The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4137, 31 May 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1876.

Although the City Council is not flush of money derived from ordinary sources, it was quite justified In voting, as it did recently, i£loo for the suppression of sly grog wiling. Humor says that the practice is extremely prevalent, and, frotn various circumstances, one might infer the same thing. It ean hardly be imagined, for instance, that the keeper of a cofleestall, carrying on his avocation in the heart of the dity, would be likely to sell grog on the sly, with the certainty of being punished with a heavy fine if detected, unless previous examples had led him to believe that the risk of a prosecution was very remote. The profits on the sale of genuine spirits by retail are considerable* and must be enhanced by the adulteration of the liquor, to which ■ the .sly grog f seller usually hat recourse ; but, allowing full

weight to this inducement, it woi

still be too small to counterbalance the risk of a heavy penal ty, and when persons are therefore commonly found breaking the law in this respect, it can only be because they deem it can be done w?th oompr.r.rtive, impunity. Whether the police has been its duty does not. appear; The force is efficient and active in suppressing crime generally, and if it has not succeeded in keeping down this particular class of offences, it may possibly be through .circumßtancpp.py« ib-haa np cajte. trol. In fact, we think it is one ofthose duties that do not fairly fall within its functions. We shall now see; what aid a,'little money will give -to ite' exertions. It is not tho mere breach of the revenue laws which has to be opn»deied. Licensed houses can be kept under proper control . abd ptei { Rented from becoming hotbeds of drunkenness and vice } but no such, re? straint is available where liqnbr is obtained surreptitiously. Grog shanties are frequently nefiis of iniquity; and (we are writing from recollection) some years ago the inhabitants in the neighborhood of the Water of Leith found themselves so annoyed by a nuisance of this description that they petitioned the magistrates to grant an hotel license to a house, in the vicinity for the purpose of getting rid of it, The licensed tuallers have also a ground of ; complaint. They pay heavy, fees to the Government for the privilege of exercising their trade, and have a right to ask the authorities to clo their utmost to protect them against unlicensed competition. Looked at from every light, sly-grog selling is not an evil to be tolerated}' but to be put down with a strong hand.

Other results of the present licensing system are likewise unsatisfactory, but, perhaps more easily remediable , than sly-grog selling, although the regulation of the sale of intoxicating liquors Seems to boas perplexing to our legislators as the “ whitewashing” of the insolvent debtor, subject, on ita fkce, does not look very difficult; but a kmd of triangular duel is always going on in connection with it which complicates matters amazingly. The; publican and the Good Templar are constantly engaged in deadly strife; the Good, Templar is wearying the public with his exhortations to the latter to get rid of the “ Accursed traffic ” once and for, all; while the public entertains a strong idea that the licensing laws should be framed for its own convenience, and neither for the especial benefit of one class of tradesmen, nor to meet the peculiar views of certain well-meaning persons, who have, as yet, failed to convince the rest of the community that their notions as to the use of intoxicating liquors are right. It happens, however, that while

the publicans and the Good Templars are extremely active, the public at large is proportionately inactive, and has permitted the licensing laws to be mauled about until they have got into a state displeasing to everybody . The Good Templars tried their hands at legislation in 1873. Mr Fox brought down to the House of Representatives a Bill which, if it had become p. statute as it stood, would have established a Maine Liquor Law on a small scale in the country. The Assembly, refused to accept the permissive I principle; the Bill was torn to tatters in committee j its vital spark was extinguished; and the Act into which it was finally converted was one of the most ill-shapen Acts ever placed on the Statute Book of New Zealand. The confusion into which the licensing law was thus thrown,* and the heed for amendment in the‘following session of the Assembly, will be familiar to everybody ; in fact, the law is still suffering from the wrench which it got on the occasion. The only really useful reform • effected by Mr Fox’s Act was the limitation of the hours daring which barmaids may be employed. This piece of empirical legislation will be a caution to the Assembly against permitting similar experiments, from whatever quarter they may emanate. The licensed victuallers—or rather the Canterbury portion of them—are now disposed to t«y their ’prentice hands on this work, and have drafted a Bill which may possibly be offered to the General Assembly for its acceptance. The provisions of the Bill, as yet conceived, do not; seem an improvement upon the present law j but even should the draft ultimately acquire a more presentable shape, the General Assembly would hardly be justified in dealing with it. The Licensing Acts affect the whole community j and it is net the members of the trade particularly affected by them, aud upon whose mode of carrying on business, it is agreed by all, restraint should be placed, that we can look for a proper code of regulations. -Their views are naturally biassed, and Restrictions which to everybody else might seem absolutely essential for the sake of public order and morality, might appear to them little v better than tyrannical. A Licensing Bill should proceed from the, Ministry, which can hardly, in a matter of this kind, have any other end in view than the public good. Moreover, n Licensing Act requires for its working a considerable amount of Government machinery, and it is only the Ministry which can properly frame its details. Mr Fox’s Act brske down. injlikis respect, although, in fmrneM,it #mst be stated that Hr the fpr not setting his

machinery' '•in motion ? Jn the proper manner. ' however,, suggests a further reasoit; why th&. .Government should be . permitted to' ? construct its Nevertheless, the licensed victuallers may |>rp|ierly offer suggestipns as ;tb the provisions which should be inaerted in a Bill. have rj’ghts to be considered ; and respectable publicans can have little sympathy with those members of their trade whose disreputable conduct too often furnishes ground for the use of those strong epithets which are sometimes applied* rto'ditspnsed .victuallers as a class. The Assembly Would 1 treat useful suggestions on their .^eri^whUe liability, be rejected, unless itfcamr irom. the Government. Practically the chances of a Licensing Bill Rasing next session are nil. The, has an enpnnouajmass of ;work cutout for it in connection with the Abolition of Provincialism, ThefO ‘MI first be a fierce struggle oVer the main question j the conquering party will then have to propound its particular measures, and when they have been discussed the members will want to go home.