The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-19 00:00:00

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ton

111G11 WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

THIS DAY.—Morning, 10h. 37m.—Afternoon, 1111. 17m.
To-Ilowtow.-Morning, 11h. 51m.—Afternoon, Oh. Om.

4
leka

LONDOIIII, THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 1868.

The discussion on Mr. ABEL SMITII'S Sale of
Liquors Bill yesterday afternoon proved at least
that the House of Commons is uniformly anxious
to encourage temperance, and to diminish drunken-
ness among the lower classes. If it were, as some
mischievous agitators contend it is, the object of
the upper classes of this country to keep the work-
ing man in a kind of moral slavery, and to deprive
him of all political power, they would not certainly
trouble themselves about restricting the means of
intoxication. Nothing could answer their purpose
better than the habitual drunkenness of classes
whom they wished to exclude from influence and
authority; and we know, for a fact, that in former
days, when the drunkenness of the working classes was
far greater than it is now, that their moral and politi-
cal weight in the scale was absolutely insig-
nificant. The House of Commons at the present
is almost excessively anxious on the subject, and
hon. members are so apprehensive of being thought
indifferent to a great moral question that they are
more inclined to legislate mischievously than to
refuse to act. It was only one or two proverbially
outspoken members who had courage last night to
declare that any arbitrary interference with the
comforts of the populace on moral grounds always
does more harm than good. The end of the debate
was that the bill was read a second time, on the
understanding that the House was not pledged to
its support, and refereed to a select committee,
whose duty it would be to consider the subject in
all its bearings, licensing question and all. Before
any ;decision is arrived at we have no doubt
that the public opinion of the country
will make itself felt, since the subject
is one on which common sense and expe-
rience have a good deal to say. We all know that
the very last way to make a man go in any parti-
cular direction is to attempt to drive him, more
especially if that man be an Englishman ; and if
Parliament attempt to drive the whole community
along the road to temperance nolens volens it is more
than probable that the result will be diametrically
opposite to their intentions. The working classes,
as the advocates of the bill admit, are far more
temperate than of old—indeed one of Mr. ABEL
SMITH'S chief arguments is the desire of the majo-
rity of working men that fresh restrictions should
be placed on the sale of liquors. About this we may
reasonably feel somewhat sceptical, but there is no
doubt as to the fact of the improvement in sobriety.
Why, then, should we not trust to the gradual
influence of those educational and elevating mea-
sures which have already done so much to better
the moral and physical condition of the labourer ?
We may depend upon it their agency, if slower, is
far surer than that of any forcibly repressive mea-
sures. No one can for a moment deny the extra-
ordinary change for the better which has taken
place during the last fifty years in the habits of the
upper and middle classes. Was this brought about
by closing the clubs and hotels, and by limiting the
sales of the wine merchant? We may hope
that those who come after us may be able
to realise as marked a change which we may
believe is already inaugurated. If we want
to undo much of the good that has been done, to
throw back the work and hamper the progress of
the reformer, we shall attempt to practise that easy
virtue of restraining the excesses of other people,
and of those, moreover, whose temptations are dif-
ferent from our own, whose passions, if not stronger,
are less disciplined, and who are naturally
suspiciously sensitive of having their pleasures or
habits controlled by legislation. We had a speci-
men of the sort of feeling excited among the usually
orderly and peace-loving mechanics and artisans of
London by interference of this sort some years since
in the reception of Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR'S Sun-
day Trading Bill, of whose fate Mr. OSBORNE re-
minded the house last evening. The working man
feels naturally indignant that a burden is to
be put upon him which his richer neighbour is not
called upon to bear, and Mr. ROEBUCK'S declara-
tion that, in the event of the bill's passing the
second reading, he should move that it be applied
to the clubs of London, was full of shrewd sense.
How many M.P.'s drink water on Sunday ? and if
they would find the prohibition of their ordinary
refreshment irksome and disagreeable, why are they
to demand that the working man shall put up with
it ? It is the sober man who will feel the inconve-
nience, for the confirmed and wilful drunkard will
never be without the means for his gratification.
beien.
As has been often said, a bottle of gin may
had within the limited hours, and consumed when
every public-house is shut ; but the sober Man,return-

