THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE HENRY CARTER Sop C3X THE GIFT OF A-H-O-nV -wtoixS. 1 Tke'%te Sliows when this volume was taken. - To renew this ^ook copy the call No. and give to the hbrarian. HOME USE RULES ..^■A..;.. firmsss ^ -. wt-« j^i Books subject to Recall All borrowers must regis- ter in the library to borrow books for home use. All books must be re- ;urned at end of college year for inspection and repairs. Limited books must be re- turned within the four week limit and not renewed. Students must return all books before leaving town. Officers should arrange for the return of books wanted during their absence from town. Volumes of pericftiicals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as possible. For special pur- poses they are given out for a limited time. ^ Borrowei^ should not use their library privileges for the benefit of other persons. Books of special value and gift books, when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books marked or mutilated. Do not deface books by marks t Cornell University Library HV5087.G8 C32 The control of the drink trad^^^^ olin 3 1924 030 306 868 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924030306868 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE A CONTRIBUTION TO NATIONAL EFFICIENCY 1915-1917 BY HENRY CARTER WITH A PREFACE BY LORD D'ABERNON LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON FOURTH AVENUE & 30th STREET, NEW YORK BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS 1918 4.51?:?11 Printed in Gbkat Britain by KiciiAUD Clay & Sons, Limited, BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, AND BUNQAT. SUFFOLK. TO THE MEMOKY OF RICHARD CROSS A MEMBER OF THE CENTRAL CONTROL BOARD (LIQUOR TRAFFIC) FROM THE APPOINTMENT OF THE BOARD JUNE, 1915 UNTIL HIS DEATH AUGUST 11, 191G 'All hearts grew warmer in the presence Of one who, seeking not his own, Gave freely for the love of giving. Nor reaped for self the harvest sown." Whittiek. PREFACE Dkink Control is admittedly a problem of vital importance to our industrial future and to our national efficiency. But it is more than that. Throughout the world Drink Control is recognised as one of the most arduous questions which have hitherto baffled statesmanship. This has been notoriously so in Great Britain, where, up to 1914, despite great enthusiasm and sincerity of purpose on the part of reformers, aided by the support of able statesmen, progress was precarious and disappointing. These considerations lend particular interest to the experience gained in this country during the War, as the measures taken have been followed by a progressive decline of alcoholic excess so rapid that it appears difficult to account for it on any other hypothesis than that it is in large part the result of the regulations applied. The object of Mr. Carter's book is to set forth in detail what these regulations have been ; what the immediate purpose of each was ; under what conditions they have been put in force ; and what results have accrued. It is clearly desirable to discuss the matter in some detail, as although the particular administra- tion which has created and hitherto applied the regulations in force comes to an end within a year following the declaration of peace, Parliament will have to take cognisance of the methods of administration employed, and will surely find advantage in the experience gained. Disinterested students of the problem will agree that the return to pre-war conditions of Licensing and Drink Control cannot be contemplated with equanimity. It would certainly mean an increase of drunkenness, involving the sacrifice of many lives, the ruin of many homes, and a reversion to conditions conducive to crime and ill-health. It becomes vm PREFACE therefore urgent to examine what guidance as to future treatment is afforded by recent experience. The whole problem has been profoundly modified since the commencement of the War. It used to be stated that men could not be made sober by Act of Parhament, and the corollary was suggested that it was waste of time to legislate or to regulate for the purpose of achieving the impossible. This view cannot now be sustained. Recent measures have proved an effective remedy for much that was undesirable and detrimental to national efficiency. There may be — there probably will be— a wide difference of opinion as to whether the gain to efficiency is too dearly purchased by the necessary restrictions and the self-imposed discipline. That is a fair matter for discussion. But no one can now contend with any appearance of reason that measures cannot be devised which win achieve an approach to general sobriety and temperance. Such action may be unpopular ; it will surely be effective. To go back to the recent history of the Drink Question. Up to July 1914 there was little ground for optimism. In spite of minor improvements effected, in spite of increased taxation, notwithstanding progress in public education, the aggregate number of convictions for drunkenness and the amount of alcohol consumed annually, showed an upward tendency in the years immediately preceding the War. Mihtary regula- tions and restrictive orders by the Licensing Justices were imposed during the first months of the War ; and these, together with voluntary arrangements made by the " Trade " for early closing and the non-serving of women in the morning, brought about a considerable measure of improvement. But in the spring of 1915 the amoimt of excessive drinking and drunken- ness was still such as to necessitate further drastic action. The Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) was established in June 1915. After local inquiry in many districts, particu- larly in transport and munition areas, the Board decided upon a comprehensive pohcy, the general lines of which, with minor alterations, have been maintained. The principal measures taken may be classified under four heads : — (1) Curtailment, on physiological lines, of the hours of sale of alcohol. PREFACE ix (2) Facilities for non-alcoholic refreshment, notably by the establishment of Canteens for munition and transport workers. (3) Prohibition of the sale of spirituous liquors of excessive strength. (4) Prohibition of incentives to excessive consumption, such as Treating, Credit, and canvassing for Uquor orders. It is difficult to isolate the effect of these measures from other causes of improvement, but the change, reflected not only in the fall of convictions for drunkenness, but also in the decrease of the amount of disease and mortahty due to alco- holic excess, has been so great, that the action of some new force, not previously brought into play, is clearly indicated. The reader will perhaps ask whether the methods employed differ from previous attempts in this and other countries, and if so, what constitutes their novelty and divergence from precedent. The answer is, I believe, easy. They constitute the first attempt to deal with the Drink Traffic solely on hnes of national efficiency, any other aspect of the problem having been barred by the terms of reference. The Board, therefore, from the first regarded efficiency as the sole object of their endeavours . Another feature of novelty has been the endeavour to bring practice into line with the principles of physiology by allotting hours for the sale of alcohol in accordance with the principles of hygiene, and discouraging practices which, from the medical aspect, appeared detrimental to efficiency. It should be remembered that the Food Controller's Order reducing the output of beer and the issue of spirits from bond did not come into legal operation until April 1, 1917. This reduction of the quantity of liquor available for consumption — a temporary measure designed to meet the special situation created by the submarine menace — was not an act resolved upon as a part of a policy of Temperance Reform, and was entirely independent of the Central Control Board. Mr. Carter has limited his review to the period from the outbreak of war to the end of March 1917 — that is to say, before this new factor had affected the situation. Some considerable part of the reduction in drunkenness as regards men might 'prima jade be attributed to the absence X PREFACE of soldiers in the army. But this factor has not operated in the case of women, and convictions for drunkenness on the part of women have decreased in nearly the same proportion as convictions for drunkenness on the part of men. On the other hand, factors making for an increase in the returns of drunken- ness have come into play. The population of munition areas, -and of industrial areas generally, has increased, while employ- ment, both of men and of women, has been good, and wages have risen to a level never before reached. Past experience of drunkenness statistics indicates the normal close parallelism betv/een high wages and excessive drinking. The figures for 1895-1908, as Mr. Carter shows, are significant on this point. But this paralleUsm has now been replaced by extreme divergence. Although the earnings of large sections of the population have very materially increased, and unemploy- ment in both sexes has practically ceased to exist, convictions for drunkeimess in 1915, 1916 and 1917 have fallen at a pace without parallel. In England and Wales there were nearly 190,000 cases in 1913. In 1916 there were considerably less than 90,000. Thus a reduction has been effected of over 100,000 convictions for drunkenness per annum. Current returns indicate that 1917 must show a further large reduction on 1916. All available information as to disease and mortality connected with alcoholism points to the conclusion that a profound change in the drinking habits of large classes of the population has been initiated. Under these circumstances I imagine that no large section of the community would desire during demobilisation the abolition of the present restrictions of the Central Control Board, considered apart from the Food Controller's restriction of output. Strong measures of regulation will probably be more necessary during that period than at any previous moment. After demobilisation the question is more open. It will have to be decided by public opinion and by Parliament. Mr. Carter's book has the advantage of representing the facts as they are to-day and not as they were four years ago. The following pages are in no sense an official pronouncement, nor are they to be regarded as endorsed by the Board or any of its members. The Author alone is responsible for the views expressed. But I may be permitted to bear witness to PREFACE xi the breadth of view which characterises Mr. Carter's outlook. It is largely through the possession of this quality that he has been able to render such practical service to the increase of national efficiency, through the advance of sobriety, during the last two years. The reader of these pages must judge for himself how far the obstacles which barred progress before the War have now been overcome. He must further judge whether the emergency measures taken, if effective temporarily, as they undoubtedly have been, are suitable for permanent adoption, or could serve as models upon which future regulations could be based. What is important is to ascertain why progress was so slow prior to the War, and why such considerable results have been obtained since ; to consider how far the results achieved are desirable ; and, if they are deemed desirable, to consolidate the ground gained by carrying the process of improvement further on more permanent lines, if possible by general agreement. No scheme for the future regulation of the liquor traffic will be satisfactory to public opinion at large which does not maintain the present level of temperance and ensure that the nation does not relapse to the level of alcoholic excess which prevailed before the War. It is my conviction that it should be possible to fulfil these conditions without injiary to any legitimate interest and without unduly curtaihng reasonable enjoyment. Whatever the system adopted is, there must be no return to pre-war conditions in so far as they were injurious to national efficiency, and have been proved to be remediable. D'Abernon. Esher, November 1917. AUTHOR'S PREFACE The purpose of this book is to describe the action of the State respecting the Drink Question in the Great War, aUke in legislation and administration. The period explored is from the autumn of 1914 to the spring of 1917 ; i.e. from the outbreak of war to the time when, in order to safeguard food suppUes, the output of liquor was curtailed by the Order of the Food CJontroUer. Chiefly, the book is concerned with the work of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), since the Board was created in the summer of 1915 to control the Drink Trade in the national interest throughout the war -emergency period. The Drink Question has agitated pubUc opinion throughout the War. The natural order of discussion is therefore historical. An introductory chapter throws the subject on the screen. In Part I the " Conditions before Control " are depicted. The second and third chapters teU how the drink difficulty took shape before the pubHc mind, explain the earhest methods femployed to cope with it, and chronicle the events which led to action by the State. The problem which confronted the Control Board is outlined in the fourth chapter. Part II, the main section of the book, is devoted to an account in detail of the methods of State Control and their results. The fifth chapter describes the way in which the Board began their work; the sixth and seventh review the restrictive and constructive activities of the Board. The Industrial Canteen Movement, and the State Purchase undertaking at Gretna and CarUsle, are then portrayed. Part III is an estimate of the influence of the Board's work in diminishing drunkenness and the disease and mortality attributable'to alcoholic indulgence ; in increasing the efficiency xiv AUTHOR'S PREFACE of the national war -services ; and in the concomitant advance- ment of the general welfare. In the final chapter the drink problem is discussed in its relation to the future of national life. I have sought throughout to write without prejudice, under the strong conviction that the public interest can only be served by a plain and honest statement, a narrative of fact. It is right that I should say expressly that the Board are in no way or degree responsible for the book. I have received the generous help of colleagues and personal friends, and of members of the extremely capable staff of the Board. In acknowledging with gratitude their ready and valuable assist- ance, I desire at the same time to make it clear that the sole and full responsibility for the volume rests with the writer. For this reason I have refrained from mentioning hj name those to whom my debt is great, lest an official or corporate authoritj^ should seem to be implied. I have ventured to dedicate the book to one who left his mark on the Board's work, as in many other spheres of labour for the common good. The memory of Richard Cross still quickens those who felt the spur of his keen sense of public right, and sought to share in his unwearying service of the public cause. Henry Carter. Sarrow, November 1917. CONTENTS OHAP. p^gj, Peeface bt Loed D'Abbenon . . vii Authoe's Peeface . . . xiii I. Inteoduction . ...... 1 PAiii I— CONDITIONS BEFORE CONTROL 11. In the Eaely Days of Wae . . .17 III. The Need foe Puethee Eeculation of the Deink Teade . . . ... 53 IV. The Peoblbm Confeonting tee Conteol Boaed . 77 PART II— THE ADMINISTRATION OF STATE CONTROL V. A Chaptbe on Machineet . . . 123 VI. The Eesteictive Woek of the Boaed . 136 VII, The Consteuctive Woek of the Boaed . . . 171 VIII. The Industeial Canteen Movement . . 183 IX State Puechase at Geetna and Oaelislb . 197 PART III— THE EFFECTS OF STATE CONTROL X. The Incebasbd Sobbibty and its Causes . . 229 XI. The Effect of the Board's Woek — A. OK efficiency ...... 253 B. ON social welpaeb ...... 263 XII. Conclusion : The Deink Peoblem and the Putuee 272 APPENDICES I. Defence of the Eealm Eegulations . . . 281 II. The Intoxicating Liquob (Tempoeaey Sesteiction) Act, 1914 . ... 283 III. Eeeoets to the Fiest Loed of the Admiealty on THE Effect of Excessive Deinking on Output of Woek on Shipbuilding, Ebpaies, and Munitions of Wae (Apeil 2, 1915) ... .284 XVI FAOD 288 CONTENTS A'P'P^E'NDIGES— continued. TV. Defence op the Ebalm (Liquob Conteoi,) Ebgula- TIONS, 1915 .... ... V. A Typical Oedee op the Centeal Conteol Boaed (Liquob Teapfic), Easteen Aeea .... 294 VI. Memoeandum submitted to the Goveenment in Decembeb, 1916, BY THE Cbnteal Conteol Boaed (LiQUOE Teapfic) • ^^^ VII. Statement by Loed D'Abbenon re the State Pur- chase Undertakings at Geetna and Gaelisle . 301 Index • • ^05 CHAETS AND DIAGRAMS Trade Union percentages of Unemployed, August 1913-Maroh 1917 . 81 Percentage Increase in Retail Prices of Food, August 1914-April 1917 85 Fluctuations of Employment, per capita Consumption of Beer, and 2Jcr capita Consumption of Spirits, in the United Kingdom, 1895- 1908 91 Map of the Gretna and Carlisle State Purchase Districts . . . 201 Convictions for Drunkenness in Carlisle, 1912-June 1917 . • • 219 Convictions of Males for Drunkenness, England and Wales (all scheduled areas), 1909-March 1917 234 Convictions of Females for Drunkenness, England and Wales (all scheduled areas), 1909-March 1917 235 Convictions of Males for Drunkenness, Scotland (all scheduled areas), 1915-March 1917 237 Convictions of Females for Drunkenness, Scotland (all scheduled areas), 1915-March 1917 238 Convictions of Males and Females, Greater London, 1913-March 1917 239 Comparison of Convictions for Drunkenness, Overlying of Infants, Attempted Suicides, and Deaths from Alcoholism, 1911-1916 . 244 Quantities of Beer and Spirits retained for Home Consumption in the United Kingdom from 1911-12 to 1916-17 . . . .246 ILLUSTRATIONS To face page Maps showing Areas for which Restrictive Orders were made by the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) ..... 134 Men's Canteen, National Projectile Factory (Mid-day Meal) . . 188 Counter-service in Canteen at a National Projectile Factory (Mid-day Meal) 190 Canteen at a " Controlled Establishment " ..... 192 Kitchen of Canteen at a National Projectile Factory . . . 192 The "Golden Lion," Carlisle (old and new style) .... 208 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I. The War and the Social Question 1. Social questions dominated public thought in Britain in the decade preceding the Great War. The first token that the mind of the nation had turned decisively to social issues was the General Election of 1906, with its resonant insistence on a wholesome standard of hfe for the workers. The output of social legislation from 1906 to 1914 was another indication : the health of school-children, State pensions for the aged. Boards to supervise " sweated " trades. Labour Exchanges, and national insurance against sickness and unemployment are conspicuous examples, in this period, of law coming to the aid of the labourer and his family. Social unrest reached its climax in the industrial upheavals of 1911^rand 1912. In the autumn of 1911 strikes of seamen, transport-workers, and railway-men brought docks, collieries, railways and countless dependent industries to a standstill, until better conditions of wage and toil were assured to the strikers. In the early spring of 1912 a million colliers left work, and the collieries of Britain lay idle for a month until by Act of Parliament a " minimum wage " was secured to every collier; whilst, later in the year, the city of Dublin was the scene of a long and embittered labour conflict. In the summer of 1914 social difficulties again became acute and complex. The relations of Capital and Labour, in certain of the great trades, once more grew menacing. The cost of B 2 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE living had steadily increased, while wage-rates were stationary. A sense of grievance smouldered. Conflict between the Govern- ment and the militant section of the women's franchise move- ment, and the tension in Ireland concerning Home Rule, added tinder to the trouble. It needed but a breath of open strife to set the land ablaze. Then, in the first hours of August, the storm of war struck the world. It quenched domestic contro- versies. A struggle of such magnitude and gravity subdued, for the time being, all other contentions. War abroad required truce at home. 2. A determined effort was made to secure national imity. Three weeks after the declaration of war, resolutions favouring industrial peace were adopted by a joint meeting of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, the Management Committee of the General Federation of Trade Unions, and the National Executive of the Labour Party. The governing clause was this — " That an immediate effort be made to terminate all existing trade disputes, whether strikes or lock-outs; and whenever new points of difficulty arise during the war-period a serious attempt should be made by aU concerned to reach an amicable conclusion before resorting to a strike or lock-out." The waning of the fear that, as a consequence of war, wide- spread want might prevail was another influence making for unity. Though strikes, small in area and short in duration, were not infrequent, there were, in the earlier stages of the War, only two which seriously imperilled national interests — one in February, 1915, in the engineering and allied trades on the Clyde ; the other in July, 1915, on the South Wales Coalfield — and both were settled by the intervention of the Government. The dual aim of enlarging the output of stores of war, and creating or restoring industrial unity, runs through a long series of Defence of the Realm and Munitions Acts; though frequent conferences on critical issues between Ministers of State and representatives of Labour; and is seen in the device of State "control" of factories engaged on war-work, the employers accepting restriction of profits, and the men agreeing to suspend Trade Union restrictions on output. Again and again in the early days of the War, labour difficulties reached danger-point ; yet, faced with the momentous issues of INTRODUCTION 3 the world-wide struggle, masters and men sooner or later resorted to these new modes of resolving difficulties, the State becoming more and more a judge and divider over them. Truce was also kept between the Government and the women's suffrage movement. Even the tension in Irish politics was, for a time, allayed. Among British political parties open strife ceased ; when a Parliamentary vacancy occurred, a candidate of the party which had held the seat was elected, often without opposition, and always without official opposition. Old controversies, social and political, stood, for the most part, in abeyance. With a clear recognition that all these problems must come up again for debate and de- cision, the nation covmted them secondary for the time being to its stupendous struggle with the Central Powers. How, then, came it to pass that the Drink Question, almost solitary among social issues, emerged anew in time of war ? II. Why the Drink Question emerged in War-time 1. There were two reasons for holding that the Drink Ques- tion, like other hotly debated social questions, should be interned in war-time. First, as we have seen, national unity was the supreme need. Divisive subjects were lifted out of public Ufe, and domestic feuds deliberately silenced, that the nation might concentrate upon the War, and the winning of it. For this reason, in the first month of war, the strikers and suffragists in prison were released by the Home Secretary's order. For the same reason the liquor problem would have been ignored by Parliament had that been possible. There was this weighty consideration also. Of aU social controversies, the controversy respecting drink is the fiercest. No man, in days when peace was desired, would lightly invoke that tempest. Again and again it has shaken Governments. The rejection by the Lords of the Licensing BiU of 1908, and the obvious reluctance of the Liberal Government of that day to renew its effort to pass the Bill, is a modem illustration. Appe- tite, deep-rooted habit and immense wealth have united to bar the way to the reformer. When, after long delays, on April 29, 1915, Mr. Lloyd George introduced the Government's dual 4 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE plan to check by heavy taxes the consumption of liquor, and to control the liquor trade in naval, military and munition areas, he said — ■ " Of all the perplexing and disagreeable tasks that could fall to the lot of any Minister I think that any attempt to provide a solution for the drink difficulty is about the worst. . . To agree upon the facts is bad enough, but to agree about a remedy is almost impossible. One cannot hope to satisfy everybody, because the problem is one that will always provoke very intense feeHng, and unfortunately it is a question where everybody has what I may call ' previous con- victions.' But after the experience of weeks of trjdng to find a solution that will not provoke controversy I feel at the end of it that I am prepared to take, pohticaUy, a pledge never to touch drink again. . . . Every Government that has ever touched alcohol has burnt its fingers in its lurid fiames. Whenever you try to approach it there are barbed-wire entanglements on every road, and passions and prejudices and principles aU of the most explosive character behind them." 2. Neither desire to avoid controversy, nor fear of evoking this fiercest of controversies, availed to keep the " drink diffi- culty " hidden. The country had been at war no more than a week when emergency powers over the drink traffic were vested in the Naval and Military Authorities. In less than a month the Licensing Justices were entrusted with new responsi- bilities to the same end. Despite these preventive measures, within six months the Drink Question was a dominant issue, rivalling the War as the topic of discussion in the Press and Parliament. Within ten months — as the outcome of long debate — the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic);-^ was constituted and armed with extraordinary powers. Throughout the second year of war the Plan of Control was shaped and applied to the greater part of the country. Before the year ended, further action was demanded. A claim for Total Prohibition for the period of the War and demobilisa- tion was pressed by one group of leaders of public opinion. Another group vigorously advocated the purchase by the State of the whole liquor industry, so as to place the nation in permanent command of an admittedly perilous business. The third year of war saw the adoption of yet another method. The Government severely restricted the manufacture of beer, and the release of wines and spirits from bond ; and INTRODUCTION 5 the trade in liquor shrank to less than a half of its pre-war dimensions. 