The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-28 00:00:00

THE METROPOLITAN NEW PUB.
LICANS' PROTECTION SOCIETY.
The eighth annual general meeting of the Mem-
bers of the Metropolitan New Publicans' Protection
Society, and other parties connected with the beer trade,
was held on Wedne:day at Anderton's Hotel, Fleet-
street, for the purpose of receiving the Report of the
proceedings of the Committee during the past year,
the Account of the Receipts and Expenditure, to re-
ceive the proposition of the Committee as to the sum
to be appropriated among those widows of deceased
beer-sellers, members of the Society, who had applied
for the same since the last annual general meeting, to
elect officers for the year ensuing, and on other general
business.
Mr. LINDSAY, the Treasurer, was unanimously
called to the chair. He was happy to state that the
affairs of the Society were going on most prosperously,
and feeling convinced that the Report would be most
gratifying to the meeting, he would not detain them
from the satisfaction of hearing it by any observations
of his, but would at once call upon the Secretary to
read it.
Mr. BISHOP, the Secretary, then proceeded to read
the Report of the Committee, which, after referring
to the exertions of the Society in former years, and
the difficulties and vexations to which the beer-sellers
of England had been subjected, most of which had
been remedied by the exertions and perseverance of
the Society, proceeded as follows :
"In the past year the important question as to
whether the successor of a beer-seller can obtain a
licence to carry on the business in premises rated in
the name of the previous occupier, had again been
raised, notwithstanding that in several instances last
year the Excise Commissioners decided that in all
such cases the required license should be granted. In
the later instances, some few Supervisors of Excise,
not having been furnished w ith a general order on the
subject, have taken their own view of the construction
of the law, and have refused the license. In these
cases it is the practice of your Committee to direct
Iyour Secretary to memorialise the Commissioners of
,:xcise on the subject ; and your Committee have the
pleasure to say, that in no instance in which a memo-
rial has been so presented have the Commissioners ob-
jected to grant the license.
" Other questions of importance to the trade have ,
also come under the notice of and been disposed of by
the Committee, and they are here noticed for the
reason that they involve points which are most im-
portant to beer retailers. The first is, that the pro-
perty of lodgers or inmates may be detained by the
beer retailer, as a hostar for money due from the
lodger to the beer-retailer. The knowledge of this
may be useful in cases where otherwise the beer-
seller might suffer by lodgers getting into his debt,
and then leaving without settling their accounts.
"Again : attempts have been made by the police in
several situations to prevent beer-sellers who sold
coffee, tea, or other articles, from opening their shops
at all on Sunday morning ; their plea for so doing
being that no person having an Excise beer license is
entitled to have his house open before one o'clock, on
any Sunday, Good Friday, or Christmas Day.
" As regards the sale of beer, or having any beer
drawn or drunk on the premises during any part of
Sunday morning, this position is perfectly correct,
the law on this point is plain and distinct ; nor is it
the wish of your Committee to interfere with its
being carried into effect; but the present question in-
volves another, which cannot properly be included
in, and determined by the law, which was only in-
tended to apply to beer-houses, and regulated the sale
of beer; many a beer-seller, from a laudable intention
of providing for his family, has had recourse to some
other means of subsistence, such as keeping a cook's
shop, a coffee-house, selling fruit or vegetables, or
other luxuries or necessaries of life. Now, in the
present state of society, to be deprived of doing as all
others, vending the same articles, or carrying on the
same trade, is a manifest injustice, and it is the very
injustice that your Committee have the pleasure to say
they have succeeded in putting a stop to—where a beer-
seller was thus carrying on a second or auxiliary
calling, and in pursuance of that calling opened his
door for the admission of his customers on a Sunday
morning, the police stepped in and laid an informa-
tion, contending that the law which affected his beer-
trade, equally applied to any other pursuit in which
the beer-seller was engaged. Having on a former
occasion taken the opinion of counsel upon this very
point, and being in possession of the opinion of an
eminent lawyer, now a distinguished Member of the
House of Lords, that no offence was committed unless
beer was sold or drunk, inasmuch as the offence con-
templated by the Act was, not having the house open,
but having it open for the sale of beer, your Com-
mittee directed the Solicitor to contest this point ;
and, after several hearings, in every one of which he
was ultimately successful, the question was decided in
favour of the views entertained by your Committee,
and the point is now established that a beer- seller,
having any other articles for sale, may, if he secure his
beer-engine, so as to afford evidence that he cannot sell
beer without unfastening his engine, open his house and
sell either cooked food, coffee, vegetables, fruit, or any
other article in which he may deal at any time, as
others by law or custom may carry on the same trade,
or sell the same kind of articles. This decision is
peculiarly important and applicable to all persons hav-
ing a beer license ; and, in addition thereto, keeping
oyster, or alamode beef, or refreshment rooms in the
neighbourhood of theatres, coffee-houses near public
markets, cook-shops in populous situations, or lodging-
houses near the water side or in public places, as by
this decision they may keep open their premises to
a later or earlier hour (having at the proper time shut
up or secured their beer-engine) than they could
otherwise do.
" The other point in dispute, but now also satisfac-
torily settled, has reference to lodgers in beer-houses
and relatives of the beer-seller. Strictly speaking,
the beer-houses should be closed at the hours
daring which beer is prohibited by law to be
sold, and no beer can then be sold or drunk
therein without offending against the beer laws ;
such is unquestionably the letter of the law, but
as in all cases the construction of a law admits of
a liberal as well as a literal interpretation, your Com-
mittee considered it was not too much to assume that
the law never intended to deprive lodgers from having
what beer might be necessary for them, either for
meals or refreshment, they being in fact at home ; nor
did your Committee suppose, for a similar reasoning,
that if a relative or personal friend of the beer-seller
happened to be wish him at any time, the beer-seller
dare not present him or them with a glass of beer, or
enjoy any needful refreshment. Following up these
opinions, your Committee was anxious that the Soli-
citor should have this point settled ; this has been
done ; and the able manner in which Mr. Ashley has,
in every case, maintained the views taken by the
Committee, and succeeded in establishing those views
as a rule or precedent, is equally creditable to that
gentleman's talent and judgment as the result is impor-
tant to the entire body of beer-sellers. The rule may now
be defined as leaving the beer-seller and his lodger
and relatives at liberty to act reasonably in their own
peculiar situations, but does not extend to such a lati-
tude as to permit the usual business-rooms of the beer-
seller to be occupied even by lodgers or relatives, for
the purpose of enjoying themselves with beer at such
hours as by the law the beer-house ought to be closed."
The Report then went on to state that, in the course
of the past year, the Surrey Theatre had been en-
gaged by the Committee for the purpose of benefiting
the Pension Fund of the Society, but the attempt did
not prove successful • it also stated that the usual
steam-boat excursion had realized a very handsome
balance after the payment of all expenses, and that the
anniversary dinner had been equally successful. The
Report then stated that, though it could not be done
at present, the Committee hoped the time was
not far distant when the Society would be
enabled to give permanent assistance to their aged
supporters ; in the interim, however, it could hold out
a helping hand to the widows and orphans of those
who had supported it, and in concluding their Report
the Committee expressed a hope that all persons con-
nected with, or carrying on the trade of brewers, or
beer-sellers, would feel it to be their duty to join in
the support of a Society which had achieved so much
for the trade.

