[From Manx Quarterly, #4 1908]

JUBILEE OF MANX SUNDAY CLOSING.

CELEBRATION IN DOUGLAS.

In celebration of the jubilee of the passing of the Manx Sunday Closing Act, a meeting was held in Victoria-st. Wesleyan Sunday-school, under the auspices of the Douglas Wesleyan Methodist Temperance Society, on Monday, 9th Dec. The Mayor of Douglas presided over a moderate audience, and he was supported on the platform by the Rev B. Burrows, the Rev J. W. Hall, Dr Faraker (Peel), and Mr Joseph Qualtrough (Castletown), late member of the House of Keys for Rushen.

After the opening hymn, the Rev B. Burrows offered a brief and appropriate prayer. The order of the programme had to be slightly altered, and Mr Wm. Watterson was next called on for a song, after which the Rev J. W. Hall spoke. Mr Watterson sang " Queen of the earth" in fine style.

The Rev J. W. Hall moved the following resolution:-" In this, the jubilee year of the Manx Sunday Closing Act, and in view of the new licensing measure which the Imperial Government is bringing in next year: This meeting believes the time has come far another forward step to be taken in Manxland by pressing on our representatives in the House of Keys, amongst other restrictions of the liquor traffic, that of Local Option; that is, the giving of power to the people to say whether they shall have public houses planted in their locality or not." — Speaking to this, he said it was very mild. There was only one question in the whole circle of questions with which they had to do that he could not keep sober about, and that was whether we should have strong drink in our midst. He not only desired local option, but the prohibition of intoxicating liquors as sold in these Islands. He wished to hail the day when some man of courage would bring forward a grand permissive bill, and when the people of our Islands would be good enough to banish from their midst, and from the feet of little children, the heinous curse of intemperance (applause). The drink habit was such a blotch on our national life that one was almost prepared to believe that the heart of man was not only deceitful and wicked, but rotten to the core. Strong drink was the main curse of our social distress. The Legislature was responsible for the artificial craving which afflicted multitudes of men; but Mr Burrows, in his prayer, touched the crux of the whole question-the love of gold. Men had exploited the weakness of human nature to build up a monopoly in the drink trade. If people became moderate drinkers, almost instantly the number of licensed premises would have to be reduced by two-thirds. No Government, Liberal or Tory, had a right to existence which did not suppress that which was prejudicial to the welfare of the majority of the people. Drink was the one foe that had hindered social progress. Why did the English Government not only restrict the sale, but stop it? The English Government sympathised with the persecuted in other lands, but that same Government, in the centre of the wickedest and most polluted city of the British Empire, allowed the existence of something more terrible than war, famine, or pestilence, or heathenism, which was slaying not hundreds, but tens of thousands of the precious sons and daughters of the British people. Then licensing laws possessed the maximum of legality with the minimum of sense. They only favoured those in the drink traffic. What was hindering Christianity would hinder Socialism. Every reformer was met by this gigantic evil, and would not prosper until there had arisen such a feeling as would make it impossible for the drink curse to abide (applause).

The Mayor of Douglas said that being a life teetotaller, he thanked the committee for their invitation to preside on this special occasion. It was not an ordinary temperance meeting; but they were met to celebrate the Jubilee of the Manx Sunday Closing Act, and to express their gratitude to the pioneers of temperance who had secured this boon so greatly prized, and which, if he understood the feelings of the people of this Island, they would never relinquish. There were two veterans in Manx temperance reform to speak, and he must leave it to them to arouse the meeting's enthusiasm.

Dr Faraker, addressing the Mayor, said he must say how thankful he was to see him in the chair that night, identifying himself with a movement which at one time was not supposed to be respectable (laughter), and to have the honour of seconding the resolution. In that resolution, which was very simple, it mentioned the fact that they were now in the. Jubilee year of the Sunday Closing movement. When that act was passed in the House of Keys, Colonel Murray got down on his knees and made a prayer.

