The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-01-10 00:00:00

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VIE LICENSING QUESTION.

A meeting under Lhe auspices of the United
Kingdom Alliance, was held on Wednesday evening
last, in the Corn Exchange, Stourbridge. The Rev.
C. S. Wordsworth occupied the chair. There were
also present he Revs. J. J. Welch, T. Williams, W.
Manning, Burrows; W. S. Caine, Esq., (of
Liverpool, and liberal candidate for Scarborough),
and W. Bingham Esq., of Birmingham, (district
agent of the United Kingdom Alliance), attended
as a deputation, and addressed the meeting. There
was.a very large attendance.

The Ch'airrna-n said he thought it was his duty to
make some exilanation as to the position he oc-
cupied there that evening. Sometime ago he was
invited to take the chair in connection with the
Good Templars Sociely, which he gladly accepted.
At that meeting Mr. Bingham spoke on t ie re-
markable subject of temperance, in which he spoke
not a bit of ill against the licensed victualler. He
thought his presence at that meeting was a sign of
the breaking down of a great barrier, which had for
a long time existed between the non-abstaining and
the abstaining branches of the temperance society.
They should look at the question as it was placed
to them by the United Kingdom Alliance. Tnere
were two portions in that programme, one was for
the total legislltive suppression of the liquor traffic.
He should not agree entirely with that. He was
glad to find now that there were resolutions
perhaps with which he entirel, agreed, an' which
kit4.m illj the nuniner
of public-houses in the country. There were so
many public-houses now thaz the people who kept
them could not possibly get on unless people took
more drink than was good for them. The
drink trale was like any other trade, it was to
supply the wants of the people, not to put so ?mirth
money in certain peoples pockets. It was said that
if they decreased the number of public-houses, it
wou'd diminish the revenue of the country, becans 3
a great part of the revenue comes from the drink
trade. It would be found in the reduction of the
costs of asylums, gaols, and workhouses, they
should very soon find out it would make a consider-
able difference. There was another thing, they had
lately been passing through a time of great depres-
sion of trade. If they looked at the drink trade
they found that during the last five years there has
something like 700,000,000 of ponds been spent
in that way, which would have paid off the nationa
debt. If that money had been spent in a better
way they should have had a better time than th-y
had of late.

The Rev. T. Williams slid that it was not a party
question.. They found men of all kinds combined
together in support of this movement-, those who
desire the welfare of their con, try. Li,;erals and
Conservatives combined tog-ther in support of his
measure, and those who were studying the habits and
' wants of this great nation say th,t the habits of
drink is the greatest pos-ible bane of this country
A short time ago a meeting was lild on the Sunday
' closing movement, which the men of this town
were in favour of. They were thankful to accept
one day out of seven, but would be more glad to
have seven days out of s-3ven. He wished that
those who were in the liquor trade were in a better
trade. It was a very dangerous trade, for which
the law requir, a a sp_cial lice:ise. They could see
many other good trades that did not rrquirc a
, special license. A resp ctible working man living
next door to a public-house was greatly annoyed by
the noise and langulge which proceed, d out of it.
He had been an advocate for temperance in this
town for about 20 years. Mr. Williams then
moved 'That io tbe view of tie coining general
election and with the deep sense of importance of
the present crisis, this meeting calls upon the
electors of each constituency to organise by can-
vas•in,7, and in other suitable ways, so as by their
social electoral influence to secure the sel€ctiou and
return of such cindidatPs as are prepared tfi place
the interests of the nation above that of the de-
mcralizing traffic, and who to the end would
support measures in parliament which has provided
the people with an effective veto on the wile of
intoxicating liquors in re-peet the embodied
kcal option resolution of Sir Wilfred Lawson.

Mr. baine seconJed the resolution, and spoke at
some considerable length of tl!e necessity of doing
away with public-houses altogether.
The Rev. H. Sherrard then moved "That the
most grateful thanks of this meeting be presented
t, Sir Wilfred Lawson, the mover, Hugh Birley
Esq , the seconder, and the whole of the 185 hon.
members, who, on th 11th March last, voted or
paire 1 in support of the Local Option Resolution
which will in th) opinion of this meeting wile,'
adopted, supply a basis, otherwise effective legisla-
tion calculated to afford just and necessary protec-
tion of the coil.munity from ruinous drink and
intoxicating liquors. This re-tolution was &•conded
by the Rv. W. Manning, and supported by W.
Bing,ham. Esq.
A vota of thanks to the chairman closed the
meeting.