St. Tammany farmer., 1907-11-30
TEMPERANCE CAUSE.
Making HeadWay I'm Great
Britain as Well as i'm
United States.
Legislative Matters, Riot
i'm Louisville, and
Other Matters.

New York, Nov. 24.-The Herald
has this from London:
The British Government has yield
ed to the teetotalers, and intends tt
try to make the EggIish people
sober by &C: of ParIiament. The
Liberal Party has often promised
TO deal with The drink question. L
now finds that it cannot back ou>
of it.
1t is understood that one clause
Of the blll decided upon by the
Cabinet will provide for the separa-
ton Of the drink business Of gr0cers
from their other branches of trade
This is an attack on the evil of
women's secret drinking by making
it hard for them by purchasing al
cohol stealthily. Every body ad-
mits that the drinking habit of the
people of Great Britain, especially
the working classes, is great evil,
which there should be an earnest
and systematic effort to keep with.
in bounds. On all sides of politics
it is believed that If the Gothen-
burg or any similar system could
be worked IN such way as to Sc
cure the simple ends its advocates
| put forth without doing mischief
III other ways it would, of course,
be good thing, and would com
mand general sy mpathy ana sup
port. But.the question is whether
that is in any way practicable in
England, and whether, if practica
BILE it would really promote sobri
ETY., and would not involve the i'll
PRODUCTION of dangerous pr:nclpl,s
and experiments in local govern
ment.
Although conssntlng to bring in
the bill, the Government is not
likely to satisfy the demand for the
teetotalers, who say that to sell
drink at all is wicked and ought not
to be tolerated in any circumstances,
and that puhlicans have no right to
compensation. Un the other hand,
there are many people, including
the most absiemious, who hold u as
automatic that it Is as impossible to
put down drinking altogether as ii
would be to put down eating, and
that it would be utterly unjust TO
deprive the puhlicans of liveli.
hood, in which they have invested
their money, without compensation.
The bill OF The Government will
be objected to on the ground that
it is an attempt to create new and
perilIous precedents, with the
probability OF the project becoming
a vast speculation, the enc Of which
may prove to be very unsatisfnc
tory. The forcible suppression of
what has been hitherto lawful trade
would be an arbitrary measure new
to English ideas and traditions.
It would also create kind OF patron
age in the hands of the local ma
jority which might be used In a
very dangerous way, and it is con
tended that there IS no security that
this system might not ultimately be
used To extend instead of reduce
the sale of liquor on account of the
profits going to rate payers.
According to public trustee Of
The Brewers Society, out OF 6e6
members, 29S represent capital
amounting to l73,000,000 pounds
and 368 capital estimated at 49,
0G0. 900 pounds, so that the So
clety represents total Of l9l ,000,-
900 pounds in the United Kingdom.
There are LOO odd brewers. THIS
ls a big interest to try TO extinguish,
but, say the leaders of the liquor
trade, to extinguish the brewer and
the public house would not ex-
tinguish the drunkari.
1t is also pointed out by the
brewers that the trsda provides the
whole cost of the Navy. BESIDES six
or seven millions toward the Army.
How long, it is asked, will the Gov
ernment be guilty Of robbing the
trade Peter to pay the temperance
Paul?
The National United Temperance
Council will next week forward a
memorial to the Prime Minister
and the Chancellor of the Excheq-
1 nor and the Hnmp SapratarU uru.