Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1895. CROMWELL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5185, 19 November 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1895. CROMWELL.

Cromtoi,, according to tlio Emjlish ./[islnncal ltcriew, governed England through thirteen Major-Generals and three Deputies, tho country being paicclled out into provinces, between them. It lias been said that- the j liquor kaflic cannot bo regulated, c but Oliver Cromwell appears to have kept it within certain defined limits. In iiis tiny, tlio Major-Generals wore instructed to suppress all mlituri/ alehouses. All alehouses were to be carefully regulated, both as to numbers and character. Under this bead, the Major-Generals seem to - have done their work briskly. I here was n good deal to bo done. Uy Tudor legislation, tlio Licensing of public-houses was put into the hands of Justices of the Peace, and - they showed themselves more careful for the relief of thirst, than for the prevention of drunkenness, There were also many unlicensed houses. The constables of Coventry, for example, reported that there were ' lifty unlicensed alehouses in the town, Whalley wrote from Cov-

entry, on December Ist, 1655, tlmt I both there and in Lincoln, owing to the want of co-operation on the part of the Civic Magistrates, alehouses woro no sooner put down, than they , wero set up again. On January 11 th, 1655-1), Whalley wrote that the : alehouses, in Lincoln were incredibly ' numerous. By-and-by a note of 1 progress is heard from Lincoln, 1 whence, on January 26th, 1655-6, i the report comes, "The business j (blessed bo God) that our Major- ] Generals and we arc trusted with, i goes on; very well; . , , we i have suppressed forty, fifty, and ' ilichdusos in some' corpora- * lions, ■ Under the same impulse 1 the Justices of Warwickshire ' directed the high constables of tho J hundreds,';to suppress a third of the t "ins and alehouses within their c districts. On February 9th, Worsley J wrote to Thurloe from Chester, that 1 ho was putting down all alehouses J' which belonged to ono or more of , the five following classes; (1) those hostile to the Government ; (2) those I [whose owners had other means of a livelihood; (3) such as were in "big o and dark corners " (blind alehouses); a ('i) those of bad repute and disorderly; (5) those suspected to be 11 houses of ill-fame. 1:1

Suroly now this record of Oliver Cromwell is unearthed people cannot say that it is impossible to regulato public houses. Oh for one of Oliver s Major-General's to show us in New Zealand what mora) courage | can accomplish ! We would suggest that Jlr petition should study the methods of England's Protector 'flip idea of putting down houses hostile to the Government would be one after his own heart, and there would be no objection to it if the Seddonian rule were a mpral one like Cromwell's, ilorp than two huntjfed year? ago a way was found to keep the liquor traffic decent and orderly and no subsequent record appears to indicate more dourly tho right way to deai with the drink evil,

The action for libel the brought against the iVEMNG tost Evening Post is tipand „ parently settled by Jill ward, ft public apology tendered by tlio latter. This will be a surprise to many who know the pertinacity with which the Eimnij Post usually adheres to any position which it takes up. In our . opinion the Post has in this matter adopted a right and honourable course. It admittedly acted upon a mistaken information, and no journal is justified in defending a mis-statement. If fclin Post had been in the right, it would, wo believe, have fought the case to the bitter end. The Post lias always stood up for the freedom uf the press, and we think all the better of it when, on an occasion where a mistake had been obviously committed, and the question of such freedom could not be , fairly raised, it frankly admitted that it had been mistaken. Every journal, however carefully conducted, is liable to occasional error, but such error, when detected, should be as frankly admitted as any attempt to hamper the true liberties of the press should be strenuously resisted.