The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-01-27 00:00:00

THE .S'IA

,or igatiat-.4p..ress"" ittriot.r"rotic-a,-----„:
,:„...4 the.cbief end Ind design of civil
society, and for thht purpose laws Wive likt hairier!
and Governments Isloblished. Whenever, theeefore,.
it he ppeeed. that sie,brsosst powerful individuals confe..,
derated together to ettede ;bedews sod exercise asbi-
•
triry confront over the rights and. litserties of ethers,.
. .
it became necesseiry to Call. upon the. Public totailiel
the oppressed, and defeat the measures of thefr op-
pressors by every possible means of. counterectires.—,'
It was (he 834) in conformity with the principtes:ef
distributive justice, and to defend the commenisy in,i
general from the trievittand,sprice of greed, and
ambitions Men, that Magna Charts declared, that'
The subjects of this Realm should have'itt their liber-
ties and =free customs to hold to them and their heirs'
for ever. And so inviolable were their liberties coo-.
sidered, that in the reign of Henry 111., the Arcls-.'
bishop of Canterbury and 13 Bishops, in the presence II
of the King and his whole Council, most solemnly
denounced the heavy curse of the Church, or sentence
of excommunication, against all people who secretly
or openly, by deed, word, or counsel, should make
Statutes, or observe them after they were made, or
should introduce customs, or keep them after they
were introduced, which in any manner might abridge
or restrain the liberties contained in :Wagon Chsrts;
and the aim. dreadful curse was extended to all the
writers, law-makers, councillors, and others, who
should, directly or indirectly, do any act contrary to
those liberties, or presume to give any judgment
against them; and in order to perpetuate this curse,
all the Prelates set their seals to the denunciation,
which had ever since bean recorded, anti embodied in
oar Ststote Book. Hence the Meeting would per.
ceive, that in those conscientious times, both Church
and State co-operated to support the rights of indi-
viduals.- (Hear, hear !) —But now the corruption
of the times was such, that a race of serili.l stiventuaers
had been enabled, under the sanction of Legislative
enactments, to colleague together, and usurp the civil
and' chartered rights of a class of trailers, whose
services were indispensitile to the Public, and who
were moreover otiligki by Jaw to afford protection
and hospitality to every guest who entered' their
dwellings. In this 'respect alone the condition of an
innkeeper ought to be free. Ile use a trader, awl
:Was certainly as much Untitled as others to site full
benefit and enjoyment of his rights, liberties, and
free customs; but protec.ed as an [nuke per former-
ly used to be by the Legislature, innevatiuns of Isle
years had crept into our 'AKA, and established a
Licensing System, which had reduced Victuallers tit
the most abject deg. relation, and pre:lotted them
from exercising their rotations as ill ',they British
traders were entitled to do_r 'bar, hear.ll.4 sys.
tem, which had tended to create a moue/sots.,
whereby the poor were deprived of their arcustnmed
comforts, the price of a most necessary article of sub-
sistence arbotraril) oisitliired, and she mermunt of,
discontent excited throughout the coulers.-111earl
—lie observed, that it was very 0011 known, that
the Licensing System enahlorl the Brewers to con.
federate together, and raise the price of beer when-
ever they thought proper, which was a thing that
could never be done in this country, till the begin-
ning of the present trips, whets an Am was made,
