, 1882-04-01

eminent must maintain with the Majority
that the fines be fixed from Is to 100 dol
lars; the rates from 200 to 500 as proposed
in the original draft and from 100 to 500
as proposed by the Minority are quite dis
proportiOnate, to the rate of fines IN the
Danish legislation. 1t was not quite cor
rect when it was supposed by the Minority
that the lowest rate OF fines must be
inflicted for the first offence; it is left
entirely to the discretion of the judiciary
authorities, according to the circumstances
and the individual on whom the fine is to
be inflicted, to choose between $40 and
500, and circumstances might occur by
which it might even be found requisite to
infict the highest fine OF 500 for the first
offence. 1t appears quite unnecessary to
increase the amounts of fines beyond what
is prescribed for offences of the same kind
in town. A fine f. i. of $50 on a planter
would certainly, he thought, give him a
good lesson, and the half of that be a
sufficient incentive for reporting him. The
Government therefore could not agree to
anything beyond what the Majority
here proposes. With regard to the mini
mum to be fixed for the sale of rum by
planters and other manufacturers of rum,
he was not sure that the Government
could be so positive in case a general feel
ing should find expression through a
majority in the Council in favour of hav-
ing a higher rate than five. or ever 100
gallons, fixed as the minimum. He was
inclined to believe that the Government
would not lay any particular stress on that
pOint.-In his opinion, it is correctly stat
ed by the honorable 3rd Member for Ere
deriksted's Country District (Junghans)
and is also in accordance with his own
experience, that it has been a general
opinion among planters that the sale OF
Rum in small quantities is not allowed.
Whether this opinion originates from the
Law on trades and professions or from the
Ordinance on RumShOpS, it has been felt
and admitted, that it was not right to sell
rum in small quantities on estates. The
planter dong so did not feel himself on
safe ground. His experience extended
over 10 years, and only lately had the
opinion. been advanced by others that
planters could sell Rum in any quantity.
He therefore thought it rather dangerous
now to legalize the selling of . gallons as
proposed. 1t might benefit parties, who
never thought of such a thing in that
manner, to make a better price out OF
their rum, to the great detriment OF the
general interest, and it might also be queS-
ti0nable whether the morality OF all plant
ers would sufficiently warrant against
abuse. He begged to add that the strict
measures proposed by the Minority would,
not be a protection to the RumShop-
keepers, but to the merchants in gene
raj; it was not, as remarked by an honor
able member from every body in town
that rum in smaller quantities could be
bought-but only from Rumshopkeepers
and from merchants on their paying a tax
Of 80 quarterly.
3rd C~rownmember (FdberJ said he could
not agree with the Majority, nor with the
Minority, as both have gone to extremes:
the Majority when proposing that the
limit Of sale for planters should be 5 gal
Ions, and the Minority when proposing
that limit fixed at 100 gallons. He would
in the irStnamed respect beg to state that
it would lie difficult for the Authorities to
exercise due control, if it shall be allow
able to sell rum in quantities as low as 3
gallons. We must also bear in mind that
We are not legislating for the present time
alone but also for the future, and here 1T
appears, that V if it be prescribed that
the informer shall nave half of the fines,
it would be next to impossible to prevent
sales of smaller quantities, since there VIII
always be ways and means by which the
buyer and seller render it impossible to
obtain proof of a tranSgreSSiOn; we have
to-day heard how easy that is, in fact we
know that those things have been practlsed
already at times. Besides that, 1T does
not follow that because merchants and
traders in town, who pay a certain amount
for the right of selling, have the right to