3. Nor is there any doubt as to the reasons for this agita- tion of the pubhc mind, and for this series of defensive acts. They can be expressed in two words : Efficiency, Economy. Efficiency in the War Services and the workshops. Economy of national wealth, of food supplies, and of transport by sea and rail. (1) As the nation settled down to the colossal struggle with Germany and her allies, it became clear that National Efficiency must be the watchword. Efficiency alone could raise and train and equip the troops. Efficiency alone could produce guns and shells and stores of war to meet the enormous demands of the fleets and the armies. Loss of efficiency at home meant loss of life abroad ; for whatever lessened efficiency lessened work- ing-power and fighting -power. The case against drink was that it impaired efficiency. That was the first reason why the drink question demanded answer even in time of war. Drink retarded the output of munitions, hampered and hindered the transit of troops and stores, and incited to indiscipline in the Services. The evidence did not show that drink was unique in all these respects. Fatigue resulting from persistent overtime, loss of industrial power through enlistment of skilled workmen, the lack of an organised and adequate food-supply in factories and dock areas — these, and other causes, played their part in stimu- lating "industrial" drinking. What the evidence established was that drink, both as a primary and as a secondary factor, was one of the main causes of inefficiency. As a primary factor, indulgence in liquor directly caused " broken time," and wastage of the national resources for work and war. As a secondary factor, it acted with, and accentuated, other causes of lessened industrial output, such as physical exhaustion ; a man, for instance, could not give his best in work if his free hours were spent in close and crowded liquor-bars, or if his home were wrecked by the drinking habits of an intemperate wife. Further, while those who gave way to open intemperance were relatively few, habitual drinking which stopped short of drunkenness could blunt the edge of working -ability. Nor should it be overlooked that, because of the interdependence of the processes of modem industry, the intemperate habits 6 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE of a minority might — and in point of fact not infrequently did — delay a much larger body of workers. (2) Bound up with the question of efficiency was that of economy. This was at first conceived as a safeguarding of the national resources of wealth. The money -power of Britain was as essential to victory as the mobilisation and training of her armies. Where expenditure could be cut down without loss of fitness it was an urgent duty to save. " One of the things we cannot afford," said Mr. Lloyd George as Chancellor, on April 29, 1915, " is a Drink Bill of £160,000,000." That was in round figures the total for 1914. But the rise in the price of liquors meant that though less drink was consumed — because of " control " restrictions and (from April, 1916) the hmita- tion of the output of beer — ^the National Drink Bill for 1915 was estimated to exceed £180,000,000, and for 1916 to exceed £200,000,000.1 It is small wonder that economists arraigned so vast an expenditure, at such a time, on a commodity which in a final reckoning of national needs could not be classed as indispensable. With the beginning of 1915 the question took on a new urgency because of the growth of spending-power among the wage-earning classes. The forecast that greater ability to buy would lead to greater expenditure on intoxicating liquors was based on earlier economic experience, as Chapter IV proves. The relation of increased spending-power to the con- sumption of drink is explored in that chapter ; but it is of the first importance to recognise at the outset the bearing of this on the work of the Control Board. Wage-advances, war- bonuses, fulness and regularity of employment, overtime earnings, the multiplication of wage -earners, and war-allowances from the State, added, to an undefined but indubitably large extent, to the general power to buy, even after due allowance was made for the rise in retail prices. Efficiency was the Board's direct concern. Yet the restrictions placed on the sale of drink to secure efficiency bore directly, if undesignedly, on economy. To what huge figure the National Drink Bill would have mounted but for the Board's restrictive and constructive pohcy one can only surmise. ' 1914, £164,463,000; 1915, £181,959,000; 1916, £203,989,000. Estimates contributed to The. Times by IVIr, G. B. Wilson, INTRODUCTION 7 In the third year of war the food-question echpsed the money-question. The German submarine lessened the ton- nage available for the import of food. How to feed the nation became the first concern of the Government. Food-stocks must be sparingly used ; home food-supplies developed and dedicated to ward off want ; every ship not employed on other national errands used for the bringing in of food-stuffs. " The Pood Controller, after a careful investigation of the resources available for the food of the people, has come to the conclusion that it is imperative to restrict the materials to be used in the production of beer." So began Lord Devon- port's announcement of the halving of the pre-war output of beer and of the release of wines and spirits from bond.^ Mi. Lloyd George's " deeper cut into the barrelage " had the same motive. " The bald fact," said Lord Devonport to the Press, " is that the barley, the sugar, and other ingredients used in brewing are required for food. In fact," he added, seizing a watchword of the hour, " I think I might say it is a question of bread versus beer." ^ It should be emphasised that the limitation of the output of liquor was not a part of the policy of the Control Board. " Control " was devised to secure or sustain industrial activity and naval and military discipline ; " limitation " sprang from the menace of the submarine to the food-supplies of Britain. " Control " was designed to improve efficiency ; " limitation " to aid economy. " Control " began with the passage of the Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Act in 1915; " limitation " was decreed for 1916 by the Output of Beer (Restriction) Act, and in 1917 by the Food Controller. The distinction between drink control as an efficiency -measure, and drink limitation as a form of food-economy, is vital to a right understanding of the acts of the State towards the 1 January 24, 1917. The beer output for the year ending March 31, 1914, was 36 million standard barrels. The war-time " cuts into barrelage " were these : (1) April 1, 1916, The Output of Beer (Bestriction) Act, 26 miUion barrels; (2) January 24, 1917, the announcement of the Food Controller, 18,200,000 barrels; this was superseded by (3) the Prime Minister's an- nouncement of February 23, 1917, hmiting the output to 10 miUion barrels for the year commencing April 1, 1917. Effect was given to this decision by an Order of the Food ControUer dated March 29, but subsequently it was decided to increase the barrelage for the quarter commencing July 1, 1917, by 331^ per cent. (Food ControUer's Order of July 7, 1917.) 2 The Times, January 25, 1917. 8 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE traffic in liquor in time of war. Limitation of liquor output was solely a war-time device ; it is from the regulation of the liquor traffic by the Control Board — since that concerns the per- manent features of the liquor problem — that the legislators of the future will draw their precedents. The main body of this volume is, therefore, devoted to a study of " control " on its restrictive and constructive sides. 4. The war-emergency legislation affecting liquor is not to be treated as an outcome of the activities of the Temperance party. It was placed on the statute-book at the call of public necessity, and with a considerable degree of public assent. ParKament was compelled to deal with the " drink difficulty " because it hindered the successful prosecution of the War. " I have but one consideration in my mind," said Mr. Lloyd George, speaking on the Bill which set up the system of Control, " that is, to clear the road in order to enable us to increase the output which means life for this Empire. . . . However unpleasant the task, however difficult, and whatever trouble it may brew or distil, we should be betraying our trust to the country if we did not propose something." The Rt.-Hon. Sir T. P. Whittaker, in the same debate, affirmed — " The whole thing has arisen, so far as I have understood it, from the impression which has been made upon the Government as to the necessity of doing something in this matter, and they have evolved in the Cabinet their own proposals. They were not moved to take action by the Temperance party." So with each subsequent decision of the State. Lord Devonport, indeed, drew fire from many quarters by the bold- ness of his disavowal of the role of the reformer, when as Food Controller he cut down the liquor supply : " These steps," he said on January 25, 1917, " are in no way to be deemed measures of temperance or social reform." ^ Whatever the strength of the Temperance movement, and it grew notably as the War disclosed the peril of alcoholism to the State ; what- ever the influences of Temperance propaganda ; each step in wartime legislation, each act in administration, followed some new evidence of pubhc need, was framed — in short — to assure efficiency or to achieve economy. 1 The Times, January 25, 1917. INTRODUCTION 9 Yet this is the reverse of saying that what was done in time of war, and solely for reasons connected with the War, has no significance for days of peace. The mere fact that these vast and varied experiments in dealing with the liquor problem were carried through, so to say, in vacuo, enhances their social value, as we are next to note. A fair, unbiassed study of what was wrought in these unique circumstances should furnish the surest foundation for the future acts of the State. III. Permanent Significance of the Action of the State in Time of War The restrictive Orders of the Naval and Military authorities and the Licensing Justices, the setting-up of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), and the decisions of Parliament and the Food Controller specifically to limit the output of liquor, were all planned to meet war -emergencies. But the problem for which temporary solutions had to be found was in reality the most ancient of all the social challenges of British life. From the " peg-drinking " of Saxon times ^ to the 188,000 convictions for drunkenness in the year before the War, the " drink diffi- culty " has been with us all the way through. What the War did was to concentrate the mischief at certain visible and vital points, so that the measure of the wastage of efficiency was discernible. The War did not beget the mischief, but drew it together, heaped it up, made men see it. Looking back on those revealing days, it is easy to under- stand how this came to pass. The War dramatically changed the common way of life. It called one man from the desk and made him a soldier; another from forging ploughs and set him turning shells ; a third from an ocean liner to transport troops or guns to France or to the East. It called women into work that men had hitherto done. It summoned all to a new discipline of life, a worthier use of time and substance. What may be called the output of this altered life, the measure of its gift to the motherland, was calculable, could be 1 King Edgar is credited with a decree that " pias or naUs should be fastened into the drioiing-cups or horns at stated distances, so that whosoever should drink beyond these marks at one draught should be liable to a severe punish- ment." — EVench, Nineteen, Centuries of Drink in England, p. 36. 10 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE ascertained. Whether a man became an efficient soldier within a stated time, whether contracts for shells or for trans- port were fulfilled, whether the whole community lived frugally and industriously, were definite subjects of enquiry, capable of, and demanding, definite answers. Hence, probably for the first time in our history, the working-power of the nation and its resources of self-discipline were consciously tested. All sorts of hindrances to physical fitness and to industry were disclosed. They could no longer be hidden or denied. It was on this wise that the verdict went against indulgence in drink ; but the customs and laws and habits of thought which had sanctioned and shaped the evil were of long growth, and the verdict was in reality against them. State control of the traffic in liquor was a device, in an hour of national need, to reverse the practices of decades and even of centuries. Yet of necessity the converse is true. Let it be granted that what was achieved was wrought for temporary advantage, so that in time of war the will to work might not be weakened by indulgence, and that the means of life should be applied to the maintenance of life. None the less, once the defensive process was complete, the thing wrought became public pro- perty for every citizen to appraise — to criticise or to commend. Inevitably, therefore, the great enterprise of placing the State in command of the liquor traffic cannot but influence pro- foundly the future treatment of the question. The social architects of to-morrow will plan with these bold ventures in mind. Men wUl judge variously of the value of the work of which this volume is a record. On two points there will be agree- ment. (1) The student and the statesman are no longer at the mercy of untested theories when seeking to unravel that knotted tangle, the liquor problem. This is particularly true of the labours of the Control Board. The Board toiled at most of the difficulties of the permanent problem, and their experience is at the hand of good citizens to-day. The social worker, the Temperance reformer, and the maker and adminis- trator of law have here a fertile field of suggestion and inference. (2) It is of still greater import that a new conception of what is socially possible has been created. Whatever acts of the State or its administrators prove of temporary value only, whatever INTRODUCTION 11 lives on to guide or govern the coming day, this at least will abide. The nation knows now that the " drink difficulty " is not insoluble. Oldest and sorest of our social maladies, it is not past healing. The State, in its modern role of physician, can — if it wHl — restore and keep in health the body -politic. IV. The War-time Movement against Alcohol was World-Avide The setting for the strife against the liquor evU in Britain was the world-wide necessity for curtailing the sale of drink in time of war. Practically every great State involved in the struggle was compelled to " propose something " to check the inefficiency and waste caused by drink. Even neutral nations took drastic action. This is an incontrovertible proof that the liquor traffic, in its normal dimensions, was a serious peril to nations at war, or confronted by the risk of war. Considerations of efficiency or economy, or both, impelled the Governments to arm themselves with new powers over the traffic. The briefest review of the facts will establish this. Russia, whose State Monopoly of vodka made swift, strong action practicable without delay, at once prohibited the State sale of vodka, first for limited terms, and fuially as a per- manent act of social reform. Town and city Councils were invested with power to petition for the local prohibition of wines and beer, and freely exercised the right ; so that the entire sale of strong drink was suspended in certain Russian areas. In the turmoil of the Russian revolution, looting of the spirit-stores was reported here and there ; but the pohcy of the new democratic Government was to uphold steadily the acts of prohibition. When Roumania entered the War she followed the Russian lead, and prohibited the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. The traffic in absinthe was suppressed in France, Italy and Egypt. Later French decrees prohibited the sale of spirits to women and young persons under the age of eighteen, and severely limited the sale to adult males ; it is of interest to record that the French restrictions on the sale of spirits were drafted in the light of the policy and experience of 12 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE the British Liquor Control Board. The sale of spirituous liquors to French soldiers, in the Army zone, was absolutely forbidden. Germany, actuated by the motive of thrift, reduced the quantity of beer to be brewed throughout the Empire, at first to 48 per cent, of the average pre-war output, and afterward to 25 per cent., that barley might be kept for bread. In various German industrial areas the sale of distilled hquors was prohibited. Austria forbade the malting of corn while war-conditions obtained. Neutral European nations, to conserve their food supplies, severely restricted the alcohol industries. Both Denmark and Switzerland declared illegal the use of potatoes, and various kinds of corn, for distUling. The Swedish Riksdag went to the length in March, 1915, of entrusting the Govern- ment and Provincial Boards with power to prohibit the entire liquor traffic in any time of distress or of danger of war. Norway prohibited spirits at the end of 1916. When the United States joined the Allies in 'the spring of 1917, the selling or giving of alcoholic liquor to American soldiers was prohibited. The manufacture and importation of spirits was prohibited in the autumn. The policy of the Governments of Greater Britain was equally resolute. In Canada, Australia and New Zealand alcoholic drinks were strictly forbidden to the troops in training. In the States of the Australian Commonwealth the hours for the sale of drink were curtailed by the Legislatures. Through- out Canada the Prohibition Movement grew in volume and power; province after province went "dry," until, in the autumn of 1917, liquor of a greater alcoholic strength than 2| per cent, proof spirit could legally be sold nowhere throughout the Dominion, 1 save in parts of Quebec — chiefly urban — and in the sparsely populated territories of the North-West and Yukon. Concern for efficiency, military and industrial, and the im- perative need for economy, were the chief motives for action in ^ Since, however, the licence to brew was granted by the Dominion and not the Provincial Governments, a brewer in a Prohibition Province could still supply a customer in another province with liquor for home consumption. INTRODUCTION 13 Britain. So with other nations. To secure these ends the Governments risked internal controversy. The menace of drink to national safety was real ; hence the rigorous dealing, on the part of States exposed to the strain and perils of the War, with what a French publicist ^ described as " the internal enemy " — alcoholism. ^ M. Finot. See articles in La Revue, April 15 and May 1, 1915. PART I Conditions befoeb Control CHAPTER II IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR At midnight on August 4, 1914, a state of war between Great Britain and Germany was ofificially declared to exist. On July 26, 1915, the first Order of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) came into operation ; it restricted the sale of drink in the cross-Channel port of Newhaven, Sussex, whence munitions were constantly shipped to France. Between those dates social changes crowded and jostled. It is not easy to draw out of that tumultuous year the mean- ing of the shifts, the experiments, the new groupings, and the progressive reorganisations which gave us, at the far end of the process, an order of British life strangely and widely different from any we had known. Probably the difficulty is not so great in the sphere of the liquor problem as with other social concerns. Change was just as drastic here as in other spheres ; but the main currents of public opinion which made change possible, and the main Imes along which changes came, are not difficult to detect. A careful reading of the events of the year discovers five points of departure for movements which afterwards converged. To begin with, the Navy and Army claimed and obtained new powers over the liquor traffic in naval and military areas. Then, before the first month of war had passed. Licensing Justices received a limited increase of their power to regulate the traffic. Both these steps — as already suggested — ^were measures of precaution. The beginrdngs of an appeal to the nation to abstain from liquor, as an act of self-disciphne in a time of unparalleled strain c 17 18 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE and test, are next distinguishable; the appeal, at first made by the Churches and Temperance Societies, received dramatic endorsement when at the beginning of April, 1915, the King " set the example." The movement had a constructive phase also. Social centres for sailors and soldiers and their wives, and — at a later date — " dry " canteens for munition workers were freely provided as alternatives to the liquor-bar. Along with this healthy stirring of thought, there was a remarkable arousal of national feeling demanding further legislation, more forceful and comprehensive. Mr. Lloyd George's famous reference at Bangor, on the last day of February 1915, to " the lure of drink " gave leadership to this uprising of public judgment. Two months of enquiry and debate followed. At last the Government's proposals were placed before the Commons ; and the Plan of Control survived the storm which wrecked the fiscal part of the scheme. The new method of " control " gradually absorbed the earlier restrictive efforts of the war Services and of the local Justices, and won to a surprising degree the assent of public opinion. It will make for lucidity if the discussion follows this sequence. The present chapter describes the measures of precaution and movements of public opinion; the succeeding chapter the coming of State Control. I. Measures of Precaution A. The Navy and the Army 1. There was httle desire to challenge, at any stage of the Great War, the wisdom of Parhament in arming the Services with emergency powers over the sale of intoxicating drink. There certainly was a skirmish over the grant of additional powers to the Licensing Justices; the Government's 1915 proposals met with dogged resistance ; but the Navy and the Army obtained without comment, and exercised without criticism, the new authority they sought. On August 8, 1914, the first Defence of the Realm Act was passed. It conferred on His Majesty in Council " power uring the continuance of the present war to issue regulations m THE EARLY DAYS OP WAR 19 ... for securing' the public safety and the defence of the realm." ^ Four days later the first Regulations were issued. Two of these related to strong drink. Regulation 7 gave " the compe- tent naval or military authority " ^ power to appoint the hours for the sale of drink in or near any defended harbour. Its terms were — " The competent naval or military authority may by order require aU premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor within or in the neighbourhood of any defended harbour to be closed except during such hours as may be specified in the order." Regulation 17 gave power to control the supply of drink to " a member of any of His Majesty's Forces." Its terms were — " No person shall with the intent of eliciting information for the purpose of communicating it to the enemy or for any purpose calculated to assist the enemy, give or sell to a member of any of His Majesty's forces any intoxicating liquor; and no person shall give or seU to a member of any of His Majesty's forces employed in the defence of any railway, dock, or harbour any intoxicating hquor when not on duty, with intent to make him drunk, or when on sentry or other duty, either with or without any such intent." Later Regulations considerably extended these powers. The power to appoint the hours of sale was increased in these respects : it applied to " any area specified in the order," instead of being limited to the neighbourhood of a defended har- bour ; the order issued might concern the sale of liquor to all persons, or to men of His Majesty's forces only ; and it might refer to " any " or to all licensed premises in the area, requiring them to be closed altogether or during such hours and for such ''■ "This brief Act was the foundation of its more detailed successors." It was repealed by the Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act, 1914, which reproduced its provisions with considerable extensions. 2 " The competent naval or mihtary authority " is defined in Regula- tion 62 thus : " The Admiralty or Army Council may appoint any com- missioned officer of His Majesty's Naval or Military Forces, not below the rank of Ueutenant-commander in the Navy or field officer in the Army, to be a competent naval or military authority and may authorise any competent naval or military authority thus appointed to delegate, either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as he thmks fit, all or any of his powers under these regulations to any officer qualified to be appointed a competent naval or military authority, and an officer so appointed, or to whom the powers of the competent naval or military authority are so dele- gated, is in these regulations referred to as a competent naval or military authority." 20 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE purposes as were specified. Tlie order might be made and enforced either by the Minister of Munitions or by the naval or military authority.^ The power to control the supply of drink to men of the Services was widely extended.^ Liquor must not be offered or supplied to a saUor or soldier " proceeding to a port for em- barkation on board ship, or when at any port for that purpose ; " nor must a member of the crew supply it " without lawful authority."^ The bringing of liquor into dock premises, used for naval or military purposes, or on board any vessel therein, could be prohibited.^ Seamen serving on British vessels engaged in war-services, who through drunkenness became incapable of dvity, were guilty of an offence under the Defence of the Realm Act.* Liquor must not be offered or supplied to sailors or soldiers undergoing hospital treatment, except under doctor's orders.^ 2. These efforts to defend Britain-in-uniform against drink are not to be regarded as evidence that drunkenness was ram- pant throughout the Services. There was drunkenness, and to a grave extent, or the restrictions just described would not have been imposed ; yet recalling the enormous rush of men to the colours, men of every type of habit and outlook, Mr. Asquith's words in the Commons on November 16, 1914, may be taken as fair comment — " On the whole I do not beUeve that there has ever been brought together a body of men who have comported themselves so well and shown such a regard to sobriety and decency of conduct as the new recruits for the Army. Undoubtedly these men, as is always the case when a large aggregation of comparatively young men are brought together in this casual way, are exposed to temptation, to which some of them probably are strangers, and to which now and again individuals succumb. But I believe, if you take the average standard of conduct, that it is worthy of the country and worthy of the cause. . The Adjutant-General, in conjunction with the civil authorities, is taking every possible step to remove aU tempta- 1 See Defence of the Realm Regulation 10, Appendix I. In the final form of the Regulation (December 22, 1916) power was given " for the prevention of the practice of treating." 2 For the final form of the original Regulation 17 see Regulation 40, Appendix I. ° ^ Regulation 10a : for full text see Appendix I. * Regulation 39a : for full text see Appendix I. ^ Regulation 40a : for full text see Appendix I. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 21 tion and to secure the highest standard of sobriety and conduct in these troops." The real cause for the succession of prohibitory orders was suggested in the preceding chapter. The restrictive acts of the Navy and Army authorities sprang from the recognition that in a time of world-war the normal sum of intemperance was a national peril. This consideration will recur when the activities of the Control Board are under review. It merits emphasis here. Actually, the country was beginning to work to a time-table shaped for it by the commanding necessities of war. Recruits were to be trained and equipped for the front within a given number of months ; munitions placed on rail, shipped, and imloaded at foreign ports by stated dates ; the building of battleships expedited, and repairs to ships in commission exe- cuted with a minimum of delay. Ere long Parliament was to place the whole machinery of commerce at the call of the Navy and the Army. War, on this colossal scale, meant that every human working-unit was wanted, and wanted in his appointed place, whether as seaman, soldier, shipyard- or factory- worker. It was in this relation that indulgence in strong drink came under, the ban of the Services. In days of peace the country had left the drinking-man to care for himself. If his health and efficiency were impaired by drinking, that was regarded as his concern ; the nation took no note of the wastage, unless he thrust his intemperance on the public street and fell into the hands of the police, or drifted to destitution and came within the bounds of the Poor Law. The war drastically changed that attitude of mind. Drunkenness could no longer be treated as a venial offence. Indulgence in liquor, which fell short of visible drunkenness, was also recognised as economic loss. Its social implications became clear : the inefficiency of the drinking-man could and did delay the training or the industrial activities of a whole group. Where drink was known to interfere with naval or military efficiency it was therefore no answer to say that, on the whole, drinking was on the pre-war scale, and not worse. It was serious enough to make gaps in the lines of home defence, and to hinder preparations for the struggle abroad. Drink spelt danger ; and, act by act, authority set up a fence against the peril, 22 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Naturally, the mischief was most conspicuous where men were massed together, as at the great camps and ports. Probably it reached its height in the early months of war when restrictions were relatively few. It will be useful to describe briefly the situation to which the policy of restriction was directed. 