COMPENSATION TO PUBLICANS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1817, 17 April 1888, Page 2

COMPENSATION TO PUBLICANS.

TO THE EDITOB.

g IBi — I will endeavor to chow further wViy the publican haa no right to claim compensation. Sopposfng the Governmeat were to abolish 'he license law, and allow free trade m liquor aa they nosy do In ti», would thry araut, cnmpenaa'ion to the publican m that caae for the loss of exp-jo^d profit? If Dot, why not ? And If enrta'n per;oua wore guilry of creating a nuieanco by making aosp, candlea, and other things, and wore made to discontinue It. vvou'd they not also h*ve as great a right t ) c!a ! m compo isaUon for the loaa of axpeotod profit na the pub'lean, who is a grea ! er nufa*nce by far? No auch right has ev^r besn remgnsad, bur. if you reco.sjn ac th j r : g,t of o ie yoc. muat aho reco^nlae that of the other ; and a'ao that of Ml those, who, btinj; deprived of their btnlneaa, aaataia a loaa of profit which they ba 1 reaflja to exp; o" that they would make.

No compensation was ever paid to the slaveowners becaußs of losses Eus^ln^d consequent oa the suppression of the slave traffic, and why sh m!d it bo otherwise m regard to the drink traffic ? And again, ths ahve owner hid mo c right to olaun companaa'ion than the pnblioiD, Inasmuch as the Elaves were by law tbe property, th 3 goo^s, and chattols of their miatira, and whioh was all taken from them. Bit nothing whatever ia tfiken from n pubHoin when hi 1 lioen39 la

discontinued. Then again, m c,i9Q tho claim of the pub'ioan bs jmtiiLd, fot what loss do yoa prop mo to cjinperaito him, and how will you ca'ouiata tho loas ? H-> would still retiin hia premises, theraforo he could not-olnltn compensation for that. It ratut be for tbe non-renowa\ of his license, or, In other words, for tho loss of profit which ha had reason to cxpeot he would recolve if hia lioens3 had boen granted. That appaara to be a most extraordinary proposition. I presume that the principle sought t-j ba laid down Is to be confined to disappointed publicans. What ia " sauce fop the goooo is s>uoe for the gander." Let me give another Illustration :— A. pe sou haß some money which he wishes to Invest m s-rnae business. He finally mikea up hia mlud to start hotel-keeping, and goes into that. He aponda a considerable amount of nvney In putting up and furnishing his house,, and although tha difficulty of getting ft iicensj may hay.i suggested itaolf, tho flangul'.o man says tha" as Boand-so has g ; it a lioon.ii! he haa a right to expect a license, if art to demand onp, on he 'conaiicra hlrr.o^lf as fh to bd a pub loan as anyone. Here ia an " expectancy " rained and juaSified by "use ■;ncl wont." But when tho licensing day ooinca hia expectation is not roaitsefJ. I 3 ho to bo compoiifattd ? Everyone will aay no, brcuiae as ho tiok the tl6k bo he must pnt up wl h UlO o> nscquenc a. Your proposal to givo tho publieaua fivt) yearß' notloa is one which haa y.iry few udvant-gea If Buch a proposal bucarue law, lam afraid very miny illegal things would be reaorttid to during the five yeara so that they iniubt g iin aa muoh profit fie possible, and that it would be an incentive to them to roaort to unjaa'iDablo raeftiiß to make proGt. And even tho:i, I O)nteud, they would be jietifi^d m olaitnin? componaatiin for tiie .'033 to ttom of prcti'a which they had rev on to expuut they would m ike m tho Bi'xth ar.d other yeara, oven aa they would havo now. [v yonr loading artlole you alao aay thoro la an implied understanding that if tho lioeneoa oondootß I;!inai-U' and hio hoaao m accordance with the luw a renewal from year to your will bo granted. This moana that tho State ia bound to grant (ho license from year to year if thg house ia conducted properly. lam iucl nod to think thi i ra ia a mistake hvre, and that instead of there boing ai;y implied understanding It will bo found (hit the &t.te roseives >ha right to 01030 »r>y house at the expiry (f the license without even giving any roason fo: so doiiu». Tho judgment given In (ho Supremo Court <i tho Unitad Stites, and which I quoted m my laet lettor, ahowa thit m Amorica ul least thore exists no ouch thing as an implied understanding, and that where the people by their votes regard liquor selling or any other thing a nuisance, and Injurious to the community, It ia at onoo abated, and that without any compensation whatever. I fail to ueo whero the ' right to claim oompaneation exists, $nd hnld that if there la any claim for oonipon r sation anyvrhero it la with society against the publican, and not with publicans against aooioty. I am, etc ,