ing from his do: f's excursion or his country walk,
does not want ardent spirits. Mr. SMITH brings
forward four s ,rguments, which he holds conclusive.
First, drunker mess is always in proportion to the
facility for i 1 s indulgence. Second, that all re-
straints have been attended by beneficial conse-
quences. Third, that a remarkable change has
taken place in the wishes and feelings of the work-
ing men, to which it is expedient that Parliament
should give effect ; and, fourthly, that it is unde-
sirable to keep open public-houses on a day when
every other shop is closed by law. It would not
be very difficult to take exception to every one of
these aphorisms_ It may very much be doubted
whether national. drunkenness is always greater
in proportion to the facilities for its indulgence.
If it were so the Maine Liquor Law would
not have been such an absolute failure, and we
should not be congratulating ourselves on the im-
proved temperance of this country. Mr. SMITH made
a great deal of the example of Liverpool, where there
is almost free trade in beer, and where the amount of
drunkenness is something frightful. But Liver-
pool is not a fair instance. Its large floating popu-
lation, its immense number of sailors just arrived
from long voyages, its selection as a place of em-
barkation by emigrants, and all the excitement
consequent on their parting from their friends—all
help to swell the rate. Social philosophers may, if
they like, go yet deeper, and trace some con-
nection between the proverbial unhealthiness
of Liverpool and its prevailing drunkenness.
The death-rate of the city is exceptionally
high, and it may be asked whether there be not
some affinity between the close courts, the crowded
alleys, the exhausting toil, the deficient sanitary ar-
rangements, the foul air, and the excessive use of
stimulants among the labouring population. There
is more in this question of drunkenness than ap-
pears on the surface. The wise and well-meaning
men who want to drive the poor man home vi et
armis from the too fascinating bar have very little
idea of the sort of home they are sending him to.
It is perhaps a small and not too airy room, two or
three flights up, looking on dismal roofs, where
dirty, noisy children are crying and fighting,
while the overworked and untidy mother is
scolding all round. Perhaps she is busy over her
wash-tub, and the place is full of the damp results,
or still more likely she is out at work, and will come
home very unfit for the cheerful conversation which
moralists and Teetotallers believe in. We must not
be too hard on those whose life is a constant
struggle, to whom the daily loaf and the weekly
rent are ever present troubles. It is deplorable,
indeed, to see shillings wasted at the public-house
while pence are wanted at home, but it is an evil
which we cannot cure by force. We must
weigh in the balance the working man's
temptations, wants, and difficulties ; we must
look at him and his home as they
really are, and then try what remedial and
elevating influences can best lift him from his de-
spondency and degradation. Much has been done
already, much more may be done ; only we must
remember, as Mr. ROES UCK says, that it is wonder-
ful how good we can all be when we are legislating
for others—not for ourselves.

The French EMPEROR has enough to do just now,
and the last effort he has made to restore confidence
has been to issue a pamphlet, which will be read
with interest in all directions, both on account of
the quarter from which it proceeds, and also from
the causes which have given rise to it. It seems as
if it were rather an imprudent thing in some re-
spects to advert to the history of the Napoleonic
dynasty after this fashion, because it may suggest
to some ill-natured per.on that there is a want of
security in the feeling of the authorities. Be
this as it may the pamphlet has appeared,
and of course it must be noticed. The commence-
ment is very emphatically worded, for it states that
the idea entertained is to unite in one single pub-
lication " the various manifestations of the national
will which have founded the Napoleonic dynasty
under two Republics and two Empires," and the
effect which it is expected this essay produce
is to give a great political lesson. In other words,
we may presume that the intention is to influence
the mind of France favourably with respect to the
forthcoming elections, but how far this may answer
the end in view it is impossible to say. It is certainly
curious to notice the parallels here drawn between
the first and second Empire, and the general popu-
larity which has attended the course of uncle and
nephew ; and inferior as the second NAPOLEON is
in some respects, to the first there is a striking
sirnila.ity in their respective policies. The titles of
the Napoleonic dynasty are, we are informed,
thirty millions of approving votes signed by the
French people. In rather exaggerated phrases this
pamphlet then declares that the two NAPOLEONS
have " drawn France from abysses, and have both
been hailed three times as her saviours." It is true
that our Continental neighbours are far more in
the habit of dealing in extravagances than we are,
and sometimes treat a commonplace subject in the
most excitable style. Still we do not see what has
happened to render it advisable to resort to first
principles after this fashion, and it is an unwise
thing for the EMPEROR to let the world
see that the disturbances which have been
officially declared to be trifles have in reality
been of sufficient importance to call forth all
these protests and asseverations. [t is perhaps a
bold game, but then to play it shows that danger
is apprehended and disaffection taken into account,
and with jealous friends at home and crafty foes
abroad, it is a mistake to acknowledge so openly
that the kingdom is not in unity, and the house
divided against itself.
No one who has ever been familiar with the
EMPEROR's compositions can expect them
to be otherwise than clear and concise
in their statements, and powerful in their argu-
ments; so with this specimen before us, it takes ad-
vantage of the past to show the merits of the present
policy, and points hopefully to the future as a sure
illustration of the great services that the Napo-
leonic dynasty has rendered to France. There is
a direct intimation in this pamphlet that the situa-
tion demands that some effort be made to meet it
adequately ; and it is plainly said that at
a time when the Constitution, which has been
a " fundamental part between the EMPEROR
and the people, becomes the object of more or less
overt attacks, and the aim of all combined opposi-
tions, it has seemed to us advisable to bring it
again before the public eye, and to recall the cir-
cumstances under which it arose." This is to the
point, at any rate, and therefore worthy of respect,
for nothing is so unsuitable as to have one meaning
given of a thing when another is the correct version
of the affair. If we were to seek to trace the
source of the evil now existing in France, we
might go back a long way and touch upon many
topics, but the origin of a great deal of the mischief
was the Government policy of some years back.
From the time when Prussia assumed so prominent
a place in the councils of Europe it might have
been seen that the French were annoyed. At
first disappointed, they became indignant, and
as time seemed to bring mystifications on
France, while the fortune of war inclined
to her rival, the feeling was often expressed in