Star.
London, England, 1818-01-23 00:00:00

1

I

I

.)
N

BREWERS.

.~
..

•
\t tar drawn the attention of the Public
ntonOpoly of the Brewers, and the arbitrary
assume of fixing their own prices on a det
to the great injury of the middling and
~cps...ntati!tA, we dents it our duty to insert
Tne Report of the Police _
lepstos contains the sentiments of the Gentleman
4siagssuad to have called the Meeting for Monday nett on
dd. Interesting subject, and suggests the only remedy for the
removal d in intolerable grievance, which has too long been
suffered to exist. and which now forcibly demands the inter-
position of, Government :

" As you have given a good deal of attention to
the subject of the licensing laws, what appear to you
to be the chief defects of the present system ?—I have
thought much on the subject of public-house licensing
and reErulation, and have conceived several modes of
modifying the present system of licensing so as to
mend it; but we have already about twenty Acts ‘'t
Parliament on the subject, and all that has come of
the patch-work is to produce a climax of error. I
think the system is essentially the ver. worst which
man's evil genius could have devised. The only use
of it that I could ever discover, wis to raise and
preserve monopolies against the pit!, c
~ interest, to
put money into the pockets of ionic duals, to pro-
rnote hard drinking, and to protect disorderly houses.
it does that which the Legislature ought never to do,
viz. it endows certain men with the privilege of for-
bidding competition in the supply of victuals; and
it leaves undone that which I think it is the bounden
duty of. the Legislature to provides. viz. wholesome
regulations to, discourage, and prompt remedies to
correct, dru enness, obscenity and other disorders.
What but is and private wrongs can be expected
of such a ystem ?
So ng as particular sets of men are privileged
/
to limi to particular persons and places the supply of
a necessary of life, corrupt connections and mono-
polies will be formed to the injury of the Public.
Sn long as such persons may ephold or put down
victualling houses at pleasure, the worst houses will
find supporters, and the best lie insecure of protec-
tion; so long as this money-making and uncontroul-
sable power is vested in Justices of Peace, sordid and
tyrannical men will struggle to get in, and often still
succeed in getting into the Commission, and the of-
fice will be one of suspiciofi with the Public. Then
as to the rule of the system for suppressing disorders,
strong and unconstitutionahas it is, against the pro-
prsity of.individuals, and against the interest of the
Public, it is impotence itself for the object of keeping
public-houses in order. If, for instance, bad prac-
tices prevail in October, the cognizance of them is
deferred until the next September: by that time, the
victualler has learnt how to make his peace, or at
worst, he shifts the occupation to a new tenant, just
before the licensing day, and there is an end of de
sin ; but should the Justices determine on a strict]} -,
severe course, and take away the licence, the owner'
of the house, who may have had the misfortune to
get a bad tenant, is punished for his misfortune by
the deprivation of his property, while the transgressor
walks off with impunity.
" And how is an imputed transgression ascertained?
a fair trial never takes place ; the sufferer seldom
knows Wm is his accuser or what is the accusation ;
the organ of information is usually the High Con-
stable, a man who may be said to be corrupt by
virtue of his office, for he undertakes laborious duties
without any ostensible reward ; his remuneraticn
being derived from the custom of the publican, whom
he generally holds in contribution by setting up t}e
trade of a coal-merchant ; the Justices therefore ace
liable to be imposed on by interested and false infor-
mation, and from the manner in which the issuing
of licences is run through, there is not even time to
enter into a proper investigation ; furthermore, if
the complaint be truly .averred, whether it be on a
trifling fault, or a series of crimes, there is but one
Immure nf punishment, and that is,. the depriva-
ace 6- the licence ; 'when sentence is pronounced no
reason is given, lest the falseness or other badness of
it may be used as a means of arraigning the judg-
ment; the sufferer therefore is set adnft, a ruined and
perhaps innocent man ; not an example to the world
of retributive justice on a transgression of laws, but
the victim of a secret tribunal. Such are the flagnin
errors of this system even in good hands ; how much
worse it is in other hands, 1 need scarcely describe,
after the evidence which has been exhibited before the
committee ; dens of wickedness, the lurking places
and rallying points of thieves and women of the
worst kind, are upheld in their licenses, in spite of
the remonstrances of the suffering . neighbourhoods
around them, while at the same time licenses are
withheld from persons of faultless conduct, and in
disregard of the evident wants and annual Olnitions
of Liege and respectable neighbourhoods.
" pas you consider the laws subjecting hlagis-
trAteS to an enquiry into their conduct, in the nature
of a criminal information, effectual for the protection
of the public against their acts 2—By no ibeans ,:.--a
criminal information is a mere &lawns/amen ; there
have been a few cases, to I.; sure, in which the Been-
cers have committed themselves within the reach of
the law ; some have gone open-mouthed to the vic-
tuallers, telling them, that unless they voted for a
particular candidate, they would ruin them by taking
away their licences, and afterwards taking them
„away, upon the victuallers not doing as they were
bid ; but with common caution in abstaining from
declaring reasons, it is next to an impossibility le-
gally to prove a corrupt motive : the greatest incon-
sistency and error may be manifest, but while these
are capable of explanation as errors of judgment, the
law will not visit them as sins of the heart : besides,
a man ruined or seriously injured by the withholding
of a license, is not in a condition to go to law with
a Bench of Justices; and if he does, and succeeds in
convicting them, he can get no relief for himself ;
ail lie can procure is a punishment for his oppressors.
" What powers strike you to be necessary for the
better protection of individuals and the public, in
regard to victualling-houses ?--In the first place, I
would subject victuallers to the government of laws,
Tike other trades.iien ; not to the wills of individuals,
who are oftentimes interested in destroying their pro-
perty, on the one hand, or, en the other, in support-
ing them in the most pernicious courses : I would re-
admit them within the pale and protection of the
Constitution, and at the same time subject the exer.

