COFFEE TAVERNS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5503, 15 November 1878, Page 3

COFFEE TAVERNS.

(From the Melbourne Argus.) Too much prominence can scarcely be given to tho movement which is being made for the establishment of coffee taverns and worldng men's clubs In Melbourne and the larger suburbs. Although the laboring classes hero are probably less intemperate than in many other places, both in the new and the old worlds, a great deal of drinking goes on, to the moral, social, and physical detriment of the community. Some 11,000 persona are annually apprehended in this colony for drunkenness, while the number of serious crimes the commission of which is excited by indulgence in strong liquors, or which have their origin in habits of excess, cannot be estimated. The statistics take no account, moreover, of those who consume more than is good for them, but whose condition does not come under the notice of the police. That the working man, like bis superiors in the social scale, drinks too much is a fact patent to all. How to wean him from the pernicious habit is tb© problem, and it appears to have been solved to a great extent by the promoters of the coffee-house system at Home, In every city where these resorts have been established they have been eminently successful. In Liverpool, for example, there aro now open no less then 60, 11 having been inaugurated during the past year. The directors of tho British Workman Publichouse Company, in their third annual report, after stating that the u results financially have been quite satisfactory," go on to say that they have every reason to believe that these establishments are “exerting a considerable influence on the habits ©f the people. It is gratifying to know that the head constable, in bis last annual re* port, gave expression of his opinion to this effect." The experiment, so far ns it has been tried here, has bad a like result. At the meeting in connection with the Williamstown Sailors* Rest and worldng men's coffee-room, held on the Ifith instant, it was stated that “since the institution had been in working order tho convictions for drunkeness at the local police court had considerably decreased*” The promoters of the ** Coffee Taverns Company," whose prospectus we recently published, recognise this fact. They state that the business they propose to establish “ will not be mere refreshment rooms in the ordinary sense of the term, hut places of mental recreation and improvement. They will be supplied with chess, draughts, and similar games, with lavatories and baths, with reading and other paivate rooms, and tables furnished with newspapers, magazines, and periodicals ; probably, ,also, with libraries." We trust that this portion of the programme will bo carried •ut as faithfully as possible. Some remarks very pertinent to the subject were made recently by the Governor of New Zealand at the opening of an industrial exhibition in connection with the Wellington Working Men’s Club, aa institution which has objects in common with the coffee-house. In commending the working men’s coffeehouses to the countenance and support of the public, there is one important feature which must not be overlooked. Institutions of this character in England have been not only selfsupporting, but remunerative. They have all paid well, some of them to the extent of returning a dividend of 10 per cent, on the capital invested. With good management there is no reason why they should not be as successful here as in the old country, and those who take up shares need not think that they are contributing to a charitable fund. Gain will not, of course, be the first object in view, but still, with a reasonable prospect of obtaining a return upon money laid out, many will see their way to take part in the enterprise who would otherwise feel obliged to refrain. The matter seems to have been entered upon in a thoroughly practical way, the names of those who are taking a leading part in it are calculated to inspire confidence, and there seems no reason, therefore, why the public bouid withhold its assistance.