The SECRETARY then read the statement of the re-
ceipts and expenditure of the Society for the last
year, from which it appeared that the amount of cash
invested, added to the value of the previous year,
was 5331. 14s. 3d.; and that of that amount 3741.
12s. 3d. was set apart for the Pension Fund, leaving
a balance of 1591. 2s. 2d. applicable for the general
purposes of the Society.
On the motion of Mr. HUSSEY, seconded by Mr.
Lusn, the Report and Account of the Receipts and
Expenditure were unanimously agreed to amid much
cheering.
Mr. PROSSER moved "That the sum of 3741. hav-
ing been stated by the Auditors' Report to be the
amount in hand on account of the Pension Fund, the
sum of 401. be appropriated, agreeably to the resolu-
tion of the last annual meeting, among the widows of
deceased beer-sellers eligible to partake of the same."
—(Cheers.) He was happy to say that the present
was the second occasion on which the Society had had
to perform that gratifying duty, and he trusted he
should live to see many such performances, but on a
more extended stage.—(Cheers.)
Mr. STALWOOD had great pleasure in seconding the
proposition. The widows it proposed to relieve -were
all well known by him, and he could assure the meet-
ing that they were all members well deserving of the
been carried without a dis-
benlelfiets ofreso tlhue Society.
tion
having
sentient voice,
The CHAIRMAN, before presenting the sums to the
four widow ladies declared to be entitled, begged to
assure the meeting that it was the highest gratifica-
tion to him to be called upon to perform so pleasant a
duty, as that of giving to those who needed it; but
that gratification, though not exceeded, was at least
equalled, by seeing the
Society in a condition amply
to afford it.--(Cheer,.)
He had advanced his capital I

