The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 349, 5 March 1856, Page 6

The Lyttelton Times.

Wednesday, March 5

An alteration in the Licensing Law is about to be made by the Superintendent and Provincial Council of Auckland. Professedly the object aimed at is to encourage the consiiiuption of beer, rather than 'of ardent spirits, and for this reason that the one is a mere stupifying drink, the other a pernicious poison. It would seem that the immoderate use of either by the AnyioSaxou race, cannot entirely be eradicate I though it may, in some degree, be controlled by Legislative enactment. Gruss indulgence in a drink which, while it converts a man into a beast, makes him a nuisance merely to himself, is preferable to the immoderate use of the poison, which makes him both a beast and a nuisance, dangerous alike to himself and the public. The resolutions oi the first General Assembly on the excessive consumption of intoxicating liquors in this colony, are still present to our recollection, aor can it be disputed that they were basea upon iacts too notorious to admit even ot doubt. Not one. nor few. even, are the cases known to us in this Province where aberration of intellect more than temporary and imminent danger to if not loss of life has resulted from excess in the use of spirits. Ac can at this moment recall to mind more than one umn whose power* of mind and of body have b. ell utte.lv „rosn»ea and destroyed for the remainder of his existence. If >uch are the facts, and if their origin era, oe traced lo any defects in the existing =Ut:. lo V le pr°l)er authorities over the retu.Mngyf spiriiMuus liquors, we shall be g,,u to s,,_au a.teration as soon as possible. k ".* tfilll!='}^ »:»a at Ndson ti e law has een so.ne tune revised, and but recently y*.,?? f C^'!y ■■'">■ revision of th e c ;V Sli i'^e.-iS^ijActs been iurced „».,i, i': "^'V;r! :UHi; e- We^ We cannot as,.rt ...at the Population of this Proving is so njuci, n_,ore suber,_or so much !,« arun:^n.as t: ie eas , lna , be, than timt'of !"• ,"l" ei-~; hllt ll:L'«"e i" »«» need at ail to troupe ours,,vus as to ihe Mule ,f the law _ i.r. u.«r v.v, part v;, hdieve that tlj..v e is no beverage to compare. f ()r ev ,. rv f j v use, W ,th lun,^, wJiO ,,, ri , nu - SaXi V r| beer; and waatev^r enact;u (i nt .uav u>r U \ . 0 encourag- i,-s cuiwimpt s ., :i ; - Ih o- /] .' population, while discountcun->ci !l 'V~h' i t«••

spirituous poisons, but poisons so artfully prepared as to please the palate, while it wastes the strength, and enfeebles the mind, and kills only by intoxicating,—will meet with our support and approbation, so long as the restrictions which may be devised for this end are neither unjust nor oppressive. Nor can we see any reasonable objection to placing licensed houses under the same restrictions as are imposed in England : at any rate, here the control over them seems but nominal. Whether the law itself be really deficient, or whether its practical administration be defective, we will not stop to enquire.

Not having before us the clauses of the Bill, which is to he proposed, we c;in of course offer no opinion on it. But before we leave the subject, we will hazard an opinion ot our own. We venture to doubt whether the retail trade in spirits should he made a monopoly at all—whether, indeed, the true cure for existing evils would not be to throw open the trade entirely. But here the " vested interests " will raise an outcry. No doubt they will, like all monopolists. Yet it appears to us that the existence of licensed public houses and their number, should (if an evil) be no argument in favour of continuing to license them. They enjoy at present a monopoly for which they pay. Abolish the payment, and there i.s no reason why the monopoly should be maintained. We doubt whether the inefficacy of the law at present subsistingobliges us to provide another. But it will be said, '• Do away with Licensing fees, and you destroy the Revenue/ True—public credit is of very great importance, but it can never be long supported without public virtue ; and if money can be raised only by the destruction of the morals and health of the people, those schemes for which the moiu-y is necessary should be unhesitatingly abandoned.