The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-06-13 00:00:00

INNS AND LICENSED HOUSES.

FEW qurstiona have of late years excited so
melt interest as the attempts made to re-
f r.. 1 tl,- e • ••11:- tie conduct of
h..iisz.s 1 • .! tI • - of int ixicatilig
,A.A ••m. v 'ii the power-
f• ' ••• ; . K•i; --
tlom. Ail s.i. c. •.• • •1. d ••-• f,r
the " totr i mai late legislative suppres-
sion "of t'. Eli hail t-en propagating
the opinions both on the platform and in the
press, when tho government of the day, on
consenting to embody a number of restric-
tions in a bill, was swept from its place at
the next general election. and the strongest
administoation we have had for thirty years
fell a saer:fieeto the aroused wrath of the
licensed victuallers. The truth appears to
be that the latter, who are fighting for what
they believe to be their right to live, have
been found a much more compact body than
had been reckoned upon, and that the idea
of total and immediate legistative suppression
isout of the question. The inn isa institution
which has bruit established for centuries. It
is mentioned in the new testament, and will
be recalled by all who have read how a eer-
Min man once went down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, fell among:thieves by whom he was
beaten and left half dead. The Priest and
the Levite, seeing his sorry plight, pa e.l by
upon the other side ; but the go ti Samar:tan
poured wine end oil into his wounds, and took
him—not to the nearest w,.rk house or dispen-
sary, if indeed there were su,•h places it ex-
istence—but "to an inn," where lie paid the
"host " fir any attention he might devote to
the alleviaVon ot the suffer r 17.8 undergone by
the poor wrefrh s ho 13.. d Isq;11 foetid II such
a pita A3lc cotelitMa by tlm
th..o we ha-re a clear And distinct rererenee
to Vie ;717! as a /dace u: 'sort for the refre,h-
ment traveP.m.s. But another Scriptural
expression has ~f ten been misunderstood, viz:
that ia a jicli "piibl tan.; " are sit aten a.- so-
ciated T!,,. term in this sense
is one of repro,b, but Cm pabli,•ati of the
Ni, w TeNta 01 .iit ,5 the 1;.• 'or of an ion.
lie was ft man who tanned the Roman t txes
that is to say, he paid to the central authori-
ties at Rome a fixed sum, and the more in
excess of that amount which ii .• ~ al I 24....1.0W
out of the pockets of the pe 'pie, the ri-her
he became. Judea being at that time under
tribute to Rome, it is no matter for surprise
that the R maAn tax-gathmer was an unit el.
conic guest, and that lie was invarialdy
spoken of in language of opprobrium. In
one re,pect the law of that day corresponded
with our own—no publican could be a raagis-
trate.

In England, from the earliest ages of civi-
lization, inns and houses for refreshment have
been dotted here and there over the surface
of the land, and for centuries excise hoenses
have been granted to their keepers. Ages
come and go; the lumbering waggon is su-
perseded by the stage coach ; the coach in its
turn gives place to the locomotive, but the
numiper of inns shows no signs of diminution.
The traveller finds them upon moor and
mountain, in the crowded town, and by the
lonely roadside, amid the calm retreats ot
rural life. The eapitA invested in the trade
represents the enormous sum of one hundred
and twenty en:Diens sterling, a fifth of the
entire National Debt. It contributes, to the
national exchequer more than half of its an-
nual income. Now it is evident that an in-
dustry so vast as this must possess an enor-
mous power, either for good or for evil ; and
of the baneful effects of a too free indulgence
in intoxicating drink there can be no ques-
tion. They are patent on every side of us.
and form the theme of frc quent comment atm
regret Lon: the juticiol bench. Unfortun,
atcl th star:: a n.e t en one, although it
is tat true to-dity as it was thousands of year-.
ago. The 1-..ges ef the Old Testiment hay>.
told us th.t a inu is a mocker, strong drink
is raging, and alt. A. e e. is deceived there-
by is not wise. Ihe sl me antli-rity has toh!
us that sorrow a. d 11, I', Labbling autl
redness of eyes, tome to flose who tarry at
the wine shop, d pait..kw of the mixed
wine. This and similar texts have bum midi
the basis of innumerable sermons in t iine.,
and in all civilized lands. In some p its tu
the United States the experimcnt has been
tried of prohibiting the traffic altogether—
that is of refusing to it the solution of licen-
ses granted by the state. As cut h side ha,
its partisans the to ideate respecting the win k -
ing of the system is cotitoicEttery, Ofltp r..
affirming that illie:t dr:rkitg gees (n to
enormous extent, and the ether declarit
that the commionty is the must sober am
contented on the fa: eof the earth. Whey.
eye witnesses so differ, it is impossible fol
those at a. distance to form an estimate.

Clearly, in this country, ate must look at
matters in a practical light, and adapt our
legislation, not to the dentands of this or
that section of the communnity, hut to tht•
line which will secure the greatest etnount o,
happiness to the greatebt number of people.
The shadows of a thousand years look down
upon the English inn. and ,t is not to be up
rooted in a day. It 3 advantages are almsc.•
—that is unit ersally admitted,
.and the di
ficulty in all such logislath at must be how t.
protect the order-loving portion 44 the com-
munity—which forms its vast majority--
against the consegnetices of over itidalk cec
on the part of the intemperate. It will Irtvt
been obiserved that the Bill now before Par-
liament confirms, and even draws more tightbt
many of the restria Cons imposed h;.- the A
of 1872, and th-r- is no 414elet tb t,0te.4,.1 4:..
best featur..,.;will let the fl i•.g if the Ii
of closing by A , tit • ienioval ut.
power from the h nals of b•cal magistrat..s
An annual it ti •n, t‘hethie for or against
earlier 41....ing. of letqh 1:-.4 would !la
kept httlot -t ; ;t. :ta at-r,
combine.i with th..c.•nv”..isii-,7,t,-, ,ch,t
the eleetato of in a ‘, town
councillors, ard •.N baards.
People cannot 3ff, t., ;old 1.. C;oic rr ;3
without it:A en • use, .:na many w; II in jibe
that the leg:si.4ta.-e itself hail the cour-
age to :ix the hJurs of closing throughaut
the kingdom.