The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-10-31 00:00:00

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL at PRESTON.

On Monday evening the annual dinner of the Preston
licensed victuallers was held at the 'Castle Inn," under the
presidency of the Solicitor-General. Amongst those present
were Mr. I:. Hermon, AL P , Mr. T. 11. Clifton, M.P., Mr. Le
Gendre Starkie, M.P., Mr. Smethurst, High Sheriff of
Lancashire, An
The Solicitor-General, in proposing the toast of the
evening, "Prosperity to the Preston Licensed Vic-
tuallers' Association, referred to the importance of
the trade, and said it had a capital of 117 millions—a
greater capital than almost any other trade in the
world, and that it employed about nine hundred
thousand persons, and on this account he felt signally
honoured in being asked to preside over that meeting.
Respecting the Permissive Bill, he linked upon it as
allied with fanaticism and enthusiasm. The people
could not be made sober by Act of Parliament.
Sir Wilfrid Lawson and his followers appeared,
however, before them as outspoken and fair gladiators,
but they had other enemies besides them who
attacked the trade indirectly. He referred to
those who were in favour of that kind of legislation
which aimed by gradual restrictions and encroach-
ments at making them exterminate themselves. A
great deal of unjust and unfair comment had been
made upon the Home Secretary who had charge of
the Licensing Bill, but they did not know the diffi-
culty of his position, and the varied interests and
parties he was called upon to take into account, for if
they did they could hardly blame him. The Solicitor-
General then proceeded to defend certain parts of the
new Licensing Act, and pointed to them as improve.
(vents upon the old one—the power of obtaining and
transferring licenses and securing provisional licences,
a diminution of police surveillance, the adoption of a
more general plan as to adulteration, better facilities
for landlords entertaining their private friends
after closing hours, the compelling of grocers to
close at-the same tune as licensed victuallers, exc. As
to closing time in towns (excluding the metropolis) and
country, he must say, not as one speaking from the
Treasury Bench but as a private member, that he
thought there ought to be no invidious distinction, and
if the law were that all public-houses should be closed
at eleven o'clock, with a proviso that those who wished
to close earlier could do so, it would be more satis-
factory to all. As to "populous places," he thought
the definition given in the Licensing Act was as good
as could be given. No doubt it was a necessary evil,
but there was a great many evils of that kind in the
world. Respecting the 'lona fide" traveller, he
looked upon Inui as almost a necessary xatieance.
He was on the same footing as the "Wander-
ing Jew." Both were anomalies—uncomfortable
characters working great evil with everybody
they came in contact with. No doubt a great
deal of evil sprang from intemperance, but his
belief was that intemperance was not to be checked by
the force of any Act of Parliament. The way tomake
a man sober was to train both his body and his mind.
They should give him healthful recreation, bowling
greens, cricket clubs, and places where good healthy,
manly games could be played. These were the things
to improve him, for if he got these amusements his
body would be stimulated and his mind would be occu
pied, and he would then be kept from wandering
away into fields of artificial and injurious excite-
ment. lie did oh. know whether come of them
might disapprove of the idea, but he should say,
in addition to what he had named, that the theatre
was also a great advantag.e. He should likewise
add the billiard-room and working men's clubs.
Furthermore, if they could teach the people to read
and write with facility, they would have done a great
deal towards diminishing if not stopping, the vice of
intemperance. A man took drink because he had
nothing to do. He wanted some excitement. Per-
haps his home was not comfortable, and he went to the
public-house, but if they gave him something better,
and provided for him better education and more varied
pleasures of an innocent and healthy kind, he might
become a practical and sober man. (Applause.)

