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"Your Beer will Coat You More." There is a, very unpleasant, prospect in store for < very Englishman who enjoys a bottle of Bass at LeHTo or the more modest half-pint, of ale, con- •jmed at a licensed bar. Should the newly- introduced Licensing Bill ever pass into law- which is possible, though far from probable—the brewers v. 11 b:) forced to raise the prico of their beers; some of them are even talking of doing so n the immediate future, as a matter of pre- aut.son. If a Time Limit of only fourteen years .« placed on the Compensation clauses of the Act • if 1904, during that period the brewers will have to accumulate a- sinking fund to provide for the f-oufiscatkm of their property, and the deprecia- ion of their shares and debentures—i deprccia- n which would probably send the value of such xuritie- down to vanishing point. That sinking hind could never bo established out of profits, ( specially as year by year a large number of the brewers' houses would be compulsorily closed. The only resource would be to advance prices, end it would, of course, 00 the consumer who would have to pay the. enhanced figure. At the lowest computation such advance could not be !ess than 40 or 50 per cent.; which means that tie pint of beer which at present is purchased or twopence or threepence, would cost three- pence or fourpe)ic o-ika: lye niiy re-pectiveiy. It is • ioubtfui if this would leid to decreased consump- tion, but it would entail a serious hardship on all l>eer-dri.nkers, more particularly on those who earn but scanty wages. Nothing but vigorous rational prole-t is likely to defeat the proposals f the Bill and in such protest every man should -is a. mere matter of duty, take an active part. < Ratepayers, Beware. The more the iniquitous proposals contained in the Confiscation of Licensed Property Bill aro considered, the more plainly will it be seen how wide and universal would be its pernicious effects. For Inst-aace, there is not & ratepayer in England ■xho would not find his rates seriously ad- vanced, were the Bill to pass. As everybody knows, licensed premises are very highly assessed -more so than any other class of "brick and mortar" property. In fact, in many "areas," or districts, especially in busy towns, the licensed houses, hotels, inns, pubs, etc., pay a very large proportion of the total rate levied. The Bill »>ropt>s«5 to wip;) out one-third of those houses, and this would cause a defioiency in the parochial municipal treasure of a very large sum—hun- dreds or thousands of pounds according to the ->c and importance of the "area." That de- i'loieiwy would have to be made up by the re- naming* ratepayers, every one of whom would iffer in pocket to pay the cost of shutting up oeneed houses, which, in all probability, ho would much rather should remain open. Yet one of them have any voice in the matter; all hey would have to do would be to "pay, pay, J How About the Big1 Hoters1 The individual who has invested money ia the shares of any of the big liotel companies is also, just now, undergoing a. period of anxious per- turbation, for capital invested in such companies, or even in a. single hotel, large or small, will in aU probability bo lost. An hotel, whether it be- a pal uial establish me,' t of he Ritz order, or a cosy hostelry at some inland or seaside holiday resort, comcs under the category of "on-licences." During the fourteen Time Limit, its licence- may be forfeited at the discretion of the justices, and the compensation to be paid, accord- ing to the Bill, would bo about ten or fifteen per cent, of tho amount payable under the Act of 1904. If tho licence should be allowed to sur- vive until the Time Limit of fourteen years has expired, it will then lapse automatically; and a fresh licence will only bo obtainable, on payment of such a srum as the justices may see lit to de- mand. Can any man, even the- most rabid tee- totaler, contend, for one moment, that this would bo justice fair-play? Having expended many thousands of pounds in building and equipping an hotel, on the plain understanding that a licence, without which the hotel would bo of no use, would be granted, the investors in tho undertaking are to have their property confisca- ted, and cither buy it over again, at the. licensing justices' valuation, or shut up the place and lose- every penny. Railway Shareholders' Alarm. Tho pica of the promoters of the Licensing Bill, a.nd of its supporters is that as the State orig'Inally granted licences to trade in liquor thereby creating a monopoly of tho industry, tho State, has a perfect right to icsume jiosecssion of the monopoly so created. Now this spccious argument has naturally caused considerable alarm among the holders of railway shares, and for this reason. The present valuo of the "monopoly" in a licence is something more than the original conception, it is very largely the result of much capital invested, and much time, energy and busi- ness skill expended. In Jike manner every rail- way company originally received a concession from tho State for a "monopoly" of the right to cany passenger*, gfJO<.h, etc.. over a certain route. On the strength of that concession the line was constructed, and the service organised and equipped, tho eventual success being de- pendent on tho way in which the business of the company was conducted. In tho course of years the "monopoly value" of the successful line sumed enormous proportions; and, if the treat- ment of the liquor industry, proposed by the row Bill j" allowed to form a precedent, what is theie to prevent the. State saying to the railway companies "The 'value' of your line would ncver have reached its present point but for the per- mit v originally gave you; therefore, at the end of so many years, we intend to take- pos- session of that value, without giving* you any- thing for what you have done towards creating it." The two eases, licenced property and rail- way property, are cxacdy similar; and if tho State is allowed to confiscate the one, it is cer- tain that it will not be long ere it will lay plun- dering hands on the other. « Mr Asquitft s Optimism. The- Chancellor of the Exchequer views with loftj^in liffor too the fact that his proposal '.o extinguish some 30,000 licences would over 120,000 persrais out of employment. That to Mr Asquith's mind a