3. Witlain a fortnight of the declaration of war, the British Expeditionary Force of about 100,000 men mobilised, em- barked, and disembarked on French soil. Swiftly and silently completed, this enterprise sufficed to illustrate the two ways in which military activity would be linked throughout the War with a policy of liquor restriction. There was the tremendous task of creating and maintaining ^ military transport service from British ports to the theatres of war in France, and afterwards to the eastern Mediterranean. Precision and speed in loading, and deftness and speed in the naval artifices necessary to the crossing of seas infested by enemy submarines, and made hazardous by floating mines and hostile aircraft, were requisite. An unrestricted sale of liquor meant delay ashore and danger afloat. The Service Orders, which reduced facilities for drinking in the neighbourhood of docks and naval yards, had this in view. For the same reason most of the early Orders of the Control Board were for seaports, for Newhaven, Southampton, Bristol and Avonmouth, Liver- pool and the Mersey area, Newport and Cardiii and Barry, and the ports of the Tyne and the Tees. There was also the effect of drink on military fitness and discipline to be taken into account. Each soldier of the British Expeditionary Force carried in his active service paybook a brief address by Lord Kitchener — " You are ordered abroad," said the Secretary for War, " as a soldier of the King to help our French comrades against the invasion of a common enemy. . " You are sure to be met with a welcome, and to be trusted • your conduct must justify that welcome and that trust. Your duty can- not be done unless your health is sound. So keep constantly on your guard agamst any excesses. In this new experience you may find temptations both in wine and women. You must entirely resist both temptations, and, while treating all women with perfect courtesy, you should avoid any intimacy. " Do your duty bravely. Fear God. Honour the King. " Kitchener, F.M." IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 23 A third element of the problem came into view with the raising of the New Armies. Lord Kitchener's plan from the first was to caU from civil life the men of military age as far as they could be spared from industry, and to train and equip them for foreign service. The response to the call marked an epoch in the history of citizenship. By the thousand and the hundred thousand the youth of Britain volunteered. On August 7, 1914, Parliament sanctioned the raising of half a million, and on September 14 a second half -million men. Six hundred thousand enlisted within two months. The men were ready before the uniforms. Recruiting continued, with ebb and flow, through the winter and spring. New military units, expres- sive of local patriotism or strong feelings of comradeship, were formed — " Pals " Brigades, " City " Battalions, and a Public Schools Brigade. From the Dominions overseas there came Canadian, Australian and New Zealand troops to complete their training. Mr. Asquith said in the Commons on September 15, 1915 — ^little more than a year after the first call — "not far short of three millions of men, first and last, have offered themselves to the country." After that date came Lord Derby's group system and canvass in November and December, 1915, and compulsion under the Military Service Acts of Jan- uary and May, 1916. But long before those final steps, while the voluntary system was yielding its earliest results, the great social change had begun which concerns us here. New centres of population arose as camps were formed on lonely countrysides. Little towns grew in importance with the billeting of troops on the inhabitants. In the South and East, and in the Home Counties especially, wide tracts of territory were occupied for the drilling and manoeuvres of the new armies, or for works of home defence. Quiet citizens, who had known in a vague way that Aldershot and Salisbury Plain were army settlements, now found the army at their doors. " Mars came tramping through the land in khaki." What of the social life of the new armies ? It was after the day's drill or march or rifle practice, when tired men had time on hand, that alcohol made its perilous appeal. It promised company and comfort. Where liquor was on sale the soldier could count on warmth and fellowship. The public- house, not simply as a drinking-bar, but because it was a public 24 THE CONTROL OP THE DRINK TRADE house, drew men, held them, and formed or fostered the drink- ing habit. Add to this the thoughtless good-will of civilians who " treated " men in uniform on any pretext or none, and the trouble which drink created in camp-life is easily under- stood. At times of tense excitement, like the leaving of troops for the front, alcohol was to the fore again. The place only was changed, not the custom. It was the station instead of the camp ; but liquor must seal the parting as it had sealed the friendship. So, notably in the early days of the War, pitiful scenes of intoxication sometimes marked the departure of drafts from railway termini. Fortunately, the public-house was not alone in its appeal to the soldier. To meet his needs the religious and Temperance organisations established in and near the camps social centres where meals and non-alcoholic drink, games, books, papers and writing facilities were provided. More will be said of this enterprise. Its value as an influence making for sobriety is beyond estimation. 4. The damage done by treating was serious enough to draw from Lord Kitchener a " Message to the Nation," issued through the Press Bureau on October 24, 1914. The Secretary for War said — " The men who have recently joined the Colours are doing their utmost to prepare themselves for Active Service with the least possible delay. This result can only be achieved if by hard work and strict sobriety they keep themselves thoroughly fit and healthy. " Lord Kitchener appeals to the public, both men and women, to help the soldiers in their task. He begs every one to avoid treating the men to drink, and to give them every assistance in resisting the temptations which are often placed before them. " Lord Kitchener suggests that, in the neighbourhoods where soldiers are stationed, Committees should be formed to educate pubhc opinion on this subject, and bring home its importance to those who prevent our soldiers from being able to do their duty to their country in a thoroughly efficient manner." There is no standard by which the extent of intemperance in the Services can be gauged. Because of the general goodwill towards the Navy and Army a good deal of drunkenness did not come under official notice. The civil police seldom interfered with men in uniform " under the influence of drink," unless IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 25 they caused public disturbance ; and in the event of arrest ordinarily detained them at the police station until sober, or until a military guard took them to barracks. Of military discipline affecting charges of drunkenness no records are available. One token of the mischief was the rapid multiplication of restrictive Orders. Nearly five hundred were made by the Military Authorities during the first ten months of war. Some related to specified public-houses ; others to all the licensed premises in a parish, a group of parishes, a county borough or even a larger area. Some referred to a stated period, a day or number of days ; others were of indefinite duration. Some limited the hours for the sale of drink to Service men and civilians ; others to Service men only. The arrival or departure of troops was often signalised by an Order : e.g., at Holywood, Co. Down, all licensed premises were closed for four hours on a day when drafts left for the front ; at Belfast, more than once, a group of public-houses near the railway -station was closed when troops were arriving or depart- ing ; and at Dover, on one occasion, aU licensed premises within 100 yards of the line of march of drafts proceeding to the station were closed for an hour and a half before the departure of the train. Among other exceptional Orders the following are of interest : an Order for Lame closing licensed premises to men of the Royal Navy ; at Falmouth, an Order by the Garrison Commander that drink must not be sold after 8 p.m. to any N.C.O. or man, unless in possession of a pass stating that bearer might be served ; Orders restricting hours of sale in neighbourhoods where camps were being constructed, issued because of drunken- ness among the workmen ; at Huddersfield, and other York- shire towns, an Order forbidding the sale to H.M. forces of liquor in bottles for " off " consumption; at Dover, an Order stopping the sale of all liquors before 5 p.m. to men of the Royal Navy and men employed on drifters ; in Farnham and neighbourhood, prohibitions of the sale of liquor in bottles to soldiers, and of the serving of them as hona fide travellers ; in the Severn Garrison area, the prohibition of the serving of women with liquor after 7 p.m. At Lerwick considerable drunkenness was traced to the 26 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE sale or supply of small bottles of whisky. It is understood that the licensees agreed not to sell these flasks to men in uniform, but that trouble still continued because civilians bought whisky for Service men. Finally, a "black list" was instituted of persons to whom liquor might not be sold (apart from a doctor's certificate), on the ground that they had obtained hquor for men of H.M. forces ; the list was publicly displayed on licensed premises, and local statements agree that the measure was to some extent effective. An instance of an Order affecting a very extensive district, and applying to civilians as well as to men of the Services, is that dated March 24, 1915, and issued by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command. The Order applied to the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. It fixed 10.30 a.m. as the opening and 10 p.m. as the closiug hour for the sale of drink on licensed premises on week-days, throughout all this area. As an example of advancing stages of restriction the case of Plymouth is instructive. A strongly defended harbour, and one of the chief Naval and Military bases, Plymouth (with Devonport) was a centre in which a high level of efficiency was of the first importance. At the beginning of the War a " Warning to Civilians," signed by the Fortress-Commander, was publicly placarded — WARNING TO CIVILIANS Deenk must not be offered to Sailors and Soldiers Civihans are requested on no account to offer drink to Sailors and Soldiers doing duty in the Fortress. It is an act of mis- taken kindness to do anything which may help to unfit members of H.M. Forces from performing their duty to the Empire. Any Pubhoan who serves either a Sailor or Soldier with an amount of Uquor which is hkely to render him unfit to perform his duty win be most severely dealt with by the Fortress Commander under the power conferred upon him. AU ranks of society are earnestly desired to observe this notice. A. P. Penton, Major-General, Fortress Commander. The Licensed Victuallers' Society of Plymouth, Devonport, IN THE EARLY DAYS OP WAR 27 Stonehouse and District followed this up with a " Public Request " — IMPORTANT TO ALL The licensed victuallers of the Three Towns earnestly request all civihans to abstain from standing drinks to their comrades in H.M. Forces. All Service men are welcomed, but it is sincerely to be desired that they will take no offence if, in the opinion of the licensee, and in the interest of law and order, they are refused intoxicating liquor. " Warning " and " Request " were not enough. Prom August, 1914 onward, action was taken in this district as foUows — 1914. August. . . 19 Public-houses closed by Military Order. (The closing-order remained in force for about 6 weeks.) October 7 . . Women not to be served on licensed premises after 6 p.m. November 9. . All licensed premises closed between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. on week-days. Sunday hours of sale, 12.30-2.30, and 6.30-9. November 12 . All hcensed premises placed " out of bounds " for soldiers until 12 noon (except for men who slept therein the previous night). 1915. February 20 . . Public-houses at Saltash — across the river Tamar — ^placed " out of bounds " for soldiers until 6 p.m. May 8 . . . Sale of liquor in bottles, etc., for consumption off the premises, prohibited to men of H.M. Forces. June-September. Nine licensed premises closed by Military Order for breaches of above regulations. This record speaks for itself. To maintain efficiency restric- tion after restriction was placed on the traffic in liquor. Even so, further action was called for; and in September, 1915, the Control Board held an inquiry in Plymouth, and in November issued their full Order which applied both to troops and civilians. B. The Licensing Justices 1. The earliest reference to the subject in the war period in the House of Commons was a question put by Mr. W. H. 28 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Dickinson, on August 10, 1914, who asked what powers the Home Secretary or the magistrates " possess for reducing the facihties for obtaining intoxicating liquor during the war . . . and whether he will see that measures be taken for this pur- pose ? " Mr. McKenna answered, "I have no siich power. It is a matter for the local justices, who have the power to reduce the hours if they are satisfied that there is any disturbance, or prospect of disturbance, and I have no doubt that they will use their power if occasion should arise." The reply established this point : one week of war had suggested no other peril from drink than that it might inflame rioting. Sir Alfred Mond took another view in debate the same day. In France restrictions had already been placed on the sale of alcoholic liquor ; why should not Britain take the same line in the interests of thrift as well as order ? "I think a short Bill would be generally welcomed by all classes in this country in this great crisis, and would be very valuable and very beneficial indeed." 2. When the House met again on August 25, " a short Bill " was presented by Mr. McKenna. Its aim was " to enable Orders to be made in connection with the present war for restricting the sale or consumption of intoxicating liquors." Its method was to extend " to all circumstances " the powers of local authorities to limit the hours of sale. Its passage into law would mean that licensing justices would be free to reduce drinking facilities for any sufficient cause, in any place, and at any time during the war, as they already were if riot threatened. The BUI was asked for by the naval and military authorities ; ^ and, hke their own powers under the Defence of the Realm Act, applied to the whole of the United Kingdom. It was one of many emergency Bills placed before the House that day. The rest passed with lightning rapidity, although some affected intricate operations of finance and commerce, and one sanctioned large invasions of personal liberty.^ But the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Bill met with keen criticism ; and it was a mark of the Parliamentary difficulties of dealing with the drink question that to secure 1 " The Bill is introduced and will be pressed upon the House at the re- quest of the naval and military authorities. "-Mr. McKenna in the House of Commons, August 28, 1914. 8 Defence of the Realm (No. 2) Act. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 29 the passage of his Bill Mr. McKenna had to concede a good deal, chiefly to the spokesmen of the liquor traffic. The Bill as introduced gave the Licensing Justices power to suspend, during such hours as they directed, the sale or consumption of liquor both on licensed premises and in regis- tered clubs. If their Order fixed an earlier closing hour than nine at night, it was not to remain in force for more than fourteen days without the approval of the Secretary of State. An offence was punishable with a fine not exceeding £50, and might also entail the forfeiture of the licence, or, in the case of a club, striking off the register. Criticism sprang from the suspicion that the BiU was a temperance measure in disguise. Mr. McKenna replied, " I have not consulted any single member representing what might be termed the total absti- nence party." Major Morrison-Bell, speaking for the Army, asked for the Bill as a measure of national defence : — " This measure, or some similar measure, would be very welcome. The trouble comes not so much from the soldiers as from civilians, and I wish it were possible for some kind of authoritative warning to be given to civilians that every time they see on the notice boards that there has been some large victory, is not the occasion to stand treat aU round to every soldier they meet. Soldiers are under great temptation from weU-meaning and patriotic civilians, but these civilians are not doing their country or the soldiers any good by treating them in this way. I hope that there will not be any undue delay in passing some measure of this sort. I know that it will meet with the entire approval of the military authorities." Despite the Home Secretary's disclaimer and the Army claim, the ship had to be lightened to reach port. The initiative of the Justices was abandoned; they were only to be free to make a restrictive Order " upon the recommenda- tion of the chief officer of police." ^ The penalty of the forfeiture of the licence, or the removal of a club from the register, disappeared. The sanction of the Secretary of State was declared necessary before an Order for closing earlier than 9 p.m. could take effect. Following these concessions, and an assurance that license duty would be reduced where the hours of sale were restricted,^ the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary ' In Scotland the Sheriff-depute and the licensing court took the place of the chief officer of poUce and the hcensing justices. ^ The promise was redeemed in Clause 9 of the Finance Act, 1914 (Session 2). 30 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Restriction) BUI became law on August 31, 1914. It was to remain in force during the continuance of the war, and for one month after.^ A novel and valuable element of the Act should not escape notice — the inclusion of registered clubs within the scope of the Justices' powers. The case for the inclusion of clubs was cogently put by Mr. McKenna in reply to criticism. " Can we conceive," he argued, " anything more unfair in an emer- gency measure than to close the public -houses in any district, say, at ten or eleven o'clock instead of midnight, and to leave the clubs open to do aU the trade, all night, which the pub- licans are forbidden to do ? I can conceive nothing more unfair. . . . We propose that . . . the clubs shall, where the police think it desirable for the maintenance of order and for the suppression of drunkenness, conform to the hours to which the public-houses are made to conform." The judgment of the House sustained this view, and, for the first time in licensing history, clubs came under the same law as public -houses. 3. Events were to prove the Temporary Restriction Act an insufficient instrument. " The maintenance of order or the suppression of drunkenness " were the grounds on which the police could ask the Justices to restrict the sale of drink ; but brawling and open intemperance were not the only or the gravest dangers. The swiftly changing industrial situation presented an altogether new problem. It has been shown how millions of men were mobilised for military service. The counterpart in civil life was the mobilis- ing of millions of men and women for the mechanical services of war, the making and moving of munitions. A just appre- ciation of a social perplexity, which daily grew more perplexing, depends on clear recognition of the main stages of this new Industrial Revolution, which in a single year placed practically the whole productive forces of the land at the call of the State for the purposes of war. The acts of the State which mobilised civilians as munition- workers, and turned our cities into arsenals, sprang from the unparalleled caU for war material. Armies of labour came into being at home to meet the claims of the armies at the front. ^ For the full text of the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act see Appendix II. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 31 In the spring of 1915 it was bruited abroad that the output of munitions, and especially of high-explosive shells, was altogether inadequate. The public revelation of the shortage of shells at the battle of Neuve ChapeUe, fought on March 10, forced the fact on the mind of the nation. An era of rapid change began. A BiU was hurried through Parliament authorising the Government to take over or regulate the use of any factory, workshop, or plant capable of producing war material. 1 It became law on March 16. The next day a lengthy Conference opened between Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Runciman — for the Government — and the representatives of over thirty Trade Unions. For three days the Conference sat, and at last agreement was reached. The Unions were to recommend to their members : No strikes for munition- workers ; Arbitration on labour disputes ; Increase of output by the relaxation, for the term of the War, of Union rules and trade practices ; and Assent to the use of unskilled and female labour in the making of munitions. The Government, on their part, undertook to limit the profits of employers. State Committees were appointed to " speed up " the supply of war stores. Labour prepared to make good its bargain. " You may tell Lord Kitchener," said the munition-workers of Tyneside to Mr. Asquith, " that we shall deliver the goods." Then, on May 19, the Premier announced to the Commons the end of the long Liberal rule : " Steps are in contemplation which will involve a reconstruction of the Government on a broader personal and political basis." A week later a Coalition Cabinet was in being ; the creation of a Ministry of Munitions was its first exploit; and Mr. Lloyd George passed from the Exchequer to fill the new post. The Munitions of War Act followed, giving legal sanction to proposals already discussed, and agreements reached with employers and employees. This measure, which dates from July 2, made arbitration compul- sory in labour disputes in the munition trades, and forbade lock-outs and strikes ; it gave to the Minister of Munitions power to declare any factory " a controlled establishment," in which all profits above a specified rate were to be paid over to the State, all customs restricting output suspended, and all changes in wage-rates and even changes of employment sub- ' Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1915. 32 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE jected to the consent of the Minister ; and it set up Munitions Tribunals, on which masters and men sat in equal numbers, to deal with offences and disputes. A further step was the erection by the State of National Factories for the making of shells and explosives. Finally, on August 15 a National Census was taken of all persons between fifteen and sixty-five years of age, to discover in what way each citizen could best serve the country. These prodigious changes were in effect an Industrial Revo- lution of the first magnitude. Private enterprise could not meet the calls of the State ; the nation therefore assumed control of production. The old custom of bargain-by-strife between Capital and Labour endangered the safety of the realm ; so the State took both employers and employed into partnership. At the end of the first year of war a swift re- organisation of industry was in progress. The working resources of the nation were mobilising for national ends. 4. It is against this background that the efforts of the Licensing Justices are to be set. Their added powers under the Temporary Restriction Act were small. It implied no discredit to the Justices that before the close of the first year of war a strong public opinion was demanding bolder measures ; and that Parliament, which had begun to control the work- shops for public advantage, decided to control the drink- shops for the same reason. The life of the country was pouring into a new mould. Even the face of the land altered as munition works and townships for munition-workers, camps and flying grounds, dotted rural Britain. Law, to achieve its purpose, must needs take fresh forms, since life was shaping itself to new ends. Parhament had given the Justices an impossible task in the areas where change was swiftest. Yet what the Licensing Benches could do, they did. In England and Wales, in some areas in most counties, and in most areas of some counties, they issued Orders limiting — within the bounds of their powers — the hours for the sale of drink. In September and October, 1914, the first two months of the operation of the Act, restrictive Orders were made in 259 of the 1000 hcensing districts of England and Wales. The evening closing hour was fixed at eight in 7 areas, at nine IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 33 in 156 areas, and at ten in 96 areas. Fifty of the Orders fixed a later time for opening than 6 a.m., the normal hour ; 8 a.m. was usually appointed, 9 a.m. occasionally.^ In Scot- land, where the initiative was with the local sheriff, at the end of November Orders of the Licensing Court had been issued only in Greenock and Dundee ; ^ the explanation may be that the ordinary hours of sale throughout Scotland were fewer than south of the Tweed, viz. from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. In Ireland no more than 25 Orders were issued and enforced in the first six months.* A later Return for England and Wales showed that by the end of 1914 the Justices had made restrictive Orders in 427 licensing districts.* These included cases where a Military Order reduced hours for licensed premises, and a Justices' Order enforced the same rule on registered clubs ; they excluded cases where a Military Order only was operative, as in the neighbourhood of gome of the great camps. The Return showed that the right of the Home Secretary to refuse to sanction an Order for closing earlier than nine at night was occasionally exercised. Also there were significant instances where Justices sought to act restrictively apart from a recommendation by the Chief Constable, and — under the terms of the Act — the Home Secretary refused to ratify the Order. The two or three hours cut off " the drinking day " by the Justices could not meet the need which the new industrial situation presented. But the action, slight as it was, served ^ Answer given by Mr. McKenna to a question in the Commons by Mr. Dmican Millar, November 16, 1914. 2 Answer given by Mr. Munro to a question in the Commons by Mr. Duncan Millar, November 24, 1914. Mr. McKinnon Wood, in answer to a further question, stated on February 9, 1915, that, in addition to the oases of Greenock and Dundee, " Orders have been made applicable to the burghs (?f Gourock and Kirkintilloch and to the district of Tain, closing licensed houses at 9 p.m., and a further Order applicable to the burgh of Lerwick has been approved for closing at 8 p.m., making six Orders in all. . . Various voluntary arrange- ments for earlier closing have also been made." " Answer given by Mr. Birrell to a question in the Commons by Mr. Duncan Millar, February 23, 1915. . , ,• * Return as to Orders made by Licensing Justices up to and indudmg the Zlat December, 1914, under the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act, 1914 (Home Office, March 10, 1914). It appears likely that a number of Orders were not included in this Return. After the appointment of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) the Justices continued to issue Orders in neighbourhoods where the Board were not at work. 34 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE as a check, and a useful check, to alcoholic indulgence at a time when spending power was increasing. The wonder is that, hemmed in by restraints as they were, the Justices achieved so much. A Home Office circular addressed to Clerks to Justices, dated September 4, 1914, cautioned them that " the powers are intended not for immediate or universal use, but for the purpose of meeting the special conditions which may prevail in any locahty from time to time during the War." ^ Mr. Charles Roberts, a junior member of the Government, gave a broader interpretation of the Act — " I am inclined to think that the Chief Constables have been unduly strict in their interpretation of the law. They are em- powered to make their recommendation for earlier closing if it appears to them that it is desirable for the maintenance of order or the suppression of drunkenness in any area. Then observe this, if there is order in any area and the earlier closing wiU assist in maintaining that order, it is open to them to recommend. That is the exact provision of the law. Or, again, if they think that the earlier closing will lead to the suppression of drunkenness, as, in fact, it has done in London, they may issue their recommenda- tion. They have not got to wait for an increase in the existing drunkenness. They are not to treat the existing drunkenness as though it were an irreducible minimum ; they are given powers at a time of national crisis which they may exercise, if they think it is desirable, to reduce the drunkenness which exists." ^ A second Home Office circular took a stronger line : " There is scope for a fuller use of the Act . . particularly in dis- tricts where there are large bodies of troops." The value of lessening the hours of sale at night and in the morning was indicated : " such restrictions may be beneficial not only to soldiers but also to other classes . . . and particularly to women, who, there is reason to fear, are often at the present time exposed to special temptations in this matter and are in danger of squandering their allowances." Finally, a step in advance was announced : the Home Secretary had " asked all chief constables to review carefully the circumstances of their district in consultation with the local military authorities, and to make recommendations to the Justices in all proper cases." * 1 The Justice of the Peace, September 12, 1914, p. 436. ^ Speech at Manchester, October 13, 1914 (Alliance News, November, 1914). = The Justice of the Peace, November 14, 1914, pp. 545-6. