PUBLIC HOUSES—BUT NO “SHOUTING.”

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1515, 23 December 1872, Page 2

PUBLIC HOUSES—BUT NO “SHOUTING.”

[COMMUNICATED.] We must have public houses, but all would be the better of no shouting except the publicans — JSO-LES. It baa always been maintained, and has never been disproved, that one sure result of a rise of the wages of working men has been to produce an increase of drunkenness. That the publicans of both town and country are obtaining the lion’s share of the prevailing briskness of trade is obvious to all, and it can be readily seen by the most casual observer that a large portion of the earnings of the working men of this province is finding its way fast into the tills of the landlords, who,' together with their wives, are increasing in bulk, wealth, and importance—so much so that they now seldom condescend to serve a customer themselves. That the Kcuhabitcs have done something towards discouraging ruinous drinking, here and elsewhere, cannot be denied, but there is still much need of greater temperance, for the consumption of splits in this Province, in pi ©portion to its population, is much greater than that of any other—so excessive, iu fact, that Hawke’s Bay has earned for itself the unenviable soubriquet of “ the drunken province.” Every good colonist should favor and encourage all associations having fur their object the promotion of sobriety and frugality. If teetotalers and oilier advocates of abstinence would wnly regulate their sayings and conduct towards others by the rule of common sense, they would no doubt meet with much wider support ; but acting in the manner of the Pharisees, as most cf them are in the habit of doing in their intercourse with non-abstainers, they do not in any way promote the cause of temperance. On the contrary, they frequently irritate and disgust sensible men by their vain conceit and silly egotism ; for no man of any sense, however degraded he may be by drink, will tolerate for a moment the silly and vain twaddle of any person, solely because that person is a professsed total abstainer—particularly when it is notorious that few persons become such from any higher or purer motives than for their own personal good and benefit, beiug mostly men who are unable to drink moderately and refrain, and who, therefore, must of ' necessity abstain altogether, or come to grief. But all credit and honor are . < justly due to men of fixed sober habits, who forego the pleasures of “ wine that makei.li glad ihe heart of man” on purely philanthropical principles, for ‘ the sake of good example and with the only view of enabling them the better to influence their fellow-men for good, | and save them if possible from the ruin ‘ of drink. Such unselfish sacrifices seldom fail to bo fully and gratefully appreciated by those for whose benefit they are made, and the men who volun- 1 tarily give up the cheering comforts of 1 wine for the good of others are always found free from the obtrusive and con- ] temptible cant of the reformed drunk- t ard, weak-headed or weak-minded typo of men, « That the reckless and senseless custom < of what is called “shouting” is hurtful i to all but the licensed publican, isindis- i putable; and being a prolific source of | gain, is of course greatly encouraged by I them : and that this objectionable mode i of drinking does stimulate and foster t drunkenness is bo well known and ad- c

mit ted that further remark thereon in unnecessary. It would be a right good move to start a “non-shouting society ” here: such a combination is desirable for the purpose of breaking down so bad a practice. It has been formed elsewhere, to the great benefit of the moderate drinking public, and among other advantages to be gained by it will be that of ridding the bar parlor of that despicable character, the “public-house who is ever at hand to dip into a glass whenever shouting is going on. Without entering into the permissive question, it must be admitted that facilities for drinking cannot fail to, and unmistakeably do, increase the bane of intemperance. It is to be hoped that the number of public houses will not be increased on the next licensing day; there are already too many, and a great deal too much money spent in drink by all classes of the community. The discretion w hich the magistrates hare in the refusal and renewal of licenses should be exercised for the good of society, fearlessly and free from all influences or bias, and until the acknowledged defects of the existing licensed publicans bill are amende l, the police should be required to see that none of its provisions—few and feeblo as they aie—against irregularities and abuses, are in any way way violated with im • punity. What is wanted is that the magistrates exercise their common sense —if they have any—in administering the law, only allowing reasonable freedom to the publican in doing his trade, but punishing severely any flagrant violation of the law; for the propagation of drunkenness is contrary to law and good society, therefore there should Ikj no tenderness in dealing with the delinquencies of the publicans, nor anything done by the authorities to promote so hurtful a business and swell its profits, which are already too large Marker. Napier, 19th Dec., 1872. SHIP-BUILDING IN TASMANIA. + (From the Hobart Town Mercury, 3rd December.) Tasmania has long occupied a foremost rank amongst the Australian colonies in shipbuilding, and there are now a number of Tasmanian built vessels of various sizes owned in each of the sister colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, and New Zealand, while more than one flies, as it is stated, the Fijian flag. The larger portion of the vessels built in this colony have been constructed at Hobart Town, but of late years the ports ou the Huon have turned out a immWr of smart, substantial sea going crafts, capable of carrying from fifty to one hundred or one hundred and twenty tons. A smart looking ketch named the Ulomatis was recently brought up to port, where she has been fitted out with u v eiy requisite at Mr Lucas’s yard, for Captain Beudall, of Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, brother of Mr Bendall of this 3ily. Her dimensions are 70 feet keel, overall 80 feet, depth of hold, 6 feet 3 inches, under the beams. Her register Lonnage will, ic is believed, be about 70 tons, and she is capable of carrying 100 ions. She is a finely model led centreboard ketch with q’tick-sailing qualities, ind a light draft not exceeding 6 feet 3 inches, which renders her well idapted for the coasting trade and shallow harbors. The ketch was placed m the stocks about twelve months ago, ind is built of blue gum, her topsides ind fittings being of Huon pine, She s copper-fastened up to the water mark, ind the centre-board case has been cop>er sheathed. She has an elliptic stern, i sharp cutwater, and is a highly creditable specimen of naval architecture.