upon
feiture of his license : to discourage the setting up of
houses where there may not be a good prospect 11
trade without descending to bad means, I would
quite a duty of 2001. to be paid on every new hood
to be licensed.

" With these guards, and remedies provided, but
not otherwise, I should have no fear in emancipating
victuallers and the public from their present state of
bondage. I would break up the existing monopoly;
and leave the setting up the trade of victualling, like
that of other trades, to the free operatiozi of the
wants of neighbourhoods, and the judgment of the
individuals who• embark in it. Flash-houses, and
other disorderly houses, would disappear under the
coercion of laws ; competition, left to tts fair and be-
neficial course, would raise new houses in places where
injurious monopolies are now upheld ; the public
would be victualled at a better and cheaper rate;
publicans would become, comparatively, independent
and respectable; and the office of Justice of the Peace,
reft of the unconstitutional and corruptible Reciting
powei With which it is now enveloped, would rise ih
the estimation of 'the public, and in the chaticters
who would resort to it. I took the libel ty to express
my ideas an this subject, in a letter to Lord Sid-
mouth, last year. These are the regulations which I
suggested. I would just observe, that the regulations
for the ultimate exclusion of brewers'from the owner-
ship of public-houses would be less necessary than at
present, if the monopoly system be thrown open.
" The throwing open of the monopoly system, how-
Altr, d am well aware, will be strongly resisted by
the, great brewers, the distillers, and the license job-
bers, who have fed and thriven so largely on it. It
will be said, that persons who have given large stuns
for licences, upon the expectation that they woula be
defended from rivalry, will be injured, if others in
their trade are allowed to oppose they ; but they can
only be injured where the public is bsnefitei ; their
customers will not leave them to be worse of. The

Government yield no protection to butchers, bakers,
and others, against the rivalry of their fellow-trades-
men ; what especial merit, then, is there in these spe-
culators, to entitle them, above all men, to a perpe-
tual monopoly, I am at a loss to conceive ; they ought
to be thankful for the rich harvests which they have
I already collected, and additionally so, if their mono-
poly be still in a degree favoured by the imposition
of a fine of 2001. upon any one who would have per-
mission to compete with them. _ _

