RETAIL BREWERS. (Hansard, 13 April 1847)

§ MR. MUNTZ
presented a petition signed by between 700 and 800 retail brewers 746 of the midland counties, praying that they might be allowed to keep their houses open till twelve o'clock at night, and proceeded to make the Motion of which he had given notice. The subject of his Bill lay in a very small compass. The retail brewers were of opinion that they had not been fairly dealt with in being obliged to close at eleven instead of twelve o'clock. They complained, with some reason, that the parties who frequented their houses were compelled to leave at such an hour that they usually adjourned to the houses of licensed victuallers to finish the evening, and there spend the money which ought to be spent with them. They could see no reason why an hour longer should be granted to the retail brewers of London, asserting that although the hours of the upper classes in London might be later than in the country, the same rule by no means prevailed with reference to the working classes. He confessed, that, for his own part, he had always thought the law allowing brewers to retail beer on the premises very questionable; but such being the law, the brewers now asked to be placed on an equal footing with others. He, therefore, begged leave to move for a Bill to enable retail brewers in the midland counties to keep open their houses till twelve o'clock at night, the same as the metropolitan retail brewers.

§ SIR G. GREY
said, entertaining, as he did, a strong objection to the proposition of the hon. Member, it was hardly worth while to observe the courtesy usual in such cases, by allowing the Bill to be introduced. The 3rd and 4th Victoria, chap. 61, fixed three periods at which beer-shops should be closed. He called them beer-shops; for, let the hon. Member designate them as he might, that was what these retail brewers really were. From what he had heard with respect to the manner in which those shops were conducted in Manchester, Birmingham, and other large places, he believed they were under the management of very respectable persons; but beer-shops they nevertheless were, and constituted a class of houses very distinct from those occupied by licensed victuallers. By the statute he had quoted, all such houses within the city of London and Westminster, and the district around which were within the supervision of the metropolitan police, were allowed to keep open till twelve o'clock; in other large places, containing a certain amount of population, they were allowed to keep open till eleven 747 o'clock; while in country places and thinly populated districts they were only allowed to keep open till 10 o'clock. Now, the proposition of the hon. Gentleman was, that all the beer-shops throughout the country should be allowed to keep open till 12 o'clock. He did not see any reason for this, or any good ground why the present regulations should be disturbed, The distinction as to the hours between the metropolitan and the country districts was obviously founded upon the fact that the beer-houses within the metropolitan districts and of large towns would be under better supervision by means of the police than in country places; which, in his opinion, was a very sound distinction, and he must therefore oppose the introduction of the Bill.

§ MR. MUNTZ
deemed it his duty to divide the House on his Motion.

List of the AYES.
Hume, J.	TELLERS.
O'Connell, M. J.
Pechell, Capt.	Muntz, G. F.
Trelawny, J. S.	Collett J.

List of the NOES.
Adderley, C. B.	Hawes, B.
Arkwright, G.	Henley, J. W.
Baillie, H. J.	Hindley, C.
Baillie, W.	Hope, Sir J.
Baring, rt. hon. F. T.	Hope, G. W.
Broadley, H.	Hudson, G.
Brotherton, J.	Humphery, Ald.
Brown, W.	James, Sir W. C.
Bruce, C. L. C.	Jervis, Sir J.
Carew, W. H. P.	Labouchere, rt. hon. H.
Christie, W. D.	Lindsay, Col.
Clive, Visct.	Loch, J.
Colebrooke, Sir T. E.	Lowther, Sir J. H.
Cripps, W.	Lygon, hon. Gen.
Dalrymple, Capt.	Maitland, T.
Davies, D. A. S.	Manners, Lord J.
Dick, Q.	Marjoribanks, S.
Dickinson, F. H.	Maule, rt. hon. F.
Disraeli, B.	Molesworth, Sir W.
Dodd, G.	Morpeth, Visct.
Duncan, G.	Neville, R.
Duncombe, T.	Newport, Visct.
Dundas, Sir D.	Ogle, S. C. H.
Escott, B.	Oswald, A.
Estcourt, T. G. B.	Palmer, G.
Forster, M.	Parker, J.
French, F.	Philips, M.
Fuller, A. E.	Pusey, P.
Gibson, rt. hon. T. M.	Rendlesham, Lord
Gore, hon. R.	Repton, G. W. J.
Goulburn, rt. hon. H.	Rutherfurd, A.
Greene, T.	Smythe, hon. G.
Grey, rt. hon. Sir G.	Somerville, Sir W. M.
Hamilton, W. J.	Spooner, R.
Hastie, A.	Stansfield, W. R. C.
Hatton, Capt. V.	Staunton, Sir G. T.

Trotter, J.	Yorke, H. R.
Turner, E.	TELLERS.
Waddington, H. S.	Tufnell, H.
Ward, H. J.	Hill, Lord M.