I'lEilBEK, 1912. 



History of the Month. 



!v. 



.ii.r 10 be dumped down upon ihem, whether they 

 will it or not. This, of course, has set the whole 

 Temperance Partv aflame, and petitions have poured 

 in against the measure. The curious feature ol the 

 iiole shameless proposal is the cool way in which 

 liijuorites st'ck by it to \-iolate what they are plea.sed 

 to call the truce or loc'al option <-ntered into si.\ 

 years ago. when the last Licensing Act was passed. 

 The Temperance Party made no such compact. 



I hey declared that they would fight to get Local 

 Option as s<»jn as [wssible. The other side has met 

 their everv effort to do so by alleging that it was 

 agreed that the .Act should not be interfered with 

 until 1917, when the term of the Licenses Reduction 

 Hoard terminates. Politicians have taken this view 

 to save themselves from trouble. But now the Min- 

 istry is endorsing the opjwsite ]X)sition purely in 

 the interests of grog. Great is King Grog, who can 

 so change the minds of honourable Ministers about 

 honourable eompai'ts ! When reform is wanted, and 

 men seek 10 reduce the temptations to drinking and 

 'rtdyism, a lion is in the wav in the form of a 

 eompact '' ; but when Grog comes along the lion 

 oLdigingly falls asleep. The Legislative Council, to 

 its credit, \oted against the suspension of Local 

 ' 'jition. and it is to l)e hopeil that any further efforts 



.. inilHfi it ,\ill meet with a similar late. 



The pro[X)sal to reduce the majoritv 

 New Zetland re.unred tor the alwlition of the 



and the I'm- ,. ' „. i , • . 



hibiliiin Vole. I'luor traflic was nUroduei-d nito 



I'.irliament by Mr. Maliolm. the 



Govemiiiiiii having declined to take up the measure. 



i'he Priilie Minister, h^AV•ever, voted, or rather 

 paired, in t.ivour of it; but it was lost by 42 votes 

 to 32. Kvidently hon. members do iK)t think it 

 enough that 55 i)er cent., as asked for by the pro- 

 posal, was sutlicient to coiidemn a bidv-wnnrking and 

 soul -destroying trallic. On a new (juestion of expedi. 

 €ncy — a mattttr <jf taxation — a majority may rule ; 

 but where vested interests are concerned in a hidt'ous 

 .social scoarge a majority counts for less tli.ni nothing. 

 The inirjuiiy of this is apparent. The madness of it 

 is equally so. .\u agi- will come when the desjxTate 

 shifts of men in Ihiir efforts to block the advance ol 

 A nation 10 sobriety and virtue will be viewed with 

 astonishnii'ni and pity. .And so will !«• regarded the 

 fearfid itlituiles ol manv good iK-opie who :ire 

 affrighted l.y the nightmare ol the foul traffic, and 

 heni-e .idopt the policy of King .still and df>ing 

 nothing. Very different is the sjtirit of a man like 

 Mr. Crt-offrey S\nie, of the " Age." who, when at- 

 tacki'd in U-(l by a |K>werfiiI burglar armed with a 

 revolver, spr.ing ii|)fiii him, and, in spit*- of ri'iK'ated 

 shots, overe.ime the villain ami haixled him over to 

 custody. The maids of the house e.iiiie to his help 

 on hearing the alarm. A ilo/en iniciiiities m.iy 

 break int«( the morality, p<Mce and s.ifet\ of sij<ietv, 



and politicians consider that even a majority of the 

 people have 110 right to stop them. The villains are 

 protected bv law against the householders. We are 

 in the position of minority rule. The less rules the 

 greater. The few govern the many. And ttiis is a 

 demcK-racy ! Judges, clergy, statists may all tell the 

 evil the traflic does; but a majority of the nation 

 has no power to stop it. Try again, gallant Tem- 

 perance workers of the Dominion, and success to you. 



A New Zealander. Mr. T. '""i. 



Charitable Macartney, has left property valued 



Bequests. ^,, something over h;ilf a million 



pounds, the whole of which will in 

 time lie de\-oted to the cause of public beneficence. 

 A considerable amount of it will be .so used from 

 the start. The will proxides for annuities to his 

 widow, various relatives, and .servants during their 

 lifetime. .Afterwards the whole estate, which is 

 vested in tlie Governor of the Dominion, the Prime 

 Minister, tiie Mavor of Wellington, and the Roman 

 Catholic Hishop of the diocese as tru.stees. with 

 ab.solute power to allocate the funds as they think 

 best for the public gold. In Victoria a bequest, 

 small as compared with the above, but still one ol 

 great value, has been made to the Young Women's 

 Christian .Assix-iation in M<lhourne. This admirable 

 s(K-ietv has sadly lacki'd suitable premises and plant 

 for carrying on its work amongst the many girls and 

 \oung vvoinen who come to live in a great city. 

 La<-king tlie comforts of home, and lonely for lack 

 of suitable fellowshi]). they often ilrift into indif- 

 terent ways, and nerti a home-like institution where 

 they may find recreation for mind .iiid liodv, together 

 with a Chiisti.ni atmosphere. Tlie campaign for 

 raising funds a little over a month ago raised aboiit 

 _^ir.ooo, and to this is now ailded _£Ji5,ooo from 

 the estate of the late Mr. C Conniliere, of Toorak. 

 This will enable the .Association to go on with its 

 building scheme. One's first reflection upon gifts 

 like the.se is that they constitute a fine example of 

 public spirit. And yet is there not a lietter way ? 

 .^urel.v there is a great joy in disper.sing such sums 

 during a man's own lifetime. We are not suggest- 

 ing that the Iniiefactors just named were not in the 

 habit of cloing so before llieir decease. But take the 

 <'a.se of .1 man with li;ilf a million ol money. It is, 

 ol course, l;ir more than he needs, f.ir more than 

 his family can ne<-d. While the estate remains his 

 own, what is to hinder a l.irge |)ortion of its revenue 

 from being so ;idminislei<d bv liim as lo relieve the 

 pressure upon .so ni.mv religious and philanthropic 

 o(K'rations that are shockingly hampered for lack of 

 funds to do their work efl^vtively ? .A man, doubt- 

 less, h.is satisfaction in leaving a fortune to lie ,so 

 u.sed aftiT his death, but he would gain greatly in 

 Ills own life bv so a"dminisii-ring it during his life- 

 time. Meanwhile sui-li l>ei|ue,sts are worthy of notice 

 ;nid of w.irm coaimenilalion. 



