Nuhou, Volume II, Number 8, 8 August 1873 — Our Consistency. [ARTICLE]

Our Consistency.

; -j— ; _ |Vc nro a tcrj moral commuwtj, oii L;,s. shown by n good Joal :of sumptuarj th«t it has becn our puipoee to promotc vanuc 1 % \k:cus >v, tolnicco at oue pmc t aud madc louil aV BtiiioiKV from the weeji, a ccndltiou of uieittborship , Imi \vc iuwe uudcrgoLv >oxne cf \ Icny lii regarJ io tlib iuatkr, and v\ ottcr a preiuimi\ of one thous;\ud dcllar§ le one who will enaMe us to rcuder smokealv; ,;r.. marketablc tlic leaf, TTc luwe h&eom® liberali«cd iu resj\vt lo the usc of eilu; o?pedallj otium. Thi< famcus liās|not tl\e Un\t it lias lu CLlua» \tl;crc 4ciiiomliics ci\ueed a di^taeeiul i" . - " i !

and laid.the'foundation of HoDg Kong ; bufcsfcilL it do<?s prettj well i.n these poor isles eonsidering its opporturiity. It ean only etupefj and ruin its hundreds here, ih plaee of the millions in Ohlna; but ife is in a good way to develop a niee little harvest of viee and crime, and is ahout one of the worst evils that 6ur p.eopie..and plantations have to contend with ; still, all this is hardly deserving of consideration, when we refleet that our ? All Saints Government derive a revenue of $28,000 per annum from this source; and altiiough it may damage us hundreds bf thousands in the future, besides destroying the people, still the $28,000 is casli in haiid, and that is not to be sneezed at by an eeonomie gbvernment that knowe how to save at the spigot, and let out at the bung. But our publie vittue and reformatory strength Imve been reserved fbr rnm, in prohibiting its manufaeture. We buy it from abroad,-—some-times perhaps a drugged artiele that is vitalized by prussic acid and gasoline, whieh we use in quantities in proportion to its unfitness for use in Qur tropical climate. We do all this we impōrt, and drink, and give and £ell to all the peopie, all we ean, whieh we musfc db in order to eollect a eonsiderable amounfc of revenue; but we will nofc permifc the manufaeture of one fid of good, pure, unadulterated liqūor; because we have taken tht> h igh moral ground } that we will avoid the sin of making the pernicious fluid.,. and will only" buy and drink, what the heathen of other lands have made. Our morality has been renmrkably stanch bh this pomt, We encourage Vtobfecd % premiums, we lieenee opium and awa, and undertake a sort of governmental supervision of prostitution ; but to permit the planter to utilizes his mdlasses and skimmings, and increase "his rcvēnues and promote fche lndustriai interests of the country, say 30 or 50 per eent., by the manufactiu 3 e; of a good', ' marketable spirituous liūuor, we will not elo, because we mūst take a ;stand somewherē 5 and nbt give ūp all oūr old fashioned blue law taboos, even although we may be convinced that we have taken a stand oii the wrong article. ; We are no doubt obstiuate and sti3necked jusfc at the wrong poinfc. We waste perhaps onehundred thousand dbllars direetly on opium; and iiow mueh we waste indirectly, in wear and tear of bodies and souls,; only knows ; and tlie indu«fcrial interests of the country are nofc «)eneiitted one cenfc by the iinportatiou of the drūg. And these aame industrial interests are a!so not benefitted by the imporfcation of rum, whereas" tp manuāieture it, would be as goqd as a reciproeifcy treaty such yianufaēiure. But it is said that oūr natlve people may hurt themselves more by tlie uianulaeture tlmn by the importatiou—stūff,—iioiisense, They get all they want as it ! is ; and nēed not get a drop more ;if we manufacture under eareful restrietions, several millious of gallom; than when we now import several thousandsr Bēside&, if t!iey did get a little more, it would b<ya good substitute fbr poiatoe heer, melon vinegar 5 ki root eider, priekly pear pop, and e Lct us awake ;■ —we mutt exereise our eommou <euse,—banish perniēious importations 3 utilize to the best advaotage all our produets ; and make «nreasoning, prohitntory, fanatieīsm take a baci scāt, and keep out of the way of īhe progress of this Arehipclago Wi a kw permitting vli«tlllatioiī» but whieh imposee too many restrietions. " 1 :