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 35 5. Here and there, amidst the bare records of hours and places, facts of human interest crop out. They show the relation of restriction to industrial competence and pubHc order. Birmingham is an example. On March 25, 1915, the Bir- mingham Justices ' announced their decision to prohibit the trafi&c in intoxicants before 10.30 a.m. and after 10 p.m. on week-days. Mr. Gerald Beesly, as Chairman, said — " The order has been made owing to the accumulated evidence in the hands of the authorities as to the delay in the execution of Government orders arising from the bad time-keeping and drinking habits of a minority of the workmen employed on such orders. It is of the utmost importance to the nation that supplies of war material should not be delayed or interfered with. At a time like this the man who stays away from work, drinking, and the man who supplies him with the drink and allows him to stay in his house during working hours, are, in effect, traitors to their King and country." ^ The County of London affords a striking instance of the gains from restriction. Its vast and compact population would indubitably display the worth of any wide change of social habit. Half-an-hour after midnight was the pre-war closing hour in London, an hour and a half later than pro- vincial cities. The Temporary Restriction Act was put into immediate operation. The initiative was taken by Sir Edward Henry, Chief Commissioner of Pohce, who, in a communication to the Licensing Authority, referred to — " a letter from the General Officer Commanding the London District caUing attention to the serious difficulties with which the military authorities are at present faced owing to the late hours to which the numerous public-houses are kept open. It is stated that many of the reservists and young soldiers who come from the country, where the hours of closing are earher, are lavishly treated to drink by the civilians, of which the result has been a quite dispropor- tionate amount of drunkenness among the men of the reserve battaUons." On September 4, 1914, the closing hour for the sale of intoxicants on licensed premises was set back to 11 p.m.; on September 10 the same rule was applied to clubs. ^ 1 Birmingham Daily Post, March 26, 1915. 2 An exception was made in the case of bona fide residents in licensed premises and registered clubs. 36 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE The advantage to public order was described by the Breivers' Gazette of September 24 — " A transformation of the night scenes of London has followed from the closing of the public-houses at eleven. Great traffic centres, like the Elephant and Castle, at which immense crowds usuaUy lounge about until one o'clock in the morning, have sud- denly become peaceful and respectable. The police, mstead of having to ' move on ' numbers of people who have been dislodged from the bars at 12.30 at night, found very little intoxication to deal with, the last hour and a half being responsible for much of the excess of which complaint is made. Many of the public-houses were half empty some time before closing time. Journalists, who are necessarily out late, have quickly noticed the effects of the change upon public conduct, and have been spared the sounds of ribald songs, dancing, and quarrelling which hitherto have marked ' closing time ' since the war began." A further Order, on October 19, fixed the London closing hour at 10 p.m., and in Greenwich and Woolwich — port and arsenal areas — at 9 p.m. An agreement made with the " Trade " in November stopped the morning sale of liquor to women before half -past eleven. The Chairman of the London Sessions, Mr. Robert Wallace, K.C., was quick to remark the connection between early closing and a fall in crimes of violence. On December 1, 1914, he referred to the practical disappearance of charges of " wounding " : " In the first nine months of this year 103 of these charges were heard here, an average of nearly twelve per month. In September . . . the number rose to seventeen. Then the 11 p.m. closing order was introduced, and the result was that in October the number fell to five. The 10 p.m. order brought about a further improvement, there being only two cases during November. And to-day, for almost the first time in the history of the county, there is not a single ' wounding ' case for us to deal with." ^ In Ms charge to the Grand Jury at London Sessions four months later he said : " The calendar is the lightest in the history of the county. . . . The main cause has been the shortening of the hours during which drink could be obtained. The last two hours of the day are the most fatal in connection with crime in London, and the closing of the public -houses 1 The Times, December 2, 1914. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 37 at ten o'clock has undoubtedly produced a wonderful result." 1 It was of good omen that the earliest efforts by the civil authority to restrict the sale of liquor should lead to beneficial social results such as these. II. Movements of Public Opinion A. The Appeal for Abstinence 1. Side by side with the restrictive activities of the Naval, Military and Licensing Authorities, a vigorous campaign of moral suasion went forward from the beginning of the War. The obvious reason for it was the intemperance which dis- figured the response to the call to the colours. In the Com- mons debates toward the end of 1914, members holding widely different views on the Hquor question united to deplore the liquor evil. Sir Henry Craik said : "I have seen by close experience the evils that are being worked at this moment, not amongst Territorials, but amongst those who are recruiting for the Army Lord Kitchener desires to raise." ^ Sir Thomas Whittaker, speaking on the Army Supplementary Estimate, averred — " There has been great damage done to the Army through drink- ing and the evils that result from that. I myself, with regret, have seen our new soldiers in uniform rolling drunk about our streets at mid-day, and I saw one man fighting wildly, and it took three policemen to get him to the station. I do not suggest for a moment — the fact is the contrary — that our soldiers are an in- temperate set of men, but this is a time of excitement, and it is the public themselves, who, mistakenly, through generosity and kindness, tempt these men, who are to blame. That is the cause of the trouble, and it is a serious interference with the efficiency of our men." * Mr. John Ward — member for Stoke-on-Trent — in the dis- cussion on the proposal to reduce licence duty where the Justices curtailed hours of sale, said — " I have had plenty of opportunities, of which I have availed myself, to visit villages in my own region and the camps now 1 The Times, April 7, 1915. ^ August 27, 1914. ' November 16, 1914. 38 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE established on Salisbury Plain. There are public-houses in different villages around the Plain which did very little trade before the War broke out. The existence of these great camps of the New Army now being organised in different parts of the country has resulted in public-houses that have hitherto done scarcely any business beyond merely catering for the ordinary population of their respec- tive districts now doing an enormous business. As a matter of fact, you can go to village public-houses, where once scarcely a customer was to be seen, and find them crowded. . . I have seen village public-houses absolutely loaded four or five miles away from camp." ^ The Bishop of Liverpool, speaking at the Church House, Liverpool, on March 12, 1915, gave a personal testimony — " As an ounce of fact is worth a pound of theory, let me state what I have seen myself. A few Sunday nights ago I went to see off my two sons — one to the front and the other to the south of England — by the mail train. I saw there a sight wliich I shall never forget. The departure platform of Lime Street Station was crowded from end to end. Here were three drunken sailors with linked arms, rolling up the platform to the train ; here were soldiers, leaning against each other and supporting each other, trying to find their carriage ; here were friends, themselves half -intoxicated, seeing off half-drunken men whom they had been treating. The whole place was a pandemonium. There were drunken shouts, drunken songs, and a babel of conflicting sounds. ... It was the saddest send-off I ever saw, and it was a scandal and a disgrace to a great city." ^ There will be no disposition to question these statements on the part of any who travelled much in Britain in the first winter of the War. This should be said in justice to the army : the men who brought discredit on the King's uniform were ordinarHy a minority, in some neighbourhoods a very smaU minority, of their regiments. Also the mischief diminished as restrictions spread, and appeals to better judgment won their way. 2. The protest against the foUy of treating and the perilous abundance of drink-shops was reinforced by the news from Russia. The drastic prohibitory acts of the Czar were fol- lowed by notable gains to military discipline, industrial efHciency, and national thrift. Public opinion in Britain was deeply impressed by reiterated statements to this effect from 1 November 24, 1914. ^ Alliance News, April 1915, p. 67. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 39 Press correspondents with the Russian armies, and British residents in Russia. During mobilisation " all wine shops, beer saloons, and Grovemment vodka shops were closed, and the sale of aU intoxicants absolutely prohibited, except in first-class restau- rants and hotels." ^ UnMndered by intemperance, the Russian mobilisation was rapid. On September 16, 1914, a further Order prohibited " the sale of spirits and vodka until the end of the War." On October 11, in reply to a national petition praying that the prohibition shoijld be permanent, the Czar said : "I have decided to prohibit for ever in Russia the Government sale of vodka." On October 23 the local Municipal and Provincial Administrative Bodies were granted power to petition for the " prohibition of the sale of all strong drinks " ; the new right was freely used, so that in most Russian cities not only was vodka unpurchasable, but the traffic in wines and beer was severely restricted or altogether ceased. The sobriety of the army and of the civil population won persistent reference in accounts of Russian doings. Russia, for the time being at any rate, had almost become a nation of total abstainers, cutting off a wealthy source of revenue to enter the kingdom of sobriety.^ Even France was prohibiting absinthe. Ought not Britain to take action as decisive as her Allies ? That was the argument from a thousand platforms. A speech by the Bishop of Manchester, on Novem- ber 17, is typical. Explaining that on various occasions he had found himself unable to agree with the extremer advocates of Temperance, he continued — " I have been most profoundly impressed by the action taken in Russia. It seems to me that a pubhc act of that kind calls upon other nations to think, and thinking, to take right action. . . . Ought we not to take some steps to show a full and clear sympathy with our ally, and go into the War with as clean hands as we can ? . . . 1 Despatch from H.M. Ambassador at Petrograd enclosing a Memorandum cm the subject of the Temperance measures adopted in Russia since the outbreak of the European War. " The net income of the Russian Government from the Vodka State Monopoly in 1913 was 663,200,000 roubles (about £66,320,000).— fAe Times Russian Supplement, January 15, 1915. 40 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE " This is not a time in which it is enough for the nation not to be more intemperate than usual, but it is a time when it is ™c^^- bent upon the nation to be far more sober than ever it was before. 3. Under the stress of this conviction— " it is incumbent upon the nation to be far more sober than ever before " — appeal followed appeal from men of national repute. Lord Kitchener's address to the British Expeditionary Force, and his counsel to the public to " avoid treating," have been cited. The Archbishop of Canterbury, on October 28, basing his argument on Lord Kitchener's concern for the soldier, solicited aU " who can rightly do so, and who care suiiSciently to make what would be a real and sustained act of self-denial, to undertake to be themselves ' abstainers ' during the continuance of the War." ^ Lord Roberts, on November 7, made, through the Press, " an appeal to my countrymen and women upon a most vital subject, which is causing me very great uneasiness." The letter proceeded — " I feel it my duty to point out to the civil population that putting temptation in the way of our soldiers by injudiciously treating them to drink is injurious to them and prejudicial to our chances of victory. Thousands of young recruits are now collected together in various places and are having their work interfered with and their constitutions undermined by being tempted to drink by a friendly but thoughtless public, and also by the fact that public- houses are kept open to a late hour of the night. I cannot believe that the owners of such houses are less patriotic and more self- seeking than their feUow-subjects, or that they would deliberately, for the sake of gain, prevent our soldiers being sufficiently trained in body and nerve to enable them to undergo the strain of the arduous service which is before them — a strain which only the strongest physically and morally can be trusted to endure. " I therefore beg most earnestly that publicans in particular and the public generally will do their best to prevent our young soldiers being tempted to drink. My appeal applies equally for the members of the oversea contingents, who have so generously and unselfishly come over here to help us in our hour of need." ^ The religious and temperance organisations actively sus- tained these appeals. In various towais a house-to-house canvass for pledges of total abstinence was carried through. ^ Alliance News, December, 1914. ^ " Appeal to the Nation," The Times, October 28, 1914. = The Times, November 9, 1914. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 41 4. At the end of the winter the movement was quickened by the action of the King. Throughout the month of March, 1915, pubhc discussion centred on the influence of drinking habits on the output of munitions. On the 29th a deputation from the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation waited on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to urge " the total pro- hibition during the period of the War of the sale of excisable liquors." On the 30th Lord Stamfordham wrote to Mr. Lloyd George (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) — " The King thanks you for so promptly letting him have a full report of the proceedings at yesterday's meeting of the deputation of employers. " His Majesty has read it with interest, but also with the deepest concern. He feels that nothing but the most vigorous measures will successfitlly cope with the grave situation now existing in our armament factories. We have before us the statements not merely of employers, but of the Admiralty and War Office officials respon- sible for the supply of munitions of war, for the transport of troops, their food and ammunition. From this evidence it is without doubt largely due to drink that we are unable to secure the output of war material indispensable to meet the requirements of our Army in the field, and that there has been such serious delay in the conveyance of the necessary reinforcements and supplies to aid our gallant troops at the front. The continuance of such a state of things must inevitably result in the prolongation of the horrors and burdens of this terrible war. " I am to add that if it be deemed advisable the King wiU be prepared to set the example by giving up all alcoholic liquor himself and issuing orders against its consumption in the Royal Household, so that no difference shall be made, so far as His Majesty is con- cerned, between the treatment of rich and poor in this question." In the following week it was officially announced that " by the King's command, no wine, spirits, or beer will be consumed in any of His Majesty's houses after to-day, Tuesday, April 6." ^ ^ Following the serious injury which the King received in France, through the fall of his horse, the pledge of abstinence was temporarily suspended on medical grounds. The following official medical statement was issued — Buckingham Paiacb December 13, 1915. We are happy to report that the King has so far recovered from the grave accident of October 28 as to be able to resume work with certain limitations. The King has lost seriously ia weight, and, until a normal state of health is attained, it is essential that His Majesty should avoid any cause of fatigue. It has been necessary, on medical grounds, that the King should take a 42 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE The Royal example was welcomed by the Press generally, and throughout the country. For a few days it seemed as though the response would be so wide as to make new legislation unnecessary. It was pubHcly affirmed that the Secretary of State for War and other Cabinet Ministers had "followed the King." A miited appeal in the name of the Chtirches was issued, over the signatures of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Cardinal Bourne, and Sir Joseph Compton-Rickett (President of the National Free Church Council). " Following the unprecedented lead of His Majesty the King," said the signatories, " we desire to press seriously upon the minds of those whom we can influence, the duty and privilege of bearing voluntary part in the nation's self-discipline and self-sacrifice by abstaining from all alcoholic drink during the continuance of the war. Some definite act on the part of us all is due to our brave men, to the nation at large, and to God." ^ The " King's pledge " was taken by many individuals and by groups of workers in professional and commercial circles; but a few weeks sufficed to show that voluntary effort, though strengthened by the appeal and example of the Throne, was insufficient to solve the problem. Public concern began to wane as it was known that the Cabinet were by no means of one mind to " follow the King ; " and the action of the Commons on April 20, in withholding its support from a motion that the House should respond to the Royal message by prohibiting the sale of alcohol at its own refreshment bar, depressed the movement. 5. One form of volimtary effort rapidly extended : the Churches, the Y.M.C.A., and emergency Committees under well-known leadership, set up in large numbers effective " counter-attractions " to the public -house. These were chiefly in the neighbourhood of the new camps, and at railway junc- tions and termini. At these social centres food and non- alcoholic refreshment were sold cheaply, and facilities for rest and recreation, reading and writing, provided. In hundreds little stimulant daily during his convalescence. As soon as the Kling's health is quite restored His Majesty will resume that total abstinence which he has imposed upon himself for public reasons. Feederick Treves. Bekteand Dawsotst. 1 The Timet, April 8, 1915. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 43 of instances the club or " centre " was organised by the workers of a Church conveniently situated, and its schoolrooms and vestries were crowded night by night with soldiers from the adjacent camps. The Wesleyan Methodist Conference of 1915 reported 427 extemporised institutes for soldiers on its Church premises, with an average of 35,209 men using them each evening. Other religious denominations were similarly active. Clubs for the wives of saUors and soldiers sprang up in most towns, and — with the increase of munition works — clubs and rest-rooms for munition-workers. Argument is unnecessary to establish the value of these enterprises. 6. The mischief of alcoholism was checked, not cleared away. Eliminating for comparative purposes the war-tax on beer, the sum spent on strong drink in the United Kingdom, in the half-year, January-June, 1915, was but three millions sterling less than that expended in the same six months of 1914, a decrease of under four per cent. Including the war-tax, the National Drink BiU for 1915 was estimated at £181,959,000, actually an increase of £17,496,000 on the former year. The restrictions of the Military Authorities and the Justices, the appeal for abstinence, and the setting up of " counter-attrac- tions " had kept the consumption of liquor within its pre-war dimensions. The marked tendencies to an increased use of liquor, to which military leaders and moral teachers called attention, had been stayed. But the problem of abating, in the testing time of war, the extravagant national expenditure on drink, and the loss of efficiency which it implied, was unsolved. There is no ground for surprise that a demand for more drastic legislation grew, and finally prevailed. Russia's new sobriety was rooted in strong acts by the State. There was need for the State to act with vigour in Britain. B. The Demand for Deastic Legislation 1. The defects and limitations of the Temporary Restriction Act were soon manifest. Mr. Stewart, member for the Wirral Division of Cheshire, by a question in the House on November 16, 1914, exposed one flaw. In the rural districts of Wirral the week-day hours of sale had been confined, by Justices' 44 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Order, to those between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ; right at hand, in the busy port of Birkenhead, and in the borough of Wallasey, no restrictions were imposed. The public disadvantage and the unequal treatment of the " Trade " were clear. Will the Home Secretary, asked Mr. Stewart, " consider the possibility of securing a general adjustment of hours throughout the peninsula of Wirral ? " Mr. McKenna answered, " I have no power to initiate the making of Orders, or to secure uniformity as between adjoining areas. Parliament has left the matter in the hands of local authorities." Such was the fact; and in practice it meant that the working of the Act created boundary difficulties where different hours of opening and closing obtained in small adjacent areas. There was also the drawback that the initiative was with the local Chief of Police and not with the Licensing Bench. If for any reason the Chief Constable would not recommend restric- tion, the magistrates — however strongly convinced of the need to act — were powerless. Where police and Justices concurred, there was the further limitation that no earlier hour of closing could be fixed than 9 p.m. without the express sanction of the Home Secretary. That embargo not only tended to stereotype nine o'clock as the closing hour where restrictions were agreed to be necessary, but it was interpreted to mean that the fixing of an opening hour later than the customary 6 a.m. also re- quired the Home Secretary's permission. Altogether, there was a general feeling that the Restriction Act was too restricted. The insignia of war were everywhere, recruiting depots, camps, hospitals, home defences, munition factories. Admiralty and Army activities of a thousand types ; and, in greater or lesser degree, the drink difficulty was everywhere. Increase of efficiency was seen to demand increase of power to restrict the traffic in intoxicating liquor. 2. The only new legislation affecting the liquor traffic at- tempted in the winter of 1914-15 was the placing of a war-tax on beer. This was one of the main proposals of the War Budget of November. The duty was advanced from 7s. 9d. per standard barrel to 235. immediately, 24s. in April, 1916, and 25s. in April, 1917; the postponement of the date before the full amount became chargeable was a conces- sion to enable the brewers to adapt their business to the IN THE EARLY DAYS OP WAR 45 heavy increase of tax. The change involved the raising of the retail price of beer one half-penny per half-pint. Mr. Lloyd George' estimated that the advanced price of beer to the customer, flus the curtailment of hours, and absence of men on foreign military service, would reduce the retail sale by 35 per cent.^ Mr. Austen Chamberlain's forecast proved singularly accurate as far as the war-period was concerned. " The effect of raising the price will be ... a great faU in the consumption. At the moment, in my opinion, the fall will be very heavy. It will tend in the course of succeeding months and years to recover, but it will not get back to the point where it was before the additional duty was imposed." ^ The Chancellor anticipated that the brewers might lessen the gravity of beer, and welcomed the idea. Certainly in so far as the tax induced the drinking of lighter liquors it made for efficiency. But the direct aim was fiscal, the raising of revenue ; and it would be a misnomer to call the tax an answer to the demand for legislation to check alcoholic indulgence. ■■• Speech in the House of Commons, November 17, 1914. ^ Ibid., November 24, 1914. The following Table compares the figures for the United Kingdom for the twelve months preceding the imposition of the war-tax with those for the twelve months following. Baerels of Bbeb at Standabd Gravity Charged vtith Duty (War- tax on beer imposed on November 18, 1914.) The 12 months preceding the Tax. The 12 months following the Tax. Percentage of decrease. 1913 1914 December 3,068,000 1,922,000 37-4 1914 1915 January . 2,736,000 2,131,000 22-1 February 2,532,000 1,975,000 21-9 March 2,938,000 2,450,000 16-6 April . 3,000,000 2,255,000 24-8 May . . . 3,181,000 2,595,000 18-4 June 3,065,000 2,709,000 11-6 July . . 3,560,000 2,887,000 18-9 August . 2,955,000 2,716,000 8-0 September . 3,111,000 2,834,000 8-9 October 3,121,000 2,490,000 20-2 November 2,629,000 2,288.000 12-9 The foregoing figures were given by Mr. McKenna in answer to a question by Mr. Patrick White in the Commons, January 6, 1916. 46 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE 3. In Scotland the call for drastic legislation was insistent at an early date. On October 8, 1914, the Glasgow School Board, in the interests of the children of the city, asked for total prohibition throughout the War.i On November 12 the Secretary for Scotland received a deputation from all the Scottish Temperance societies, pressing for resolute action.^ On November 20 the Corporation of Glasgow, by 48 votes to 26, resolved " to urge the Government to consider the advisa- bility of prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors during the period of the War, and of appointing a Commission to watch the operations of such a measure and to make recommendations regarding the equitable treatment of those affected by it." * Nor were these lonely voices. A powerful section of the Scottish people was likeminded. In England negotiations for a new Bill, or for amendments to the Temporary Restriction Act, were also afoot. Since truce reigned between political parties, only a Bill commanding general approval could pass.* A measure was drafted,^ and its introduction in the Lords practically arranged — with good hope that if the Lords accepted it the Government would present it to the Commons as embodying the greatest common measure of agreement in the Upper Chamber — when a sudden rush of events changed the atmosphere of public dis- cussion. Comprehensive treatment of the subject became possible. The country looked to the Cabinet to act with vigour and boldness. 4. Unquestionably it was Mr. Lloyd George's speech at Bangor on February 28, 1915, which loosed new energies to com- bat the evil. He spoke of the absolute necessity of " speeding 1 Glasgow Herald, October 9, 1914. ^ iiiij^_^ November 13, 1914. 3 Ihid., November 20, 1914. * See answers to questions in the Commons by Mr. King, Marcb 3, 1915, and Mr. J. W. Wilson, March 4, 191.5. ^ The BUI amended the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act in three particulars : it (1) suspended the sale of intoxicating hquor on licensed premises and in registered clubs between 9 p.m. and 11.30 a.m. in London and urban areas, and between 8 p.m. and 11.30 a.m. in rural areas; (2) prohibited the obtaining of liquor for any member of His Majesty's Forces at such times when he could not himseK lawfully obtain it; and (3) extended the term of the Temporary Restriction Act to six months after the close of the war. The Bill was promoted by a Committee representing the Church of England Temperance Society, the Wesleyan Methodist Tem- perance Committee, and the Temperance Legislation League. The Bill related solely to England and Wales. