A WELLINGTON DIVINE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3359, 27 October 1911, Page 2

A WELLINGTON DIVINE.

THE REV. GIBSON SMITH ON . ALCOHOL.

PROHIBITIONISTS’ CHEAP SCIENCE.

e —— In an address ca Prohibition at Invercanrill, the- Rev. J. Gibson Smith, nbw of St. Andrew's, Wellington, raid that: “He did not believe alcohol was a poison ; and while there- was much cheap science quoted to that effect, the great mass of experience proved that there wore multitudes who used alcohol in moderation without suffering harmIf Prohihitlunistsi regarded .it as » poison, there, was no sacrifice in abstaining, from it; but they stultified themselves they urged moderate drinkers to give up til© indulgence' for tbg sake cf their weaker brethren, as a matter of sacrifice. From the way some Prohibitionists talked, they seemed to think that if they gained Prohibitum, th;.i millennial wctald dawn, and there would be no more crime or trouble. He- had a different idea; for there wculd still be sin and misery until the human heart was changed. Ho thought there had been an erection of the Temperance movement over Christianity, instead of its being subordinated tin it. Air. Smith advocated the shifting of more of the responsibility on to the shoulders of the drunkard: liimse'f, who deserved it most, the discontinuance of abuse of the mode-rate drinker, and the- securing of his help by moral suasion, on tlhe- ground of the help that would be given to weaker brethren by giving up the liberty to use liquor, and the putting into the hearts of young men the principles that they should conquer the evil passions of their ■.nature, and thus strengthen themselves to resist temptation.” This view is quite in acrerd with that of Archdeacon Harper, of the Anglican Church, who recently delivered a striking sermon on “Christian Liberty,” which was a powerful and effective defence of the right of the individual to use alcoholic beverages temperately —i.e, in moderation. It was likewise a. stroii/,- protest against- compulsory abstinence. When we. find leading clergymen in* the Anglican 1 and Presbyterian Churches in agreement cn these matters it r-urely counts for a return to rationality and liberality in dealing with the liquor question. The Rev. AL Smith deprecates the way in which Prdhobitionists talk about their panacea, socalled, and warns them against regarding alcohol as a poison, or the advent cf Prohibition as that of the millennium; while Archdeacon Harper denounces in no unmeasured tans the idea that Prohibition h.;s. or would have, any regenerative influence upon the < immunity. The trend to-day of tin? enlightened public mind is in the direction of abjuring the Prohibition movement- as having any true men! influence at all ; and the conviction is fast gathering force that the existing, licensing system is preferable to No-License, with ail til-, renromit :nt evils of the rl.v grog-shop which No-Licence cvc-ry-whe e ( :v.;r:s- : ”*