Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER THURSDAY, OCTOBER, 23, 1873. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 299, 23 October 1873, Page 4

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER THURSDAY, OCTOBER, 23 , 1873. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

In, previous articles on,, measures for the, suppression of" the liq-uor traflic, we nave exhausted subject, Incleedj, the>' jxrineipal measur^ijfe§Permjssive^ll, laas p,ot been discussed. TJbis^ proposes to l;eave^ i| Keiths twq-wirds.. pf the jatiepayers of" any Hi&tjacfc to. say .wfiether- they will haye a licensed public- house at ' al% or whether t£ere shall *be any additions made to, the number already existing^. " We are clearly in favor' of restricting the traffic ; yefe, we ha,ve doubts as tq the. workableness of this measure,, It, would, we, fear, subject the cpnununity to_ repeated . disturbances which might not be advantageous to" 'it, as a whole. TJb,e opponents, of the tva-flip- yyrould b^ required to maintain, a ceaseless canvass of.- the r^pectiye districts, and the,.abetto?s of it, would not be i idle in countermining their influence. ' ! The 'pubUcaa.'iWien would

canvass in their turn, and in all probability wquld carry ou a kind of u^cftous "bribery and corruptiqn in the Staple, of their future traffic — the nobble?. Mqr.eov.er, such a restriction as is contemplated by the entire suppression of the traffic in particular districts, would be held inconsistent with a just measure of liberty to the subject. And yet tlie freg use of intoxicants \s so connected with crime, disease, premature death, discord in families, ; broken hearts, debt, poverty, liinacyj and a host of other evils that' the, lieges generally ought to take a deep interest in repressive measures that niight tend to lessen these. It is very well for the drunken reprobate to say, \yhat business is it to others what I drink tq the ruin of my health and reputation, to the breaking of my wife's heart, and the reducing of my children to rags | Clearly the business of others is as naucl\ to stay tnese consequences as it is their business tq confine, the lunatic, whq wou^d in his frenzy murder, those nearest and dearest to him. Nay more, there are those in every township whq tax the. ratepayers to pay for, processes of legal convictions, rendered necessary by their insane thirst for drink. We lately read of one who used to reason thus, tfo© price through drink qf whose crim.es to the community cost £800!; and yet he held it nq business of the community what he dranjk. In. the. way of restriction, we hold it would he, beneficial to restrict the number of such houses, and by reducing their number confine them to a morq legitimate, kind ojE" traffic. As. it is, all kinds of temptations in certain districts are held out by the publicans to push their trade to the detriment of the lieges at large, We refer.; particularly to the West Coast, where the number of public houses are far in excess of the wants, of the population ; tlje same, though not to a like extent, refers^ to the. Otago goldfields. Among the plans of- restriction advocated^ is that of restricting the traffic in proportion to the population. The heads of the police might be consulted advantageously as to thai proportion. Then the granting licenses should be vested in commissioners, who have no connexion by irade or otherwise with the districts., where licenses are granteci. lii tlus * way, we might hope, for. an inymrtiiftl administration of any law that njlght be passed on the. subject. Certain notice ought to b& taken of continued inebriates, and restrictions laid on A landtoi'cfe not to supply such with Kquora. Why should t^ie country be taxed to 'maintain PoJice.Oourts for.the benefit of the publican, and to. the detriment of his victims, Especialty would, we hold those responsible to the law who, in apposition to. the iojportwnUes of interested relatives, supply the cravings of confirmed inebriates. We lately read that in dealing with the case of confirmed inebriates, after' repeated convictions, the Scottish Courts were in the habit, of condemning to a long term of imprisonment — in the interval during which the. poor inebriate was often, enabled to* master 'his passion^ and come out restored to himself and tp society. This plan, in lieu of another, is good ; but we should prefer that some retreat be specially provided for- this class where they might be subjected to a wholesome discipline and,= medical and hygienic treatment, whereby the havoc made in their nervous system, might be repaired. We do not like to rob men of their selfrespect if it can be. helped:-; and we hold this is better than classing the. individual either w.jtb the criminal or insane. j We are furtheF of opinion that j more decisive measures ought to -'be taken with sly groggeries. The difficulties: in,, the .way of obtaining convictions in such cases under the present law is notorious - x and when 1 obtained i> almost, useless. Parties this care little for- the convictions, and pursue the traffic as ' daringly a§ before., Ba^sjively^says «pme. apostle of liberty,^ voi* are [ no| going to. endianger- general liberty to. gefc at these. There i^ no . need, frien.^,- to. fean Nevertheless, where parties expose themselves., notoriously to the.Ruspieion of such, illicit traffic, we. wonid-even , advocate that their houses be searched, r and if more than a stated quantity of.liqour be foun^- in their house, fine, them by ali means. The police ought /to., be, fcrmed^ with greater power. in. such, casea We can x&r&sus&xy?el}, when pagsing.over theBorder./ before a certain, date^ that, our Ttogg&ge^ was. oyer:ha,ufed. to^see whether we. possessed any cpn.t^aband:. An<J why not do. the same with these dishonest dealers, who are rpbbing the. Go-

vemment on the one hand, and the. regular dealers on the other,,, whq have paid tq Government a handsome sum for license fee? Nay more, we, hold \t to be but just tq the licensed dealers that the policQ should be artned with power to protect them..