The Evening Star FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1874.

Evening Star, Issue 3503, 15 May 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1874.

It would be mere folly to suppose that a whole session of the Provincial Council could pass without an attempt to oust the Ministry hy means of some sort of vote of want of confidence. It is only natural that certain members should have no confidence in other members who are sitting on seats which they themselves wish to occupy. We are, therefore, quite prepared to admit that the battle which has just been fought was inevitable. However, the public ought to feel grateful to the Council for omitting, on the present occasion, those interminable speeches which usually form part of these fights. The fact is that there is no small amount of public business which requires to be done, and consequently there is little time to spare for mere oratorical displays, which scarcely influence a single vote, or prevent a single person from seeing that the only matter to be decided is, whether those who are out are strong enough to displace those who are in. The present struggle for place and pay has been, however, decidedly superior to any that have gone before, because it has been short, sharp, and very decisive.

There was a moderate attendance at the Siamese and Circus entertainment at the Princess a last evening. The feats by.the former were well received, the bamboo and brick tricks bemg loudly applauded. Young American had sufficiently recovered from his accident to enable him to appear. There will be another afternoon performance to-morrow, and the last appearance of the troupe will be in the evening.

Amongst the proposals made by His Honor the Superintendent, in his message to the Provincial Council with regard to the new Lunatic Asylum, the third is not the least important. It is as follows That a sepa rate establishment be provided for the cure of inebriates ; and the Colonial Legislature be applied to, with a view to provision being made for the legol committal to such establishment of confirmed drunkards. ” There can be no doubt that the present state of the law with regard to those unfortunates who have contracted the habit of drinking to excess is thoroughly unsatisfactory. We suggested a few days ago that the legal offence of being drunk in a public place stands on an’altogether different footing from that of most of tho others of which the law takes cognizance, in that being drunk is net a legal offence per se— that it is in fact not exactly an offence at all. that the State merely undertakes in certain cases to take charge of those who are in such a condition that they are likely to do harm to themselves or others ; in other words, that the State aets as a protector of intoxicated persons. We also suggested that for a first or second offense no person should ever bes ent to prison for drunkenness, but that a fine should in every case be exacted, and that a person who was unable to pay should be considered as a debtor to (the State, and be made to discharge the liability as soon as he had earned enough to enable him to do so. Cases of habitual drunkenness would require to be treated differently. The theory is still the same ; but the persons who are to be dealt with are of a diferent description ; their misfortune can bo no longer looked upon as being of a temporary and possibly accidental character. Their disease is chronic ; they do not differ in any important respect from lunatics. In fact, they are to all intents and purposes monomaniacs, and should be treated as such. Mr Caldwell’s report shows most completely that the present method of dealing with confirmed drunkards is an utter failure, and we doubt very much whether the goal is in any case the proper place for them. If, then, his Honor had merely proposed some experiment which held out only a distant hope of success, wo should have thought it worthy of a trial ; but when he brings forward a plan which has already been proved in many parts of the world to be the best ever devised far dealing with dipsomaniacs, we are bound to give it our heartiest support.