NO SURRENDER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1653, 3 September 1887, Page 2

NO SURRENDER.

One of the points connected with proposed legislation to prohibit sal© of Intoxicating liquors, Is that of compeniation, and upon this aspect of the question; there is no little difference of opinion* The following are the concluding paragraphs of a vlgoroaa article on the subject appearing m a contemporary :— : "Something is said, however, about • moral right to compensation. While there is nc legal guarantee of renewal In tht termß of the license, It is affirmed that there la an Implied promise of renewal on the condition of the good behaviour of the applicant. To withhold a lioense m such a case and deprive a man of his baslneu through no fault of his own makes »pj It Is said, a claim on moral grounds for compansation. Plausible as such an argument appears, It Is -robbed of Us force when the unique oharaoter of the traffio referred to is taken Into ooaslderatlon. It 1b the last business under the sun that is entitled to consideration on tho ground of mora ! |rlght. If prohibited at all, it is on the ground that so fat from being a benefit to the community it Is a positive evil. The liquor seller m inch a ojae takea his stand among those whose pursuits are placed under ban of the law baoauae of their antagonism to the best interests of the State. The thief who ventured to talk of a moral right to oompensatton for the loss of trade when under arrest by the police would be looked opon as a lunatio ; he pursues an unlawful calling, to suppress which Is a duty demanded by the rights of society. If the buaioesß of the publican is prohibited, it la so on precisely the same grounds*. that of the thief, and the one has as maoh of a moral right to) compensation as the other. " Nor must the one-sldednMa of this claim for compensation to publicans be overlooked. It is said that when the Queen of Madagascar shut up the drink Bhopa m her kingdom, and the ex-saloon; keepers asked her for compensation, she replied, "Compensate those you hate wronged, and I will pay the balanoe." It is impossible to deny, the force of suoh an argumenkim ad hominem. When moral rights are spoken of In connection with the liquor traffic wo oaonot but think of the heavy per contra account ; of the ruin to health, character, property, and all that is precious m human experience whloh li the direct outoome of th*e liquor traffic, and for which no compensation ever hai been or ever can be paid. When we- arc asked to compensate men for the loss of a business which works suoh infinite misohief m the earth and is weighted with the curses of the multitudes It has destroyed we may well be amated at the shameless audacity of such a olalm. The only thing merited by the liquor traffio il the doom of a speedy extinction, and the Bupreme anxiety of all conneoted with it should be to purge themselves of all traoei of association with auoh a bane to the human race."