Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1852-10-20
FOR TIE ADVERTISER.
LICENSE IN EDGEFIELD VILLAGE.

LICENSE IN EDGEFIELD VILLAGE.
MEssRs. EDlToRs Liquor is not the only s,imu
lus which has triumphed over the impotcnt attempt
OF various Governments to prevent, or suppress its
use. Tea, Coffee, Tobacco, Opium and Gambling
have all in their turn been under the ban Of Govern
ment srd certain class of conservators or reform
ers in society. Yet such opposition has about rs
near attained its end, as did Xcrxes, when ho com
mandcd the IIellespont to cease its angry flow.
The broad and rapid River" as Homer terms it,
dashed on, regardless Of the impotent rage of its
would-be master. So too will tho use Of stim 90
on in defiance Of Legislation, Sons of Temperance,
Antl-Tobacco Societies and all other opposition as
long as man rctans his present constitution and
passions.
believe, it is IN admitted fact by all intelligent
Chemists and Physicians, that Tea, Coffee, Tobacco
and Opium are all mild narcotics exhilcranc, ben
small quantities. but pern;cous and destructive like
liquor, when employed in excess Coffee However,
is generally regarded the least so, yet even this is
necessary and social stimulus, and hence it is, that
we have heard of Coffee lIouses'' in our cities,
ever since 1862, when according to Moselcy, the
first one was established by Edwards, the Turkish
merchant, who, to get rid of the countless friends
and visitors, who throngcd his house to sec and
taste this new sort Of liquor, allowed his Greek
serva2S to open public Cofiec-IIouse in ST. Mi
chael's Alley, Cowhill, london, on the very spot
where tho Virginia Cofe House now. stands The
novelty Of the beverage. and the growing demand
for it, soon caused other houses to be established,
till at length they became the most fashionable re-
sorts of any places about town, so much so, that
their keepers could afford in 1860 to pay duty of
eight cents, or sixteen cents per gallon, on I" all
Coffee, Chocolate, Sherbet and Tea'' made and sod
The duty on the deeoction from tho brands was
soon afterwards abolished and Customs duty
levied instead, besides moderate excise for license
to retail the charming berries of Yemen" which
is the law in England nou, with respect both to Tea
and Coffee.
1t would scem that Coffee Houses, or places
where all beverages nildcr than liquor were made
and sod, were regarded somewhat in tho light of
Grog Shops and had to pay license accordingly
and it was perhaps owing partly to this opinion of
them, as well as the injury which he honestly sup
posed they were doing his Subjects but mostly, no
doubt, to the suspicious anxiety and fear of losing
his lately restored Crown, that Charles II was III
duced in 1875 to attempt the suppression of Coffee
Houses, upon the ground that they public
nusances places Of resort for disacctcd persons.
Or in the language of the Proclamation, "Pcrsons
and scandalous reports to the defamation Of his
Majesty's Government and to the destruction of tho
peace and quiet Of the nation" 1t Was in vain that
the judges sustained the legality and CONSTITUTIONAL
sy Of their Soveregn's proclalna,ion-in vain that
they decided in that boa>tcd lind of Omnipotcnt
judge, mode and Common Law, that retailing
Coffee might be an innocent trade, but it was used
to nourish sedton, spread lies and scanda.ize great
men, it might also be common nuisance" and must
be suppressed. The people laughed both the Exc
cutive and Judicial branches Of the Government to
,corn and drank their Coffee in public Coffee Houses.
1t was equally in vain that high duties were levied
Coffee but whether for revenue or prevention Of
importation it is needless to enquire, yet as late as
! 1888 nine times as much was smugglcd into Eng
land as paid the duty at tho Custom House. So
thoroughly Parliament convinced, after the trial
of alternate high and low duties, Of the folly Of the
formor that in 1924 the duty on Coffee was reduced
to six pence per pound, at which believe it has
continued ever since, to the great advantage Of the
English people, in increased revenue, increased
consumption Of Coffee and decreased consumption
of spirits; besides lessenng the crimes Of snug
Cling and adulteration and the consequent perjury
so frequent at trials for violation Of tho laws
The stimulus Of Tea a strong infusion of which
will produce incredible excitement and wakefulness
in most constitutions, has encountered successfully
also the opposition which has been made to it on
both sides of the Atlantic. 1t was introduced into
England about the same time that Coffee was, and
was subject to the same tax till l689 when instead
of charging duty on the infusion made and sold at
Coffee Houses, in order that private families might
enjoy tho luxury at home, Government levied the
very moderate Excise duty of five shllings or about
one dollar and twenty-five cents per pound OH the
Tea itself, besides the license for rctaingit Tea
is generally esteemed more fashionable and cx-
quisite luxury than Coffee, and on this account a
higher duty is now and has always been levied upon
it in England than upon Coffee, and because also,
the arstocracy who drink it excessively, If not in
urously, are better able and willing to pay the tax.
But as the taste for Tea is az common to mankind
as that Of liquor or any other stimulus, the high
duties Of the British Government could not prevent
the poor from drinking snuggled Tea and conse-
quently Government defeated its own object-Re.
venue.
ADAM SMITH says that the rich as well as tire poor
will buy smsgged goods on account Of their cheap
ness and the poor Of Great Britain would have been
willing to pay moderate duty on the smuggcd
TIA that they might thereby enjoy the beverage
lawfully and increase the Revenue besides. Bat the