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR 47 up" munitions, and then — in graphic phrases — indicted drink as a fatal cause of delay. " Most of our workmen are putting every ounce of strength into this urgent work for their country, loyally and patriotically. But that is not true of all. There are some, I am sorry to say, who shirk their duty in this great emergency. I hear of workmen in armament works who refuse to work a full week's work for the nation's need. What is the reason? They are a minority. But, you must re- member, a small minority of workmen can throw a whole works out of gear. What is the reason 1 Sometimes it is one thing, some- times it is another, but let us be perfectly candid. It is mostly the Im-e of the drink. They refuse to work fuU time, and, when they return, their strength and efficienc}^ are impaired by the way in which they have spent their leisure. Drink is doing us more damage in the War than aU the German submarines put together. " What has Russia done 1 Russia, knowing her deficiency, know- ing how unprepared she was, said, ' I must puU myself together. I am not going to be trampled upon, unready as I am. I will use all my resources.' What is the first thing she does ? She stops the drink. I was talking to M. Barck, the Russian Mnister of Finance, a singularly able man, and I asked, ' What has been the result ? ' He said, ' The productivity of labour, the amount of work which is put out by the workmen, has gone up between 30 and 50 per cent.' I said, ' How do they stand it without their liquor ? ' and he replied, ' Stand it ? I have lost revenue over it up to £65,000,000 a year, and we certainly cannot afford it, but if I proposed to put it back there would be a revolution in Russia.' That is what the Minister of Finance told me. He told me that it is entirely attributable to the act of the Czar himself. It was a bold and courageous step — one of the most heroic things in the War. One afternoon we had to postpone our conference in Paris, and the French Minister of Finance, said, ' I have got to go to the Chamber of Deputies, because I am proposing a Bill to abolish absinthe.' Absinthe plays the same part in France that whisky plays in this country. It is really the worst form of drink used, not only among workmen, but among other classes as well. Its ravages are terrible, and they abolished it by a majority of something like ten to one that afternoon. " That is how those great countries are facing their responsibilities. We do not propose anything so drastic as that — we are essentially moderate men. But we are armed with full powers for the Defence of the Realm. We are approaching it, I do not mind telling you, for the moment, not from the point of view of people who have been considering this as a social problem — we are approaching it purely from the point of view of these works. We have got great powers to deal with drink, and we mean to use them. We shall use them in a spirit of moderation, we shall use them discreetly, we shall use them wisely, but we shall use them fearlessly, and I have no doubt that, as the country's needs demand it, the country will support our 48 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE action, and wiU aUow no indulgence of that kind to interfere \yith its prospects in this terrible war which has been thrust upon us." i The Bangor speech made history. It changed the perspec- tive of the question. Concern was no longer limited to ad- ministrators and to enthusiasts. The nation awoke. " The lure of the drink " was delaying munitions. The new German submarine menace was not so great a perU as this, the Chancellor had said. From the morrow of the speech, for nearly three months, the drink question was a main subject of debate in the Press and in private circles. How, it was asked, did the liquor habit reduce industrial efficiency? What percentage of " broken time " was due to drink ? Had Mr. Lloyd George overstated the case? What restraints had other peoples placed on the traffic in war-time ? What results had followed the Czar's act of prohibition ? A series of public pronouncements fed the fires of debate. 5. A brief but grave statement by Earl Kitchener arrested attention. It was made in the House of Lords on March 15. As Secretary of State for War he spoke of the supply of muni- tions : " We have unfortunately found that the output is not only not equal to our necessities, but does not fulfil our expec- tations, for a very large number of our orders have not been completed by the dates on which they were promised." Why ? Trade Union restrictions, easy confidence in early victory, and the fear of the workers that their extra toil was inflating the profits of the directors and shareholders, were named; but first on the list of causes Lord Kitchener placed drink. " There have, I regret to say, been instances where absence, irregular time-keeping, and slack work have led to a marked diminution in the output of our factories. In some cases the temptations of drink account for this failure to work up to the high standard expected." 6. On March 17, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the President of the Board of Trade met a Conference of representa- tives of Trade Unions. The purpose was to win the co-operation of Labour in plans to increase the production of stores of war. Mr. Lloyd George discussed the settlement of trade disputes by arbitration, the suspension during the War of restrictions on output, and then turned to " another question of a totally 1 The Times, March 1, 1915. IN THE EARLY DAYS OP WAR 49 different character . . . where we must have the influence and support of the leaders of organised labour behind us." " ' I am referring,' he said, ' to the effect which excessive drinking amongst a minority of the workmen in some districts has upon the output. Believe me, I am very loath to mention it : one is so apt to be misconstrued. It may be said, " You are bringing a charge against the working classes.'" I am doing nothing of the kind. I am referring to a minority. But, as you know perfectly well, where the minority do that, they may throw the whole works out of gear, and very often they prevent men who are anxious to go on with their work from continuing that work. " ' I am sorry to say that I am acting upon reports we have got both from the Admiralty and the War Office. In some districts it is very serious. In some areas it is interfering with the amount of the output, and gravely interfering with it. In other areas it is in- terfering with the transport. Transport has been delayed where we are sending not merely munitions of war, but necessaries to our troops at the front. I am sure you will prefer I should talk quite plainly about it.' " ^ 7. The response of Labour was ready. Just as, for national advantage, arbitration was accepted in lieu of strikes, and Union restrictions on output suspended for the term of the .War, so in the matter of drink the Labour leaders were willing to accept whatever measure of regulation the needs of the country made requisite. There must be evidence to support restriction, and restriction must apply evenly to all classes ; given those assurances, the support of Labour could be counted upon. The mind of Labour was expressed in a letter addressed by the Executive of the Transport Workers' Federation to the Chancellor — " We are convinced that, although excessive drinking is indulged in by only a small minority, so interdependent is modern labour that the diminished efficiency of this minority has a marked in- fluence upon the output of the total number of men engaged in any set of operations. " This being so, and in the interests of national weU-being, we would urge the Government to take immediate and decisive action to reduce the results of intemperance to a minimum." The Executive went on to ask that — " Where work is conducted during the night in shipyards, docks, 1 The Times, March 18, 1915. 50 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE and other places of production, some canteen provision should be set up to fulfil the requirements of the men for necessary refresh- ment." 8. The deputation from the Shipbuilding Employers' Federa- tion struck the public as an event of the first importance. The date was March 29. The chief shipbuilders of Scotland and the North of England were represented. Their claim was for total prohibition throughout the War. The Chancellor and the Secretary for Scotland received the deputation. A summary of the evidence presented was published in the White Paper of April 29.i Mr. Lloyd George in his reply re-emphasised what he had said at Bangor and to the Labour leaders. " I must say that I have a growing con- viction, based on accumulating evidence, that nothing but root and branch methods will be of the slightest avail in dealing with the evil. I believe that to be the general feeling. The feeling is that if we are to settle German militarism we must first of all settle with the drink. We are fighting Germany, Austria and Drink; and, as far as I can see, the greatest of these three deadly foes is Drink." ^ He added a statement which the next day's event explained. " I had the privilege of an audience with His Majesty this morning. ... I am permitted to say by him that he is very ^ Shipbuilding, Munitions and Transport Areas, pp. 10-15. The following representatives of the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation were present — Mr. G. J. Carter (Messrs. Cammell, Laird, and Co., Limited, Birkenhead), Mr. James Marr (Messrs. J. L. Thompson and Co., Limited, Sunderland), Mr. H. B. Rowell (Messrs. P^. and W. Hawthorn Leslie and Co., Hebbum- on-Tyne), Mr. H. M. Napier (Messrs. Kapier and Miller, Limited, Old Kil- patriok). Colonel R. Saxton White, Mr. F. E. W. CoUer, Sir Charles Ottley (Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Co., Limited, Walker-on-Tyne and iSIewcastle-on-Tyne), Mr. F. N. Henderson (Messrs. D. and W. Henderson and Co., Limited, Partiok, Glasgow), Colonel J. M. Denny (Messrs. William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton), Mr. A. B. Gowan (Messrs. Palmers Ship- builduig and Iron Company, Limited, Jarrow and Hebbum-on-Tyne), IVt. N. E. Peck (Messrs. Barclay, Curie, and Co., Limited, Whiteinch, Glasgow, and Messrs. Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson, Limited, Neptune and WaDsend-on-Tyne), Mr. George Jones (Sir Wilham Grey and Co., Limited, Hartlepool), Mr. W. Beardmore Stewart (Messrs. Beardmore and Co., Limited, Dalmuir, Glasgow), Mr. J. B. Hutchison (Messrs. Scott's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, Greenock), Mr. J. Barr (Messrs. Vickers, Limited, Barrow), Mr. J. Hamilton (The Fairiield Shipbuilding and En- gineering Company, Limited, Govan), and Mr. Thomas Biggart and Mr. James Cameron, joint secretaries. 2 The Times, March 30, 1915. m THE EARLY DAYS OP WAR 61 deeply concerned on this question." A few hours later Lord Stamfordham's letter was made public announcing the King's voluntary abstention from alcoholic liquor. 9. The judgment of political leaders was strongly affected by this cumulative evidence. Allowing for possible over- statement, drink was confessedly a bar to fitness and a drag on industry at a time when the best and the most was needed from every man. Thus far the reference has been to Libera] and Labour leaders only ; it is equally true that in those anxious months Conservative statesmen were ready to approve what- ever restraints on the liquor traffic national interests demanded. Mr. Bonar Law, acknowledging a Liverpool memorial which asked for the strengthening of the Temporary Restriction Act, wrote : "I shall certainly be ready to give favourable consider- ation to any such proposals put forward by the Government." ^ That was three months before the events of which the Bangor speech was the herald. There is also extant a Bill, drafted about this time at the instance of Mr. Balfour. It dealt ingeniously with three ele- ments of the problem : drinking for drinking's sake, treating, and the use of heavy liquors. A memorandum by Mr. Balfour is the best summary : " The Bill," he said, " does not forbid a man drinking what he likes and when he likes, but it does prevent him drinking without eating ; in other words, alcohol can only be consumed in the course of a bona fide meal. In the same way it does not forbid hospitality ; but it does put an end to treating in its ordinary and most objectionable form. A man is at liberty to give a drink to his friend, but only if, at the same time, he gives him a dinner." The third provision, which was " separable from the rest of the Bill," wotild have stopped the sale of liquors of a high alcoholic strength. " The Bill is intended," wrote Mr. Balfour, " to mitigate the evils of intemperance as it affects the armed forces of the Crown and the workmen who are engaged in the production of the munitions of War. . . . These suggestions may perhaps seem at first sight somewhat fantastic ; but they are, in my judg- ment, worth consideration, and perhaps an experimental trial." Although Mr. Balfour's Bill never came before the House it was by no means without influence ; its suggestions ^ Letter to Mr. Alexander Guthrie, J.P. 52 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE were in part taken up by the Control Board and embodied in the Board's regulations respecting treating and dilution. 10. The consent of party leaders to further legislation was reflected in the Press. Unionist journals were as ready for strong action as Liberal papers which had supported the ill- fated Licensing Bill of 1908. Common ground was found in the resolve to clear the way for a successful prosecution of the War. The typical Unionist attitude was expressed by the Pall Mall Gazette — " The spirit in which Mr. Lloyd George's references to the question of drunkenness have been received should fortify the Government in applying whatever steps they feel the nation's interests to require. It is very seldom that statesmen can give effect to their views of what is absolutely best in pohcy, because compromises have to be made with all kinds of prejudice, general and particular. But in this case we believe that whatever the Government may pledge themselves to do as being necessary for the strength and speedy victory of our arms will be accepted by the whole nation without demur. The need for munitions is so urgent, and the alternative of delay is so monstrous in its sacrifice of life and multiplication of suffering, that no rational or worthy mind can feel a divided inclination." ^ The Manchester Guai'dian put the view not only of Liberals, but of most non-party men : " There are times when it is easier to handle a question broadly and comprehensively than to nibble at it, and we misjudge the feeling of this country if this is not such a time. A big, broadly conceived mea.sure would inspire ; to assist it would give Englishmen the sense of doing a real national service. But a small measure would be an anti-climax." ^ 1 March 31, 1915. 2 April 9, 1915. CHAPTER III THE NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION OF THE DRINK TRADE I. Policies and Proposals The Shipbuilders' deputation preferred their claim on March 29, 1915. The Government scheme was placed before the Commons on April 29. What was happening behind the scenes in the fateful month which intervened ? The question at issue was the form which action should take. There is reason to believe that the discussions in the Press were not unrelated to discussion in the Cabinet, and in the Press six possible policies found exponents. Sometimes advocated singly, sometimes two or more in conjunction, these were : total prohibition ; the prohibition of spirits ; the sale of light instead of heavy liquors ; a general restriction of drinking facilities ; State purchase of the liquor traffic to secure to the State full freedom to restrict or to prohibit ; and the provision of works' canteens for the supply of wholesome food and drink. 1. " Total prohibition during the period of the war of the sale of exciseable liquors " was the remedy urged by the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation. It won no small support. The Spectator championed it : " The true way for the Govern- ment to act, if they agree with Mr. Lloyd George that drink is a worse enemy than the German, is to make a clean out and prohibit the sale of all intoxicants during the war. That done, they must address themselves to the consideration of the question of compensation, and how to find work for the em- ployees." 1 Other journals affirmed this course the fairest to all classes. The Council of the Bradford Chamber of Com- merce adopted, with one dissentient, a resolution supporting 1 April 3, 1915. 53 54 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE the shipbuilders' claim. ^ A group of business men organised an advertising campaign in the Press in support of prohibi- tion.^ The National Free Church Council in session at Man- chester assured the Government " of its support in any drastic steps to secure national sobriety up to the point of prohibi- tion." In Scotland prohibitionist conviction was more genera] than in England, and grew in volume as the War wore on. The opposition was formidable, and strengthened while the Government hesitated. It came from many quarters. A policy of prohibition was too drastic to be popular with most non -abstainers. It would involve the exclusion of imported liquors, and — so The Times especially argued — damage the wine industries of our ally France, and of the Commonwealth of Australia.* Further, the national revenue from liquor taxes and licence duties for the year ending March 31, 1915, was £46,486,212;* that huge income would be sacrificed if no liquor were sold. There was a ready reply to this last argu- ment : the Russian Government sacrificed a net annua] revenue from vodka of more than £65,000,000,^ made good the loss by new taxes, and gained in addition a wonderful expansion of industrial activity and of Savings Banli deposits as results of the new sobriety.*^ But the reference to Russia only called into view a chief obstacle to prohibitory action in Britain, namely, the powerful organisation of the liquor trade. In Russia the vodka traffic was State-owned, and the Russian Government had but to convince itself of the -wisdom of prohibition and it was free to act ; there was no private vested interest to consult or to fear. In Britain the case was reversed. The whole liquor business was in private, not public hands; and the " Trade " had built up an unrivalled defensive organisation against restrictive legislation, and again and again had worsted reformers. Unquahfied hostility 1 Yorkshire Observer, March 31, 1915. 2 See, e. g.. The Times, April 2, 1915. ' See article " The End and the Means," April 3, 1915. ' 59& Statistical Abstract, p. 8. ^ In 1913, the last complete year of the Russian State Vodka Monopoly, the total gross revenue from vodka sales was 900,000,000 roubles. The working expenses of the year were 236,800,000 roubles. The riet profit to the State was therefore 663,200,000 roubles (about £66,320,000).— ^Ae Times Russian Supplement, January 15, 1915, p. 5. • See, e. g., article by Dr. DHlon, " Some of Russia's Difficulties," Con, temporary Review, February, 1916, pp. 177-9. NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 55 by the liquor interests to war-time prohibition was certain. That sufficed, in 1915, to bar the way. 2. The prohibition of spirits was a policy commanding wide support. It was in harmony with the Russian prohibi- tion of vodka, and the French suppression of absinthe. This was the point urged in a manifesto signed by an influential group of fifty pubhc men and women, issued through the Press on February 25. " We believe," said the signatories, " that the time has come when Great Britain should have the courage to follow the example of her two great AUies, and suppress the sale of all spirits for at least the period of the war." To do so would make for " the highest efficiency, not only in her Navy and Army, but in all branches of civilian industry." The Times supported this : "It would, of course, have to be imiversal and uniform ; but it is more feasible than the total prohibition of all drink. The distilling interest would need compensation, but part of that might come from the brewing trade, which would gain. The workman would still have his beer, which is the ancient and staple drink of the country ; but the chief cause of trouble, and the most mischievous element in the country, would be eliminated." ^ The strong point in favour of the proposal was that made by The Times : spirits, because much more alcoholic than beer, were more damaging in their physical effect. The weak point was that the remedy would only be a partial one ; as the Westminster Gazette put it, " the prohibition of spirits would be useful, but for large numbers beer is the greatest enemy." ^ The Home Office investigators, whose reports will be reviewed on later pages, pointed out that " the drinking habits of the workmen on the Clyde differ some- what from those of the English workmen. The popular drink there is half a gill of whisky, quickly followed by a schooner of beer (about three-quarters of a pint), and the beer is of a heavier quality than English beer. ... On the Tyne and in Barrow, spirit-drinking is not so common, as the popular drink is beer, and the English workman's drinking appears to be more evenly distributed over the week, though the effect is very much the same in all the districts referred to." ^ 1 April 3, 1915. ^ March 30, 1915. » Return to the House of Commons, Shipbuilding, Munitions and Transport, Areas, April 29, 1915, p. 18. 56 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE 3. The sale of light instead of heavy liquors was a device to meet the difficulty just mentioned. It meant the dilution of spirits beyond the limit fixed by law, and the brewing of beer of a lower gravity than that usually sold in industrial districts. One way to facilitate these changes would be to grade taxation, placing the highest duties on the most alcoholic liquors. The tendency would then be for lighter liquors to obtain a larger sale because they were cheaper. As this plan formed part of the Government's proposals it will be con- sidered when the BiU is discussed. 4. A general restriction of drinking facilities was the likeliest of policies to \An favour. The Service and Licensing authorities had already made the pubUc in many neighbourhoods familiar with the advantages of fewer hours for the sale of drink. The drinking which impaired industrial efficiency chiefly took place in the early morning on the way to work, and in the late evening when the worker really needed rest. Late opening and early closing of liquor-bars, as a policy applicable to the whole country, found wide support. " A shortening of the hours of sale is easy," said the Daily Chronicle, " and might have considerable effects, especially a shortening in the morning. The plan of not serving women before eleven o'clock (in London) has worked well ; it might very reasonably be extended to men." ^ It was significant that at the end of March the licensed trade in Liverpool, accepting a suggestion of the Lord Mayor, agreed among themselves to fix the hour of opening at 10.30 a.m., and the hour of closing at 10 p.m.^ In addition to a general curtailment of hours, restrictions on the custom of treating and on the sale of drink for home consumption were freely advocated. 5. The plan of placing the nation in imfettered command by the purchase of the private interests in the sale of drink, came definitely under consideration. This was the policy championed by Mr. Lloyd George, who pressed it as the surest way to gain and to retain a free hand for the State. Com- mittees of experts were appointed to advise the Government. One Committee reported on the financial arrangements neces- sary to the purchase of the breweries and licensed premises of 1 April 9, 1915. 2 Liverpool Daily Post, March 22, 1915. NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 57 England and Wales ; another on the distilleries, breweries and licensed houses of Scotland.^ The general idea of the scheme for England and Wales, unanimously approved by the Committee, was to purchase the breweries with the licensed premises owned by them ; the " free " fully -licensed and beer-houses, both " on " and " off " ; and the cider licenses. As to grocers' licences, it was proposed to buy " the licensees' interest in the sale of intoxicants." Registered clubs and exceptional licensed properties — hotels, restaurants, railway refreshment-rooms, theatres and music-halls — were to be dealt with so as to vest in the State complete control of the traffic in liquor. The plan not only aimed to make the State the master of the situation ; it marked out methods of mastery. The closing of redimdant breweries and the enormous number of redmidant public-houses was provided for ; an immediate and wholesale reduction of drink-shops would thus have been secured. The temporary prohibition of the spirit-traffic, and the lowering of the alcoholic strength of beer were part of the scheme. As for other reforms, Parliament would have been free to impose whatever restrictions it deemed desirable. Pending an Act to set up a new system of sale, the starting of new breweries, the granting of new retail licences, and the opening of new registered clubs, were to be prohibited. The terms of purchase recommended by the Committee were " that the property which is to be acquired should be bought by the exchange of £100 of Government 4 per cent, stock for every ascertained £100 worth of liquor-trade securities or properties. . . . The information at present available is inadequate," the Committee went on to say, " to enable any accurate forecast to be made of the capital sum that would be involved by the proposed transfer to the State of the properties of the breweries and the interests of the licensees of free houses. . . . The estimates which have been furnished to us indicate a total approximating to £250,000,000 for England and Wales. These figures do not include allowances in respect of certain off-licences, for compensation to the 1 Beport of the Advisory Committee on Proposals for the State Purclmse of the Licensed Liquor Trade. England and Wales, Cd. 8283; Scotland, Cd. 8319. 58 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE holders of grocers' licences, compensation to officials and employees, and any other expenditure contemplated in this report." A Sinking Fund was to be established " of not less than IJ per cent, on the amount of stock issued," so as to pro- vide for the gradual extinction of the amount of State debt incurred. The Report of the Scottish Advisory Committee set out the chief differentiae between English and Scottish licensing arrangements. In Scotland, the " tied-house " system was practicaUy unknown; the Act of 1904, which strongly en- trenched the English licence-holder, did not apply to Scotland; and, under the Temperance (Scotland) Act of 1913, Local Option was to come into operation north of the Tweed in 1920. In view of these three facts, the Committee reported " that the fairest method would be to arrive at an estimate of the aimual profits of the trade, and fix a number of years' purchase, which would take into account the effect upon the trade as a whole of the legislation of 1913." The scheme of purchase was based on the supposition that the Government would prohibit the retail sale of spirits, but permit the retail sale of beer not exceeding a certain alcoholic strength. It was not proposed to buy the distilleries. The Committee quoted an estimate from " Trade " sources that the capital value of the publicans' interest, based on seven years' purchase of the estimated annual profit, would be £8,788,000 ; ^ and of grocers' licences about £1,470,000. It was soon seen that the plan won support in quarters where Liberal licensing legislation had ordinarily roused opposition. The Unionist leaders were consulted at an early stage, and their sympathy secured.