TO THR KDITOK. Fir, In catering up n \.\re q ie-<i of v h't;li or low ra'a r.f wssch niid its « ff.icl oa profi able p r i dac'i >n aa betwaßa Bri'Kia and Ame.'ioa, I think wo ran? 9if ly a'art from the fundamental f»o: r.hat iv all n^w cmntriea colnniaed by British cu 1 j;ots the nita of waten h-VB alw»)B rnl-d <i uch higher than m Britain. And tun htia been the c*ae all ovor the world, Irrespective of freeUtt'ta or proteatWe principle*, so that to find onfc the *ecret of America's fiucoeaa wo muat. seek for other cju-es than the effects of Protection ; and I think these causes are various. The firat, no doubt, is dm to the high freight on manufactured gooda to now c mnuiea, but n caii3e of far racra importance, m my npinioo, ia her vaat amount of as yet unamtled iorritnrr, and ho facilities nffn-ded by hee excellent Und Uws, which give evaryono an easy chauoa of making money at farming o~ ievelop'.og her mineral treasures. So that no aooiior a-jta the rate of wagas take a downward tendency th^n the bulk of the workman are tff to tha land, leaving the üboi|mark)t. bare. Now what 1b the state of nutters m WngUnd. Her country districts »r» over-popu.dted, and sending thoaaanda yearly, fut.j tho towns to awell the labor market, and keep the supply always m exoesa of the demand, and thus keeping do >vn the rate of wage?. Oa the other hand the American to*nßare ai conaantly drtviog the surplus of their po^nLtLu inio ihe country, thua keeping the supply of labor be Of '.he derrund. How often have I heard demagogues exclaim: " We don't want always to be hearing that eternal cry of supply and demand," bat they may aB well try to reverse the law of gravitation as try by any acts, protective or otherwise, to turn aside foe one moment the law of bap ply aad demand, and it has often appeared a paradox to me how moat people .till own that that law hdda good with every other marketable commodity but labour* Now there ia another cause operating m favour of American manufaotarera, and at the same time telling against the European manu- • faoturera, and that is emigra ion, At tbe ! present time the whole ory of the English manufacturers is directed against the I apreid of Amerioan man ufiotured goods J over the whole markets of the world, bat vrhat ia the cause of thia ? Certainly not her protective polioy, aa that can only ' effect them m her own market. No, the cause iB m the fuel that for the last forty or fifiy years there has bßen a steady stream of emigration from Eag'and to America, and among the hundreds of thousands of these emigrants tha artisan olaae largely predominates, and I aak all thoae who have wrought ia the large workshops of Britain, who and what are 1 thoae who have gone, and eaoh one will aay 0 and nay truly— the pick of onr tradesmen 0 both m haud and brain. And the oause ' of thia la twofold, fitßt the highest 0 rale of "wageß paid, and next the • greater faoilitiea offered by the Amerl--7 can workshop syste;n for tradesmen to rise by their own merit than is ifl^red ° them under the red-tapalaa of the B Eogllah workahops, the whole terdmcy of the htter being to make workmea rb muoh of a maohine as possible, while the Americana give them the fullest scope to übb all the energy both of head eni hand so that they will receive the full benefit of whatever is m them. This I Bay is the cause of America's auccaaa while it leaves the other side with only Beoond and third o\&bb men to do her ■woik. And when we bear m mind that this has been going on for fif vy yaara, is it a wonder that we see the pitiable sight of the English manafao'urera crying out for Protection. Protection from what ? Not the American Tariff eurely, aa that can only tfteot them m one market— No, but Protection from their own apprenUcaa — Prut;ctlon from , those whom their low wagna and o-aenpad i position m the workshopa have diivi»n . forth to Bwell the ranks of Am=iicii:i invention gaiiiaa and hikh-jUss handiora ! t \ and where tLey wi 1 reap tbe fall benefit of whatever their hand or heal can do. i hey want Protection, but will any amount , of import duty compensate for the loae ; of the baat intelligence of a Nation 1 ; Tl ey want Protection and I have no ■ doubt they need it ; but it is something they need to protect them from their own > stupidity. Do the masters at Home as a I general rule look out for talent amongst j their workmen ? No, how often have we . all seen good men run out of Bhopa for no [ other fault than that they knew more > hen those mho were above them 1 havo often hoard the comparison made 3 between certain classes of work as P "skilled "and " unskilled " labor, but j I say without i he least foar of contradic- ] lion that there is no aoch thing m creation 3 as unskilled labor. Take from the highest j arta down to the digging of a potato t pit oh, it nd the nun who brings the most skill to ißilat his handiwork will always ' be Diipt-rior to hia fellows, and it nutters 3 not if the oh at) go need to be from the one aide of the street to tho other or from the 3 ono side of the globs to the other it ie f just a qneatiou of time, but juat as sure 5 aa water will always God its level, bo aurely l will tho beat skill and the highest wages I nod each other. Now wha!; has Protec--3 tion to oppriso Dgainat this? Its first , aiFect on eup!oytr3 is generally to utop all progreea. They have got Protection, j. they don't need to trouble their heads f about any improvements, the outalde j world can't compete with them, and . under this sweet assurance they go peace- -, fully to eleop, but only to ba roughly awakened after a time to find that their f fancied ueourity ia tottering to its fall to 3 find that the ever-fl jwlng tide of f mechanical science haa sapped thefounda- \ tiona of their protective stronghold and 3 left them m a worse pl^lr. than bofore, I and nboui, tho first lucid Idua that springs <o life m their half-torpid brain to Bave t thomse'ves from ruin ia " dowu with the . wog^e." — Yourß, etc.,

Freetrade.