The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-03-08

regular crusade in support of the individ-
ual trader as against the municipality.
BY the agitation, notwithstanding, munich
palization, marches ahead with gigantic
strides Thus it appears that up to the
end Of March last the total capital pro-
vided by corporations outside London for
reproductive works amounted TO s6o5 SOL
500. of which all but SO, 900 90 was Dor
rowed- The average annual working ex-
penses for the four years ending March
81. 1902. were sl.143.53O and average net
profit after allowing repayment Of capital.
payment Of interest, and depreciation. YVES
s., Ssl 40. Gas works were the most pro
fitable undertakings. s1.s.i.125 being ce
ceived from them. Tramways yielded q
profit of 1885, (Ss7.S7o coming from liaes
not worked by the corporations); water
works. $50, 90; and markets, $ilS.Sl0. Be tbs
and washhouses, however, enrailed a bur
den of s624, go. and burial grounds. ss1s,-
$50. There were also losses of $Ss.SSS on
electricity undertakings. 1884, $50 on work.
ing-class dwellings and SSSS. go on har-
bors. piers, etc These are all deducted
from the gross profit In arriving at the
net of s1.9s1. 405.
In yet a fourth direction, also outside
politics. there are ample signs of an Eng
Esh awakening. 1t has been impossible
to take up a provincial newspaper any
time during the past three weeks without
coming across lengthy reports of magis-
terial ii,cCo e1sngs out of which liquor IL
cense holders have come with ruffled
plumes- Speaking Of the country gener-
ally. there has been witnessed what al
most looks like an organized determine
ton to refuse licenses wherever oppor-
tJnity occurs. II has been the rarest thing
TO find a new liquor license granted. II
has not been an unfreGueut thing to find
renewals refused and the net result is
the lament of the publican and the publ
cans master. 10 wit. the brewer. OF
course, the natural inference would be
that this greater rigor on the part OF
magistrates is a consequence Of the new
liquor law of last session; but that is
not the case The justices in refusing the
renewal of licenses are acting under old
powers they already possessed. The new
act has certainly created black list-that
is 10 say. a police record posted in every
public house of habitual druhkards in
the district, to serve whom with liquor
is to incur dire PENALTIES. II is also GER
tain that the discussion which the act
provoked during its passage through Par
lament recalled magistrates to the enor-
nifty of the drink problem in British
cities and TO their duty in regard TO IT.
The net result is CONSERVATION in the
liquor camp. Publican and brewer are
CRYING aloud for compensation. Now com
pensation wouldd il is said. mean an
additional penny in the pound on the in
come tax. and TO politician is bold enough
to hold out the slightest hope that Par
lament would make this payment out CT
the Imperial Exchequer. 1t is more than
probable that this pressure for compensa-
ton will increase as the session proceeds.
4 may even bring the government into
a tight place. but so many political trou-
rles have come upon Radical and Tory
Ministries alike from this single cause
that Mr. Balfour's cabient is not likely
to be easier to jump into the hornet
nest What has been done has been done
by the justices on their own initiative,
and though the state has provided no
compensation for deposed license holders,
CONDENSATION has in many cases been
provided out of the joint purse or the
brewers left in possession. Mr.. Balfour's
mo" would compel the trade to organize
a compensation scheme of its own, and
so soon as that is done and magistrates
ore relieved from the reproach or in
ficting hardship upon the publican. TINS
country may expect to see the number OF
its licensed houses reduced TO something
like the real needs Of the public