The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-22 00:00:00

The Hon. Neil Dow on the Maine Law.

On Monday evening a crowded meeting was held
at Manchester, to welcome the Hon. Neal IDow on
his second visit to this country. The chair was
taken by Mr. Alderman Barlow, of Bolton.
Mr. RAPER said as many temperance societies
desired to present addresses to Mr. Dow, between
fifty and sixty such addresses had been prepared,
and were on the platform. But as it was impos-
sible to read so many, it was intended to read seven
or eight, and take the remainder as read. The ad-
dresses were accordingly presented.
In acknowledging them Mr. Dow said he was

highly flattered by the reception given to him, and
he sincerely thanked the donors of the addresses.
When he was last in that room nine years ago, and
was speaking of the slavery of intemperance, some
one cried, " What about the slavery in America ? "
He replied that he was then returning home, and
would not rest until the blot was removed. It had
been removed. (Hear, hear.) . He now came back
to England, and saw indications of a slavery as de-
' grading as that which caused so many of his coun-
trymen to blush. Ministers and members of
churches south of the Potomac used to contend that
slavery was a blessing to the people. In England
he supposed everybody would admit that slavery to
the dramshop was an unmitigated curse. The gen-
tlemen around him on the platform did not ask pity
for the drunkard; but they asked the people to de-
mand from Parliament emancipation from the tre-
mendous curse of the traffic in intoxicating drinks.
The question was now agitating all classes. It had
entered even the palace on the banks of the Thames
—(hear, hear)—and men were beginning to see that
they had a personal interest in the question, and to
ask what was that interest. When the people saw
that prohibition was their interest, they would make
a demand which Parliament could not resist. (Ap-
plause.) In the speech of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer on the Budget he stated that the revenue
derived from the duties on malt, spirits, and foreign
spirits amounted last year to £20,365,000. Very
significantly Mr. Gladstone added that that was an
increase on the previous year's receipts, and if they
were to regard an increase as satisfactory, then it
was satisfactory. (" Hear, hear," and laughter.)
It would seem that since he flooded the country with
light wines, Mr. Gladstone had begun to doubt
whether an increase of the drinking habits of the
people was a benefit to them. (Hear, hear.) A
prominent member of Parliament not long since
stated, in a speech in favour of repealing the malt
duty, that £75,000,000 a year was the cost to the
people of the beer they consumed. It was estimated
by temperance men that for every shilling spent in
strong drink, at least another shilling was wasted in
misspent time and in other ways. If that was true,
there was an outlay of £150,000,000 a year. in ex-
penditure and waste ! (Hear, hear.) Temperance
men had the right to demand from the Legislature
protection for themselves, their children, and their
country from the tremendous results of the liquor
traffic. Such men were bound to make out a good
case against the grog-shop system, that it produced
much more evil than good. Was, then, the waste
of £150,000,000 the only evil ? No Pauperism
was a more enormous evil in England than in any
other country in the world, and nine-tenths of it
sprang from the grog-shop. Three-fourths of the
crime that filled the gaols had the same source, be-
sides most of the misery that was found in the slums
of the great cities. Put together the cost of all that,
and then ask the Legislature what profit from the
grog-shop system could be set down on the other
side? (Hear, hear.) Recently there was a debate
in Parliament upon the law of primogeniture, and
the Attorney-General insisted that public policy
required that the real estate of a man who died
without a will should go to his eldest son. He (Mr.
Dow) did not agree with him ; but if public policy
did require it, he (Mr. Dow) should go with him.
Therefore he hoped that when temperance men went
to Parliament and asked for prohibition on the
ground of public policy the Attorney-General would
be with them. (Hear, hear.) Another gentleman
argued in Parliament against the alteration of the
present law which forbade a man to marry his de-
ceased wife's sister, on the ground that public opi-
nion did not want an alteration. There was no
government in the world so sensitive to public opinion
as the British ; so when a majority of the people
asked Parliament to prohibit the liquor traffic, they
would get it. Another debate which was going on
just now was on the extension of the franchise. If
working men would let drink alone they would soon
get the franchise. (Applause.) Mr. Dow con-
cluded by repeating his statements in a recent speech
in reply to the charge that the Maine law is a
failure.

Mr. C. THOMPSON moved a resolution of welcome
to Mr. Dow, which was seconded by the Rev. J.
EARNSHAW, and passed with acclamation.
The meeting shortly afterwards concluded.