The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-15 00:00:00

not generally encourage a taste for exces-
sive drink, whereas the adulterated stuff at
present sold at too many public-houses of which
" saccharine matter,water, and salt," are frequently
the most innocent additions, has, as every one
knows, an evil tendency to induce the poor man to
drink more and more, thus being, as Mr. SmEE
justly says, doubly robbed, robbed in character
and robbed in pocket. Such a beginning leads him
naturally enough to satisfy his craving for stimu-
lants at the gin palace, where the fatal cheapness
of the fiery beverage adds to its dangerous attrac-
tions.

LA TEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

SPAIN.

PARIS, JAN. 15.

'The Moniteur of this morning, in its bulletin,
says :—" No further doubts are entertained in
Madrid that General Prim will be compelled either
to surrender or to enter Portugal within the next
three days."

SYRIA.

The evils of drunkenness are so great that no
one needs to argue upon the subject, since all
are agreed that it is at once a national curse and a
national disgrace. Sensible of the enormous extent of
the vice and its share in filling our workhouses,
asylums, and prisons, many intelligent and philan-
thropic men have combined to endeavour to stop
the traffic in intoxicating liquors altogether, or at
least to induce their countrymen to abandon their use.
But although their efforts may have been par-
tially successful, they can never be more than
partially so, because they overlook or disregard a
natural and universal want. Even in the pure
air and quiet life of the country the necessity of
some refreshing stimulant is felt; how much greater,
then, is the want to the overtaxed energies of the
dweller in cities ? Taking the working classes alone—
for it is against them that the charge of intemperance
is chiefly brought—it is evident that the long and
arduous hours of work which they undergo, the
poor food which they ordinarily subsist upon, their
close and ill-ventilated dwelling-places, and the
anxieties of scanty and often fluctuating means
so much exhaust the system that some restora-
tive is imperatively needed. Such a restorative
is more quickly and cheaply found in good malt
liquor than in anything else, or at least it ought to
be; for, thanks to the dearness and badness of the
retailed beer, the gin-palace now offers the readiest
stimulant. It is manifestly incorrect to deny the
nourishing properties of beer. Mr. SMEE says—
" The difference between bread and beer is in theory

PARIS, JAN. 15.

Joseph Karam, having failed in his attempt at
revolt in the Lebanon, has withdrawn into a con-
vent. His followers have solicited their pardon
from Daoud Pasha.

AMERICA.
QUEENSTOWN, JAN. 14.

The Royal Mail steamship Java arrived here at
1.30 p.m. to-day. She embarked the mails, passen-
gers, and latest telegrams, and proceeded for New
York at 5.15 p.m. All well.
She was detained, awaiting the mails.

not great. Bread is wheat corn cooked into a
solid substance. Beer is barley corn cooked into a
refreshing liquid." If the natural craving for a re-
freshing drink could be supplied with pure ale at a
reasonable rate, there would, he avers, be a great
temperance reform. He denies that the English
have naturally a love for strong drink, and
shows that neither gin nor whisky were habitually
taken in this country until after the reign of
CHARLES 1., and that even after that no mention
is found of spirit in the official papers. It was not

until 1697, under WILLIAm 111., that an excise o;
6d. per bushel was placed upon malt, which con.

sequently became too dear for the people, " who
were driven to some cheap stimulant, which gin
supplied. Both WILLIAM M. and Queen ANNE
encouraged the extraction of spirits from malt for
the sake of the revenue thereby derived, and in the
reigns of GEORGE I. and 11. gin-drinking became
so prevalent as to be made the subject of special
legislation." The taste for strong drinks has
thus, he considers, been artificially en-
couraged by unwise laws, and certainly,
although temperance societies, with mistaken con-

sistency, urge the surrender of malt liquor as much
as of spirits, there is very little doubt that prac-

tically good cheap ale would be the most poten

antagonist of the poor man's arch-enemy,
gin. Malt liquor suits the national taste, is
adapted to the requirements of the climate and the
wants natural to an energetic people, and increased
by the feverish competition of a highly civilised and
exhausting life, and it is so plentifully supplied by
the country that it seems, as Mr. SMEE says, as if the
ALMIGHTY had beneficently provided at the same
time the want and the supply. Legislation, he
complains, has interfered with the gifts of PRovi-

DENCE. "Au infusion of a plant from a distant
land is made cheaper to the poor man than an in-

fusion of a plant grown by the cottage door. The
Englishman takes the Chinese tea, and, perhaps,

before long, the Chinaman will take the British

Mr. SMEE admits that there is one strong argu-
ment to be brought against the reduction of the

price of ale, even supposing the direct loss to the
revenue to be atoned for on other grounds; but this
objection is one which we should hope would not by
itself have any influence on the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, or any man who has a
regard for the welfare and morality of
the people. The objection Mr. SMEE briefly
sums up as follows :—" Make good wholesome ale

at 2d. the quart, and who would take spirits ? and
if spirits are less taken the revenue will fall off."
But no enlightened or conscientious politician could
wish to make money out of the vices of the people,
even were it not a most suicidal policy, since what-
ever demoralises the community tends to the dete-
rioration of the race, the decay of its industry, and
its ultimate degradation. There is too a powerful
counter argument, since with the decrease in the con-

sumption of spirits there .will, we may reasonab;y
hope, be a corresponding diminution of poor rates,
and of charges for the maintenance of lunatics and
criminals. If it could be proved that the removal

_ .
of the national vice would be in reality a heavy loss
to the revenue, still no sane man would urge that
its retention should be encouraged. Better any
tax, even in its most obnoxious form, than that
terrible hydra which blights so many promising
careers, and carries strife and misery to so many
happy firesides.

The main reasoning of Mr. S3IEE'S pamphlet is
summed up in a few phrases. " The ale at 6d.

will, generally speaking, be 2d. Doubtless in some

places it will be 2d., in others 3d., but these prices
will be exceptional, and will not affect the argu-

ment. The question is, Can the brewers afford- to

sell the ale to the retailers at 6d. the gallon, clearing
a profit of 25 per cent., and can the retailers sell it
to the consumers at Bd. the gallon, making a profit
of 33 per cent ?" By the examination of what

statistics he arrives at the above conclusions,
and by what means he proposes to com-

pensate for the removal of a profitable im-

post, we shall consider at another opportunity ; but

meanwhile we commend his laborious and well-

argued pamphlet to the consideration of all inte-
rested in a question of great national importance.
He has certainly proved himself the resolute and
formidable antagonist of what, according to his

showing, is a dangerous and oppressive monopoly.

The Capture of the Spanish Gunboat by the

Chilian .

-

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—Being acquainted with all the officers of the
Chilian corvette, Esmeralda, and particularly with
the families of Captain Williams and Lieutenant
Thomson, Commander, and Ist Lieutenant of the
said ship, I beg to correct your information con-
cerning their nationalities.

Captain Williams is a son of an Englishman, who
served as captain under Lord Cochrane in the Chilian
war of Independence, and Lieutenant Thomson is
son of a wealthy Swede, established many years in
Chili. Both were born in Chili of Chilian ladies.

Englishmen and Americans have plenty honours
of themselves to allow Chilians to have sonic.
I remain yours,
VERITAS.
enclose Pay card as is customary.

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 15, 1866.