The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-04-11 00:00:00

AN OPINION ON DRUNKENNESS.
• The following is from "social Reform," bx.sir Fdirara
Sullivan

Drinking ought to be made diftictilt, ineferal of
easy ; every legal hindrance should be put in the
way of procuring drink. The "permissive" Misteni
by which I understand the right of the house-
holders in any neighbourhood or-district to regulatn
the number of public-houses, should be tried. Laws
are made, or should be, for the protection of the wocl ;
not for the convenience or encouragement of the
had. Publicans should be closely watched; no
extra facilities given them for recovering debts; setere
punishments and loss of license should be the imme-
diate pensiti. s of keeping houses in any degree riot, us.
The law shoull. be so severe and so prompt that it
would not pay for men of bad character, who Were
not determined to observe the law, to enter the '
publican's business. This would free the country Irons
liost of leeches who suck the life-blood of the nation,
and fatten like dung.tlies on the impurities of the
people; but what would, in my opinion, do more
to reborn the public-houee trade, and to stop drunken-
ness, wool,' be very severe punishments for short
measure, and for any adulteration in drink of any kind.
Not one of the low public.heuses out of fifty, sells Wer
or spirits in the condition, or of the quality, supplied
Iby the brewer or distiller. To grant such men,
license to sell beer and spirits is an absurdity. They sell
neither; they sell poison flavoured with these articles;
but that they ever sell them pure and genuine is on..
true. The maddening effects of the drink that insti-
gates the awful murders that feed our scaffulder our
gaols, our madhouses, our unions, that make the real-
donut of England the residuum of the world, are not
caused by brandy, or gin, or rum, or malt liquors alone,
but Of those stimulants adulterated with materials that
are absolute poison: vitriol, methylated spirits, opium
in various forms, hemp, bang, &a—these are the
poisons that, mixed with the drink of the lower order,
destroy both body and soul :
Instant her circling wand the Goddess waves,
To hogs transforms them and the sty receives.
But not even the potions of Circe herself, venom:nth
and magical as they were, could more surely debase and
degrade her victims than do the poisonous potions of
our publicans. Let careful supervision be maintained
over all publicans and dealers in spirits; and let severe
and rapid punishment attend adulteration, and
, drunkenness will diminish one-half. lithe keepers of
the small beerhouses and Tom-and-Jerry shops were
compelled to sell unadulterated beer and spirits, and'
I give full measure, they would soon find the trade did
not pay; the price must rise and their trade fall off.
High prices and hmited consumption do not suit them ;
they require low prices and unlimited' consumption";
they undersell each other by two simple methods—
adulteration and abort measure; and the extent to .
which they carry this .baneful competition is limited
only by the credulity and long-suffering of their
customers; practically the law leaves them perfectly
uncontrolled. Amongst the lowest claw, price is the.
great temptation ; to the drunkard,, quantity and
frequent indulgence are the chief point. ; though they
know they are dnnking poison, and very often they do '
know it, they cannot resist if they have the mean&