with the advice of the Lords iiritnel, who entirely
forgot the dreadful anathema which their ecclesias-
tical predecessors, the Prelates, had denounced
against all those who should act contrary to the free
customs of the People, which Act gave a liberty to
Brewers to raise the price of Beer, any Law, Sta-
tist., or curse to the contrary notwithstanding.—[A
laugh I-- This, he COUIPAIIWI, was the death blow to
all the former provisions made for the benefit of she
poor in the supply of beer. From that . period, he
ststed, fraling Justices arid 13rewerg hail conspired
against the liberties• of the Puhlicsns, and agsiust
the health and pockets of the poor and labour-
tog classes, by establishing a monopoly, which,
acrorilitig to the law laid down by Log(' Coke, in his
Institutes oil the Laws of England, was against
the Liberties 'declared and granted by Magna
Charts. It wss untiecessary, he slid, for him to
iletsil tbe grievances which the Public at large, and
particularly. the poor, suffered by the present System
of Licensjng and the li!eeets' MttooPolYs because
they md be fesed, illustrated pretty much at,
large, in the late Police Report; bst be must ob-
serve, that however grieirousty the 'practices of
Brewers might operate A-Er the 'irvitiibitants of 6114
Nitiv;Peiis, the.plor in the cnontry,-he 'contended,
Were infinitely more aggrieved .by the •tpractices of
country Brewers. He stated, that mast of the Pub.
lie
Iwltonies in Berkshire, where he 'hat) lately re-
sided;' were tinder the controul of Brewers or:
lTeiritsdebtirs, end' that the evil had been so
'loverely felt by the Lsbourtng, Poor, as well as
the Pliblieici, •tiit severe! of the County Magi,.
trntes had petitioned the LegislatUre list yogi on the:
,subject. Many' a the Pubtiestes were
.Iyissin'd not
ate deal with .aor other persnus .than theit. resPelive'
'lan fords, for beer, wine, spirits, and other neces-
series. If a PUblit-hoote happened to get isito Jibe'
llyieands ef. a , Sp. irit-de,eadle. e,. be. obliged his tenant!. 41,41
itiriblie4aisr
riOec:l;6otd..Pmolaltr..t!itilLer 9d(‘Eli.a. Brewer,Ceter.br),n!ar)
nb etrlb4e:Pe
mbhrr.illnGpre°ni:did:tisbYt antis
ritiuie
Physiciant tenant,
!d*ki frroitpst 1
tb 'fisasitt .11 ' ' throughoutthe towns.end vii-
ese
~... ry resvers.
)ageh,' wss Triipiently of such esecrableqUOity, as
to diive the poor occasionally tither use of ardent
Spirit 4 fn lleisield them tn'abasie the Government
, .la. ... . ... .
1 every rebitaboese as The cease utthese.evils..—
ci. S. adisittedt that !here teese many aretre_Ke of.
eat betteititeike iiad. integrity. Some tie
_knew
stio,mtbe.tieili litapected, Miring *his tteitteuce in
*rliatiiie; to As years' ISIS and 1816; he was
Miffed; to discontinue the use of Brewers` beer in
oosesjoence Of the general badness of its quality.—
; -tivi'it' 'einivirOct, tti4t forrherly porter was a
Cry ootritietts beterage, for tssenty-two years ago
et, porter as i ioedicine'; o did so, and fled tea.
.
[
ioiss sattiketorily to retriember, abet after Using ;one
tor, r-ros! ' 'mob Os, 0%10- happeded to be prechred.,
4sise4 I ei the
istemer of late.ilit. Caked, hi neerlett no
Monger a physician. Sbnse of the,por ter be Met' hit,
Hbout town floe/04s phyiiihi'dted.--( Laugh'ler.)—lf
Atte porter and beer of the Brewers. of the presen,t_dei
"ere of gliseise salubriopi eltriiiiy;thrPubitc.,m o."Fthl,
k re no 'cause !dr comPtaiaft.t.lyi was peClVldet!,
owing .
'at to.
the MortepolY sii. Public-hisi,,s)ea,‘ she,
bealth of the ConifneoitY tees Thilittle-coor olte3 to
,
Ailte'ireparitieg of malt linos?, esrcial, kF I, ,illg!