" It will also be pretended, that if the discretionary
power of limiting the number of victualling-houses
he taken away from the licensers. there will be an
excess of such houses ; but the proposed 2001, and
other expenses incidental to the opening of a victual-
ling-house, are pledges against establishments rising
where they cannot thrive by orderly means, when
regulations are provided for shutting them up imme-
diately if disorderly. Where injurious monopolies
exist, if persons should come forward and pay Go-
vernment 2001. each for permission to victual neigh-
bourhoods cheaper, better, or more conveniently, no
public interest can have cause of regret. Even if the
demands of particular places should give rise to two
or three public-houses, which are at present limited
to one, it by no means follows that the frequenters of
the one house will be more disorderly if divided and
dispersed in two or three. On the contrary, experi-
ence roves that the worst practices prevail at houses
enjoying most custom.
" But if the principleirif taking off the restraint on
the supply of victuals, and laying it on the disorders
that may arise in the delivery of them (and the latter
is all that is found necessary, or thought wise in
countries whose public-houses are well conducted)
he thought too radical an alteration to be adopted
throughout England, I submit that it ought, at any
rate, to be adopted in and about the Metropolis ; say
within the limits of the London Police. No altera-
tion can make things worse in the licensing lays of
that district. It is a peculiar jurisdiction--the Ma-
gisterial duties are chiefly performed by gentlemen
who are paid for their labour, they, therefore, have no
claim on the 1.-.itronage or indirect gains of licensing."

before he obeyed, and
• his first testimony.
spade against this man.
40t1 they ought to be, re-
their importAnce, until a
'tration. According to
Police have asserted

em _ em from duty on the
:I that every body
*r ; that they must be

Ives, and n. and rest.
A woman.l9dged iiithe-Rue des Hebdomadiere is
said to have told M. Constans, on the morning of the
day of the murder, of the noise she had heard at nine
at night, had indicated Bancal's house as the place
from whence it proceeded, and he refrained from
going thither: in fine, Jauison was seen at his house
on the morning of' the 20th of March.
Madame Manson exercised, during the journey slie4
has just made, a species of authority over the Gen'.'
krarrnerie that escorted her. In passing through a
ivillage, impatient at the curiosity of the inhabitants,
she put her horse to the gallop, obliging her guards
so. follow her. When she qui:ted her compatriots to,
Ihiviglivered on the frontiers of the Tarn to a new.
`brigade, she could not restra;n some marks of grief,
and made her adieus and thaeks to the military who'
escorted her. M. Gary, the Attorney-General, is ar-
rived at Alby. The President and he interrogated'
the mysterious prisoner for a whole evening. 1 can-
not say that their efforts have hitherto been successful.

THE EVENING STAR.

LONDON.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1818.
THE FUNDS.
PIISCI Pt STOCKS THI. Dia it TIMM o'cuor
Reduced 80f,--Cons. 80--Cons. for Feb. 80}
4 per Cant. 98f--Navy Annuities 105
India Bonds 108 109 pr.—Etch. Bills 19 29pr.

Some time ago we informed our Readers that the
Emperor of RUSSIA had written a letter to the Duke,
of WELLINGTON, inviting him to employ his good
owes as a Mediator between Prussia and France on
11 the private claims of the subjects of the former, for
spoliations and robberies committed by the Revolu-
tionary Government of France and its armies. We
now lay before our Readers what has been transmit-
ted to this country as a copy, or translation, we know
not which, of the letter alluded to. It is a remarka •
ble document, and we doubt not will excite consi-
derabie attention. For our own part we cannot con-
ceive on what ground any indulgence should be
shewn'to Prance in relation to these claims. The
question is A very simple one. The armed bands of
an invader, by requisitions, robbery, and plunder,
accompanied with much bloodshed and many insults
and indignities, despoiled Prussia of much wealth
and property it they carried away, besides what
they Waited and destroyed :—On the other hand,
roused by oppression and injuries, Prussia, in conjunc-
tion with other oppressed and insulted States, sent forth
her warlike sons ; succeeded fa repelling the invader,
and in her turn took poiieision of the French soil and
capital. )flow mar e sequelr4nstead of repaying the
, aggnnicor in kind; instead ofnuining French property
as a secomitence forAsee.aVeshich she-had been
robbed, proposals were listened to, Wllieh ltadtor their

