The Press. Friday, April, 13 1917. Liquor Restrictions in England.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15874, 13 April 1917, Page 6

The Press. Friday, April, 13 1917. Liquor Restrictions in England.

• The shortage of tonnage, and the Imperative necessity of conserving all : • : food supplies as much as possible, re- , cently .led to the most drastic restrictions in the amount of beer 'allowed to be brewed in England. Apart from : this, the war hag brought to the front ; tho question of temperance reform in a manner'that many years of agitation ! . in the ordinary way \yould have failed to seoure. The adoption of State purchase and control is now being strongly, favoured in some quarters as a permanent 'solution of the difficulty, it being recognised that the very Bevere ; restrictions recently imposed aro war measures only, and there is a general feeling against, the whole question being \ allowed to revert to pre-war conditions so soon as peace is declared. The proposal that the State shall take over , the , whole businoss is apparently being regarded more favourably by tho trade than it is by extreme tempcrance reformers. who are opposed to anything short of absolute prohibition. From our point of view there are Berious objections to the proposal of State purchase, not the least being the fresh of State employees which it would bring, into existence. In the meantime '• it may-be of interest to our readers to v learn something as to the measure of / success which attended tho limited amount of State control which was brought into force some months ago, largely with the view of lessening the amount of drinkinn in munition and shipbuilding areas. An interesting and instructive article on this~ subject is contributed to the "Nineteenth Century" by Dr. Arthur Shad well, a well-known writer on temperance, anc} author of tho article oh "Liquor Law" in the "Encyclopnxlia , • " Britannica." Tho Act authorising State control of tho liquor traffic was ' an addition to tho Defence of the Realip Act, and is only valid for the ' ■ duration of tho war, and twelve months, ' thereafter. It confers on the State the power of controlling the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor in any area in which control is held to be expedient for the. purpose of the successful prosecution of the war. Tho more i important provisions give the Board power to: (1) Close any premises or • clubs; (2) regulate hours of sale; (3) prohibit the sale of any particular - 1 liquor; (4) impose conditions of sale; (o) regulate supply and transport of liquor; (6) impose supervision of licensed premises'; (7) take over the whole traffic; (8) prohibit "treating"; (9) establish refreshment rooms; (10) acquire premises either compulsorily orby agreement; (11) acquire businesses ; (12) " carry on any trade, and provide any entertainments on the Board's own (uremiau without a license. As Dr.

Shadwell says, "The Board can do any- " thing it pleases in any controlled area. " The police aro to carry out its orders, " and its agents are exempt from the " licensing laws." Tho Board, however, has proceeded with great circumspection and discretion. Special areas havo'been scheduled at tho request of tho military, tho "War Office, or the Munitions Ministry. The procedure of tho Board on receipt of such a request has been 'to hold a local enquiry, and confer with representatives of all tho authorities concerned, naval, military, municipal and licensing, and also with employers of labour and trade unionists. Opportunity has always been given for delegates of the trade to state their case, and in many cases the Board has had tho activc co-operation of tho recognised local representatives of the liquor interest. On this point Dr. Shadwell says: "I can beaT witness, "from my own investigations, both, to " the care taken by tho Board to consult tho trado and to the readiness "with which its efforts havo been'met "by tho local trado defence associations. Attacks on the ono for high- " handed and arbitrary procedure, and "on tho other for unpatriotic conduct, " are equally based on ignorance. I " havo no more personal interest in the " liquor trad© than in the trade unions, " but I havo a pretty accurate know- " ledge of the conduct of both in tho " war, and I do not hesitate to say that " the representatives of the former have "been at least as ready as the latter " to subordinate their own interests to "the national cause. They have ac- " cepted drastic interference and con- " trol without any make-weight of as- " sured employment and increased earnings."

Probably fetv of our readers are awaro of tho extent of the Board's operations under this Act. Dr. Shadwell estimates that about thirty-eight millions of tho population of the British Isles are living under restrictions. The regulations bearing tho most drastic powers are tho total prohibition of spirits in 'the North of Scotland, and the Orkney and Shetland Islands, and the taking over of nearly the whole trade in the Carlisle area-. But these are exceptional. The first is a purely naval disciplinary sure; tho Carlislo experiment was inaugurated last July, and has been gradually carried out since. The usual provisions are: —(1) Reduction of liquor hours of sale, with additional restrictions as to spirits; (2) limitation of home delivery of liquor and canvassing for orders; (3) prohibition of "treat- " ing"; (4) prohibition of sale or supply on credit; (o) prohibition of what is called the "long pull," that ie supplying a customer with more liquor than is ordored, by overdrawing the measure asked for; (6) dilution of spirits so as to lower tho strength. The general weekday hours of sale and consumption on the premises are limited to s£, arranged in two parts, ono of 2}- hours in the middle of tho day, and one of three in the evening. The first part is either from 11.30 to 2 o'clock, or from 12 to 2.30. The second is either from 6 to 9, or from 6.30 to 9.30. The principle followed in fixing 'these hours is to confine drink to meale, or the end of the working day. The Sunday hours only differ in being somewhat shorter. The greatest change, and what Dt. Shadwell considers the most effective provision, is the reduction of ordinary public-honso hours. These used to be 19J in London, 17 in large towns, and 11 in other places. They have all been reduced at one blow to or fewer. The most beneficial part of it, by common consent, is the closing of public houses in the early, morning. Opinions vary about the afternoon and evening, but about the morning closing there are no twb opinions. Tho trade itself, Dr. Shadwell says, would never go back to the old arrangement, which enabled men to got drink before starting work, and in many cases to slip out and drink in the forenoon. Another provision which has also won general approval is the special restriction in Scotland on Saturday, postponing tho opening of public houses before 4 p.m. Tho object is to prevent men who are paid at twelve o'clock from going to the public house with their wages in thoir pockets on their way home. They cannot hang about until four o'clock, and the result is that they take their wages home, and have a meal and clean up before going out again. The prohibition of "treating," Dr. Shadwell regards as the next most effective measure to the reduction of hours. There is still "treating," but it is a comparatively small matter, furtive and exceptional, instead of being universal, .and unlimited. Dr. Shadwell believes that the bulk of men are glad to bo relieved of an obligation which, beginning in good fellowship, had developed to a burden and a nuisanco and was a prolific causo of excess. Dr. Shadwell examines police returns and other statistics, with a view of ascertaining what has been the effect of these regulations in tho lessening of intemperance and improving tho efficiency of labour. Ho has evidently gone into tho whole quostion very dispassionately, and he has no doubt whatever that there has been a very great improvement. This is tho opinion not only of police superintendents, whom he has interviewed, but of health staffs, nurses, tenement managers, and others whom Dr. Shadwell interviewed and closely interrogated. He sums up his conclusion as follows: —

"The evidence enumerated above, being gathered from many independent fields, has a cumulative weight which cannot be resisted. Even thoso who say the restrictions have done more harm than good would not go back to tho old order. For my own part, having studied this question for many years in all its aspects, and from personal observation of all tho svstems in different countries. I consider that tho Board has been wonderfully successful— so successful that I doubt if success can be earTied mueh further. The persistent tendency of tho police returns to rise again, which is due less to tho wiles of tho publican than to the determination of his customers, and the difficulty of enforcing the restrictions, are, to my mind, signs that "the reins have been drawn about as tight

as the steed, who has a will of his own, will stand. The experiment has been admirably carried out, and is extremely interesting, but tho circumstances are altogether exceptional, and sufficient time has not elapsed to test the working."