GROG SHANTIES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2223, 22 March 1869, Page 3

GROG SHANTIES.

(DV OUR TRAVELLING KKPOIITBB.)

Attention has from timo to time been called to tho prevalence of thin jperoicious system in the rural districts of the province, and more particularly upon tho §oldfields. At tho Ja«t sitting of tho ynod of Otago and Southland, tho subject cropped tip in a debate upon the Licensing question, and uince then, attention has been drawn to it through tho open columns of this journal. Tho system complained of appear* to be not only demoralising in its tendency, but border ing do closely upon wholesale plunder in its operations, that we aro compelled to ask why moro active stops for ita suppression have not been long uinco instituted. Wo havo inquired into tho matter, and whilo we cannot, without a certain amount of reservation, endorse tho sentiments given forth by tho authorities noied above, it is evident, novortblcsa, that it in an evil, and one that is assuming formidable dimensions. From what wo have heard, it ia likely to increase rather than diminish, in some of ita worse phases. Thia opinion is grounded on tho fact that what is commonly known as tho " sixpenny nobblor" is extending throughout the entire length of the province, the charge previously, in the more remote districts, having been procUoly one hundred per cent. more. This •change, it ia believed, will materially affect the number of licenses applied for next year; and in proportijn aa iho legitimate trade docroasea, the unlicensed traffic is liable to increase. This appoara to bo the invariable result. With the withdrawal of tho license, tho word "hotel" is obliterated from the signboard, the fermented liquor and ardent spirit* removed from behind tho bar to a leas exposed position, aud ito place supplied with a few decanters of non-intoxicating beverages. As a rule thia ia the only ■change that ia made; and in far the largest number of cases tho trade of tho establishment goes on aa previously; unless, perhaps, rather raoro recklessness •can bo detected in the modo of conducting it. On behalf of some of those places extenuating circumstances may be found. Wayside hostolries, for example, remotely situated from liconsed houaea, cannot in many instances very well afford tho license dues and otherwise conform to tho strict letter of tho Licensing Act. Tho traffic being small, what littlo trade they do is at beat precarious; at tho same time, by swooping them entirely away aorioua hardship would be entailed upon many a lonely traveller. On tho other hand, the entire absonco of ■auporvißion generates into that licentiousness which lends a colouring to tho graphic scenes described by our correspondent "Investigator" in a recent issue. Tho question then comeß to this, would it not be wiaor to make some concession, whereby the traffic undor such circumstances might be legalised ? It is in one respect at least a necessity, and in its present outcast form, it becomes a necessary evil; whoreas if it could, at a rata commensurate with its means, be elevated to a legitimate •calling, it would bo surrounded by certain restraints calculated to check ita more vicious tendencies. Tho subject is not so very profound but that it might readily be dealt with by tho Legislature. Places of this kind boyond a certain distance from a liconsed house, furnished with proscribed accommodation, and subjected to wholesome restraint, might surely be authorised to retail liquorsy-such authority being subject to a provision that the ■person applying for it muat bo a person of lair roputation- The police would then be put in a better position to take. a -determined stand against the non-licensed vendor. Thia ia tho main difficulty thoy havo got to contend with at present Parties situated in such out of tho way T)li4ce» aro looked upon aa pardonable offenders, and when thoir cases are passed •over whilo moro flagrant ones are brought to justice, an outcry ia raised that tho Dolico aro biassed in their proceeedmga. Moreover, tho shanty-keeper krowshow ■very procarioua hia calling ia. Ho cannot tell the moment when the authorities may come down upon him for a LSO or even a LIOO fine. Hence ho becomea leas sciraDuloua in hia dealings than he would Otherwise be. If in hiaown parlance ho can cet hia hands on a "long wool," the stemptationa to fleece him axe very strong.

Indeed it is just with him as it is with every other species of outcast. As long as ho ia kept without the pale of law-, lie will revenge the exclusion by watching his opportunity for inflicting a eojert injury upon the principles by which, it is regulated ; bat so soon as the barrier is removed, ho gets an incentive to become one of its recognised members. With regard to the other and by far the largest representative of the dais —the unlicensed vendor in towns and populous places—no excuse whatever can be offered on his behalf. Under these circumstances, the shanty-keeper becomes a downright pest to society, and the community fails m the duty it owes to itself when it tolerates his existence. A place of that kind, situated next door to a licensed house, is apiece of toleration at which we may well be surprised. Many such are to bo found on the goldfields and elsewhere. . Indeed instance* can be stated where the unlicensed dealer docs tho lion's share of the trade. One of these may be quoted. During a recent visit of our informant to some of the interior districts, he came upon a place of the kind situated within a mile and a half of the thriving township of Tapanui, where about a dozen shearers were dissipating. They had finished shearing the same afternoon at a neighbouring station, and were " sweating oat" their cheques. In other words, thoy bad deposited the proceeds of their earnings with the keeper of the place, by whom they were supplied with liquor until it was found convenient to toll them that their amounts had been spent. We have a further insight into tbo character and peculiarities of the trade, in the fact that tho keeper waa a female, and that she bad engaged the services of j one or two others until shearing in the neighbourhood had been finished. Still nearer tho township there was another similar place doing a share of the same kind of trade, while inside the township the licensed hotels were doing absolutely nothing. This exhibit* ono ef the wont phases of the system—a system which certainly demands intervention of some kind or another. At the same tine, in calling for such intervention, we would desire to point out that where it can be shown to oe beneficial, small, perhaps, in degree, but of some consequence in effect, it is no less requisite that provision should bo made for placing it on a better footing.