SECOND EDITION Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1878.] TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 1894. WHO WOULD BE A PUBLICAN?

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4745, 12 June 1894, Page 2

SECOND EDITION Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1878.] TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 1894. WHO WOULD BE A PUBLICAN?

It is not perfect happiness to be a butcher—especially when tho fly season is on; it is not comfortable to bo even a storekeeper—particularly at times when banks aro stern anil paper hnrd to negotiate; it -is not pleasant even to be a lawyer—if a man is plagued with a tender consoienco; and even a, doctor's liferunning out in all weathers, and called up at all hours of the night, is not a happy ono. But tho man least to 1)0 envied is tlio much abused publican, He is tho man who pays a bigger rent than other people, whoso rates and taxes are high, whoso fire insurance is something enormouß, and whoso license fee of forty pounds a yeans no joke. He lives in a little pandemonium in which his own health suffers, and where ho can get but little rest by day or night, and is always at the mercy of some inquisitive policeman who has the perpetual privilege of calling upon him, and of reporting him. When licensing day comes round ho is kept on tho grill for a couple of days, and this is all the thanks he gots for finding the monoy which put the bulk of tho members of his Licensing Committee into office. Ho is never safe, and is always liable to liavo a mine sprung upon him, and a sixpenny drink toa prohibited person may at any moment. be his ruin, . Working bis , business under all these disadvantages the wonder is that he can make a profit out of it, and people can understand that he is often forced to resort to little evasions of the Act in order to make both ends meet. In the interest of publicans themselves, tho number of licensed houses should be limited,; 'otherwise tho holders of tliojjji cgpnot make a livington straight lines. It is a great pity that there should bo a license fee at all, and if one is indispensable, it should bo merely to cover tho cost of inspection. Tflcive it as a lump sum to local bodies i$ a vicious' practice; because such bodies come to depend on these fees, and menibersof them aro induced to go on licensing committees, noj; jio -protect the public, but to. protect their local revenue from the loss of public,ps' fees., No business njon is so surrounded by conditions and loaded with checlcs as thepublicaii, and it'y only right that onhis side lie jSiobM [have afair cpnduct a pay* ! ing trade, .without, going,beyond the four comers of the Act.- ,o£c6ui>bo there, aro some who would suggest 1 as a romcdy for this, tho closing of all public lipids, brtt .when, we have happened,to travel away, from home, 1 we liavo found a well conducted hotel J to be a great convenience, and no , , doubt this is the experience of a very '

considorablo section of the commu- : will show whether the colonial Licensed Yictualler is to enjoy an improved stains, or to cease to oxist. In either case hia lot will lie happier than it frequently is under his present conditions.