The Henson Journals

[45]

Tuesday, November 23rd, 1920.

I spent the morning in preparing a sermon. Then I went to Durham, which was swathed in a dense fog, and distributed prizes at the County School for Girls. On my return to Auckland, I had interviews successively with the clerk of the governors of the North Eastern County School, and with the queerest parson, Mr Davison of Binchester. Then I did letters with Maish. After dinner I finished the sermon for tomorrow.

I travelled from Durham to Bishop Auckland with a public house owner, to whom the brewer, Major Vaux, introduced me on the platform at Durham station. He told me that the provision of light beer was having the effect of turning men to the consumption of spirits. It appears to be the practice in some places to "lace" the "Government ale" with whisky. He was very positive that the restriction of drinking was having a disturbing influence on the men, inclining them to lend an ear to "Bolshevism"

The horrible murders of officers in Dublin caused a tumult in the House of Commons last night, where a conservative member assaulted Devlin. I am rather disgusted to see that Simon is not above making party capital out of these horrors. He places on the same level of moral turpitude these abominable assassinations and the occasional reprisals which they provoke. The blindness of political partisanship could hardly be more surprisingly illustrated.

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