life 6prttator
APRIL 19, 1834
A DISCUSSION arose in the House of Peers on Tues- day, relative to the suppression of intemperance; which it was alleged had increased alarmingly throughout the country, owing to the facility with which beer-shops are opened. The men of claret and curacoa have no feeling for the infirmities of the men of gin and malt liquor. Lords WYNFORD, SUFFIELD, and KENYON enlarged upon the evils of beer-drinking; thC Bishop of LONDON is horrified at the quantity of gin consumed in London; and Lord ELLENBOROUGH, who generally lets the cat out of the bag, declared that a return to the licensing system was the one thing needful. The destruction of job- bing and magisterial importance, which the Beer Act effected, is the real secret of much of the outcry against it. What man in his senses believes that Lords WYNFORD and ELLENBOROUGH are really anxious about the morals of the people? We give Lord SUFFIELD credit for sincerity; because he has laboured in other ways, much to the annoyance of his "order", to mend the morals of the poor—he has done his best to rid the country of the curse of the Game-laws. About one-third of the commit- ments in England and Wales are for offences against these creations of feudal tyranny and Norman oppression. Beer-shops may to a certain extent be productive of evil, but not one tithe of that which the Game-laws occasion. But we hear of no vir- tuous declamation against the latter.
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