harm to tho moral well-be-ing of l the people here than all the evils of the liquor traffic. From the ministry go to the laity. . Has the effect of this rabid teaching been to widen the sympathies or increase the usefulness of any man or woman in Gisborne ? Only last Wednesday night at the meeting held by Air W. D. Lysnar the spirit which animates oven the most intelligent of tho no*licenßQ party was manifestly a spirit of intolerance, fanatioism, and vilification. —I am, etc., W. L. Rms.