The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-03 00:00:00

The health of the members forNoith Durham
..having been drunk,
. , Lord A.:VANE TEMPEST responded, and a's-) al-
luded to the popular notion of party distinctions.
There had long been a misunderstanding on this
subject. People were persuaded that the L•beral
was the kindliest, most conscientious, good.nature 1,
and generous man in the world, apd the Conserva-
tive the most tyrannical, bigoted, and awful mon-
ster on. the:face of the earth. He believed the people
would so ,n open their eyes and get rid of th s fal-
lacy. 'There was another idea-.-viz-, that Conserva-
tism could not be progressive ; that COm.ervatives
were a species of political millstones immoveable ;
and that Liberals were the only gentlemen of pro-
gres.s. Hebelieved the peopleyould soon be r•lieved
from this delusion also. AnOther idea was that Li
beral government was the government of the people;
and yet the present " Liberal" Government was
compo'sel of one duke, one marquis, five earls, four,
viScounts, three lords, and•nine baronets. He was
proud to-see the great families: of the country tak-
ing theiF share in the Government, but in what
sense could a luminous peer4ge of this sort be styled
t he- GUT name nt" of Vie' p-e-ofitir The 4v4as' com-
ing when people would no longer believe that there
coul 1 be no liberty or happiness except under Whig
oligarchical rule, and when they would see that
men! of great Conservative name were as much
actuated by love of country as the few families who
had long held a lethargic monopoly of rule, and a
real monopoly of patronage and place. (Cheers.)
Mr. MOWBRAY. M. P. , in responding to a toast,
took up the same subject, and pointed to the great
.increase of expenditure since 1846 • the miscella-
neous estimates having nearly doubled, the depart-
ment of law and justice trebled, the stationery dou-
bled, and so on. This was Liberal progress, and
people allowed themselves to be deluded -into the
belief that the Liberal party of 1857 was identical
with that which under Lord Grey, in 1830, in-
scribed "Peace, Retrenchment, and Reform" on
their banners. The last act of these so-called Libe •
rals was an endeavour to relieve themselves at the
expense of the county rates from those charges
which gentlemen ambitious of a seat in Parliament
had hitherto taken upon themselves—busting ex-
penses bc.. The hons gentleman went on to declare
his belief that no party would be more anxious to
help forward a fair/Reform Bill than his own ; and
he hoped the consequence would be that whether
Darlington got a member and elec'ed Mr. Pease or
nor, at any rate Mr. Farrer would be restored to his
old place in the county. (Cheers.)
A variety of other toasts were drunk, and the
company became very jolly and noisy.

MR. HARDY'S BEER BILL.