riirli . -1.„..
. elittliter,ttew: ..
• . , ''' " -4
BREIVERS.
I . ~. .• ) , ?I,l* \ t- tar drawn the attention of the Public to the shameful
:10044y of the Brewers, and the arbitrary power which they
assume of axing their own prices on a deteriorated beesrage,
to the great injury of the middling and lower classes of the
' nitg, we deem it our duty to insert the following es-
'ii — " Report of the Police Committee" of last
IRti ..,4
f. , 1 its k contains the sentiments of the Gentleman who is
4edlsatoosi to have called the Meeting for Monday nett on
•
this Interesting subject, and suggests the only remedy for the
removal of LI intolerable grievance, which has too long been
! suffered to exist, and which now forcibly demands the ititer-
. 1
position of Government :
u As you have given a good deal of attention to
the subject of the licensing laws, what appear to you
to be the chief defects of the present system ?—I have
thought much on the subject of public-house licensing
1 and regulation, and have conceived several modes of
modifying the present system of licensing so as to
mend it; but we have already about twenty Acts ,1
Parliament on the subject, and all that has come of
the patch-work is to produce a climax of error. I
think the system is essentially the ver worst which
man's evil genius could have devised. The only use
of it that I could ever discover, wis to raise and
i preserve monopolies against the puk c
~ interest, to
% pot money into the pockets of indi % duals, to pro-
mote hard drinking, and to protect disorderly houses.
it does that which the Legislature ought never to do,
1 viz. it endows certain men with the privilege of for-
.
1 bidding competition in the supply of victuals; and
I
it leaves undone that which I think it is the bounden
duty of the Legislature to provides, viz. wholesome
regulations to, discourage, and prompt remedies to
correct, dru enness, obscenity and other disorders.
What but is and private wrongs can be expected
of such a ystem ?
, .
n So ng as particular sets of men are privileged
to limi to particular persons and places the supply of
a necessary of life, corrupt connections and mono-
polies will be formed to the injury of the Public.
Sn long as such persons may ophold or put down
victualling houses at pleasure, the worst houses will
i . find -supporters, and the best lie insecure of protec-
tion; so long as this money-making and uncontroul-
s N
tyrannical men will struggle to get in, and often still
i , succeed in getting into the Commission, and the of-
fice
as to the usle of the system for suppressing disorders,
. strong and unconstitutional.as it is, against the pro-
' pony ofindividuals, and against the interest of the
Public, it is impotence itself for the object of keepin
public-houses in order. If, for instance, bad prac-
tices prevail in October, the cognizance of them is
• deferred until the next September: by that time, the
victualler has learnt how to make his peace, or at ,
worst, he shifts the occupation to a new tenant, just
before the licensing day, and there is an end of the '
sin ; but should the Justices determine on a strict]} -
• severe course, and take away the licence, the owner I
of the house, who may have had the misfortune to
I i
get a bad tenant, is punished for his misfortune by
i
1 the deprivation of his property, while the transgressor 1
.
walks off with impunity.
. I
~ And how is an imputed transgression ascertained? :
a fair trial never takes place ; the sufferer seldom ;
knows who is his accuser or what is the accusation ;
e
the organ Of information is usually the High Con-
stable, a man who may be said to be corrupt by ti
4 . virtueof his office, for he undertakes laborious duties „
without any ostensible reward ; his remuneraticn 1.
c
being derived from the custom of the publican, whom a
he generally holds in contribution by setting up de t
trade of a coal-merchant ; the Justices therefore aie t
liable to be imposed on by interested and false infor- ,
!nation, and from the manner in which the issuing e
i, of licences is run through, there is not even time to
enter into a proper investigation ; furthermore, if e
