South Canterbury Times, SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1882.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2826, 15 April 1882, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1882.

The local option principle of the Licensing Act, though strenuous exertions had been made to obtain it, does not seem to have been welcomed bn its institution, with the heartiness that was expected. So far the,records of license polls throughout the colony have yielded the most meagre results. Only a fractional part of the inhabitants of the various districts have come forward to signify their approval or otherwise of the proposals to increase the number of licenses. At first sight this appears discouraging. But a further examination of the matter leads to a more, hopeful view of it.' The same apathy exists in politics generally as in this particular instance. Every radical measure encounters it. It takes time to educate public opinion, and it will take two or three years at least to bring people to :a correct view of this. The franchise is, to a great many persons, an altogether new instrument—which they, do not know how to wield ; but the time is coming when they will recognise its value and effectiveness, and use it with power. For the present there is a conflict between extreme parties ; the teetotallers are bringing all the pressure they can upon the licensing question, and against them thelicensed victuallers. The bulk of the people are*not yet resolved as to which, if either, side they will espouse. By degrees, however, everyone’s thoughts will be drawn to a consideration of the question, and at each succeeding poll the public voice will declare itself more strongly. In some of the larger centres of population the expression of opinion is more decided. The question is brought home to their doors. The Licensing Benches there, reflecting as. well as governing,public opinion, declare themselves with increasing plainness. In Christchurch the Bench is beginning to lay greater stress upon the accommodai ion and respectability of the houses under their surveillance. Hotelkeepers now find it necessary to make their licensed houses in fact, as well as in name, hotels. It is recognised that a very large proportion of the public require as near an approach to a home, in their hotel, as can be, and are less solicitous about the drinking facilities of the . house. It is considered that a hotel should be, properly, a house of accommodation for persons away from home, not a mere saloon for drinking in. Of course all the publicans do not so view this. Their best -profits ; are made over the bar counter, and they have made a much more considerable one than they are ever likely to reap again. But the law, without reference to this, requires that every house of public entertainment before being-licensed shall be fitted up with a' view to the reception of travellers, the drinking being subordinated to the legitimate purpose of the house. It is becoming increasingly apparent to every one who reflects at all that the holders of licenses occupy peculiarly responsible positions in the community, having the power of dispensing among people the most powerful of all agents, and it must therefore always be the aim of legislation to so fence in that power as to prevent its attaining a dangerous pre-eminence ; not to circumscribe it by vexatious legislation but to keep it within bounds. The State wisely decides therefore that the economy of a public house should be the same as the economy of a wellregulated human frame. No man of sense or usefulness, no one but a post to society, makes drink his first consideration in life. It is a subordinate one. His home is furnished according to his means with the necessaries and comforts of life, and if he has some surplus, he may choose to invest part of it in procuring such moderate quantities of stimulant as he may think expedient or desirable. Exactly in the same manner is a properly conducted hotel managed. The general comfort and convenience of the house is the first consideration, after that the

drinking facilities. We are glad to see that the spirit of the licencees themselves is in most cases heartily in accord the intention of the law. In large centres of population the police have no child’s play in keeping a look-ont upon the licensed houses, and. the Bench docs well to protect the interests of the community by being rigid in ' their , requirements towards every application for a license. A very slight acquaintance with our large towns yields quite enough to shock us and to convince us of the need for sonic power to intervene between the public-house and the population. There still remains a far too great number of persons who know not the use, and arc given to wholesale abuse, of intoxicants : the result is crime and misery in deplorable excess. These it is qur unanimous desire, as citizens and patriots and humane persons, to stamp oqt and alleviate.

Some discontent has been expressed in various quarters in Christchurch about the action of the City Council in voting an extra £2OO out of the funds to enable the Mayor to dispense civic hospitality on a becoming scale to the distinguished visitors. The outcry has of course a certain foundation of reason, but on the whole, considering the big haul our Christchurch friends are getting through the presence of these visitors they have not much to.grumble at. We can not censure our own Borongh Council for any extravagance of this kind. They may occasionally go in for a collation or a luncheon in the open air, but they do not make the ratepayers pay for it. Wergive the Council credit for abstemiousness at Mayoral elections, &c., but although w r e are glad to see the rates are not squandered, we should like to see them put to their proper use. : Nothing presses so much at this' time as the need for good roads, and well made streets. These we sadly want, and (making all due allowance for the difficulties with which -the. Council have had to contend) there is evidence of a lack of vigorous and able supervision in this department. It seems to us that the fault is due to sluggishness, and want of observation. The labor at the: disposal of ; the Council is set down in a particular spot. No special haste, is made,, things .go quietly on, and the work is certainly well done enough (though .it takes an unconscionable time to do it), but it seems to be nobody’s business to keep an eye on.the town, find out defective points and remedy them. As a case in point we may mention the corners of Bank street and Arthur street, especially the right hand corner coming down Bank street. The recent rains have dislodged huge portions of the earth, and the footpath is gradually being so eaten into that it will: very soon disappear altogether, and there is a steep bank below. Persons accustomed to the spot keep clear of it and walk in the road, but a more unsafe spot for a stranger to walk in after dark can hardly be conceived. When one gets round the corner one finds the footpath to be in the same fretted condition. This is only one instance of many that we could cite. Is it nobody’s business to “ look out ?” Councillor Ross, at the last meeting but one, called attention to a dangerous place. •If he had not seen it nobody else would. ..However, possibly-some other Councillor will dislocate his illustrious neck or leg, or get his best coat spoilt—-and then we shall hear about mending the highways and filling up the drains, and there will be the douce to pay. Can things not be qhietly arranged,however, without anything of this sort ?