Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1894. PUBLICANS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4646, 13 February 1894, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1894. PUBLICANS.

SECOND EDITION

i" Not one half of them are fit to have bouses," once said to us the Secretary of a Licensed Victuallers Association, and this is the keynote of the publican difficulty, Like husbands in the words of the old rhyme

" The good are very good, the bad too sour for pigs'" . There is no sensible man, who, when he travels, does not appreciate the comfort of a well-conduoted pub; even Sir Kobert Stout, hiraßelf, thrchampion of the temperance party, has been amongst the people whom we have met in an Empire City hotel, The publican proper, who makes a home of his establishment, for decent people, ia a person for whom we have a great respect and a considerable liking, It i'b the other fellows who give all the trouble and worry, the men who are granted licenses in spite of the patent fact that they ate unfitted to hold frhem. The trade knows that they are. untrustworthy, the police regard them aB a pestilence, the press take them to be a publio nuisance, and' the publio despise tbem. Yet hitherto they have been allowed to continue their villainous carper unchecked, and to discredit a legitimate occupation to .the scandal of all good Bonifaces, That new broom, the Alcoholic Sales,of Liquor Act, will not be worth twopence if it fails in suppressing persons who are unfit to hold licenses. The trade, as represented by the Licensed Victual" lersAssociations apparently makeß no effort to clear black sheep out of. its ranks, ( The police are powerless, . because any scamp of a publican can break the law all the year round with impunity, provided that he can jind sufficient money to pay a sharp lawyer to bamboozle a Bench or manffivure 9 witness, The press, too, cannot speak out because it justly has the fear of libel in its eye, and is too wideawake to make itself a shuttle-cock for the sharp lawyer, So open and shameless vice runs a free course and (bore are none to check it, especially since that time when licensing committees became deteriorated and men of high character and standing refused to be connected with them, We have now a new order of things and it remains to be seen (rbetlier under it disreputable pdblicans can be suppressed, licensing committees improved, and the police have an honest chance of doing their duty, Publicans who want eternal watching and checking are not fit to hold licenses, and those whose selfrespect leads them to conduct reputable establishments doa't need to be harassed and annoyed. We would urge th? latter not to lean too much on Licensed Victuallers Associations, ■wbicji often play the part of devils' advocates, but when (the 1 elections come off next month to do all in their power io make their trade honoured apt! respected by supporting men of high character for positions on Licensing Committees, Unless they set their faces against the black sheep who disgrace their occupation they Will ultimately find it gone,