Could such a thing be done to-day? He was afraid not (hear, hear). Enthusiasm among temperance men was almost a thing of the past. They wanted not only enthusiasm; they must awaken the conscience of the nation. Prohibition they could not have for many years to come, but everything they could do to interfere with this traffic would make for good. Mr Gladstone had well said "Principles sleep, interests never do," and when they, as temperance reformers, slacked their efforts in the temperance movement, they may be perfectly sure the opposite party were getting ahead, and they were losing ground. Local option had been spoken of so long, and it was so fair, that none professing democratic principles could object. Make every voter in the Isle of Man a licensing magistrate. He recollected hearing it said that it was impossible some years ago to get a license in the neighbourhood of Douglas without someone from the Limited Bank interested himself in it. At that time the chairman of the Limited Bank was chairman of the Bench of Magistrates. In the case of the licensing of the Woodbourne Hotel, it was protested against by the majority of the residents in the neighbourhood before it was built, yet because Dumbell's Bank was identified with it, and two of the directors were on the Bench, it got a license. The Rev Mr Rippon was one of those who drew attention to the matter, but, notwithstanding his protest, it was granted. Still the conduct of the magistrates was not sufficiently condemned by the people of the Island. They were apathetic. If there had been a certain amount of odium thrown on the magistrates by public meetings all over the Island, nothing of the kind would have occurred again. They must get at that apathy. He had seen the evils of drink from the beginning to the end, from the cradle to the grave. He had lived for 34 years in the East End of London, and by reason of his experience — for he was not always so — he had become what he was note, an emphatic out and out teetotaller. He was, however, so far democratic and in favour of the principle of the resolution, that he would not allow a teetotaller who had a large landed estate to prohibit on it a public house. He would give that power to the people. He believed the people would find their own redemption sooner than any one individual. They made mistakes, but they did not make mistakes all the time. -The speaker went on to refer to the different motives which were at work-the interest of the publicans and others concerned with public houses was a commercial interest, whereas among temperance reformers it was only a matter of principle. In this connection he recalled an incident in which an intimate friend of his sought-his vote when offering himself as a candidate for the London County Council. Although the candidate was a temperate man, he (Dr Faraker) told him he would vote for his opponent, because the "Licensed Victuallers' Gazette" advocated the former candidate, and they knew their business better than he. At one time he used, for the same reason, to say that he would go to the " Isle of Man Times" to know how to vote. He did not know that he would say so now. He had often heard people remark on the intemperance of speech of temperance men, but he found drink denounced most strongly by others than those specially interested in staying it - in the works of Ruskin, Carlyle, and Morley. "Drink, the only terrible name that England has to fear," were the words of the Duke of Albany. It was left for Lord Randolph Churchill to say that " the drink traffic is damnable." In fact, one couldn't be intemperate in speaking on the subject. As to disinterested management, there was no such thing as disinterested management. If they were guaranteed 4 per cent. or 4½ per cent., there was no disinterestedness in that. There was nothing that would operate better than local option. Everything in the way of curtailing or taxing public houses was a measure of prohibition. He thought that the publican's was not the respectable business it was at one time. He knew something of this, for he had once a house with a license in his name, he having been left executor for the proprietor — he was left a legacy, too — and in that way the house was for a time in his name, until sold. On Monday mornings he would go and take the receipts of the week, and after paying expenses he would have about £124 to take away. He used to look at that money, and ask what it meant. Comfort for hundreds of homes -flannel petticoats, flat irons, children's shoes, and everything of that kind. He was left guardian of the publican's son, and the last words of the man to him were "See my son does not drink." Politically the drink fight was a great one, but the moral fight was higher. What they must fight for was to awaken the conscience of the people. What they wanted was to give them who had not their freedom, freedom. He would conclude with the words of an eminent American poet, James Russell Lowell : -

What is freedom, but to share
Burdens that our brothers bare,
And with heart and hand to be
Eager to set others free ! (Applause.)

After an excellent rendering of " The Promise of Life," by Miss E. Cretney, Mr Joseph Qualtrough said they had seen fifty years' operation of the Sunday Closing Act. There was not one individual in the Island who would dare to undo that act (applause). It was a blessed good thing it was accomplished, because he was rather pessimistic in his ideas, and was afraid it would have been most difficult to get such an act to-day. They had to be thankful for mercies past, of which this was one of the chief. In England and Wales there was a great clamour for Sunday Closing; and Wales was ready for it. Another thing they had to be thankful for was that there was still a temperance organisation in existence. He was, however, afraid he had a bad account to give of the temperance people in this respect. They had not been doing all they should have done, and had left undone things they ought to have done — and there was not the health in public sentiment that should exist. In Castletown their little organisation came to grief, and he had to join the British Women (laughter and applause). He was glad of that temperance organisation. There was a big fight before them. The powers against them would be hard to overthrow. The 1857 Act not only gave Sunday Closing, but consolidated the licensing laws to that date. It was a great reform, especially when they remembered the old days when the beer-shops infested the Island at every corner it was possible to get a license for. There were no less than 12 or 14 between Castletown and Port St. Mary, a distance of 4½ miles. These were abolished, and the more respectable sort of houses of to-day set up. The Act of 1866 declared the requirements of a town and neighbourhood were to be taken into account; and the interpretation of that was left to vicars, justices, and captains of parishes, who were supposed to know everything. But they never held a single inquiry into the requirements of a town or parish; and in some instances the members of the bench did not even live in the locality they were granting licenses for. With local option the people would have the right to say how many licensed places they would have in their midst (applause). In 1875 the Legislature knew the demand for local option, and they thought the best thing would be to patch up an act which would put the day off a little longer. They passed the act which brought in members of the House of Keys for the Licensing Bench, thinking that would keep the mouths of the people shut a little longer, and keep them from saying anything about local option. But temperance people must keep pegging away until they reached their goal.

What was hindering local option? The House of Keys would pass it tomorrow (hear, hear). Yet they were a long way from getting it. The Upper House held the key of the situation, and could not be forced to do anything, even though the people required it. The resolution should be addressed to the Governor and Council. There should be meetings in every church and chapel throughout the Island, and similar resolutions should be passed and sent to the Council. They had been too long silent. From that night they would awake and tell the Council what they were to do to satisfy the Manx people.

The motion was carried unanimously. The Rev B. Burrows, in proposing a vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding, asked how it was Douglas catered for the lowest class of English visitors; and how was it that there were so many boarding houses licensed to sell drink ? The boarding houses in Brighton, Scarborough, and Margate would not get licenses. How was it that they got them in Douglas? (Applause.)

Mr Champion seconded the motion, which was carried.

The Mayor, in responding, said that if on a future occasion he could be of any use, especially in connection with the temperance cause, he would only be too pleased to give them his services again.

Peel Castle in 1850