The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1839-03-05 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

TEMPERANCE.—We are extremely happy to find that there is some prospect, through the exertions of Lord Brougham, of rooting out of the land those greatest of, all nuisances—those greatest of all disgraces to this country—tippling shops. We have for many years—that is, ever since we came to years of discernment--considered these houses the greatest sources of misfortune to the lower classes of this community, and that their total suppression would be one of the most desirable events that could possibly occur.  In writing thus, we conceive we are advocating the cause of the poor, of the industrious, of the radical, of the whig, and of the tory ; we are pleading the cause of the husband, the wife, and the children. These houses present every temptation to the bus.  band to spend his hours abroad, instead of at home ; to spend his little earnings on that poison, spirituous liquor, instead of appropriating them to the necessities and comforts of his family; and to undermine and ruin his constitution, by the abuse of that which, under proper restrictions, might be of service and comfort to him.  Independently of these considerations, these houses are the rendezvous for the most abandoned and unprincipled men. If a conspiracy is to be made, the public-house is the place of appointment. If a dwelling is to be plundered, an individual robbed on the highway, or a murder to be committed, the plan is concocted, arranged, and matured in the tap-room. How often have we met in the street the wife dragging home, from the public-house, the half-dead husband ; or the husband conveying home the degraded wife ! Let the Newgate Calendar be searched; let the dying speeches of those who have forfeited their lives to the laws of their country be examined ; and let the confessions of those who were once in comfort and comparative independence, but now in indigence and misery, be collected ; and we venture to say, that nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of every thousand had their origin in tippling or dram shops. We care not whether such places be sanctioned by a whig or a tory government, we shall ever raise our voice against them; and we most heartily wish Lord Brougham every success in his praiseworthy undertaking.  We are equally indifferent as to whoin we please or displease by these remarks : the question with us is not whether this or that course will please our friends, but whether we do that which we believe to be calculated to benefit the public at large, and particularly the poorer classes of the public. We are not tee-totallers, but we are decided enemies to all kinds of intemperance, and still greater enemies, if possible, to any and every thing calculated to induce, tempt, or seduce the working people from domestic habits, and from the paths of sobriety and industry.  These remarks have no reference whatever to those respectable public-houses established for the convenience and advantage of the stranger and the traveller. N.B. We are anxious to learn, from good authority, whether our present Town Council directly or indirectly encourage or discourage these nuisances.