^ The Nation and the Spectator united to bless the scheme. The oppo- sition came chiefly from a section of financiers and a section 1 " This calculation was made before the passing of the Scottish Temper- ance Act of 1913, and there is no doubt that the passing of that Act has reduced the number of years' purchase that will be applicable. We have not been able to check this figure, and it is merely given for what it is worth as indicating, roughly, what the view of the trade then was as regards the capital value of this section of the retail trade. The above estimate, as we understand it, does not include compensation for buildings, stock, or land- lords' fittings." — Report of the Liquor Trade Finance Committee (Scotland), (Cd. 8319). ^ Contemporary Review, June 1915, p. 699 : article by Sir T. P. Whittakei. NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 59 of the Temperance party. In the Nation Mr. E. Richard Cross drew the lesson from former controversies : " When we review the past efforts of strong Governments like those of Mr. Gladstone in 1871, and of Mr. Asquith in 1908, to amend the licensing laws, we have to recognise that the liquor interest has proved itself capable of defeating every serious attempt to regulate it in the public interest. . . . But if the barrier of private interest be removed, we shall be able to do whatever may be necessary to increase the national output of material during the war, and the experience we get by the trial of these expedients will be of the greatest value in shaping our ultimate policy." ^ " The only way to get a free hand is through State ownership," said the Spectator, " and State ownership means a just and reasonable scheme of purchase. Therefore purchase holds the field." ^ The scheme fell to the groimd. Probably the financial objection was regarded as decisive. The Prime Minister and other members of the Cabinet were unwilling to add to the obligations of the country in the midst of a war whose cost was increasing the National Debt at a pace without precedent. Opposition from a group of Temperance reformers helped to defeat the plan. The argument that purchase would set the State free to restrict or prohibit was convincing to many Temperance leaders, but not to all. The root of the hostility was fear that ownership would involve the nation in com- phcity with the trafiic in drink, in a sense distinct from the nation's admitted responsibility as the grantor of licences to sell liquor, and as the recipient of, approximately, fifty millions sterling as taxes on the sale of liquor. For the time the State Purchase scheme disappeared; but its governing principle of eliminating private interests lived on. A " purchase " element reappeared in the Bill which created the Control Board, and the Board's ventures in public ownership were its fruits. 6. The call for Works' Canteens for the provision of whole- some food and drink came from men who faced the problem on its human side. Industrial output depended on the " fit- ness " of the worker. That, in its turn, was partly a question of a sufficient, suitable and regular supply of food. Where 1 April 17, 1915. ^ AprU 17, 1915. 60 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE the supply was insufficient, irregular, unwholesomely served, men were prone to seek temporary stimulus in drink. Here was a chief cause of fatigue, intemperance, and consequent inefficiency, as Trade Union leaders, who had themselves worked in mill or forge or shop, said plainly. The food supply was unmistakably a factor in any attempt to deal in an adequate way with the difficulty. It was deplor- able that so vital an element in the life of the worker had been treated in such a casual fashion heretofore. Only where an employer or works' manager had been personally interested in social welfare had a proper canteen system been estab- lished. The time had come for a systematic exploration of the industrial world in this respect. II. The Government's Dual Plan 1. Mr. Lloyd Gteorge's speech in the Commons on April 29 recounted the reasons for new legislation, reviewed the remedies suggested, and set before the House the two proposals of the Government. Additional taxes were to be placed on the strongest liquors to restrict their sale ; the tax on spirits was to be doubled ; the tax on wine quadrupled ; and a surtax placed on the heavier beers, graded according to their alcohohc strength. The State was to be free to control completely the liquor traffic in areas producing war-material or transporting it, and where men of His Majesty's Forces were encamped. That was the dual plan. The fiscal scheme became a part of the Budget Bill of the following week. The control scheme was dealt with as a separate legislative unit, entitled the " Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill." 2. " We ought," said the Chancellor, " to make an eiort to restrain, as much as possible, the sale of spirits and of the most alcohohc of beer, and for that purpose we propose a very heavy surtax on spirits, and also a very heavy surtax on aD the beers containing more than 7 per cent, of proof spirit." The spirit duty, which had stood since 1909 at 14s. 9d. per gallon, was to be raised to 29s. 6d.^ The maximum limit 1 On imports of perfumed spirits an extra duty of £1 35. Id. per gallon was to be charged; and on " liqueurs, cordials, mixtures, and other preparations entered in such a maimer as to indicate that the strength is not to be tested," £1 per gallon additional. NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 61 of dilution of spirits was to be extended; this alike in the interests of sobriety and the spirit traders. " At the present moment you are not allowed to sell spirits without notice which is lower than 25 per cent, under proof. That is for brandy, whisky or rum. We propose that the limit of dilution should be extended.^ It is in itself a good thing from the point of view of selling less alcohol for what is apparently the same quantity of whisky; but in addition to that, it is a method which enables the publican to recoup himself while charging the same price to his customer. It serves the State and it serves the vendor of spirits at the same time." The new beer duty was not to apply to the lightest beers. " With regard to beer up to 43 specific gravity, we do not propose any alteration at all in the beer duties ; after that, we propose a surtax, which is a graduated one, and it is done deliberately with the intention of discouraging the heavier beers." The surtax was 12,s. per barrel of 36 gallons on beer brewed at a gravity between 43 and 48 degrees, 24s. between 48 and 53 degrees, and 36s. over 53 degrees. " If you put heavy duties upon heavy beers and spirits, you must also interfere with the duty upon wine. It is true that during the last few months the consumption of wine has fallen by 25 per cent. All the same, you cannot justify putting heavier taxation upon alcohol as produced in this country and charging, say, merely 7^d. per bottle upon champagne, when you are charging twice, three, or four times as much' on your bottle of whisky. Therefore it is proposed, in order to put it on somewhere about the same scale, to increase the wine duty by quadrupling it." 3. State control was to be secured by a method hitherto imtried. In any area defined by an Order in Council the liquor traffic was to be placed under a " prescribed Government authority." With slight changes, the Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill passed into law. As the charter of the pohcy of Control, it is cited here in full, and in its final form — 1 To thirty-five degrees under proof. Parliamentary Debates {House of Commons) Official Report, April 29, 1915. 62 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE State Control of Liquor Trade in Certain Areas 1. (1) Where it appears to His Majesty that it is expedient for the purpose of the successfiil prosecution of the present war that the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor in any area should be controlled by the State on the ground that war material is being made or loaded or unloaded or dealt with in transit in the area or that men belonging to His Majesty's naval or military forces are assembled in the area, His Majesty has power, by Order in Council, to define the area and to apply to the area the regulations issued in pursuance of this Act under the Defence of the Realm Consolida- tion Act, 1914, and the regulations so appUed shall, subject to any provisions of the Order or any amending Order, take effect in that area during the continuance of the present war and such period not exceeding twelve months thereafter as may be declared by Order in Council to be necessary in view of conditions connected with the termination of the present war. (2) His Majesty in Council has power to issue regulations under the Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act, 1914, to take effect in any area to which they are applied under this Act — (a) for giving the prescribed Government authority, to the exclusion of any other person, the power of selling or supplying, or controlling the sale or supply of, intoxicating liquor in the area, subject to any exceptions contained in the regulations ; and (6) for giving the prescribed Government authority power to acquire, compulsorily or by agreement, and either for the period during which the regulations take effect, or permanently, any licensed or other premises or business in the area, or any interest therein, so far as it appears necessary or expedient to do so for the purpose of giving proper effect to the control of the liquor supply in the area ; and (c) for enabling the prescribed Government authority, without any licence, to estabhsh and maintain refreshment rooms for the supply of refreshments (including, if thought fit, the supply of intoxicating liquor) to the general public or to any particular class of persons or to persons employed in any particular industry in the area ; and (d) for making any modification or adjustment of the relations between persons interested in hcensed premises in the area which appears necessary or expedient in consequence of the regulations ; and (e) generally, for giving effect to the transfer of the control of the liquor traffic in the area to the prescribed Govern- ment authority, and for modifying, so far as it appears necessary or expedient, the provisions of the Acts relating to licensing or the sale of intoxicating liquor in their application to the area. NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 6S (3) Any regulations made before the passing of this Act under the powers conferred by any Act deaUng with the Defence of the Realm as respects the restriction of the sale of intoxicating liquor are hereby declared to have been duly made in accordance with those powers. A comparison of the charter of control with the six policies already discussed will draw out its meaning. (1) Total prohibition — the prohibition of all intoxicating liquors throughout the United Kingdom — was not in the scheme. Action on a national scale would have been necessary to prohibit completely, and the Government had decided to take the initiative locally, not nationally. The " prescribed Government authority " — soon to be known as the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) — could control the traffic in liquor in any area defined by an Order in Council. Such an area must be one in which war-material was being made, loaded, unloaded, or dealt with'in transit ; or in which naval or military forces were assembled. The reason for defining an area must be that "it is expedient for the purpose of the successful prosecution of the present war that the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor . . . should be controlled by the State." Li other words, evidence must be forthcoming that drink was damaging efficiency, whether industrial or naval or military. The methods of control were to be marked out in future Regulations. (2) Power to prohibit spirits — and other liquors — was within the scheme. This does not contradict the preceding paragraph. What the Government would not do nationally, the Control Board was empowered to do locally. Prohibitory action could be taken in the defined areas, if evidence justified it. Mr. Lloyd George expressly affirmed this : " the power must be included should it be thought necessary, to suppress the sale of spirits, or of very heavy beers, in these areas." (3) To encourage the sale of light instead of heavy liquors was the aim of the tax-proposals. It was also within the competence of the Control Board to pursue this pohcy. (4) The restriction of drinking facihties was a definite object of the Bill. The Regulations defined, in comprehensive terms, the powers of the Board to restrict hours of sale, to close places of sale, and to forbid prejudicial methods of sale. 64 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE (5) State Purchase on a national scale was excluded for the reason which shut out total prohibition. But in the defined areas the Board could purchase " any licensed or other pre- mises or business in the area, or any interest therein," and become in those circumstances the sole vendor of liquor. (6) The contention that the drink problem was in no small degree a food problem was fully conceded. The Board had the right " to establish and maintain refreshment rooms for the supply of refreshments (including, if thought fit, the supply of intoxicating liquor) to the general public, or to any par- ticular class of persons, or to persons employed in any par- ticular industry in the area." The intention to assure a proper food supply for workers in war-industries was explicit. To sum up. Total prohibition, and a plan of national State Purchase, were shut out of the Bill. In scheduled areas where drink was shown to be inimical to pubhc interests, the Board were to be free to prohibit, to purchase, to regulate, or to restrict. Neither existing agreements — as, for instance, between brewer and tenant — nor even the existing Licensing Acts were to impede the Board in their onerous task; they could set aside either. These drastic powers were to operate during the War, and for a term not exceeding twelve months after. III. The Wreck of the Taxes 1. The proposed taxes on spirits, beer and wines found few friends and many enemies. The Unionist leaders roundly condenmed this part of the Government plan. Mx. Austen Chamberlain described them as " absolutely penal and crushing." ^ Mr. Bonar Law prophesied with entire accuracy that the " Trade " would organise " an agitation precisely of the same kind as we had in regard to the Licensing Bill of 1908." 1 Nor was there enthusiasm on the Government benches. Mr. Arthur Sherwell, a friendly critic, said afterwards that the taxes were " utterly imsuited to the emergency ; " they were " a hasty and ill-considered afterthought, suddenly devised to provide a compromise for a bewildered and divided Cabinet." The surtaxes on heavy beer came in for the hottest criticism. 1 Parliamentary Debates {House of Commons) Official Report, May 4, 1915. NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 65 Most British beer was of so high a gravity as to incur the weightiest of the projected rates. Prior to the war-tax of November, 1914, the tax on beer was 7s. 9d. per standard barrel ; under the new scale the heaviest beers were to pay 60s. per barrel : " were the Cabinet, when they fixed this scale of surtaxes," asked Mr. Sherwell, " informed of the actual gravities of the beers now brewed in tliis country and, if so, did they adopt the scale as an indirect means of stopping the industry ; or did they adopt the scale in complete ignor- ance of its effect ? " ^ Feeling was general that taxation so steeply graded was an oblique way of aiming at partial pro- hibition ; and that if prohibition were desirable the Government would have been better advised frankly to propose it, plus compensation to traders whose business would summarily cease. 2. Irish opposition slew the scheme. If Ireland rejected the taxes the terms of party truce made it impossible to impose them, and no new tax on Irish beer or spirits meant no new tax on British liquor. Mr. John Redmond's opposition was unqualified : " I oppose these taxes root and branch. ... I have met the great distillers of Ireland. . . . They have assured me that if these taxes were passed they could do no distilling at all next year. . . . The manufacture of beer in Ireland is a very large business. ... If this proposal is carried, Dublin stout and porter," because of their high gravity, " will be entirely put out of the market in this country." ^ Mr. W. O'Brien pictured the ruin of the city of Cork — " Between the distilling trade and the brewing manufacture I am safe in saying that at least 10,000 of the population depend more or less upon these manufactures. I do not know how many distilleries and breweries wiU disappear. . . In addition to that, there is the destruction of employment. . . . The county of Cork is one of the most extensive barley-growing districts in the country, and if you succeed in crushing this trade you will reduce that barley-producing area in Ireland to the condition of a wilderness, although, as every one knows, the chief hope of the country is that it may be able to increase its acreage under cultivation. I am not exaggerating when I say that if the Chancellor of the Exchequer, by his surtax, succeeds in annihilating those two great manufactures in Cork, the result ^ Monthly Notes of the Temperance Legislation League, May- June, 1915, pp. 9-10. 2 Parliamentary Debates {House of Commons), Official Report, May 4, 1915. F 66 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Tvill be as appalling as if that city were bombarded and sacked by the Germans." ^ "This is what I call assassin taxation; it is murderous taxation," said Mr. T. M. Healy.^ 3. Against this torrent of opposition the taxes could not stand. Mr. Lloyd George conferred with brewers, distillers, and wine merchants. No agreement was reached. On May 6 the Irish party refused to proceed with the " Control " Bill until the tax-question was settled. On May 7 the entire withdrawal of the taxes was announced through the Press Bureau.^ The British liquor interests had triumphed under the banner of Irish industry. As salvage from the wreck of the fiscal scheme Parliament agreed to prohibit the sale of immature spirits. The operative clause of the Immature Spirits (Restriction) Act was : "No 1 Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons), Official Report, April 29, 1915. An analysis of the economic claims of the Irish liquor trade will ba found in The Liquor Traffic and Employment, pp. 20-45. Hugh W. Strong. 2 Ibid., April 29, 1915. ■> The Press Bureau statement was as follows — " After prolonged negotiations a settlement has been arrived at on the question of spirits. " The White Paper shows that a good deal of mischief, especially in tha northern yards, comes from the drinking of raw, cheap spirits of a fiery quality. " The Government propose now, after consultation with representatives of the spirit trade, to substitute for their taxing proposals a complete pro- hibition of the sale of spirits under three years of age. This will be accom- plished by compulsorUy bonding all spirit under three years of age. " As there will be some difBculty for a short time in finding adequate accommodation, an inquiry is to be instituted immediately on that subject, and should it be found that the accommodation is not sufficient for storing supplies beyond two years, time will be given the trade to provide storage. " Meanwhile all spirits up to two years will be compulsorily bonded, and a surtax of Is. will be placed on all spirits between two and three years of age taken out of bond. Arrangements will be made for extending the same principle to all imported spirits. " In order to meet the case of the gin distillers, who use raw spirit as an ingredient, rectifiers are to be allowed to receive spirits under two years of age for rectifying purposes at 16s. ^d. duty, of which %d. would be refunded on certificate of rectification. " As to beers, a scale which would have the eiieot of encouraging the brew- ing of light beers was agreed upon with the representatives of the brewers. The Irish representatives, however, could not see their way to accept it, and as the Government is pledged not to press forward any controversial proposals, it has been decided not to proceed with this scale. The beer duties are therefore withdrawn without any modification. " The wine duties were presented as a corollary to the increase in the spirit duties, and now that another arrangement is proposed in respect of spirits, the wine duties will not be proceeded with," NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 67 British or foreign spirits shall be delivered for home consump- tion miless they have been warehoused for at least a period of three years." The measure kindled no enthusiasm. There was a conflict of evidence whether immature spirits caused more mischief than matured.^ The real interest in the debate centred in an amendment by Sir Edward Carson which would have had the effect of prohibiting the sale of all spirits during the war. The amendment was ruled out of order. IV. The Case for " Control " It is time to examine the evidence on which the Control BiU was based. In his speech introducing the Bill Mr. Lloyd George inveighed against the inefficiency due to drink in ship- yards, munition works and transport areas. He emphasised his earlier statement that there was " no charge against the working classes of the country." The trouble was \vith the drinking habits of a minority ; but so interdependent is labour that the breakdown of a minority through indulgence in liquor could delay the whole industrial machinery. The cases he cited were published, with many other instances, two days later as a White Paper.2 The White Paper comprised Admiralty Reports, a summary of the evidence presented by the Shipbuilding Employers' deputation, a dispatch from Admiral Sir John JeUicoe alleging serious delay in work for the Fleet, reports from armament works, reports of thirty-three investigators sent by the Home Office to shipbuilding districts, and reports on transport difficulties. The speech and the White Paper were soon the centre of sharp controversy. 1. The Shipyards. — Admiral Tudor had furnished a state- ment "showing the eiiect of excessive drinking on the output 1 The Report on this subject by Lord James of Hereford's Commission, 1909, says : " The evidence before us failed to establish that any particular variety of whisky was specially deleterious. Statements were not uncom- monly made that new spirits and the cheaper variety of spirits consumed, for instance, at fairs, were specially liable to be deleterious, and to cause some of the more severe symptoms associated with intoxication. This evidence generally amounted to little more than a mere statement, and we were unable to obtain proof within the personal cognisance of the witnesses. . . . The general tendency of the evidence on these matters was to show that any speciaUy evil effects observed were rather to be attributed to the eioeswve quantity consumed than to any specially deleterious substance." 2 Shipbuilding, Munitions and Transport Areas. 68 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE of work as regards shipbuilding, repairs, and munitions of war being carried out by contract for the Admiralty." It was dated April 2, 1915. As one of the main documents it is quoted without excision in the Appendix. Among instances supplied by Admiral Tudor, a Report on " Time lost by workmen in repairs to a battleship " was cited by Mr. Lloyd George. " A ship came in to be repaired ; I think it was damaged in action. It was most urgent work. The workmen knew it was urgent work, the Admiralty pressed that the ship should be re- paired with the least possible delay. What happened there 1 Con- stant absences. Absences from the first quarter ranged from 23 per cent, up to 39 per cent. That was before the breakfast time — ^from six to nine. The absences afterwards in the second quarter ranged from 13 per cent, up to 26 per cent. The second quarter was not so bad, but still bad when the work was urgent. . . . There was an increase in wages, and the only result was that the men had more money, and they lost more time." ^ The speech next reviewed the representations made on March 29 by the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation. The deputation had represented the leading shipbuilding firms in the country. Their spokesmen had described the situation in the shipyards thus — " In many cases the number of hours being worked was actually less than before the war, and, in spite of Sunday labour and all other time, the total time worked on the average in almost all yards was below the normal number of hours per week. In spite of working night and day seven days a week, less productiveness was being secured from the men. The deputation was of opinion that this was principaUy due to the question of drink. There were many men doing splendid and strenuous work, probably as good as the men in the trenches. But so many were not working anything like full hours that the average was thus disastrously reduced. The members of the deputation stated that, speaking with the experience of from twenty-five to forty years, they be- lieved that 80 per cent, of the present avoidable loss of time could be ascribed to no other cause than drink. The figures of weekly takings in public-houses near the yards were convincing evidence of the increased sale of liquor. Allowing for the enhanced price of intoxicants and for the greater number of men now employed in shipbuilding, the takings had in one case under observation risen 20 per cent., in another 40 per cent." ^ ^ Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons) Official Report, April 29, 1915. ^ Shipbuilding, Munition* and Transport Areas, p. 11. NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 69 Mr. Lloyd George's reference to the shipyards closed with a summary of the results of an independent investigation by the Home Office. This was evidence of great value. The thirty- three investigators reported on the Clyde, the Tyne, Barrow, Sunderland, Stockton and West Hartlepool. Their reports were supplemented by statements from factory inspectors on the Clyde, the Tyne, and at Barrow. As descriptions of the social conditions amidst which shipyard workers live and toil, these reports will come before us again. Mr. Lloyd George's summary will serve here — " The reasons given for the irregularities of attendance are mainly that they are due to long hours over extended periods, and that the high wages lead to idleness and habits of drinking; and it is not altogether possible to isolate these causes, as they are more or less closely connected with one another. But the reports are unanimous in the conclusion that drink is by far the most im- portant factor. That is the summary given of the matter. They say of these men — and in Scotland especially — that there is a con- siderable proportion of them teetotallers. To those who are heavy dr'nkers the facUities for drinking are, unfortunately, very great, and an instance is given where in one street there are no fewer than thirty public-houses in a distance of half a mile. The yards and works are surrounded by public-houses and drinking-bars, where every possible facility is offered for obtaining drink for consumption both on and off the premises." ^ 2. Munition Works. — The White Paper described the reports from armament works as " not as serious as those received from the shipyards. They indicate, however, that much time is avoidably lost in some of the most important works." Among the statements received from important works engaged in the manufacture of munitions were these — " Some drastic restrictions are absolutely necessary if largest possible output of certain war munitions is to be obtained. . . . Among some shell workers there is a considerable amount of lost time due to their drinking habits. With the better class mechanics the time lost due to drinking is comparatively small, but in the case of labourers and the semi-skiUed trade it is a very serious item." Another firm reported — " Speaking generally, margin of lost time allowed by us before the war has now to be trebled. Condition much worse 1 Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons) Official Beport, April 29, Z916. 70 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE in shipyards. Much of this loss of time is attributable to drink." In a further report from these works it was stated — " Loss of time from drink most noticeable in shell depart- ment, about 10 per cent, of total time worked." From a works making high explosives — " We would take this opportunity of expressing in the strongest possible manner our opinion that something should be done in this district to curtail the sale of drink. We fear that unless drastic steps are taken to lessen the sale of alcohol, before long we shall find it impossible to deliver anything like the quantities of trinitrotoluene we have undertaken to supply to your department. Even at the present time we are not turning out as much as we could otherwise, owing to various troubles, and this is due to the fact that the men have been making good money and unfortunately wasting most of it in drink. Consequently, they are in such a condition that it is impossible for them to attend to their duties in a proper manner even when they come to the works, which is at odd times and to suit their own convenience." " There are several works engaged in the production of munitions," the Report continued, " of which this is not in the least true. Here the great majority of the workmen are above reproach, and their action is praiseworthy." 