The Marlborough Express. ESTABLISHED 1868. published every evening. Saturday, July 18, 1903. A BILL TO ABOLISH BARMAIDS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVII, Issue 169, 18 July 1903, Page 2

The Marlborough Express. ESTABLISHED 1868. published every evening. Saturday, July 18, 1903. A BILL TO ABOLISH BARMAIDS.

Mb Ell, the young and ever'energetic member for Christohuroh, has given notice of a Bill which, if passed into law, would render Illegal the employ ment of barmaids in this eoleny. Snoh a measure may by seme be regarded as an unwarrantable interference with personal rights, aad aa infastiee to women in closing to thsm the portals of a certain branch of ocnpioymont. No one who reads She Exprbbb with *ny regularity would aoonaa as, wo think, of a tendency to encourage fads and faddism, and as a rule we are in* dined to think thero is already quite as much interference by the Legisla ture with the liquor trade as Is desir* able. But wa confess we regard Mr Ell's proposal with some sympathy. No doubt the ideal barmaid, a smart, ne&fchanded, and good-tempered Hebe, is a decidedly pleasant person to meet;, and it is only natural that many men should prefer to have their glass of beer or whisky and soda handed to them by a courteous, trim looking maid rather than by s barman. Barmaids, in New Zealand at least, are, we admit, a well-conducted class of girls, who work long hours-for what h generally by no means extravagant wages, and who carefully refrain from encouraging men, either young or old, to drink more than is goed for them. That there may be exceptions only proves the general rule. Butt ft is an open question whether a public bar for the selling of liquor is the right sort of N place for a decent girl to seek to find Decent men will not, it is trne, indulge in bad language before a barmaid, nor make "double meaning" remarks which may shock her modesty. But all frequenters of hotel bars are not decent men, and many a barmaid has either to complain to her employer of being insulted by bad language, thereby running the risk of affronting a good customer, or put up with an annoyance to winch she should never be subjected. We fear that, in too many instance?, the girl suffers in silence rather tban take a course which may mean a loss of business. Similarly she has to pat up with the vulgar inuendoea and caddish "advances" of men of the " bounder" class, more numerous, especially in the large centres of population, than some people might imagine. Take another aspect of the question. Is it not a notorious fact that many men, both j young and old, are so attracted by the personal charms of the barmaids that they spend much more time, and! ueuey, te hetols titan it gwd either

for themselves or their families ? No one who lias passed A few minntes in any of the big fiavs in large centres can have failed to notice what a large proportion of i6e customers are quite young men who, in the day time, ought to be attending to «ho?r business, or in t&e evening, might be mach more profitably occupied Chan in " nipping " at a bar. We venture to say that were a poll to bo taken of the nun y business men who, for one reason or another, have to meet others in hotels for the transaction of business or for a little quiet conversation over a social "glass," we should find ft majority in favor ef bolnjf served by barmen rathe* than by barroaiao. Ist America the barmaid is practically unknown. We have ib st&taS by those who have travelled widely in the United States that from New Y«rk t» San Francisco, from Chicago to New Of loans, no girl of dec«nt eharsoter fa to be fonnd serving liqaer. Girls are, i»v is true, employe* ia the low class laager beer "halls" la cartaia quarters of New York and Chleage, but ills understood j that those girls are generally of im-1 moral character* It is not temperance sentiment in America which is averse to the employment of women as sellers of liquor, but a really national sentiment, as strong amongst moderate drinkers as amongst out and out temperance men* As our readers are aware, we are opposed to prohibition, but we do heia that In many ways the liqKor trade fa Ab.'Oetoay stands in need ef reform, aad w«ar« by no means gnre that Mr Ill's i>r©pesal—theagh "fad "II May fee enlled—l* net a step in the right Atreefeien. ll nsy bo said that the yss&i&g *f Ms Bill would throw a numeer ef very worthy young women oat ef aapleyment. That might b© ao> but ffhe Inconvenience to these girls need en!y cc temporary, for there fs such ftn ever constant demand for girls as demestic servants, and in various other employments, that the ousted barmaids would have no difficulty ia indfeS Benefit and wellpaid work to take the place ef that which they weald be feroed te relinquish. . ;, . _