The Times has the following leader on the speeches
of the Archbishop of York at Sheffield, and the
Solicitor-General at Preston :--
Two distinguished Members of the Legislature have just
given the world their opinions on the important subject of
drink. The Archbishop of York has spoken to a meeting at
Sheffield, called for the purpose of forming a branch of the
Church of England Temperance Society. The Solicitor-
General has presided at the annual dinner of the Preston
Licensed Victuallers' Association. It is interesting and some.
what amusing to notice the diverse lights in which the most
difficult question of the day appears to the ecclesiastic and to
the political lawyer. Something may be duel I I. rase of
each to the occasion and the audience, but the- eare them-
selves incidents of the position of either speaker for we can
not imagine the Archbishop taking the chair at'a festival of
publicans, and Sir John liolker would show himself a much
less prudent gentleman than we take him to be It he made
himself conspicuous at a Temperance Society. The speeches
are worth attention less from any originality or any fruit-
fulness of suggestion they contain than as showing the con-
trast between the serious or philanthropic and the practical,
political, and —we do not mean it offensively—electioneering
treatment of the great publichouse question.

The Archbishop of York Is one of the greatest personages
in the Kingdom, lie has a right, it is becoming in him, it is
his duty in the eyes of the world, to take the very highest
view of things, to reprove erring humanity, and to take
up his parable against all the weaknesses and vices of the
age. As Primate of England, commissioned by the State, if
by no higher Power, to preach and censure, he is protected
against the coarse, personal replies of vulgar controversy. Ile
In independent of the publican, if any man is. These advan-
tages give a remarkable freedom to his Grace's recom-
mendations. There Is nothieg to restrain him, except a
sense of that moderation which distingi ashes the Church of
England, and produces 'sobriety" of thought even among
its remperance advocates, compared with the orators of
other platforms. The Archbishop givesethe working man that
good advice about drinking less and saving his money which
we are willing to believe is having its effect, reiterated as it
is day by day, in speech andin print, all over the land. ile
dwelt upon the enormous sums spent in drink as almost
passing the bounds of credibility, and as casting deep dis-
honour on the nation. In 1865 the nation spent It 2
millions in drink, and since that period the sum had
beed considerably increased, especially on the increase of
wages. There was annually spent in drink more than twice
the amount of the revenue of the country. Why should the
working man think so much about the putting on or taking
off of wane inconsiderable tax when he could relieve himself
from all immense taxation simply by abstaining from beer?
From these general arguments the Archbishop proceeded
to specific recommendations. Sheffield is a place where
work is carried on in hot places: the men are accustomed
to drink beer at their work and consume very large quanti-
ties. Therefore. Sheffield is pre eminently a place where
the grand experiment of superseding the publiehouse
ought to be tried. The men who work at furnaces suffer
terribly from thirst, and are tempted to drink The Arch-
bishop "did not deny that temptation, (rem the nature of
their emplojment, but he did deny that it was a temptation
which ought not to be withstood." The men should drink
water instead of beer, for it took a great deal of liquid to
quench their thirst, and if this liquid were beer the conse-
quences to the health of the drinker were very serious. But
the individual most be supported in his efforts to resist temp-
tation. Ile must not be left to struggle by himself, exposed to
the taunts of his companions and the influence of their bad
example. There must be some centre from which sympathy
and interest might emanate and reach him—some society
whose members would support him in the face of opposi-
tion and say, "Come to us." Ills Grace would also urge the
establishment of "British Workmen publichouses," in
which a man could obtain refreshment without imbibing
strong drink—places where they could not get intoxicating
liquors even if they desired them. There is nothing new in
all this ; there have for • generation past been Temperance
and Teetotal Societies, the chief object of which is to give
moral support to the abstainer by associating him with a
number of °there who have made the same good resolu-
tion ; and in every town there are Temperance Inns and
Coffeehouses where no intoxicating liquors are consumed.
But the Archbishop is reedy for something beyond these
old-fashioned, and, as the more aggressive abstainers
think, these inefficient influences. Zeal and persistence
will effect wonders, and the apostles of Prohinition
may rejoice to find that something of their spirit
has insinuated itself into the soul of an English Prelate.
The Archbishop observed that there were a great many
large employers of labour in the town who had gained their
wealth from the labouring climes, and he hoped they would
do something to diminish the temptation to drinking among
their workmen by putting a atop to drinking inside the
workshop.. Those who know what kind of work is done in
Sheffield and in towns of similar trrdea will judge what
degree of compulsion would be necessary to reduce the men
to wator during their hours of work, it would be curious

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