The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-16 00:00:00

Commercial Men and Commercial Inns.

" A Young Commercial" keeps up the ball in our
leading contemporary by a letter of his as
follows :

" Sir,—A few days since you gave insertion to a
letter copied from the Liverpool Mercury, on com-
mercial men and commercial inns, and I shall feel
obliged if you will kindly favour me with a little of
your valuable space for a word or two on the same
subject.
" I appeal to you, sir, because the Times is read
in every commercial-room in England ; in het,
commercial men swear by the Times ; they read it,
and very often little else. Their opinions on passing
events are taken from the Times, and with them
what the Times says must be right. I, therefore,
believe that if I can but obtain your aid in the cause
I have at heart, I shall succeed in getting rid of one
of the greatest curses from which we commercial
men suffer.

"It will be readily understood that I refer to
the drinking system of the commercial-room, or
rather to the system of a certain number of men
who are fond of intoxicating drinks compelling
others to drink who are not so much in love with
it as themselves. The system is this. At from one
to half-past we sit down to dinner, and the Presi-
dent asks the question, "What wine shall I order,
gentlemen ?" The reply is generally port or
sherry, and very often both. He then orders a quan-
tity, equal to a pint for each person, over which,
with a deal of bowing and scraping and ridiculous
toasts, we manage to waste from one to two hours
of the most valuable part of the day.
" But it is not so much the waste of time and
money that I complain of as the effect of .this vile
system on ourselves. I have been 'on the road'
now for about six years, and I have seen enough of
it to make any thoughtful man sad. Here is the
history of many of us, as even in my short experi-
ence I have seen. A young man has just finished
his apprenticeship, and, being a good salesman and
a smart young fellow, he is put on as a traveller.
Of course as an apprentice he has not been a very
large customer to the wine merchant ; he may have
had a glass or two allowed him on Sunday after-
noon, and very lucky lie thought himself if he got
that ; but now he finds that he must drink a pint of
wine (or what by way of compliment is called wine)
in the middle of the day, and the result is soon told ;
he gets to like it, and can't do without it. If he is
not a strong-minded man the habit grows on him,
until sooner or later it ends in the " drunkard's
grave." But if, on the other hand, he sees the evil
of the system, and tries to avoid it by dining alone,
or in any other way possible, he then becomes a
' black sheep,' a mean fellow, and is sneered at and
treated accordingly—not an easy thing for a young
man to bear from those older than himself.
"lam tnld that, iv ere it not for the wine consumed,
the commercial-room would not pay the landlord ;
but this appears to me to be the landlord's business
and not mine. If such be the case, then by all
means let him alter his prices, so as to make it pay.
The usual plan with business men is to charge a
profit on each article they sell, and it seems ridicu-
lous to suppose that we are charged less than cost
price for the accommodation afforded us in order
that we may consume sufficient wine to make the
landlord's business remunerative ; or, in other
words, we are to sacrifice our health and happiness,
and oftentimes our lives into the bargain, for the
benefit of the landlord's pocket. I have also heard
it argued that the wine system keeps up the character
of the commercial-room (which in one sense it does
with a vengeance), makes it select, &c.; but this is
such pure nonsense that I shall not further notice
it.

"It is computed that at the present time there arc
about 20,000 commercial travellers in Great Britain,
and it is on their behalf, and on behalf of all those
who are near and dear to them, that I ask the
pen. You have already
rection, and from what
naisasidsetaan cneloovfeyionuti:hpeorNisgreiiiitudi
l
I know of the influence of the Times in the com-
mercial-room I will venture to assert that if you
will but follow this matter up the evil complain of
will cease, and you will have earned the lasting
gratitude of thousands of your fellow-countrymen."

CRICKET.—The return match between the trades-
men of St. James's and the " C" or St. James's
Division of Police, took place on Friday at the Eton and
Middlesex Ground, Primrose-hill, when, as on the prior
occasion, the police wero far too good for the tradesmen—
the bowling of Rosekelly and Weller being so dead on the
sport that the tradesmen had no chance. The band of the
C Division attended, and their playing
was much admired
by a large number of persons present. At the conclusion
of the match the score stood as follows :—Tradesmen, Ist
and 2d innings, 56 ; Police, Ist innings, 138.