THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

Westport Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1151, 17 February 1874, Page 2

THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

There are, it seems, some friends of sobriety who are not utterly bereft of common sense, who while they are not prepared to sacrifice the greatest political issues to the pursuit of an impracticable crotchet, are yet anxious to diminish the evil effects of druukenness and promote the social well-being of their poorer countrymen. It need not be said that they are neither Permissive Bill men nor Good Templers. The example of Grottenburg, once the most drunken town in brandy-loving Sweden, has inspired a few Scotch members with the idea of bringing in a Bill based, with certain modifications,on the system in force in that city. There, is as well known, a company, pledged to hand over to the Municipality, has the exclusive monoply of the liquor traffic. They undertake that none but honest liquors shall be vended, and the profit of their employees is strictly limitedtothatderived from tea, coffee, and food. The results of the system have been such that these Scotch members who have personally examined its working, have proposed that each parish or such other district as may be decided, should enjoy the power of buying up licensed houses compulsorily on valuation; and that after paying the interest on the sum borrowed for the purchase, together with a sinking fund the residue should be applied to the relief of the poor. The extraordinary multiplication of public-houses throughout our Colony makes it often impossible for the most honestly-minded to sell good liquor by fair measure. Adulteration is a necessary consequence. Judge Richmond not long since remarked that the most atrocious cases of brutal violence brought before him had their origin in the vile and poisonous compounds too often sold as spirits. When drinking shops jostle one another in well nigh every street, and stand like mile-posts along every high road through our sparsely populated country, it becomes evident that the publican cannot continue honest and live. You may occasionally find yourself in a clean and comfortable inn, with a good glass of toddy steamini* before you, and take " ane, or naebbe twa, tumblers," and wake up without a headache. But it is noteworthy that this is where inns are lew and far between. The licenseing justices, with their local influences and personal predilections, are manifestly to blame for this. We want a Colonial officer of high standing, and beyond local influence, as a licenser, to keop down the growing multitude of public-houses, and Government analysts to check adulteration. It was but a few months sinco wo saw

openly exposed for sale in a respectable bookseller's shop, a small worlt called "The Publicans' Friend." It contained several hundred receipts for adulterating beer, wine, and spirits, mostly with the most poisonous ingredients ; and also gave instructions for the manufacture of port and sherry

and other liquors, into which appar* eutly entered no single particle of the fluid uuder the name of which it was vended. That our fellow-countrymen will drink, in spito of all the Good Templars that ever lived, is evident. Their drinking would damage themselves and their wives, children, and neighbours far less, if they only drank what they meant to think. These poisons are calculated to inflame thirst, and cause crime and disease, to an extent and at a cost incalculable. 1 he evil is tangible.