3. Transport Areas. — " I need hardly teU the House how very important it is that when we are waging war across the sea, reinforcements of men and material should be sent with- out any delay. Delay may mean very often the loss of a position," said Mr. Uoyd George. Unhappily, the reports from transport areas were particularly discouraging. Mr. Graeme Thomson, Director of Transports, wrote the First Lord of the Admiralty on March 6, 1915 — " I wish to call attention to the fact that the transport work is now being conducted under serious difficulties. . . Yesterday the crew of a transport deserted. The same tiling happened the day before. The firemen go on board the transports drunk, making it impossible to get up a full head of steam, so greatly reducing the speed and endangering the lives of thousands of troops by making the vessels a target for submarines. " The root cause of the serious congestion at some of the docks is not a shortage of labour, but the fact that the men can earn in NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 71 two or three days what will keep them in drink for the rest of the week." 1 Reports from Naval Transport officers were appended. The Divisional Naval Transport Officer for the North-West Coast stated — "The following points have been arrived at after consultation with the various firms engaged in Transport Service on the North- West Coast — " Restrictions are necessary ; delay from drink notorious. A large Coaling Company says — "1. Some of the men begin to drink on receipt of wages on Saturday, hence Saturday afternoon ' hands ' contain a good pro- portion of men under influence of drink, so choice of men restricted. " 2. Men engaged at 4 p.m. on Saturday for work early on Sunday, anticipating well-paid work on Sunday, drink freely in interval, turn up unfit, so ship is under-manned. "3. Every Saturday a certain number of men are dismissed for returning after meals drunk. "4. In event of any inevitable delay men go to pubHc-house, and return long after proper time for resumption. "5. Many regular employees cannot be given important orders Friday or Saturday owing to drink; many stay off on Monday, and do not return till Tuesday morning." The Principal Naval Transport Officer for the South Coast stated — " Transport work hampered by — " 1. Drunken members of crews miss ships, hence ships sail short- handed, or on occasion are prevented from sailing altogether. " 2. Firemen return in drunken condition, hence they are unable to keep steam, causing speed to be seriously reduced, with obvious dangers resulting — constantly occurring. " 3. Dock labourers and coal porters, especially latter, knock off work early to get drunk before closing time." V. Lines of Criticism 1. To the case for Control, as presented by the Chancellor and in the White Paper, a reply from the Labour benches was certain. There was no disposition to deny that a grave drink evil existed. Labour, as more than one member recalled, had fought for the Licensing BUI of 1908; had that Bill passed, ^ Shipbuilding, Munitions and Transport Areas, pp. 27-8- 72 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE the redundancy of licensed temptations to drink would have been substantially diminished ; the House of Lords rejected the Bill ; and Parliament must therefore shoulder responsi- bility for the fact that drink-shops stOl surrounded the workers' place of toil and, often, the workers' home.^ As to the case presented to Parliament, the Labour criticism amoiuited to this : " Evidence has been sought only from employers and officials ; that is one-sided and unfair ; we know the workers, why was not our help and knowledge called for ? We should have pointed out that ' broken time ' was due to more than one cause, to bad weather, sickness, overstrain, insufficient rest and food, delays of material, inefficient labour replacing the efficient men who have enlisted, as well as to drink. While we stand by the Government in repressing drinking habits which delay war-work, we assert that big factors have been left out of the reckoning, and the figures given ought to be read in the light of these other facts." ^ The satisfactory record of hours and output at Portsmouth and other Royal yards gave point to the Labour contention. Granted that the Admiralty could secure the pick of the labour market, there was still much force in the argument that difficulties were few where economic conditions were good, and where no suspicion could be entertained that extra effort by the men chiefly meant extra profit to the masters, instead of gain to the State. Nor was this negative criticism merely. There were valuable constructive suggestions. Mr. Duncan spoke of the shortage 1 " It is not many years ago that an effort was made to deal with this traffic. That effort was brought to naught in another House. I want to say, here and now, that while all the criticisms that you can bring to bear on the work-people of this country ought to be stated in this House, without casting any reflection on any section of this House I submit that to-day we are only reaping the fruits of our own legislation. In the White Paper itself, time and again, mention is made of this fact, that where these great armament firms are situated, they are surrounded by large numbers of public-houses, and I would respectfully urge that it is no use preaching ' Lead us not into temptation ' whilst this House, and the whole of those connected with the licensing justices, for years and years, and scores of years past, have been deliberately placing temptation ui the way of these people. It is the greatest piece of nonsense to aUege in this House that the work-people are responsible. It is not the work-people, it is this House, and it must accept its full share of responsibility for what has happened in this country to-day." — ^Mr. C. Duncan Speech in the Commons, May 10, 1915. ' ' ^ See Speeches in the Commons by Mr. O'Grady, April 29, 1915; Mr. Arthur Henderson, May 4, 1915 ; Mr. Duncan and Mr. Wilkie, May 10,' 1915^ NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 73 of houses at Barrow; thousands of new workers flooded into the town to meet the call of war-industries ; " men are living in quarters where the beds are on double shift " ; proper housing was essential if public-houses were to be less fre- quented. Mr. Wnkie underscored the need for works' can- teens : " What is really wanted is an institution in every large works where mruiitions are being manufactured in order to provide food as well as drink for the workpeople." In answer to Labour criticism the " Instructions " given to the Home Office investigators were published. They showed that the inquirers were to take industrial fatigue, earnings, restrictions on output, etc., into account.^ This gave social value to their inquiries ; unfortunately, the illustrations of " broken time " given in the Chancellor's speech had been drawn almost entirely from other sources. 2. Sustained criticism of one proposal came from another quarter. The Temperance party was divided on the question of State Purchase. Sir Thomas Whittaker, Mr. Arthur SherweU, and others welcomed this element in the Bill. Mr. Lief Jones, the President of the United Kingdom Alliance, led a group of determined opponents. " There is," he said, " in the BUI a phrase which implies that there may be a permanent purchase of the trade in certain areas. I think that is to be deprecated. Any purchasing that may be done should be for the period of the War, and no longer. . . . There is a large section of the community which would object strongly to anjrthing Uke pubhc ownership of the liquor trade after the War is over." ^ The objection to public ownership, based on refusal to enter into complicity with the traffic in liquor, was pressed in a series of amendments. The Chancellor's reply was that (1) temporary purchase was impracticable, and (2) since the nation was drawing huge sums yearly from taxation on liquor, it was already deeply involved in the traffic. The State by purchase would exchange partnership without effective con- trol, for ownership with entire control. " I am fully alive to 1 See reply by Mr. MoKenna to question in the Commons by Sir George Younger, May 18, 1915. . , „ ^ ,, ,„ im^ » Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons) Official Report, May 10, 1915. 74 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE all the conscientious suggestions which my hon. friends urge, but the idea that you are not to touch the unclean thing when, through the Chancellor of the Exchequer, we are touching £60,000,000 and to that extent relieving the duties on tea, sugar, and everything else, I have never been able to appreciate. You will not touch it direct, but as long as it goes through the refining fires of the Exchequer you can take it. That is an argument which I do not care to describe." ^ The opposition to " purchase " was put from a different point of view by Scottish members. Under the Scotland (Temperance) Act Scottish electorates would exercise powers of Local Option in 1920. If large schemes of purchase were put through in Scotland during the War, would not that imperil the exercise of Local Option ? Sir John Simon gave the direct answer, "No," and the Scottish amendment was withdrawn.^ 3. The attitude of the " Trade " to the Bill was curiously uncritical. Such criticism as there was, centred on com- pensation, and on the time-limit to the Control Board's activities. As to compensation, the Government plan was accepted ; it referred aU claims to the Defence of the Realm Losses Commission. " The only instruction we shall give to them," said the Chancellor, " is that they should pay fairly the trade and all who lose by our action." As to the duration of the Board's powers the phrase finally agreed upon ran : " During the continuance of the present war and such period not exceeding twelve months thereafter as may be declared by Order in Council to be necessary in view of conditions connected with the termination of the present war." The period of a year would allow for the re- turn of the troops while restrictions were still in vogue. It would, in addition, give time to legislate afresh on the liquor question. Why the " Trade " were quiescent one can onJy surmise. Their triumph over the taxes may have disposed to an easy- going judgment of the Control scheme. Also a genuine desire to help the Government to master the drink difficulty was 1 Parliamentary Debatei (House of Commons) Official Report, May U, 1915 Ibid., May 11, 1915. NEED FOR FURTHER REGULATION 75 manifest in all that Sir George Younger, a prominent representa- tive of the " Trade," said— " My view is this. The Chancellor of the Exchequer met a deputation from the trade at which I was present. He told them that the Government ought to have control of these areas and control of the drinking facilities there, and he said he proposed to take over the particular licensed houses in those areas and to com- pensate every interest. There was no trader there who did not dislike the proposals, but they thought for patriotic reasons that they were bound to accept what the Chancellor of the Exchequer said was necessary." ^ VI. The Control Board in Being Opposition was countered or opponents conciliated. The Bill left the Commons on May 12. In the Lords it won th« commendation of Lord Lansdowne — " I think this Bill will do good. You cannot make a weak man strong by Act of Parliament, but you can take temptation out of his way. This BUI will have that result. You can, at any rate, remove the temptation to which these men are exposed by a cordon of public-houses surrounding the works in which they are employed. You can substitute for those pubUc-houses places of refreshment where the men can obtain what they want under less demoralising conditions. Those two things the BUI wUl do." ^ Without cavil or hindrance the Bill passed the Upper House. On May 19, 1915, it received the Royal Assent. The names of the members of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) were announced on May 27. Ireland was expressly excluded from representation. " For the moment there is no intention of extending it to Ireland," said Mr. Lloyd George ; " but shordd it be found necessary we shall certainly put an Irishman on." ^ Mr. Lloyd George had said that the Board would comprise representatives of the Admiralty, the War Office, the Home Office, employers of labour, Labour organisations, and " men of rather wider interests." * The composition of the Board was in keeping with this statement. 1 House of Commons Official Report, May 11, 1915. ' Speech in the House of Lords, May 13, 1915. ' Speech in the Commons, May 12, 1915. " Ibid., May 10, 1915. 76 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE The Chairman, Lord D'Abernon, — formerly Sir Edgar Vincent — was well known in public affairs. He served as Financial Adviser to the Egyptian Government from 1883 to 1889, and Governor of the Imperial Ottoman Bank from 1889 to 1897. From 1899 to 1906 he was member of Parliament for Exeter. In 1912 he was appointed Chairman of the Dominions Royal Commission set up to inquire into the industrial resources of the Dominions overseas. His colleagues were Major the Hon. Waldorf Astor, M.P. (Plymouth) ; Mr. Neville Chamberlain, Birmingham ; Mr. E. Richard Cross, ex-President of the Justices' Clerks Society; Colonel J. M. Denny, J. P., of the engineering firm of Denny Bros., Dumbarton ; Mr. John Hodge, M.P., Labour Member for the Gorton Division of Lancashire ; Sir William Lever (now Lord Leverhulme), Port Sunlight ; Sir George Newman, M.D., principal medical officer. Board of Education ; Mr. John Redder, C.B., Home Office ; Mr. R. Russell Scott, C.S.I., Admiralty ; Mr. Philip Snowden, M.P. (Blackburn) ; and Mr. W. Towle, for long responsible for the management of the Midland Railway Company's hotels. New members were appointed from time to time : on January 31, 1916, Mr. W. Waters Butler (of the Midland brewing firm, Mitchells & Butler) and the Rev. Henry Carter; on May 23, 1916, Mr. R. S. Meiklejohn, C.B., representing the Treasury; and on July 26, 1917, Mr. S. 0. Nevile.i Mr. J. C. G. Sykes, C.B., became Secretary of the Board. Mr. E. C. Sanders, Clerk to the Liverpool Justices, and Sir Thomas Munro, Clerk to the Lanark County Council, were appointed Assessors to the Board for England and Wales, and for Scotland, respectively. ^ Mr. Neville Chamberlain resigned his membership in February, 1916, consequent on pressure of the duties of the Lord Mayoralty of Birmingham ■ Mr. John Hodge on his appointment as Minister of Labour in January' 1917 ; and Mr. Scott on appomtment as an Assistant Secretary to the Admiralty in May, 1917. The Board sustained a heavy loss by the death of Mr. E. Bichard Cross; he was drowned on August 11, 1916, when bathing at Buttermere. CHAPTER IV THE PROBLEM CONFEONTING THE CONTROL BOARD The problem confronting the Central Control Board was twofold. At the call of the public interest, the Board was set up to overrule a powerful trade whose daily turnover was half a million sterling. It was also empowered to supervise and assure the due provision of food and drink for hundreds of thousands of employees engaged in war-industries. To describe the task as gigantic is no abuse of language. The aim of this chapter is to map the problem, from Shetland to Cornwall. This is chiefly a question of social rather than political geography. It concerns the people, their vocations and migrations, their changes of fortune, and their domestic readjustments, at a time when war was transforming the out- ward fabric of life. What is requisite is to place in proper relation facts already recorded, adding others to which only incidental reference has been made. And, for the immediate purpose, a broad general outline wiU be of more service than minuteness of detail. The cardinal facts are these : — The War compelled a redistribution of labour. The new armies, and the new industries which equipped the armies and the Navy, were created at the cost of everyday employments. These were cut down to narrow dimensions, while colonies of workers grew up around new Explosive or Shell Factories at isolated places like Gretna, or added themselves to busy munition towns like Coventry. The War also compelled a partial redistribution of the national income. The heavy load of increased and added taxes, the withdrawal of millions of men from productive labour, and devious devices to pass on fresh costs and charges to the con- 77 78 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE sumer, united to force up the prices of food, fuel, and commodi- ties in general. This roused a demand for advance in wage- rates, and wages rose substantially in the great trades. Where the wage-earner had enlisted, the State made a " separation " payment to the wife or mother. The Government was raising huge sums by tax and loan, and disbursing them in purchases, wages and war-allowances. The State was becoming, in effect, the paymaster of the people. Spending-power was increasing, not in all families, but in a very large number. This is a fact of central importance in an examination of the war-time drink difficulty. In these new aggregations of labour, in this new world of emotion and circumstance, alcohol subtly and openly wrought damage. This was true, as we have noted, of all the group- ings of life — ^naval, military, commercial and domestic. It remains to describe the industrial and social conditions with which the liquor evil was interwoven ; for these were governing factors of the situation. For the sake of completeness, the review which follows covers the first, second, and a part of the third years of war. The Board's activities began as the first year closed ; but the enor- mous changes which the War was to compel were by no means easy to discern at that time. Hence the necessity for tracing their evolution further. There is the added advantage that, in doing so, we can distinguish the background for the activities of the Board when their policy was being shaped and tested in practice. I. The Redistribution of Labour 1. In the second year of war the re-organisation of industry was completed. The Prime Minister announced in May, 1916, that the total naval and military effort of the Empire exceeded five million men. Four millions, in round figures, had passed from the industries of the home country into the com- batant Services. Another great army of labour was subtracted from ordinary occupations and added to the munition trades. Its numbers, by the summer of 1916, exceeded two millions. This second army comprised a substantial company of Belgian refugees, a vast assemblage of British women and girls, in PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 79 addition to a host of male workers, skilled and unskilled, culled from the normal commerce of the realm. The visible tokens of this uprooting of the people faced the traveller in every county. Khaki was the conspicuous colour. Almost as frequent was the badge which told that the wearer had been declared " indispensable " to some form of war-work. The tightening grip of the State on the machinery of business was seen in the rapid increase of " controlled establishments " where war-stores were produced under the actual direction of the Ministry of Munitions ; from 715 in September 1915 the figure had risen to 4,052, when, at the end of July 1916, Mr. Lloyd George left the Munitions Department for the War Office. 2. Alike in factories " controlled " or uncontrolled by the State, there was a marvellous expansion, and frequently an equally marvellous transformation of industry. Munitions meant much more than shells. Munitions meant clothing and bedding, food and drink, leather and canvas and rubber equip- ment, chemicals, electrical supplies, aU kinds of transport, hospital requirements, building materials, ship-construction, engines of a thousand types, devices for trench warfare, aircraft and artillery. The Board of Trade returns showed that all the staple industries were making substantial contribution to the national fund of service. One difficulty was to enlarge and equip old factories, and build and equip new ones, with sufficient speed. Beyond all that private enterprise, aided by the State, was achieving, there were at work, when 1917 opened, over 100 National Factories turning out projectiles and explosives at a rate hitherto undreamt of. A journalist tells how at Gretna National Factory he saw a traction engine at work, still bearing the legend, " Jenkins' Galloping Horses." It had been com- mandeered from a travelling circus, and was a fair type of the thoroughness with which the Ministry of Munitions ransacked the country for mechanical aid.^ As with crafts, so with craftsmen. Men turned from trades that were dispensable, or from which they could be spared, to make munitions. In the course of a medical inquiry in eight munition factories, it was found that the previous occupations of the workers included " barmen, silversmiths, auctioneers, 1 Boyd Cable, Doing thair Bit, p. 84. 80 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE commercial travellers, farmers, bakers, butchers, grocers, stable-men, dental mechanics, coachmakers, goldbeaters, valets, tailors, bricklayers, shoemakers, horsehair cleaners, shop assistants and clerks." ^ The national work of women and girls is described later. Every one who could bring a pair of hands to the country's service was wanted, and employed. The boot trade furnishes an example of the industrial demand : to meet orders for the British, French, Russian, Italian, Serbian and Belgian Governments, twenty -five million pairs of army boots were manufactured in this country between August 1914 and Jime 1916.2 3. It was a strange reversal of social experience. The aim of the reformer before the War had been to banish unemploy- ment. The aim of the Minister of Munitions was to find the unemployed. A search for labour took the place of the old- time search for a job. This was in surprising contrast with the general anticipation at the outbreak of war. Acute fear was common in those days that a rapid increase in unemployment was inevitable, and steps were taken to meet the anticipated destitution. A National Relief Fund was established, and Citizen Committees organised throughout the country in readiness for the expected break- down of trade. The event belied the fear. There was con- siderable unemployment at first, and chronic distress where local industries were deranged : for example, the cessation of holiday traffic to the East Coast, and to the Isle of Man, plunged " pleasure-towns " hke Cromer and Douglas into something like insolvency. Yet as the War became the aU-dominating interest, as enlistment in the army was pressed on men of military age, as the immense task of arming and clothing the Allied Forces fell more and more on British factories, the real perplexity was to find workers for urgent work rather than work for would-be workers. Even the entrance of women into trades hitherto staffed by men, and of Belgian refugees into British industries, proved insufficient to meet the call for labour. Unemployment gradually declined to vanishing point. The accompanying chart shows how the demand for labour 1 Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue (Interim Report by the Health of Munition Workers Committee), p. 96. Cd. 8511. ' Shoe and Leather Record, June 30, 1916, p. 23. TRADE UNION PERCENTAGES OF XJNEMPLOYED DURING THE YEAR IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE WAR (August 1913-July 1914) AND THE FIRST TWO-AND-A-HALF YEARS OF WAR (August 1914:-Maroh 1917) As recorded in the Board of Trade Labour Gazette r-iAUC Per Cenl- unemployed, ro Co *i January- February March April . May . June . July . August September October November December to to lo to to cftOtowd CD CO tOtOlP'CTKltOlOtOtOtOtOtO OS C6 CO 6 6 CO d to to 03 CIS CD ooqqqqooqqqq 1-1 O M Oi oqq to tow li IS a s ^1 z: BJ MARJ 81 82 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE caused a decline in unemployment without precedent. From August 1913 to July 1914 — i.e. in the year immediately pre- ceding the War — the rate of unemployment in Trade Unions making returns ranged from 2 to 2-8 per cent. In August 1914, the first month of war, it rose sharply to 7-1. By December it had receded to 2-5. Then month by month it fell until at the end of June 1915 it dropped to 1 per cent. At the end of July 1916 — at the close of the second year of war — the almost negligible figure of 0-4 per cent, was recorded. In February 1917 the record actually shrunk to 0-2 per cent. The statistics of pauperism and vagrancy are confirmatory evidence. Mr. Walter Long, as President of the Local Government Board, said in the Commons, on July 11, 1916, that the rate of pauperism had never been so low, and unemployment was practically non-existent. The Unem- ployed Workmen's Grant was not required at aU in the year 1915-16. There were nearly 100,000 fewer paupers than in 1914. On May 27, 1916, of a total of 537,000 paupers, one-half were sick persons in institutions, and nearly all the others were children or aged people. London pauperism had fallen 20 per cent, on the former year. Vagrancy in England and Wales was only one-third of the 1912 figures. The London County Council's record of homeless people sleeping out showed a de- cline from 491 cases in February 1913, to 44 in March 1916. 4. Two of the social difficulties produced by this wide enlist- ment and redistribution of labour require notice at this point. The first was the disruption of family life. This came to pass in many ways. Men enlisted, or went to distant towns for munition work, and wives and mothers were left lonely, with few or none for whom to keep house. Women took men's places in banks, offices, works, behind the counter and on the farm ; or flocked by the thousand to munition districts like Birmingham or Woolwich where numerous industrial processes were exclusively allotted to them. Birmingham drew armies of girl -workers from the Midland Counties and Wales ; Wool- wich received contingents from as far afield as Lancashire and Scotland. Add to this scattering of the family unit, the strain, the anxiety, and the tense excitement of the time, and the general effect of these changes will be easily understood. It was to create a need for new centres of social interest and fellow- PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 83 ship, places where men and women sundered from kith and kin could meet their fellows. The bearing of this on the liquor question is evident. Where no alternative to the public-house existed, or was known, the allurement of the liquor-bar was intensified. The second was the enlistment among war-workers of the least disciplined and dependable of manual labourers. At- tracted by liigh wages, broken men of all occupations, and men of no occupation, flocked to the factories. The diminution of the number of vagrants, and the emptying from the work- houses of the able-bodied, is proof of this. The fact should be kept in mind when drinking conditions in certain munition areas are considered.^ This was the root of the trouble at Annan, for instance. Casual labourers, temporarily employed at Gretna, were lodged in Annan. In normal times the earnings of the casual labourer were intermittent. Now, as a Government employe, he drew a good and regular wage. Steady pay sup- plied the means for indulgence in liquor if men were minded to spend it thus. Himdreds did, and drunkenness abounded. It was some time before the Control Board, even under State Purchase conditions, were able adequately to cope with the situation. II. Partial Redistribution of the National Income 1 . It is a strange paradox that the costliest of all wars brought temporary advantage to masses of the people. The reason has been named. Whilst the nation was spending lavishly on armies and armaments, the bulk of the sum was expended in Britain itself as payment for the products of British labour, or as war-allowances to British homes. Yet not all classes shared in the general prosperity. Food- prices advanced sharply, old taxes grew, and new taxes were imposed . The cost of living rose steeply ; hence the purchasmg 1 " There is a very great demand for labour, very difficult to find, and men are finding jobs to-day at high wages who would have the utmost difficulty in getting jobs in peace time, and who would very hkely lose their paces even if they got the jobs, so that you are dealmg with ^\evil m a particu^r y intensified form in the cases of these unsteady men who would very likely ^Tbe ernployed in time of peace."-Mr. Lief Jones, Speech m the Commons May 10, 1915. 84 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE value of money dwindled, and only those whose incomes expanded in due proportion to the costlier scale of living were as well placed as before the War. An estimate of the losses and gains to family income is to the point here, because the spending power of the nation is a chief factor in determining the extent of the use of strong drink. 