The Daily News WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19. THE PREWERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81907, 19 December 1906, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19. THE PREWERS.

In all their dealings wil'i the drink business the urohibilionisis deal with the li.-en-.ee. the man who tries to ma he a living in a wav that is at least Icgitimni" according to law ami etisioin. Tli- anti-liquor people, fairlv or olhen,-ise. aim only at the i!esti-iieti.,ii of licenses. As you see, tl-ev wipe out houses by reduction, it usually means that the brewer who owned the wiped-oul house thereafter ..applied more beer to file t-xistjllfj hmh-cs and raised the rent a feupounds per week. Incidentally also it means that the !i--cnsee who is left, iias a better chance of a living. The Licensed Victuallers don't intend to have a ".nn' in the brewer at. their forthcoming conference. They in-t.-nd lo fight, each other. They will light tin- law-breaking licensee, a verv lair thing of course in some whys, because X,-w Zealand wants all iu industrial enterprises run honestly. We haven't, heard of anybody being {same enough to revive the glories of the Tied Houses llili introduced by John l!igg ii f<'W sessions ago and slaji reniorselessly. Slill tliera were points about the bill that would have cleared the atmosphere and made the brewer nionopolisL gang warily. That bill provided chiefly that no person should own a hotel unless lie was also ihe licensee and occupier. This simple provision hail it become law would

have had some verv good results. | Th,! real owners would either haio to ran the hotels themselves or sell out. Three men would not have been able to own i:\-wy licensed house in a bigcity and most of the country liotei> in a province. The number of houses would necessarily be reduced, because men with capital enough to buy one. j hotel and become publicans wouldn't leaililv be available.

Another excellent cll'ect it would ]i«vi>. would he to create competition illlli llolice belief l|llilii(V 111' "-00,1:1." A r.iiiii wlin isn't "tied" can sell whoso goods lie likes, ami it would he lo hi. advantage to sell tile host lie could get, whether it was Maples, Naples, Craplos or any other brand. There would lio no fierce lirewer to throw him out or increase his rent if he decided to reduce ids prolits and increase his quality. At present he is obliged to charge more than the worth of his goods because the brewers insist on si lii"' "cut.'' The State is going to insist i[ v possible that no man shall own more than C.IU.IHW worth of hind, because such a man is keeping Ids fellow-men from having some land. The Stale has not yet decided lo deal with the brewer-inonolpolist, although he is at ike present time getting his hands on every available free house, and becoming the fattest tiling in the country.

If y.ou went to a baker and asked bin! for a scone you would be surprised if lie charged you for a two-pound loaf, vet this is exactly what the brewer ks responsible for. It is not considered dishonest even for the brevier m civc von a i|iiart thai isn'l a .ji!-..',. lie calk it a "r.emlcl" .inert. This is a- brewi.g Innmmr thai the ivliole world ace, pis. (•,„•. ivii a. "reputed" (iiiart of mill; or the biU'-her vbo gave uui a "i-.puled'.' ;.i.if;a! of steak {hat unlv Wei-ted leu ..ores souh! ,ie...-t ,i\i-.;ly get lined decent' hotel in I lie counter. The'v kr.cv well enough that fhe're wasn't eiioueh political backbone about at tile lime .Inhii Itigg's Hjll was on the ,;aiei<ipass..ue!ian Act and fhet ku.,w at Ihj- mom,-ni whether or not .ioliu Kigg would have the courage-o,- the ingratitude—to bring- in his'liili again.

There h-e'i ?i.v doubt as f;,r as the i-elv condu.-i of the licensed house-. <f X.iv Zcihmd is co:ice.-u.'d that ever before, bat (here is i'„, ren'V serious iiftcrlje m,:d.' (o eullail tile p./.ver of lie lepic-L u:!'--:o.. (i lisL~ the arbiters in lee de liny of the 'piioli- .:■■: Miop'y :!:.:..d.lefii!.-, iliey are able !■> pauo.'r t'i ii. ■ i-ry of one section of the ' proelbitiun" people for "a bottle in the cupboard," and there are no prolus iu any other business that give so giant a return for expenditure. Without license-, the brewer still .scores. It will be remembered that the late Mr. Scddou introduced a clause into the Licensing Act—a clause that was duly slain—that it .-liould be. an oU'ence for any person in a prohibition district to have private supplies of liquor. AVitti this the prohibition party promptly quarrelled. Why should any Bill interfere with the private nip of the private personV "Kill the licensee, but for goodness sake don't hurt the brewer," seems to be the ■general attitude. It really is a most curious thing that brewers are usually looked upon as benefactors. .Most of the honours given to prominent people at ilome are given to brewers, mainly 1-11 suppose because brewers can alford to keep the honours bright and shiny. There is no honour too great, no protection too expensive to be afforded the beer monopolists. ]f we are going to »ee what can be done willi the laud monopolists, we should also lind some means of dealing .with the hotel-monoiiolisls.