the complaint be truly .averred, whether it be on a ,
trifling fault, or a series of crimes, there is but one ,
f i u
iii erasure
6 if punishment, and that is,. the depriva-
i'' tion - the licence ; 'when sentence is pronounced no is
reason is given, lest the falseness or other badness of
'
' 1 it may be used as a means of arraigning the judg-
\ ..
merit; the sufferer therefore is set adnft, a ruined and t
perhaps innocent man ; not an example to the world r'
of retributive justice on a transgression of laws, but ‘'.
' ) the victim of a secret tribunal. Such are the flagran ttti
errors of this system even in good hands ; how much
worse it is in other hands, 1 need scarcely describe, g
after the evidence which has been exhibited before the 1‘
committee ; dens of wickedness, the lurking places CI
and rallying points of thieves and women of the
i worst kind, are upheld in their licenses, in spite of
the remonstrances of the suffering . neighbourhoods
4.1 around them, while at the same ume licenses are
withheld from persons of faultless conduct, and in
I . disregard of the evident wants and annual Ottitions Y'
of Large and respectable neighbourhoods. a
. ~ do you consider the laws subjecting Magis- 4
..,
'trate: to an enquiry into their conduct, in the nature u
,
of a criminal information, effectual for the protection h
`i of the public against their acts 2—By no Means ;—a d .
I criminal information is a mere hrsawnsfuhnets ; there h'
I t have been a few cases, to I. sure, in which the licen- CJ.
curshave committed themselves within the reach of u
the law ; some have gone open-mouthed to the vic- Si
mailers, telling them, that unless they voted for a 1(
, .
particular candidate, they would ruin them by taking si
away their licences, and afterwards taking them I''
s , „away, upon the victuallers not doing as they were fl
'0 bid ; but with common caution in abstaining from 3
i declaring reasons, it is next to an impossibility le- g
gaily to prove a corrupt motive : the greatest incon- u,,
' 1 '''' sistency and error may be manifest, but while these c
i .., are capable of explanation as errors of judgment, the 0,
as sins law will not visit them of the heart : besides, °
a man ruined or seriously injured by the withholding
i.
of a license, is not in a condition to go to law with v
i a Bench of Justices; and if he does, and succeeds in /
' convicting them, he can get no relief for himself ; a
ail lie can procure is a punishment for his oppressors.
4 " What powers strike you to be necessary for the s
! i better protection of individuals and the public, in
regard to victualling-houses ?-_ln the first place, I i
would subject victuallers to the government of laws, P
I i like other tradesmen ; not to the wills of individuals,
ns
who are oftentimes interested in destroying their pro- i
' ?city, on the one hand, or, en the other, in support- e
mg them in the most pernicious courses : I would re- a
admit them within the pale and protection of the h
Constitution, and at the same time subject the ezer- a
..A
I ,
t ,
t...•,.

4 1 - . rise of their trade to legal fds, 'for the preserva..l desired lease to writ! a letter be
tion of public !Urals :I i d4ruhibit siseviiskiallet 'the same Morning he underwent ]
from sispplyini Minor en 's einises tdani`persoil Some grave Char are ma
*
Publk to the shameful visibly intoxicated, or acting uf any say disorderly, irtil 4411 feel with , .caution
Lary power which they tit to reputed therenetiftmd rwoujd furnish him with coked, on account If their
deteriorated beverage, die powers Of a peactrofficer, to ticte any one rnisba Positive and juridical doesonstra
dlower classes of the having Gillis premises into 6ustody : I would place Pdhlic ieport, the &tants of I
sert die following es- before his eyes full and clear regulations for his on oath that he, dismissed then
a committee" of Luc guidance, and subject the breach of diem to penaltiei 19th of Mark under the•isret
the Gentleman who is (quickly recoverable) proportioned to the offence • was tired the daf after the fair
so themselves, and might go ant
r for Monday neat co and further, upon the verdict of a Jury, to the far-