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Lyttelton Times, Volume LIX, Issue 6870, 7 March 1883, Page 4

The discussion of the relation of barmaids to tho drinking customs of the country evidently has two sides. One side regards the whole olass as directly responsible for alt tho drinking, and brands all its members, with few exceptions, very grudgingly made, in the blackest colour. Tho other aide seems to content itself with claiming a very high degree of virtue for nearly every barmaid in the country. In the contention two questions are involved. Is the practice of employing barmaids responsible for the of the country P Is tbe practice to the advantage of (he individuals employed? For the first we have the English and American examples to guide us to an answer. There was a time in England when a barmaid was the exception, but since the barmaid has become tbe rale tho drinking of tho country has certainly not increased According to the last Budget Speech of Mr Gladstone, thero was, during 1881, a sensible diminution in the consumption of liquor, a thing impessiblo in the face of a class of women who not as a permanent attraction to youth, that begins life with a strong disinclination to strong waters, hut being drawn into the presence of Sirens, falls a victim in perpetuity to the flowing bowl. In the United States, barmaids are unknown, yet the population drinks heavily, and the bar trade ts in places a thing to think of with shuddering. In the face of these experienoes to talk about the practice of employing women to serve in bars as the main cause of the drinking easterns of the country « absurd. Occasionally a figure in seen lounging at a bar counter, •pending its time in imbibing numerous N drinks” silently, and in gazing with

vacant idiotic pleasure at the barmaid. But tbe spectacle is as rare as it is amusing. For tbs most part the moving cause of an adjournment to a bar counter is a desire to drink or to mske somebody else drink. This is the experience of mankind geriferaliy, we believe, and that it will be endorsed generally we h*v«> little doubt. Clearly tbe British drinking public Is not tbo victim ot the British barmaid. She may have many sins to answer lor, hut that is not one of them. Whether, on tbe contrary, the barmaid—wo speak of tbe class—-is tbe victim of the drinking public, is, we think, the real question. Some men who go Into bar rooms habitually treat tbe barmaid with the courtesy and deference wbioh are due to the sex they have been bred to honour. These are few. Others there are who exhibit towards barmaids a kind of second class politeness made up of condescension tempered by ogling. These, if they are not very numer* ous, are certainly not very harmful to the ladies of the counter. A third class says sad does things in tbe presence of barmaids which it knows wc-U would earn a kicking anywhere elite where there are respectable women, and knows quite well that the kicking would be well deserved. These are not the majority, bat in the later hours of tbe evening, and in sundry localities, they form a minority respectable only as to number. Then there are tome whose relations with the barmaids are friendly and even cordial, and others whose attitude is a quasi • gallantry of extravagant pretence. Many, again, go into a bar and make no attempt to talk to anybody but the friend they are with. Lastly, we have the men who offer temptation in bar rooms just as they offer temptation elsewhere, regarding it to be tbeir mission in the world to assail all women whom they catch apart from the defences which society throws around them. Femme qui gcouU is their object in life, an object rather more easily pursued in a bar room than in many other placet. Lastly, the barmaid has to serve long hours, and to suffer lassitude and fatigue, surrounded by stimulants, perpetually tempted by tbe gurgling of enticing beverages. Amid these surroundings the barmaid can be what she chooses to be. There are amongst barmaids good women, who exact respect from sU, who never permit rudeness of any kind in their presence, who can protect themselves in every way that a virtuous woman understands. These would make good wives and mothers certainty. There are others who succumb, more or less, to the environments of their situation. To marry these would be in some oases a risk, and in some, downright folly. Whether their lot would be any better or any worse were they engaged in some other occupation, it is bootless to enquire. They are barmaids, and looking at thsm, and hearing them talk, one cannot but say it is not always good for a woman to be a barmaid. The position is dear enough. Men, when under the influence of liquor, are not masters of themselves, and when not masters of themselves it is not good for any women to be near some of them, especially for unprotected women. In nufty bar-rooms men are much under the influence of liquor. It is better, therefore, that men should be served with liquor in bar-rooms by men; they probably would drink no less, but they would respect women more. There are, of course, bar-rooms where the drinking is light by comparison. But in a legislative enactment it is impossible to make any distinctions. Either all houses must be allowed to have barmaids, or none may have barmaids. In the interest of womanhood, we should say let there be none. That is the example of the United States, where wemanhood is respected as much os in way country in the world. The example is good.