The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-06-08 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL LICENSED VICTUALLERS

Yesterday afternoon the usual monthly meeting of
the Licensed Victuallers' Association was held, at the
Institution, Mr. Warrener presiding. The other gen-
tlemen present were Messrs. LUMb, Coward, Jones,
Goulter„ Curwen, Sarbuck, Hornby, Calderbani, Crane,
and Allinson.
After some minor business had been transacted,
The SECRETARY said that he had received a.letter
from. Mr. Atkinson (the deputation appointed to oppose
the Wine Bill), stating that he had been obliged to proceed
to London, without givii a reason ; and another letter
which was as follows :—" Having had the honour, in
conjunction with Mr. Danson and Mr. H. Lumb, of
'being elelected (by year) one of the deputation to
represent your association at the General Conference of
,the Trade, held in London, on the introduction by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Wine Licenses
Bill, I beg respectfully to report that, having been
further elected one of the six deputies to represent
the country trade on the Parliamentary Committee,
;appointed in conjunction with three members of
the London trade, to oppose that bill, that I have
attended the various meetings of the committee, and
that we have endeavoured as far as possible to carry out
the instructions given us to oppose and modify, by every
means in our power, the bill introduced by the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer. In conjunction with my col-
leagues, we have had interviews with nearly seventy
members of Parliament at their private residences, ex-
clusive of consultations with numbers of others in the
lobby of the House; we induced a spirit of opposition
to the bill at every stage ; and, so far as the trade
is concerned, its provisions have been so modified
as to render it nearly harmless. The first clause,
which enabled any person keeping a shop for the sale of
of any commodity to retail wine in any quantity to be
consumed on the premises has been restricted to the sale
of wine in bottles only; the number of grounds on
which an objection can be taken to the granting of a
license has been considerably enlarged, and instead of
the indiscriminate sale of wines originally contemplated
by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, licenses can only
be granted to houses which held refreshment licenses,
and where eating is the principal business carried on.
Very stringent and additional police and excise restrictions
and penalties are imposed, and they are further subject
to all the special regulations governing public-houses.
The Parliamentary Committee further endeavoured to
carry out the instructions of the 'trade,' to endeavour to
secure the granting of the licenses by the magistrates in
the same way that wine and spirit licenses are now
granted
.by them ; this amendment, proposed by Mr.
E. James was, on a division, defeated by a majority of
37 ; but an analysis of the division list shows that the
minority represents a considerable number of the
electors, population, and wealth of the United King-
dom. The committee were further instrumental in
getting up and presenting a vast number of petitions
against the measure; Ithe number of petitions up to
May 14th, being 2,201, with 242,729. signatures, whilst
the petitions in favour of the measpre, chiefly from
beerhouse keepers, did not number more than 8,000 sig-
natures. I may further observe that the hostile spirit
induced by the varied documentary evidence published
by the Parliamentary Committee, against the pass-
ing of this bill has had the effect of bringing
the whole of the licensing system under review ;
and the feeling evoked, not only in the House of
Commons, but in the country generally, is, that
instead of extending and increasing facilities for obtain-
ing licenses, they ought to be still further restricted and
controlled. The parliamentary committee with whom

I have had the honour to act, have not felt it expedient
to offer opposition to the measure in the House of Lords,
but have requested the committee of the London Pro-
tection Society to watch the measure on its introduction,
and to summon the committee, in case of emergency
only. Enclosing statistical information above alluded
to.—l am," &c.
The statistics alluded to were as follow :--

Noes
Ayes

Electors. Ann, Val. Pop'lation. Votes.
_485,888 52,897,653 13,651,307 119
_426,125 £41,253,660 12,271,640 156

Majority for Noes ... 59,763 11,643,935 1,379,767
Ayes : 35 county members, 11 Irish ; 119 borough members,
LO Irish.

Noes: 46 county members, 6 Irish; 62 borough members,
9 Irish.

Members representing less than 1,000 electors: Ayes, 56;
Noes, 32.

The SECRETARY also announced that he had received
a copy of the Wine fill, as it had passed through the
House. of Lords the second time, and said that great
modifications and alterations had been made in it. He
read various clauses, illustrating his statement, among
them one which required a notice be placed on the door
of the premises for which a license was applied, and also
on the church door. - '

• The CHAIRMAN stated that the bill, as it had been
amended, was completely a new bill. -
A general conversation ensued as to the new clauses,
and their effect. A letter was read from the London
Association, returning thanks for the assistance which
had been rendered by Mr. Atkinson ; and after some
unimportant business, had been transacted, the public
meeting terminated.

FDARFUL ENCOUNTER IN CARDIGAN GAOL.---The
other =ruing, Jacob, the turnkey at, Cardigan Gaol
was opening the cells of two desperate burglars, named
John Stuart and Henry Williams, when they both
sprang upon him, and,. seizing him by,the neckerchief,
twisted it so tightly as almost to throttle him. His
cries brought down Mr. Evans (the governor) and his
wife, the former armed with his sword, and Mrs. Evans
with a loaded revolver. On seeing these unexpected
weapons, one of them immediately let go his hold of
Jacob, and ran to his cell. Williams, however, retained
his grasp, and it was not until Mrs. Evans presented her
revolver at his head through the iron gate, threatening
to blow out his brains,- that he was induced to let go.
Jacob then, with difficulty, opened the kates, and Mr.
Evans entered, when Williams sprang at him.in a most
determined manner. Mr. Evans, hewever, kept him
off with' his sword, the point of which he made him
feel, and he then ran trembling into his cell. They
were both shortly afterwards put in irons. As a proof
of their determined character, it may be mentioned that
Mr. Evans found that they had displaced a brick from
the fireplace,, and had put the same in the foot of a
stocking as a weapon of defence. When -Mr. Evans
visited Williams on the following evening he found that
he had made an attempt to commit suicide by bleeding.
He had opened a vein in his left arm with a piece of
glass, and had lost nearly a quart of blood. It appears
that Williams, under the name of Jack Grant, fought
Tom Sayers, who, in the 64th round, vanquished