in the beer-trade when everything was dark and
dreary around—at a time when they were torn out of
their houses and business, by those pests of society,
the common informers—men who had everything to
gain and nothing to lose, and who cared not what
they did or said so long as they could obtain their
own ends.—(Cheers.) These locusts, however, were
not all they had to get rid of. The Legislature was
against them for years, but at last they found
members of that body who manfully supported their
cause, and among them he was proud to say was the
great hero of the day, the Duke of Wellington.—
(Cheers.) Hope, then, shined upon them ; they ob-
tained a little, then more, until at last they stood in
their present proud position.—(Cheers.) For that
position they were in a great measure indebted to
their present able Secretary, Mr. Bishop—(Cheers)—
a man for whose exertions in their cause they never
could do enough.—(Cheers.) He must confess that
at first lie distrusted him, but that distrust was soon
changed into the most unbounded confidence by the
zeal, ability, perseverance, and integrity, displayed by
Mr. Bishop.—(Cheers.) While he expressed his
satisfaction at the prosperity of the Society, he could
not but state the great disappointment he felt at the
apathy and lukewarmness of the brewers ; the truth
was, those who ought to do the most did
the least.—(Loud cheers.) Instead of the chair
being filled by so humble an individual as himself, it
ought to have been occupied by such men as the
Thornes, the Matins, and the Tubs.—(Cheers.) He
could assure the meeting, although lie had given up
the business, the Society had not a greater admirer or
truer friend than himself—(Cheers)—and its welfare,
and that of the trade was, and would be, his constant
study and delight.—(Cheers.) He hoped that the
bounty which the Society extended to the widows to-
day would act as a stimulus to other members of the
trade to join the Society, because it must be remem-
bered that death was uncertain and the smiles of for-
tune fickle.—(Cheers.) The worthy Chairman then
in a most feeling manner, presented Mrs. Matthews,
of Marsham-street, Westminster ; Mrs. Hill, of the
Jolly Gardeners, Putney; Mrs. Davis, of Little
George-street, Chelsea ; and Mrs. Maynard, of Union-
street, Pimlico, with 101. each, for which they expressed
their grateful thanks. Having performed this pleasing
duty, the Chairman said he trusted the time was not far
distant when the Society would have almshouses for
the reception of decayed members and widows. He had
heard before lie took the chair that several gentlemen
had regretted it had not been in their power to hand
in their subscriptions, because the collector had not
called upon them ; he hoped he should never hear
again of a beer-seller being backward on such an ac-
count; lie trusted that in future every one of them
would be their own collectors.—(Cheers.)
Mr. Bisizor, the Secretary, observed that two
other widows had applied to be recipients of the
bounty of the Society, but their cases must necessarily
be left for consideration till next year.
Mr. KINNERSLEY felt highly delighted at the pros-
perous condition of the Society enabling them to con-
fer benefits on those who stood in need of them, not-
withstanding the drawbacks it had had to contend
with; in almost every session they had been dragged
before Parliament, and yet they had funds at the pre-
sent moment to the extent of nearly 500/. He trusted
that all who were connected with the trade would
join them, for, if they had no other object in view than
benefiting the widows of their members, the task was
praiseworthy, and called upon all to support them.
There was not one among them who could tell how
soon their widows might stand in need of the bounty
of the Society.—(Cheers,) Added to this it must he
remembered that the trade had been surrounded with
difficulties, and it was impossible to say how soon
they might be beset with them again.—(Cheers.) He
was sure if gentlemen would only bestir themselves
they would shortly place the Society in a position as
high and as beneficial as any other in the metropolis.
Mr. Bishop was re-elected Secretary amid general
acclamation, on the motion of Mr. STALWOOD, se-
conded by Mr. COLVIN.
Mr. BISHOP, in returning thanks, trusted that his
conduct during the next year would insure a similar
result at the next general meeting.
Nine gentlemen were then elected to complete the
Committee, in the room of those who went out by ro-
tation.

Mr. Harris, of the Cambridge-road, was unani-
mously elected Auditor for the year ensuing.
Messrs. Charles Bishop, Boyce, and Colville were
appointed collectors ; and a vote of thanks having
been carried to the late Committee tind the Chairman
the meeting separated.

FEARFUL DEPRESSION of TRADE

AT KIDDERMINSTER.

