Mr. Carbutt made out a strong case on Wednesday for
the closing of public-houses. during the day of an election, but injured the case for his Bill by excepting from its provisions both London—which certainly ought not to be excepted—and places for the sale of:liquor on steamers, which might thus, on an election-day, be turned into public-houses, wherever they could be moored along the wharf of a, great town. Mr: Carbutt showed that the experiment of closing public- houses during an election had been so successful in Newport, that they had fOr the first time in the last election had a per- fectly quiet and peaceful polling-day. in Canada, and for the State elections in New York, the same provision for the closing of public-houses on election-days had been found most useful. On the whole, the majority of the House seemed to be with Mr. Carbutt, though a strong wish was expressed that he should allow the debate to be adjourned. till after the dis- cussion of the Corrupt Practices Bill, in which a provision to the same effect is to be proposed. The adjournment was accord- ingly agreed to, after Sir Wilfrid Lawson had protested, and humorously intimated his deep distrust of the Attorney- General, and of the ostentatiously reasonable Licensed "Vic- tuallers with whom the Attorney-General had been recently taking sweet counsel.
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