The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1911-06-08
1tGI{1Al tE|!ggLjSg1
$50 2k5zasz24IzRE2jD11IES
zIEAA 49,
DRINK QUESTION IN ENGLAND
President of Board of Education Tells
of Good Work Done by Tenn
peranoe Syllabus.

The president Of the board of educa.
lion England, Mr.. Runciman, speak.
Ing recently on the temperance sylls
bus issued by the board, said:
Already nearly $50 local authori
ties out of $50 had adopted the sylla-
bus. There ought to be no part of
the country where the work based on
that syllabus was not being conduct
ed, either voluntarily or by the teach
erS.
No class of the community in the
United Kingdom were more alive to
the evils of insobriety than the teach
ers in the schools. They saw it face
to face every day, and they had the
worst possible examples of the harm
done by insobriety brought into the
schools. They knew perfectly we'll
nothing was to be made of the COM
ing generations unless they were
brought up to hate all forms of strong
drink He was of opinion that no
teaching in their elementary schools
could be done by outsiders as well as
by the teachers themselves. But they
had to fill up the gaps and provide
the driving power, and that was where
the BanI of Hope Union came in as
regarded the elementary schools.
Dealing with the progress which
temperance had made during the last
20 years. Mr. Runciman pointed out
that public houses had very largely
ceased to be the meeting places of
people who hired employees. Friendly
societies and trade unions were also,
to large extent, forsaking the pub
lie house for meeting purposes.
AS to the decline per head in the
consumption Of alcoholic liquors, the
figures published year by year showed
that it was not an accidental decline,
bul the tendency downward was to
some extent the result of the work
that had been done amongst the
young 80 or 40 years ago.
Touching upon the old controversy
that men could not be made sober by
act Of parliament, Mr.. Runciman said
everybody knew that if the govern.
ment legislated too far ahead of pub
lie opinion they ran two great risks,
first of evasion, and secondly of re
bound. He quite agreed that they
could not make people sober by act
CT parliament, but they could help
them to be sober That was one Of
the things the government had been
trying to do in recent years.
The fall in the consumption of in.
toXicating liquors had also been con,
tributed to during the last twelve
months by the heavy taxation on
Risky He did not regret that He
quite agreed somebody must have sut-
fered. but he did not think it had
been the nation as a whole. They
could not have taxation without
throwing burdens on someone, and he
knew no trade which could better
lear the burden of taxation than that
which made profits out of strong
| drink.
in conclusion, Mr.. Runciman said
that they might well ask the reason
why in a great country like ours,
which processes to be really demo,
cratic, things which were good for the
nation should be impeded by the enor.
nous influence Of the public house.
Parliaments assembled and did what
they could in the way Of social re-
form, but if at the back Of it all cleo
lions might be turned and public
opinion distorted by public house in
fuences. it was impossible for the
democracy TO reach either its highest
| efficiency or it's best ideals.