A respectable Correspondent writes as follows :
" This town not only participates in the universal
gloom, but at the present time is suffering more than
at any former period in the recollection of the oldest
inhabitant. Our artisans are either to be seen walking
about in groups, with pallid countenances and despair
written on their brows, or to be found in their miser-
able hovels without food or firing, while their children
are unable to attend the Sabbath-schools for want of
the commonest articles of clothing. Our retail shop-
keepers may be seen behind their counters looking in
vain for customers; and all agree that, if a speedy
alteration for the better does not soon takeplace, paying
taxes and poor-levies will be out of the question, as they
will be brought into the list of those who are compel-
led to apply for charity. Their losses are great,
profits less, and business ruinous. Our manufacturers

have, up to the present time, made head against the
torrent that has well nigh overwhelmed them, bnt
with dismay look forward to the future ; they have
been anxious to keep their workpeople employed,
and, in the absence of orders, have made for stock ;
but they now find that to sell stack they must submit
to prices far below cost, and although worsted yarns
have been, and still are being, sold far below what they
can be afforded, or below what the price of wool would
warrant, yet, buy as low as they may, they canno
make carpets at the present selling price to savt
themselves. Those who send out travellers de-
clare they cannot obtain as many orders as will pay
travelling expenses, and if they stay at home
they will look in vain for transmission. Add to
thib' scarcely a week has passed for some time with-
out bringing some intelligence of the stoppage or
bankruptcy of some houses connected with the carpet
trade. America, which in ordinary times has taken
one-third of the whole of our manufactures, has, for
the last three or four years, not taken one-eighth, in-
deed scarcely any; and now, under the new tariff of
2s. 2d. per square yard, we cannot look for any
amendment in that quarter. Scotland and the North
of England are now running us very hard in Brussels
carpets : to an inexperienced eye the goods look as
well and as stout as ours, but have not the wear, yet
in many towns they are supplanting us on account of
their price. It is truly serious to see our houses de-
serted, our manufactories shut up, and all inquiring
what is to become of us ?"—Worcester Chronicle.

THE FLAX TRADE.—In his official Report of the
Ist July last, R. J. Saunders, Esq., one of the fac-
tory inspectors, thus adverts to the state of the flax
trade :—" A great alteration has been in progress
during the last two or three years in the flax trade,
and the general depressipn now experienced in other
departments has been felt in this; but there was strong
evidence to show that, but for the recent addition of
duty laid on linen yarn cloth by the French Govern-
ment, all persons engaged in this trade entertained a
great confidence that the depression was temporary.
I regret now to report a very different state of things;
and that, unless some new markets be found for the
flax will be rapidly
yarn spun in this country, the number of persons
employed in the manufacture of
reduced, at a moment when all other trades are suffer.
ing equally from one cause or another."
Tris IRISH BUTTER TRADE.—A new and amt.
rently extensive trade has been lately opened in "--
Lon-
donat theby
by the importation of butter exclusively for the
London market from the ports of Cork and Water-
ford. This trade was little known until attention had
ms
Satiety, offeredthet
RbeoeynalcaAll:icuitotuirtalbyinithperovpermemeniut
National Cattle Show at Cork. The Dutch hada e
monopoly of this particular article before, whicha
con-
sisted in the butter being made up in
pickle, and not salted, or the firkin
nearly half filled
with salt, as is the case with butt
Lisbon and foreign markets. Theer prepared for the
however, has still the
preference, principally in con-
sequence of the clean manner in which it is made up;
but if the Irish manufacturers would only attend more
particularly to this
point,
and have the casks cooperel
well, there is no doubt
but that they would beat the
Dutch out of the field
entirely, and establish a never-
failing market for one of the most valuable produc-
tions of the country.—Dublin Evening Post.
_. The distressing calamity which betel the island of
St. Domingo, some time back, by the destroying
earthquake, has involved the Government of Hayti is
much, pecuniary embarrassment, and propositions are
said to have been drawn up for obtaining a loan from
France. For the last six years the budget has exhi-
bited a deficiency of 16,000 dollars.
The Augsburg Gazette of the 21st inst. states that
on the 18th inst., a day ever memorable in the annals
of Germany, were commenced the works of the forti-
fications of the City of lilin. A salvo of cannon an-
nounced the commencement. The works are to be
continued during the winter, and in the spring they
will be continued on an enlarged scale.
We understand that the purchase-money of the
Cowdray estate, which has been recently bought by
the Earl of Egmont, was upwards of 300,0001.,
ins
stead 0f68,000/., as stated in our last paper.—Brighton
Gazette.

- Six seasons since, nine grains of wheat were planted
by John Olman, of Box, Wilts; and last year the
produce was 5 bushels, which were again planted,
and produced this year the enormous crop of fourteen
sacks two bushels, and- were sold last week in our m.ar-
ket to Mr. Scudamore, of Larkhall.—Bath Chronicle.