Star.
London, England, 1831-09-01 00:00:00

CASE OF THE BEER SHOPS•

The humble Petition of WILLIAM BEN BOW, of
Fleet Street, in the city of London, presented by
Lord Holland, Tuesday, August 29th,
SHEWETII,—That your petitioner has obtained from the
Hon. the Commissioners of Excise a license to sell ale, beer
and porter, by retail, under the provisions of an Aet passed
in the first year of the reign of his present Majesty.
That your petitioner has learnt with considerable concern,
that your Lordships have been induced to entertain a bill,
which contains provisions, to place your petitioner under
great and unnecessary restraints In the management of his
business, contrary to the spirit of the common law, and
against the rights and liberties of your petitioner aitontained
in the Great Charter of Liberty, which has beets found so
beneficial to your Lordships, In protecting your estates from
the rad; rents demanded by the Crown.
That your petitioner humbly represents to your Lord.
shift, that by the common or Saxon law of England, he
has the undoubted right to buy and sell any article of pro-
vision or wares ; that that right was fully enjoyed by the
people of England for centuries, and that the only,oonstint-
tional mode of punishing persons, in Engraitd, for dbarderly
or immoral conduct, is alike open to alliousekeepers, whe-
ther public or private, by inquest or indictment, and not by
private conviction, on the fist ofa single just* stille genies,
=ted in a very sneeptiassable manner, in witch fines
prisonments are inflicted, on the evidence df. persons
of bad character, who have no visible means of living, and
who ought themselves by the laws of Edward 11. to be in.
dieted as public nuisances. _ _ _

That your petitioner respectfully states to your Lordships
that although several laws punished persons for tippling and
gambling in alehouses ; yet the system of requiring persons
who kept inns and victualling houses to take licenses from
the justices of the peace was not adopted till the year 1624 t
that even then it was a umlaut of the erdiais system of the
Crown, granting private monopolies, to noblemen and other
persons for the exclusive dealing in various ankles and pro.
visions, whisk mere all abolished by the set di, the 21st
Janes I. That the Isle had some smell degrecof jnitice
when most of the handicrafts of the kingdom, u well as
eovporate and other interests, were protected by exclusive
arsionni•Oharters, and laws ; but in the opinion of-your pe.
tttionet is:now utterly unjust, since those tnotattiou have
been withdrawn, and labour and trading in the middle and
humbler classes, are left to find their owls level, accept the
anomaly in trading in malt liquors, cider, perry, wine, and
spleituotallquors. That for several generations this mono.
poly was not felt particularly opprasive, as mat of the
housekeepers, even when daily la yeas, brewed: and pre-
pared their own liquors, and licenses were freely granted, on
application, by the justices, to an extent commensurate to
the public want or private advantage; but on the establish.
aunt of the hateful anlodiesa totonanerstees, because to
them unknown, Lugs of Excise, and the waked, unconsti-
tutional. and unjust system of landholders lending their
taxes, which they ought to have paid in subsidies, and tax-
ing by excise the beverage of the labouring class, they
became incapable from poverty and other restraints to brew
their own drink. 'f he licensing to sell liquors became an
object of monopoly, patronage and private oppression of the
public ; that in order to enforce the system of excise, so
much detested by evePy generation of the people of Eng.
land, the justices, virtually appointed by the ministry of the
nay, were instructed to withhold the number of dealers in
liquors. Extensive speculations of monopolist extortioners
arose in the .'tare, who established breweries and distilleries
nearly as large aveltadels ; bought up the lined licensed
houses as Inca patrimony; and, confederating with the 11.
ceraing justices, formed a conspiracy to enhance the price
of liquor, and realised princely fortunes by the plunder of
their bensumers.
That your petitioner represents, that the greater pert of
the justices being landholders, or clergymen immediately
dependent and appointed by them, having, by the operation
of the odious funding taxation reduced the labourer to utter
dependance, the landlords, anxious for high and enormous
ant, conceived the project of redwing the labourer in all-his
comforts ; and by their uncontrolled power of refusing li-
censes, upon many extensive estates would not permit the
sale of malt or otter liquors, leaving travellers without the
hope of refreehment, and the labourer witheot trey enjoy-
molt. that the money heretetore amended in ale might be
absorbed in the rapacious,private tax misealkd rent. That
instealed extending thc.accoinmolLitiun in proportion to the
population, in marry market, corpora e -att other towns,
the Oakes became jobbers inalehouses,,whickgrodoord on
aecount of the licence treble rent. That-such was the dith-.
culty of obtainiug a license, .that, in small towns, they,
were conceived worth fromlool. to'3ool. and in the metro-
polis, from 3001. to NOM. That -persons in hogs towns
Wier applied for "wars in vain, and swan when thelsopola.
don has increased five fold, not a new license leasbeen
granted for 30 years ' • that where new licenses have been.
granted, they have been given (your petitioner has good rea-
son to believe) either by mama er bribes, air .to emit
dependants, sycophants, or mercenary tools. nit such was
the petty tyranny practised, that they have been directed to
close•their houses at-six o'clock in the evening, and Other
arbitrary local voting •of petty .isgialation, been instituted,'
sad the practice of domiciliary visits, known only in des-
potic states, they refuted to renew licenses, and thus ruined,
the Victuallers, rho bad paid-large sums for fixtures and
goedwill,"without sburinrestme, or -kept -thent'susperdell
Seam •tiaatto time amasser •el nenselliattoreasthweeen
pants. .That the Ostia. ,parsollabout •the.treontryibt
trios, each being agatron and balm composed of country
parasol and yi&ge squires toullfignorant if law, or-the
oft pine/plea jaidee,-or •gurvither a iew e, -exttept lin
beg wild beasts aid birds, lbonnsaltbedgpeataas
tae bands of. attacks, their. prbscipalatabbsiew Wavle tb
with an iron band, and to enforce the.lafainoat
isaiitirn tbeffinue,Lawlt; *bribe
illireatax.,_
_ray flatland 'nil Mee srestilaiessciff
bog egombownaessuossbiteisommosartmusilsoihorpobibdc
at the practices as both ; short measure tu many districts