, 1882-07-15

especially be necessary to regulate the
Retail business with Rum, to prescribe
more stringent rules for RumshopS in
order to prevent abuses. The greater the
limitation found necessary to impose on
estates, all the more necessary will
it be, 10 prescribe more strict control with
Bum shops, in order that the attainment
of that object, which affords the only war
rant for such a limitation, should not fail
to be realized. Provided satisfactory con-
troll could be secured, it would be of great
Importance, if at least one Retail-ShOp
could be established in the country, as
such a Shop would to a great extent meet
the wants that are now being administer
ed to by the many secret and hence more
dangerous petty Betail-ShopS.
The Committee does not, however, see
any occasion to take up the matter for con-
sideration to that extent for the Commit
tee would thereby go entirely beyond that
quite individual point, which the proposed
Draft has for its object to regulate. But the
Committee would consider it Very desira-
BILE, if the Administration, in the same
manner as it has already promised eventu-
ally to propose notifications of the
rules on the sale of provisions and the
like in the country, would also take
the question about the sale of rum and
spirits under consideration in its entirety
and nuke proposals for an adjustment of
the matter, that were more suited than the
present rules, to secure against or prevent
abuses and the Committee takes leave
therefore to propose the following Order
of Day
The Council while recommending to the
Administration to take under cOnsidera-
ton the question of a better organisation
of the trade with and the retailing in this
JA,A1 r. Dr., -l-J ,+1,, -, 800 nV~on
tualIy to bring in proposals on the matter,
proceeds to the next item. on the Order of
the Day.
st. Croiv 3oth June 1882.
f. COULTER, PETER LEMMING.
Chairman.
j. w. WILLARD, G. S. WASSARD.
Speaker.
The Minority Brown has had no intima-
ton Of a meeting of the Committee, Of
which he has the honor to be amember, hav-
ing been called, after the Committees ma
jority and minority had conformity rendered
their Report, dated 3rd March 1882, on the
Draft Of Ordinance for prohibiting the
Sale Of Rum on estates nor has the
Minority had any knowledge OF the motives
that have led to the decision represented
above as chat of the Committee.
The Minority cannot concur in the views
expressed in the foregoing, nor in the pro,
poSal maze therein. The Minority hnds
no reason to depart from the views express
sed in its Report OF Ord March last ON the
Draft in question, and must claim that as
the Majority has now recalled its propo-
sal Of Amendments, the MinOrity's amend
ments should be placed before the council
for vote.
The Minority would add, that the sup
posed fact Of there existing a diversity of
opinion rs to the minimum to be fixed for
the selling of Rum on estates, cannot be
considered as a sufficiently good reason
for doing nothing at all in the matter,
which for some time has been agirating
the public mind, and is now before the
Council, namely measures to suppress the
growing evil Of habitual drunkenness
among rural ~labOurers, arising from the
unrestricted and illegal sale Of Rum on
estates in larger and smaller quantities.
If perfect unanimity of opinion on any
public matter or legislative measure is
to be looked for as a condition for carrying
out such measure, the Minority fears hat
it would be almost impossible ever to at.
tain a result. 1t should be the Colonial
Councils work to reconcile differences of
opinion by argument or calculations, or
at least, to make itself the exponent OF
what is the prevailing opinion in the
Community. In the present instance it
would seem that the diversity of opinions
mostly touches the point as to whether
there is a legal prohibition, or not, already