The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-11 00:00:00

TDB BEER BILL.

In accordance with the principles of Free Trade,
as well as the result of many years' experience, the
House of Commons yesterday rejected Mr Harely e.
bill for a return to a stricter monopoly in the sale
of spirits and beer. Such a fate tnight have been
expected from the first for a measure which wag
not only opposed to the spirit of all recent legisis;
tion, but was in direct contradiction to the Report
of Vie Committee which sat during neerlythe whet°
rt
sessions of 1853 and 1851. Ceainly t'te public
sobriety and morality ought to t e well assured in
return for such a comMercial anomaly as the Pre;
sent licensing system—a system which the bill of
Mr. Hardy proposed to make still more severe and
onerous. If temperance societies confessed that the
licensing of public houses acted as a kind of Maine
Law, and that wherever the rnagistrates were rigid
and the brewers omnipotent there drunkenness Was
rare, and health, wealth, and contentment reigneni
if the clergy and the Poor Law authorities declarel
that a restriction on the sale of liquids elevate"
public morality and prevented destieution, then we
might have some encouragement to persist in 3
course by which great advantages were attained in
return for obvious sacrifices of theory. But vrl°
has a word to say in favour of the present prectioe .
Who can discover any social benefit to redeem the
economical heresy ? The principle on which the
license system is based is simply this—that. tne,
authorities shall take due care for the regulation al
-houses of entertainment. Places where men meet t°
drink are apt to be scenes of rioting and profligacY,
the resort of the gambler and the thief. The magi"
trates of a district should, then, take care that n°
permission is granted to sell strong drink except t°
a man for whose character there is some guarantee.
On this principle, sound enough iu itself, has been
built up a fabric of inconvenience and injustice. • t.
The spirit of interference with social habits which
distinguished legation in past timee, which ptlr
duced sutnptuary laws and laws for the minute re-
gelation of trade, has thoroughly penetrated every
part of the licensing system. The magistracy Pra'
tend to take care of the public sobriety, to Itn°,"(
the public want, to determine what number of
houses are necessary to a certain population, and
what manner the business of a üblican should
carried on. The consequence has been, not the
limitation in number of the publichouses, nor tll2
improvement of such as exist, but the establish-
ment of a monopoly in the hands of a few brewer&
'of colossal wealth. The licenses have been Olt:
fessedly granted on no - fixed principle. In some
parts every tenth house is a ginshup ; in otherstsfif
or three streets are confined to one dirty andel;
conducted establishment. It is evident that
object of a license is to secure a landlord of good
character, but under the present system 'the meg
strates have thought more of the house than the
maser. Instead of making the license a purely
:0
personal affair, they have practically granted it
certain houses, which retain it under any eliall0
of proprietors or lessees. Thus, while a ril`l4
of the best character and the most ample mean°
refused permission to open a new house, the old 0117
are transferred from rcspccteble to disreputable lane;
lords, from solvent dealers to bankrupts, almost Age/
matter of course. The fittest person for thee supply
ll
a district may be refused leave to trade because lie
not take one of the established houses from some P'
brewer on the latter's own terms, while blacklegs'
prizefighters, and worse find no difficulty in gett,
:7
their license, though without means or charaeted
because the place they have taken is ou the list
a,
those already licensed. The results might be Ord
seen. The houses, and consequently the salathe
beer and spirits have become a monopoly, anu,,se,
longest purse has gained most by the 070
The publicans are confessedly to a great elvleei
the mete agents of the brewers, from whom tb
are obliged to purchase their liquor, and Wileoi,
influence may unmake, as it has made til°,3%.
The sway of one or two great firms is said tome
tend over large districts of the metropolis. yo
Bedford estate or the Grosvenor estate is 1120$0
greater wonder than the property of some of tita
colossal establishments in licensed places of enter
7,
tainment. All the evils of- monopoly are thilslo
~
mined without any of the benefits of regiilatie;
Gin flavoured with turpentine and porter trio .
frothy with cocculus Indices are evils not countbe
balanced by any necessary respectability. jrl„
of
landlords who vend them. The great malen74,lo
these we will allow to be honest and respee'''ocl
men, but this is not the result of the licensing, P'.4
would equally be the case if there were no heat°. Q."
at all.
Now, these facts being known and pretty gn;
rally acknowledged, it would have been a L't'oe
thing at any time to bring in a bill for throOt;
the trade more completely jute( the power of tw
brewers, and their allies, the magistrates. B¢
in the present case the confidence shown by Dar
Hardy is pre-eminently surprising,i since, as ie_
W. Brown told the house, a committee; aftek 0:0
ling two sessions and asking 15,060 questions °O,
the subject, has come to conclusions, exactly OPP,
site to those which the bill embodied. The C)°o,g,
mate of 1854 has declared that there existed sit-;ci
pinions that "licenses are withheld and graueel
capriciously; that the influence of builders fof
brewers is more potent than either the charactero;"
the applicant or the requirements of the publ,l
and, without endorsing these accusations, it '-',310
sidered them sufficiently important to justify ref
abolition of the present system. Having in v 1
to
the impossibility of magistrates knowing the cji
ice
ratter of the applicants or the wants of the die ;e,
the Committtee was in favour of granting a lice .014
revocable for misconduct, to every man who See
procure sureties for good behaviour. By vie
means the monopoly, the jobbing, the fa,vouritA
and the injustice of the present practice well',
once be brought to an end.
Some such plan must, we think, soon 10,0
cepted by the Legislature. There can be no rest -0
why the trade in beer and spirits should not
bet g
free as any other. A sum may be charged
license greater in the case of spirits than of
,7130
liquor ; that is simply a tax for the benefit 01. le,
revenue, and makes no difference in the priolPo
But, as long as we allow that liquor should be idbf
at all, we must allow that every man has a r off
to sell ie. The freer the trade becomes the in is
respectable will be the class of men who ember ire
it, and more will be gained by delivering the
tP it
lic from millionaire brewers and depender%eoe
tailers than by the strictest system of supervi:och
that the skill of a Bench of Juitices ever dev; 0
The present state of things certainly has litt
recommend it. If ever there was a system w'jjie
failed completely, it is that which now prelti,o4
Much drunkenness among the people, much Lot
liquor at the public-houses, and many bankaup9f,
among the landlords, are its chief features. 4,10
then, it neither insures wholesomeness in ;tar
drink, temperance in the drinkers, nor respedd.
bility in the dealers, it is time it were superfleore
by some regulation more reasonable and PI
promising of success.—. Times.