The State and Public-houses.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6483, 28 September 1892, Page 4

The State and Public-houses.

The Bishop of Chester, in a letter to the Times of August 2, returns to his old theory of the State-managed public-house system. He writes: — ' I would Kubmit th»t the reformation so undoubtedly and imperatively demanded must, to be really effective, take the shape of a complete reconstruction of our existing publichouse system. Licensed victualling must change hands. The State, through its local authorities and instrumentalities, must with a firm and liberal hand undertake the provision of houses of refreshment for the people, in which alcoholic beverages, though frankly recognised, will be deposed from their aggressive supremacy and supplied under less seductivo conditions. These conditions would, for example, be comfortable, spacious, wellventilated accommodation ; temperance drinks of every kind brought well to the front, invested with prestige and supplied in the most convenient, attractive, and inexpensive way ; the pecuniary interest of the managers (that is, in the form of bonus) made to depend entirely on the sale of eatables and nonalcoholic bevreages ; alcoholic liquors secured against adulteration ; newspapers, indoor games, and, where practicable, outdoor games and music provided ; while the mere drink shop, the gin palace, and " the bar " — that pernicious incentive to drinking for drink's sake — would be utterly abolished.'

At Nelson, near Windsor, a young lady named Miss McGuirc attempted to shoot a snake which was entering the house, when the charge of shot entered the leg of her mother, who was close by. The latter was removed to the hospital in a critical condition. In trying a case at the Chelmsford Assizes, in which a man was charged under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, Mr Justice Hawkins said they would not have half the number of these cases if it were not that forward girls made overtures to and enticed the men themselves. He had often wondered how it had come to pass that nobody had ever yet thought of indicting a girl who enticed a man, and thus asked him to commit a crime. A girl knew her own age. The girl in the case before them even knew the ls.w, and yet she enticed the man, and asked htm to commit a crime. It would be a very useful thing if one day, when a case was pretcy clear, a girl was indicted for having incited a man to do that for which the man would alone be at present punished. The Dunmow Flitch celebration took place last week before a large concourse of people. Two couples claimed * the flitch : Mr and Mrs Dennis Bridgman, of Forest Hill, and Mr and Mrs Hird, an octogenarian couple resident at Bow. The court, which was held in a large marquee, was crowded, amongst those present being Lord and Lady Brooke, Lady Gordon Lennox, and Colonel Lock wood, M.P. Mr Robert Marsh, as counsel for the claimants, pleaded their cases in an able and humorous manner, while Mr Welch, the counsel for the donors of the bacon, resisted the claims with equal ability. There were many amusing questions and answers in the course of the examination and cross-examination of the claimants. Some quibbling took place between the judge and counsel as to whether the qualifying period was the first twelve months of the claimant' mar ried lite, or any similar period afterwards,