CRITICISM ON COUNCILLORS AND CLUBS.

New Zealand Herald, Issue XXI, 15 May 1884, Page 3

CRITICISM ON COUNCILLORS AND CLUBS.

TO THE EDITOR. . Sib, —I wish some able person would tako up the question of City Councils, and define) "■ the duties of our city councillor*. To jndgo from the upheaving - of our streets and tho fnss over our water-carte, and the watchful care of our Public Inspector, one would con« elude that these duties were confined to such objects, and yet 1 fancy some : people sees higher dutiei than these, and'heavier responsibilities than securing level streets and free* dom from dustr and dirt—objects good in themselves, but hot claiming the exclusivo , attention of eighteen of our cleverest and ablest citizens. There is something wrong in oar moral atmosphere that can furnish over one hundred and fifty, prisoners to Mount Eden. Gaol—mostly, but not all gathered from' the city, a few being sent.' from the country .districts, after-—as tho country people often assert—they have been-' first taught in Auckland to commit crime. Wecannotsay with truthfulness, whatis often, asserted by English statesmen of England, _ tbat we have in the colony either a criminal " or a pauper class brought lip to crime. Anyone who has seen the inmateß of prisons in England, and compared them with tho ; men and-women we have in Mount Eden Gaol, will see a striking difference. Taken as a whole the prisoners here are altogether saporior in their physique, and the women are rarely committed for any crime beyond petty larceny, committed mostly while under ' the influence of drink. For drunkenness - and vagrancy Bome of them have to spend six " or eight months out of twelve in Mount Eden Gaol. > With this sad picture before them, can our city councillors shut their eyeß to the fact'that our great licensing system and our drinking practices are mainly responsible for these results ? Were ' not our. city councillors dead to aU right ' feeling when by a majority, the other night, ■ they vetoed a proposal made by their Legal Committee to close the private billiardrooms licensed by the city authorities at .ten ■ o'clock, the . same hour being already agreed to by the Licensing Committees ; for. closing public-houses . together with the billiard-rooms connected therewith ? Any person with one eye must see that tha effect will be conducive to late hours, . drunkenness, and consequently to crime. " The two latter are twin-sisters,. and cannot. be separated. It is' no figure of speech to - assert that three-fourths ot our Mount Eden prisoners are there through the effects of drink. As a rule, men do not play at; billiards for money, and when tho publican closes his rooms drink will ba conveyed J in ' bottles to the city licensed rooms, and the evils arising therefrom will be worse than." they are at present. Our clubs are not free" from censure on this score, and why they should be freed from licensing fee 3 is a puzzle to ordinary men, except on the plea > that ~ most mes; are reluctant to tax themselves, and that their members are our law-makers. ' The Working Men's Club would not escape our Legislature for a single session only their wealthy friends cannot tax one without'including them both, and fairplay to the publi- ' can would suggest the latter course being adopted.—lam, ic., Joseph Newman.