;....,

TESTAAN.

'—^''—.,.fr...ci•_

~~~

;.`
••• ". • • • 40., _...

entiniirlikeyiell, many el gehapt wept Nagistraina in.
tinge respective! districts, and, to whom
.gemplaitits
' stoold be Unavailing. Besides all" this, he said, the
tenant,. of • Poblic-hosses in• E 1 Borough 'tennis in
,ile,k.shire, were 'AO to iota et Elite.ions *coat&
AL to the will of their leagilinda, or ,be termed oat'
of, thiir hooses; so that it was epparent,thet4lse.pra-
s,int System of Lice:ll%in( not only, affected the lisle
andeproperties of the Publie;bot controlled the dear.
est prerogative Olin Englishoiat4 ; namely, the right
-of giving an eabiessod vote ettrthet.Election of a Re-
present. ti re in Parliament-e-y(Heor,. Israr !)—T he
crisis had now arrited, w)ticbdemanded that somq.
thing should be- done to corb'the rapacity of men,
Who would dare to abridge the comforts of the poor;'
and; Mr. S. thought, there could be null:in; ao ef.
foetus! as the total abolition of the Slate Trade, asi
it regarded the licensing of particular Victualling.
houses. There would then be an end of monopoly,
and competition would be.promoted, which would
certainly hring.haptier atuttleality of twee to its fair
and natural standard, at all limes. We ought,- he,
continued, on all occasions, to endeavour to prevent
Magistrates from trading in English liberty • for he
believed, that if one dais of melt were suffered to be
enslaved with. impunity, another class would share
the same fate, till slavery became universal- If the
present arbitrary ru e of granting Public-house
Licences, and the gri ances consequent thereupon,
were passively submit ad to, he said, wej might per.;
haps be obliged• hereafter to have Government
Licences for every thing. The danger had been re-'
presented fully to the Meeting; it. was for the Pubs
lie to avert it. if the principle of usurpation was
not vigorously oppciaed in this instnnce, the Public
might be compelled to put out their fires and candles
at t he sound of a Magisterial curfew.—(Applouse )"
Mr. Houses admitted that the remarks of those
who 'poke were applicable to some Brewers, but not
all. The defect, he said, was in the Licensing System,
with which those respectable men who encouraged a
free• trade had nothing to do, and would most,
willingly join in a petition to Parliament for a
remedy. It was, he said, a fact, that those
who had the greatest trade, were possessed of the
smallest number of leases; because the excellence
of their article rendered it unnecessary to force a
trade, a resource to which many applied in order to
have their wretched stuff swallowed. There was
another thing highly injurious: some Publicans were
in the habit of making seven butts of beer oot of.the
lit sent them by the Brewers. (Cries of no, no !)
lie referred them to the conviction of two Publicans
in the Exchequer, for the truth of the statement.
Mr. Bcatinosr said, that if the Hun. Gentleman
had waited, he would have heard just such a resolu-
tion as that to which be alluded. '1 he first Resolutions
were declaratory, and if the Meeting approved them,
he should then move,
That a Committee he appointed, to be entitled
" Tee Atiti.'Monopoly Committee," for the purpose
of reducing the regulations now agreed to into a Pe.
tition to Parliament, or in their discretional framing
and presenting a BM in the spirit thereof.
Mr. GIRDLER (a Magistrate) observed, there was
a Monopoly in bread as well as beer ; the'', the
quality of see was as bad as the other, and that be-
tween the two the Public were to be poisoned.
Mr. [AWRY explained some of the calculations
which he had previously stated to the Meeting. The
great evil, he said, was in caressive taxation. He
was satisfied the Brewers would join in repressing the
teal abuses in the Licensing Sys eta.
Mr. !lonics trusted the title of 66 Anti-Alonopoli
Committee" would be omitted, as calculated to create
•
differences.

A Gentleman, whose same we could not learn,
said, so far from taking from the title of the'Corn-
mittee, they should add the words " Criminal Con-
spiracy."
The Resolutions were thencarriell, and the Thanks
of the Meeting were then voted unanimously to Sir
Henry Wilson, the Chairman, and to Mr. Beaumont,
who expressed their acknowledgments to the company
for the honour that had been done them.
The Meeting, at five o'clock, adjourned.