mere matter of detail. Ques- tioned on the point, in the House of Commons, he expressed the opinion that those so deprived of their means of earning a livelihood would "be absorbed in other employments." This however, absolutely contrary tOo all experience. When, in consequence of slackness of trade, or the finaJ closing of a big manufac- tory, shipbuilding yard, or other "hive of in- duftt-rv," largo numbers of men are thrown out of work, very few of them are at once "ab- 5rbed" in other industries—tho vast majority are m uiy weary months, often years, ere they find another job. This- difficulty would be accen- tuated in the ease of barmen, barmaids, potmen, etc., who are "unskilled" labourers except in the particular business to which they are accustomed. As to tho middle-aged licence-holder, who would lose, at ono fell swotp, the capital he invented, and the business in which he and it were elU- ployed, he- no doubt would soon be "absorbed;" but it would be by the workhouse, not by find- ing employment in the only trade of which ho had any practical knowledge. LTn!iko Chancellors üfthû Exchequer, tho difipofflessed licensee would not, when "turned out, he- provided with a com- fortable pension for the rest of their days. The Hasting-s Express. The gaity of the nation (says "London Opin- ion") received a stimulus last week by the actios of f hr \> members of Parliament who protested, in sober earnest, that a certain South-Eastern Railway train travelled far ico quickly, and that their lives were endangered thereby. Quo of the original-minded trio wa Mr Clement Ed- wards, Liberal member for Denbigh. Mr E<1- warth is a very l1"omisi,ng young barrister, wi;!1 a wide knowledge- of labour affairs. He has held briefs in some of tho most important trade union cases in the High Court during the past few years. Ho is the author of a book on the nationalisation of our railways, and last year ho issued a most useful volume on the Compensation Act, 1906. He. w is a junior assistant to Mr John Bums in the- great dock strike. • « • ■ Angling in the Conway. The meeting convened at Talycafn to-day week fur the purpose of considering' tho 41û- sirability of forming a local trout angling associa- tion proved thoroughly successful. Not only was it decided to inaugurate such an institution, but. a working committee was appointed to en- ter at once upon tho preliminary arrangements. For a time at least the association will have to operate on a modest scale, but, once good results areshciw n, there is no doubt. but that the strength of the society will bo sufficiently reinforced to enable them to work on more ambitions lines. So far they will confine themselves to improving the fishing conditions in of the local lajws and perliaps one or two of the Conway's tribu- taries. It is gratifying to tind that the chairman of tho Board of Conservators is in sympathy with the movement. Co-operation between tho Board and the Association should prove mutually bene- ficial. Algiers will wish the new society a prosperous and useful life. it » • Light Raiiway to Proceed. The numerous unfounded reports circulated with reference to tho completion of the Llandud- no-Colwyn Bay light railway scheme have caused considerable disquiet, particularly in Colwyn Bay, during the past fort-night. In spite of tho reassuring official message we were. able to pub- lish fûurteli1 days ago it has been repeatedly stated that further progress with the line would not bo made pending gome change in the pro- prietorship of tho undertaking, which might mean an indefinite delay. It ig, therefore, dou- bly gratifying to find that workmen were yes- terday actually engaged in pushing the ex- tension of the track friwn Rhos-cn-Sea to Colwyn Bay. But whether the work will be completed by Easter, as the contractors announce, remains to bo socn. It is to be hoped, however, that there will be no unnecessary delay, because the Colwyn Bay streets should be quite, clear of im- pedimenta before the. height of the summer sea- sou arrives wit.h its heavy vehicular and other road traffic. < One Thing at a Time. In rejecting Mr J. H. EHis' motion for tho extens;ou of the Evst Promenade-, tho Rhyl Ur- ban District Couned no doubt acted judiciously7. That the extension is desirablo there is no gain- saying, but it is equally eertain that tho present is .not the time to carry it out. The town's in- debtedness will bo greater by £14,000 in conse- quence of the pavilion and garden scheme. adopted a few weeks ago. and to supplement that amount by a further £25vfl() would be a. mistake, having regard for the town'rf financial position. It was arg'ued that the expenditure would only entad <1,,] extra Jd rate, which would be probably saved in sand cartage, because the. new works would prevent sand drifting to the public thorough- fares. Even if that were tho case, the Council would not bo justified in proceeding with tho work, seeing that they virtually promised at the ratepayers' meeting a short while ago to limit tho scheme to its present dimensions. We hope, however, that Mr Ellis will not be. discouraged because of the Council's decision. Rhyl would be badly oil if bereft of his great business abili- ties, and no man has done more than he to push I the town into tLe front rank of Sunday Music Beneficial. We think the Council also adopted the proper course upon the question of Sunday concerts. Surely this is not the age in which to argue that the Sabbath is cecularised when a little wholesome music is introduced into the day's proceedings. That is shall be wholesome, of course, is a matter which rests with the Council, for, if the concerts tro.rc,-t. of the de-sired char- acter, the authority will have power to order their discontinuance "after giving one week's notice of their intention to do 60." At tho Col- wyn Bay and Llandudno pavilions the Sunday concerts not only- prove popular, but undoubtedly tend to elevate. their audiences in every eenso. As Mr Tilby remarked in his racy speech, Sun- day observance is a matter of expediency, And it is clear we cannot now bo expected to observe the Judiac Sabbath. Why should it be more of a desecration of tho Sabbath to conduct a con- cert in a. pavilion than to carry out. choir prac- tices in places of worship or to give an organ recital at a church or eha-pel?

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