Yesterday afternoon a large public meeting o:
the beerselters of the metropolis was held at the
London Tavern, for the purpose of taking measures
to secure the rejection of Mr. Hardy's bill for the
regulation of beer-houses, coffee-houses, and oyster-
shopq. The chair was taken by Mr. Beswick.
IVIr. BISHOP, the secretary, having read the
notice convening the meeting,
~.,-Mr. GRIAILRY moved the following resolution :
" That the opening of the sale of beer to competi-
tion has been productive of great public advantage;
it has reduced the price, and improved the quality
of this essential article of general consumption, and
added to the accommodation of the public." He
said, as regarded the reduction, it was a reduction
on the average from sd. to 3d. As to accommoda-
tion, there were 20 licensed houses in his own
neighbourhood, where a working man could get no
accommodation at all ; while there were a great
number 'of beer shops where 'be could sit down,
cook his dinner, and find every convenience that
was requisite for comfort.
Mr. BARTON, of Mile-end, said he could corro-
borate the statement just made with respect to ac-
commodation. In his own house seven chops or
steaks were cooked just before he came to that
meeting. (Hear, hear.) Nothing of that kind could
be done at the licensed victuallers' houses.
Mr. Cox seconded the resolution. He observe I
that the attempt which was now being made to alter
the law regulating the sale of beer was professedly
made with a view to the prevention of 0 •unkennes
It was said that drunkenness prevailed to such an ex-
tent that it was absolutely necessary to put an cad
to it, and that the bill would ha . e that elect.
A few plain facts had convinced him, in the first
place, that drunkenness had not increased, and
secou'ely that the proposed alteration would not
remedy the evil. The first great fact was, that the
licensing system commences. about 350 years ago,
being professedly established :7n order to put down
drunkenness and to check immorality, and it con-
tinued in full operation up to the year 1830. Did
it put an end to drunkenness? Th ,• a" knew that
George IV. pr;d.ed himself on being a six-bottle
man, and half a century ago it was common for
persons in the bigher stations of life to lie " down
among the dead men" under the table. (Laughter.)
What prevailed amorg the higher classes extended
to the lower. The report of a select committee of
the House of Commons, in 181. , Showed clearly to
what an extent drunkenness and immorality then
prevailed. This was not to ae wondered at, as
there was something In human nature that resisted
force of any kind. From the same report i'; ap-
paared that the licensing system had demoralised
all connected with it ; the whole system was repre-
sented as one of bribery and corruption, jobbery
and favouritism. The object of Mr. Hardy was to
apply a despotic system to all houses of refresh-
nient, including coffee-shops and oyster shops. All
places were to be exposed to the licensing system,
and the supervision of the police. (Hear.) Under
the licensing system quality was deteriorated and
price raised • it was introduced in 'despotic times,
and would Otherwise never have been tolerate 1 ; it
was a system for children and slaves, and, not for
freemen. (Cheers.) As to the alleged increase
of drunkenness,. he held in his hand returns ema-
nating from the metropolitan police, which com-
pletely disproved that statement The. beer trade
was thrown open in 1830, and what was the result?
In 1831 the number of persons in the metrepolis
charged with drunkenness was 31,353 • in 1855 the
number was 9,769. (Cheera.) What became, then,
of the statement that there was an increase of
drunkenness ?
hear-111g
tor that pur-
The resolution was put and carried.
Mr. MIIMORE moved the next resolution : " That
Mr. Hardy's bill for taking from the Excise the
granting licenses to sell beer by retail, and placing
that power under the control of the magistracy
is totally uncalled for, is e. bill of pains andpenalties
levied against the entire body of the beer trade,
their wives and families, isat variance with the oft-
repeated reports of selec t committees against the
magisterial licensing syst em, is an unjust attack on
the employment of capital and freedom of trade,
and would ruin the prospects and confiscate the
thousatnodthpeerrseopnosrtwhoof
property of upwards of ferl-tY
are engaged therein. Adverting
the committee of the Hous 3 of ConlmouP) of 1817,
lie said it contained abut, '.dant reasons why the
beersellers should be unwilling to be placed under
thoroughlythe power
practices
ectwicaess
to those which were there del scribed were still car-
ried on quietly and secretly. Under the second
clause of Mr. Hardy's bill, bet 'rsellers were in fact
subjected to confiscation. Tti.,ey might remain in
the house which they occupied'. themselves, but if
they wanted to dispose of it, tl toy would be unable
to do so, because they could not transfer the license ;
and thus all their efforts to ac, luire something for
their wives and families would ,have been in vain.
If the opening of the beer trade ,had done nothing
else for the public, it had at all e vents done a great
deal towards abolishing a stand sdous monopoly.
He then referred at length to Ch e report of 1817,
before mentioned, to show how corrupt was the
system under which licenses weree granted under
the old law, how much favouritisi ca prevailed, and
how the influence of the great bre ‘ 9 era was brought
were not aware
of many instances of favouritism if not corruption,
ptoeableeadrtoonallthperiersenbtrowthheerthmeragtihset;tes ; and he ap-
which had been exhibited of late in reference to
new public-houses. (Hear, 0
rane
coet
tfue rdpcnlo:i
wnuges
er
whileo oof
rtnight after the
the bill, he observed that there liras
thisposetime b
recoverwli lv
when
whichareendcommencedet
bhte
unlessdeprivedde debt
tbtebeg
thenipt
htrooi
no beenbeeedi,ilc
n : lln
tiler-
borrowvd. folriethseampuerfpoooset.
binyganmothmercecelyauske:roowneeya
for
garqb4g purposes.
of paring-such a debt was placed on I.`