In other words, we first make a valuable annual present,
and then provide means for giving the recipient handsome compensation if we shoed ever stop the present. Our proper course would obviously be to pay the so•called compensation fund into the national Exchequer, and in case of any proved injustice—owing to the refusal to renew a license—to give a solatium to the publican. If he is deprived of his living, he should, of course, be treated fairly by the State. Further, a time limit should be created, after which all claims for com- pensation should be considered as untenable. The Govern- ment Bill, if it passes, will prevent the Exchequer in the future making use of a great national asset, and we therefore protest against it in the name of sound finance. While the Income-tax is at a shilling, it is madness to neglect the great and perfectly legitimate source of revenue to be found in a high-license system.
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