AN AMERICAN JUDGE ON COMPENSATION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1846, 21 May 1888, Page 3

AN AMERICAN JUDGE ON COMPENSATION.

4 The following decision, by an Amorfoan Judge, oa a subject wbioh la attracting attention In some quarters, will be read la no Instance m all the history of English with interest by the parties concerned : — Uqaor restriction- or repressive legislation, either that of Edward 111 (1327—77), or cl Henry VII. m 1495, or Edward VI. m 1652, or Jaraea I. m 1606—1609 and 1623, or m 1757—1759, or m 1796-7, or ia 1810—1813—14, when distilleries were closed by l»w, or m the various ohanges to the present day, has Parliament given compensation. Not an instance can be produced m Great Britain, or m this ooantry, or m any other Euglish-speaking country, of compensation for olosing drink manufacture or sale. The moral and legal reasons for this unbroken olaim of *' no compensation " to liquor-aellera is plain and conclusive. The worda of Lord Brougham m relation to compensation to slave property owners, will apply with added force to liquor eeliera : " Trade is honest ; It ia innocent ; It is useful ; it is humanizing ; it is a universal benefit ; whereas, this infernal t raffia is exactly the reverse, and oan only be called a crime" A United States Senator from his seat proclaimed the liquor traffic " the gigantic crime of crimes." Our national Prohibition party, ia ita platforms, has pronounced <c tho importation, exportation, manufacture and traffic m alcoholio beverages as high crimes against soolety," and "to be chased among orimea to be prohibited," and has but voiced tho general sentiments of the coantry. Why, m the name of. truth and jjuatloe, should compensation follow liquor soppression 1 The liquor traders, qftrry on their business by no divine sanction, no Bible rule, nor by common law, but only and solely by a government lloenso, and this for a specified tima. When the time named expire?, the right ceases. No compensation ahoold be allowed, because: 1. Tho llc&nfld ia & p&rmlt aaked, not enforced, and is asked for tha profit of the licensee, and ia no', a right common to all citizens. 2. The permit Is grailed for a definite j time, and therefore a notice that his privilege will c?aso at a daelgnated time. 3. The license is not imposed upon the licensee by the public, but frequently granted against ita remonßtance, and solely for the benefit of the holder. When the licensing power refuses the permit, or its ountinuacce, no compensation is allowed. 5. Jf the license has not been profitable, there can be no lohb if stopped, and when profitable the benefit accrues to tho holder and not to the public 6 If the manufacture and pale are prohibited, it will bo because injurious io public weifaro ; and if compensation is c'uo, it should bo to tho suffering public and not to him who inflicted tha injury 7. Tho man who claims equity must do equity. Neither m law nor m morals can tiound reason ba found foi compensation t° liquor-sellers for assumed losses by reason of the legal stoppage of their trade.