2. The Losses to Family Income (or, in other words, any fall in the purchasing-power of the fanaily) were chiefly due to heavy taxation and to increases in the cost of food and house- hold commodities. The daily disbursements on the War mounted to £4,750,000 in the spring of 1916. Punch pictured the new Chancellor, Mr. McKenna, as Claude Duval riding away with the money-bags of John Bull : " This has indeed been a pleasant meeting," says John cheerily from the plundered stage-coach; " you're quite sure j^ouVe got all you want ? " The State took with a free hand. The taxes on beer, tobacco, tea, cocoa, coffee and chi- cory, sugar, dried fruits, motor-cars and motor-cycles, motor- spirit, and patent medicines were increased. The standard rate of income-tax went up, in succeeding War Budgets, from Is. 3(i. in 1913-14 to 5s. in 1916-17. The limit of exemption from income-tax was lowered from £160 to £130. New taxes were levied on war-time " excess profits," and on matches, table waters, cider and perry, and public amusements. At the end of the period now under review, i.e. the spring of 1917, the daily outgoings on the War had risen to six millions. The rise in retail prices was sustained and serious. The causes lie outside the present discussion, but the fact is directly relevant. Food-prices showed the heaviest increase. The accompanying chart indicates that each month from August 1914 to April 1917 — with two exceptions — recorded an ad- vance, until retail food prices in the United Kingdom on the first of April 1917 were on the average 94 per cent, higher than at the declaration of war.^ As to other necessaries, the cost of clothing had advanced on the average 55 per cent, at the end of the second year of war, fuel and light 40 per cent., and miscellaneous items 30 ' Board of Trade Labour Gazette, August 1916, p. 273; January 1917 p. 5; February 1917, p. 51; March 1917, p. 96; April 1917, p. 130. PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN RETAIL PRICES OP FOOD FROM AUGUST 1914 TO APRIL 1917 As recorded by the Board of Trade 100 95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 (0 i -- 1 , 1 ;^ /^ - First of 1914 1915 1916 1917 ^""T 1 January February March April . May . . June , ' July . 1 August j — Sentember . 10 18 22 24 24 26 32 32i 34 35 45 47 48 49 55 59 61 60 65 87 89 92 94 ! 7 ^ — / i / f I ct 0-9 )ec 3be eno em r be be r . r . — — 2 3 L6 4 4 4 1 1 4 J- S S 8 4 ^^ J z ^S f ~ — < Is C If 4 "ft c - > c > z u c a r c < S - s, 2? 1 It. o: a S < 1^ s -J < 3 Q. h- 5 UJ O t to o UJ at re ^5 1 I9r4 9(5 (916 J 19 ' ( 85 86 THE CONTROL OP THE DRINK TRADE per cent.^ Rent alone showed no appreciable increase ; ^ although where the wage -earner was engaged on munition work away from home the charge for lodgings was often high, and the cost of keeping two homes going was a substantial set-off against any enlargement of earnings. " The increase from July 1914, to March 31, 1917, in the cost of all the items ordinarily entering into working-class family expenditure, including food, rent, clothing, fuel and light, etc.. may be estimated at over 65 per cent., taking the same quantities and descriptions of the various items at each date, and eliminating advances arising from increased taxation."^ Since the new taxation on household necessaries amounted on the average to about 5 per cent, of their pre-war price, it may be safely affirmed that the average increase in the cost of living to the working-classes was approximately 70 per cent, in the spring of 1917. 3. The Gains to Family Income (or, in other words, any rise in the purchasing-power of the family) sprang from increases in wage-rates, hours of employment, and the number of wage- earners ; from war-bonuses paid by employers and war- allowances by the State ; and from other incidents arising out of the War, as e.g. the payment of sums for the billeting of soldiers. Changes in wage-rates in 1914 were unimportant compared with the remarkable upward wage-movement of 1915. The unprecedented series of wage -advances in 1915 is directly traceable to the rise in the cost of living. The steady increase in retail prices meant that the purchasing power of money steadily decreased. The workers' demands for higher wages need no further explanation. Unless earnings advanced step by step with the prices of necessaries a proper basis of working efficiency could not be maintained. Excepting the "luxury" or "dispensable" trades, wage- advances or war-bonuses were secured in practically every laro'e 1 Answer given by Mr. Harcourt to a question in the Commons by Mr. Barnes on August 8, 1916. " These figures are based on returns collected by the Board of Trade from retailers, conducting a working-class trade, in every town in which the population at the last census exceeded 50,000." 2 The Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (War Restrictions) Act, which became law on December 23, 1915, made irrecoverable rent or interest which had been, or might be, raised above the pre-war standard. ^ Board of Trade Labour Gazette, April 1917, p. 130. PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 87 industry. The drift of labour from " dispensable " occupations to " work of national importance " added to the number of workers receiving the higher wage-rates. In the Report of the Departmental Committee on Prices, 1916,ian estimate is given of the effect of changes in the wages of manual workers from the beginning of August 1914 to the end of August 1916. In the trades in which the numbers of workers affected were ascer- tained by the Board of Trade, the increases reported amounted to £1,030,000 per week in the rates of wages of 4,050,000 workpeople, an average of 5s. Id. per head. In employments in which the wage-advances or war-bonuses were reported to the Board of Trade, but not the numbers of workpeople affected, it is estimated that 1,750,000 employees received increases amounting to £450,000 per week, an average of 5s. 2d. per head. Remembering sundry groups of labour not included in the Table, it is well within the mark to say, in round figures, that in the first two years of war six millions of workers received wage-advances averaging 5s. per week. In many trades, of course, the advance considerably exceeded that ; e. g. railway- men received, in successive advances, an increase of 15s. per week.2 Substantial as these figures are, they must be set over against the fact that the cost of living was rising month by month. Plainly, unless the family income had been augmented in some other way the net result would have been a f aU in the Standard of Life. That happened in some homes ; but over wide areas of in- dustrial life additional causes of economic prosperity were opera- tive. In a full statement of the gains to family income, actual earnings, rather than wage-rates, are the key to a trustworthy estimate ; and there is little doubt that in what may broadly be termed the munition trades, actual earnings increased more sub- stantially than wage-rates. Mr. Lewis Harcourt, replying to a Trade Union deputation on June 23, 1916, cited " an actual case just brought before the Committee of Production, covering something like 5,000 men. It was shown that while the rate of wages had increased only 3s. a week, the average earnings of the men had increased by 19s. 6c?. a week. . . . This increase of earnings was due to increased regularity of work, overtime, nightwork, Sunday and holiday work, to the transference of 1 p. 18 (Cd 8358). 2 rpjig Railway News, August 11, 1917, p. 127, 88 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE workers from the worst-paid to the better-paid occupations, and to other causes." ^ An equally important factor in the estimation of actual family earnings is the number of persons in the family who are wage-earners. In this respect it is only necessary to recall that the State practically commandeered every potential worker : the unemployed and the under-employed, men past their work- ing prime, women and girls who had never served as employees, and even children still of school age were included in the great mobilisation of industry. Thus the wage-earners in many a family were multiplied, and family spending-power was ex- panded, sometimes very greatly. This, possibly, was the weightiest factor in the enlargement of working-class incomes. A more debatable proposition is the influence of the system of war-allowances on family income. The " separation allow- ance " paid by the State to the dependents of a private soldier was as follows — Early Scale. Amended Scale. Wife . . 12s. 6d. 12,s. 6d. per week. Wife and one child . „ two children „ ,, three „ „ „ four ,, 17s. 6d. IQs. 6d. 2ls. 24s. 6d. 23s. 28s. 25s. 31s. The allowance was contingent upon an allotment, from his pay, of 3s. 6d. per week by the soldier to his wife. To London families there was a further allowance of 3s. 6^^. per week on account of rent. Whether the wife was, financially, in a better position depended on the sum she had been accustomed to receive for housekeeping when her husband was a wage-earner ; and, in the nature of the case, no precise data are available to decide this point. Many a man who enlisted as a private made a considerable sacrifice in salary, although some firms made good the loss to their employees. Generally speaking, in the higher grades of skilled labour the wife was usually the loser in a financial sense by her husband's enlistment ; but in the lower-paid occupations, such as agricultural labour, and espe- cially in the ranks of casual labour, it is highly probable that the wife had more to spend week by week than ever before. Allegations of widespread intemperance amongst soldiers' wives constantly recurred in public discussion ; in so far as 1 The Times, June 24, 1916. • PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 89 they were based on ascertained fact they ordinarily concerned the spending of " war-allowances " on liquor. Finally, there were incidental gains to family income due to local causes connected with the War. If troops were billeted throughout a town, a large sum was disbursed to the inhabitants as " billeting allowances." The presence of troops in or near a town created brisk trade for shopkeepers, and a general demand in the neighbourhood for some classes of foodstuffs. The higher range of food-prices brought no small profit to farmers and market gardeners. Higher spending-power in munition areas led to an unwonted demand for domestic articles — furniture, clothing and the like — and in this way to good trade throughout the locality. 4. An attempt to strike the balance, as between loss and gain to family income, cannot be made with precision. Yet there is little uncertainty as to the general result. Persons with fixed incomes, and families in which the children were under school-leaving age and rmable to add to the earnings, suffered ; they had to meet the larger cost of living out of resources that would not stretch. But the great majority of manual workers were employed in trades which the War forced to "top speed," and it was in these industries that wages advanced, earnings were augmented by overtime, and new wage-earners found occupation. It is equally certain that the regular weekly pay- ment of the war-allowance was a great economic advantage to homes where, because of low wages, irregular employment, or the intemperate habits of the wage -earner, the family had drifted under the " poverty -line." In one or more of these ways hundreds of thousands of families found that the War had, for the time being, added to their power to spend or to save. The practical disappearance of unemployment, the decline of pauperism until Poor Law relief was administered almost solely to the destitute sick and aged, and the diminution of vagrancy, are converging lines of evidence supporting this conclusion. III. The Relation of Increased Spending-power to the Consumption of Drink 1. The Central Control Board began their work at a time when spending-power was increasing, and increasing most notably 90 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE in the great industrial areas. Here we take up one of the threads of the introductory chapter and ask, How did this afEect the problem confronting the Board ? In a word, what is the relation of increased spending-power to the consumption of drink 1 The inquiry is of direct relevancy to a right estimate of the difficulties which the Board had to face, and the policy which they elaborated. It wiU be well, on that account, to test the statement, the accuracy of which has so far been taken for granted, that there is a causal connection between the money a drinker has to spend and the quantity of drink he buys ; and to discover whether, on a national scale, it is true to say that enlarged ability to purchase leads to increased purchase of liquor. The simplest way to do this will be to compare the fluctua- tions of trade and of drink-consumption over a continuous term of years, selecting a period in which changes in liquor taxation were few. The imposition of heavier taxes on liquor is ordin- arily accompanied by a rise in the retail price of the liquor affected by the tax,^ and that in turn may for a time check sales ; hence the advantage of choosing a period as free as possible from this complicating factor. The stretch of fourteen years from 1895 to 1908 is chosen as a term which meets all the conditions, as the three following reasons show. (1) Fourteen years is a term sufficiently long to indicate whether power to buy and the will to spend on drink operate together ; also, it is near enough to the date of the War to offer reasonably sure guidance as to what was likeliest to happen then. (2) The period supplies a wide range of economic experience. Taking the available Trade Union returns of employment as our standard of social welfare,^ 1895-1899 were years of growing ^ See The Taxation of the Liquor Trade, Vol. I. pp. 429-436. Rowntree and Sherwell. 2 A disadvantage attaches to the use of the Trade Union returns of members unemployed as a standard of social welfare. The number of workers con- cerned does not average more than half a million throughout the fourteen years, and these belong to "skilled " trades. Still, although the figure is but a fraction of the total of manual workers, and expressly excludes " unskilled " labour, it is a fair index to the general state of trade, which, in its turn, goes far to determine rates of wages and actual earnings. With regard to the consumption of spirits, there is the dubious factor of forestahnent. The figures on which the Chart, showing the fluctuations in consumption of spirits, is based are from the Statistical Ahstracifor the United CHARTS SHOWING THE FLUCTUATIONS OF A. EMPLOYMENT B. THE PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF BEER C. THE PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF SPIRITS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1895-1908 A. Employment: 1895-1908. Percentage oi Employed Members in Trade Unions making Returns PerCenr. (.Authority: Abstract of Labour Statistics) 98 97 96 95 94 93 97-^ /' ^ ^ 96-7 5-7 s >^-7 ?^ 96 ■4 96-3 9 / N S5-3 / \ / 94-E \ / 95 \ 9 i. \ \ 9221 32 1895 '96 '97 '33 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 1908 Gallons 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 B. Per capita Consumption of Beer 1895-1908 (.Authoritu : Statistical Abstract) 32 53 ^ ^Tes '31-76 s 31-56 / 30-79 -^ ^8 <" 79-58 ^ ,^■75 2832 \ 26 17 27 65 2782 \ 2b-a»' C. Per capita Consumption of Spirits 1895-1908 (jgllgpj (.Authority: Statistical Abstract) 1-15 'lB95~~'96 ^97 ^98 ^9 '00 ■^or~^2"'~'oS ^ '05 '06 'oT fsO 5 92 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE prosperity; with 1900 the tide began to ebb, finding low-water mark in 1904; in 1905-6 employment improved; 1907 saw a slight and 1908 a rapid recession. (3) The period comes between two changes in liquor taxation : in 1894, 6d. per barrel was added to the beer duty ^ ; in 1910 the spirit duty was advanced 3s. 9d. per gallon. Within the fourteen years' term there were two slight changes only : in 1900, as items of the Boer War taxa- tion, the beer duty was increased Is. per barrel, and the spirit duty &d. per gallon. 2. A glance at the accompanying charts shows the close similarity of the three curves which mark the fluctuations of (A) Employment, (B) per capita Consumption of Beer, and (C) of Spirits in the United Kingdom throughout the fourteen years. For the most part they rise and fall together. In the five years of growing prosperity, 1895-99, the percentage of employment rose from 94-2 to 98-0 ; the per capita consumption of beer per annum from 29' 58 gallons to 32-53 ; and of spirits from 1 gallon to 1-09. As prosperity ebbed, in the years 1900-04, the percentage of employment fell from 98 (in 1899) to 94 (in 1904). In the same period the per capita consumption of beer per annum fell from 32-53 gallons to 28-92, and spirits from 1-09 gallons ^ to 0-96. In the next two years the similarity is not so exact. Em- ployment rose from 94-0 (1904) to 95-0 (1905) and 96-4 (1906). The per capita beer figures fell from 28-92 gallons (1904) to 27-85 (1905) and rose to 28-17 (1906). The per capita spirit figures fell from 0-96 gallons (1904) to 0-92 (1905) and 0-91 (1906). Similarity is closer in the last two years of the period. In 1907 employment began to decline, and in 1908 fell off con- spicuously. (1906,96-4; 1907,96-3; 1908,92-2). Both the beer and spirits figures moved in sympathy. Beer, 1906, 28-17 gallons per capita ; 1907, 27-82; 1908, 26-88. Spirits, 1906, 0-91 gallons per capita ; 1907, 0-91 ; 1908, 0-86. Kingdom, fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth numbers (Cd. 5296, 5841), 1910-11, and represent the closest approximation to the actual consumption which is possible. 1 Sixpence per gallon was also added to the spirit duty, but taken off in the following year. 2 There was an increase in the per capita consumption of spirits in 1900, followed by decreases in 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904. PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 93 The conclusion is obvious. Other causes, such as the influence of Temperance teaching and of education in general, the improvement of social conditions and of housing in particular, and the multiplying of cafes and of facilities for recreation, doubtless reduced the sum total of indulgence in liquors. But the fluctuations of economic well-being and drink-consumption correspond too closely to leave it open to question whether the one reacts on the other. More to spend means more to spend on drink, if people desire to spend their money so ; and, since the majority of the nation are not teeto- tallers, the national use of alcoholic drinks tends to increase when the national income expands, and, broadly speaking, in proportion to its expansion, as the three curves show plainly. 3. This fact is, of course, acknowledged in administrative circles, by the " Trade," and by social students. The following comments from Government Official Reports, on the respective influence of good and bad trade, refer to the period now under examination — 1899. — " A year of great prosperity, 1899 was also a year of great drunkemiess.' ^ 1902.—" The opinion of the Chief Constable of Birmingham is that the decrease of drunkenness is probably due to the depression in trade." ^ 1902.—" The Chief Constable of Newcastle-on-Tyne suggests that the decrease of drunkenness may be attributed to the slackness which has latterly prevailed in the shipbuilding and kindred trades, and to the fact that the number of public works in progress was considerably less than in the previous year. . . . " ^ 1905.—" It would seem that the consumption of spirits follows the movements of trade, increasing when it is prosperous, and dechning when it is bad." * " Trade " journals frequently connect economic changes with commercial fluctuations : " The brewing industry is one of the first to participate in the benefits attending a trade revival, just as it is the first to feel the brunt of trade depres- sion " {Brewery Manual, 1897, p. 19). Referring to the decline in liquor sales during the ebb of employment, from 1900, the Brewing Trade Review said : "In our opinion, the lessened 1 Judicial Statistics, Vol. 56 (1901), Introduction to Part I. (Criminal Statistics), pp. 16-17. 2 Judicial Statistics, Vol. 59 (1904), Part I. (Crimmal Statistics), p. 18. 3 Jbid., p. 17. * Judicial Statistics, 1905, p. 27. 94 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE consumption of beer has been mainly due to the lessened spending-power of the masses, a fact which is evidenced by the diminished consumption of both spirits and wines during the past two years." ^ Speaking in the Commons on the BUI which established the Control Board, Mr. Lief Jones, with the contemporary situation in view, made the same point : " The wages paid are excep- tionally high at present. Men are earning very large wages who earn very low wages in ordinary times. ... It is a com- monplace of the movement that whenever you have a great increase of wages you have, unfortunately, an increase in the drinking of a certain section of the people." ^ The conclusion is this. The Control Board had to face an evil strongly rooted, with power to grow, and at a time when exceptional conditions favoured exceptional growth. There was not simply the difficulty of diminishing the normal con- sumption of hquor, but also the need to arrest the use of enlarged spending-power in the purchase of larger quantities of spirits, beer and wines. The mere fact of war was in itself likely to stimulate this unproductive expenditure, for it is shown in the foregoing chart that the years of the Boer War (1899-1902) were years in which was recorded an exceptionally high consumption of alcoholic liquors. IV. Industrial Conditions and Alcoholism A modem discussion of the liquor question does not stop with a description of the wastage and crime caused by drink ; it goes on to inquire why men indulge in liquor. Is it because of long-established and unshaken custom, or exhausting work, or lack of nutritive food, or for some other reason ? The answer is to be sought, for the main part, in the background of the worker's life, among his industrial or neighbourly relation- ships. This consideration is always valid. It is paramount when the period under discussion witnessed an Industrial Revolution. In new industrial groupings, and in vast aug- mentations of existing industri^al groups, the conditions of work wUl go far to determine personal habits. Along with the question of spending-power already examined, questions 1 June, 1902, pp. 196-7. ^ May 10, 1915. PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 95 relating to working-hours, food-supply, and housing become of first importance. It is not suggested that these are the only factors in the problem. There are personal as well as social causes of intemperance ; but such lie beyond the frontier of law, and are to be reached by an appeal based on moral and spiritual obligations. As far as the treatment of causes is concerned, the region of the responsibility of the Control Board was limited to a study of the environment of the worker, and the framing and apphcation of plans to lessen incentives to alcoholic indulgence. Industrial conditions affect men and women, adults and young persons, somewhat differently ; it will be well to note first their influence on adult male labour, and afterward observe any special facts relating to women and to youthful workers. A. Men on War- work 1. It is fortunate that in so controversial an issue as the Drink Question there are trustworthy data, independent of the Board's investigations and contemporary with the events, with the aid of which we can reconstruct to a considerable degree the situation which confronted the Control Board. In respect of the shipbuilding and munition trades — two main sections of war-work — these sources of information are : (1) the Report of Enquiries made by the Home Office in regard to loss of time in the Shipbuilding Trades ; i (2) the Reports of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops for 1914, 1915 and 1916; and (3) a valuable series of Memoranda issued by the Health of Munition Workers Committee,^ a body which, 1 Shipbuilding, Munitions and Transport Areas, pp. 17-27. 2 The following Memoranda were issued by the Health of Munition Workers Committee — ■ 1. Sunday Labour. 2. Welfare Supervision. (Cd. 8151.) 3. Industrial Canteens. (Cd. 8133.) 4. Employment of Women. (Cd. 8185.) 5. Hours of Work. (Cd. 8186.) 6. Canteen Construction and Equipment (Appendix to 3). (td. »iya.) 7. Industrial Fatigue and its Causes. (Cd. 8213.) 8. Special Industrial Diseases. (Cd. 8214.) , ,Tr , i, 9. Ventilation and Lighting of Munition Faotoraes and Workshops. (C. 8215.) 10. Sickness and Injury. (Cd. 8216.) 96 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE under the chairmanship of Sir George Newman, wielded a power- ful influence in the improvement of the social lot of munition workers. In respect of the transport trades, representative facts have been taken from the experience of one of the trans- port areas with which the Board had first to deal. It is true that the data do not cover the whole field of British industry ; none the less they reflect the position in great groups of trades on whose efficiency the successful prosecution of the War was largely dependent, and supply an index to what was happen- ing in other industries. ^ 2. Working hours. — The patriotic impulse is to be taken into the reckoning. Once the meaning of the German challenge was discerned, the will to sacrifice was as evident in the factories as in the trenches. " Men have continued to work in a con- dition that (under ordinary circumstances) would have put them off for a week or two. Even when a man comes off for a time he is anxious to get back again as quickly as possible. I have had one or two cases of serious breakdown. The main factor is that practically all the men want to do their best." ^ So ran the report of a Trade Union official ; and it will not be questioned that, wherever the relation of industrial output to national interests was understood, workers of all grades and trades were ready to respond to the furthest limit of their power. Overtime, night shifts, and Sunday labour became customary instead of occasional. It is risky, where all the great industries are concerned, to name the hours worked by groups of men, lest the figures true of a group should be thought to refer to the 11. Investigation of Workers' Pood and Suggestions as to Dietary. (Cd. 8370.) 12. Statistical Information concerning Output in relation to Hours of Worli. (Cd. 8344.) 13. Juvenile Employment. (Cd. 8362.) 14. Washing PaciUties and Baths. (Od. 8387.) 15. The Effect of Industrial Conditions upon Eyesight. (Cd. 8409.) 16. Medical Certificates for Munition Workers. (Cd. 8522.) 17. Health and Welfare of Munition Workers outside the Factory. 18. Further Statistical Information concerning Output in relation to Hours of Work, with special reference to the influence of Sunday Labour. (Cd. 8628.) Interim Repokt. — Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue. (Cd. 857].) ^ For an informative pre-war study of drinking-customs in specified trades and groups of trades see Sullivan, Alcoholism, Chapters VI and VII. 2 Hours of Work, p. 4 (Memorandum 5, issued by the Health of Munition Workers Committee). PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 97 whole army of labour. Mr. Asquith said at Newcastle on April 20, 1915, "I am told on the best authority that the main armament firms register the very high average figure of from 67 to 69 hours per week per man." i The figure was accepted as a fair estimate by Mr. James 0' Grady, the Labour member for East Leeds. ^ The Home Office investigators at Renfrew and Go van reported cases of " engineers working 36 hours at a stretch, with intervals for meals." ^ In a munition town "steelyard labourers were found working as much as 108 hours per week." * The results of persistent overstrain were fatigue, sickness, and " broken time." " Many of the workmen (at Stockton-on- Tees) complained that overwork made them stiff, and that they were thus unable to keep time. This especially applies to the men working in squads, as frequently one of them fails to turn up, and thus prevents the whole squad from working." ^ The recognition that overlong spells of labour wearied the worker without increasing the output led some employers to try other methods — shorter shifts, periods of rest, the reduction or abandonment of Sunday work — and the gain in output justified the change. " Overtime labour is more harmful to the worker than labour performed during ordinary hours. It is therefore physiologically extravagant." ^ The connection between habitual overstrain and alcoholic indulgence hardly requires demonstration. In the Memoranda of the Health of Munition Workers Committee the point is made more than once : e. g., in the Memorandum on Hours of Work it is stated : " The fatigue entailed increases the tempta- tion to men to indulge in the consumption of alcohol ; they are too tired to eat, and seek a stimulant." Utter weariness, 1 The Times, April 21, 1915. ^ Speech in the Commons, April 29, 1915. ^ Shipbuilding, Munition and Transport Areas, p. 19. * Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue (Interim Keport of the Health of Munition Workers Committee), p. 104. ^ Shipbuilding, Munitions and Transport Areas, p. 23. * Second Interim Report on an Investigation of Industrial Fatigue by Physio- logical Methods, by A. F. Stanley Kent, M.A., D.Sc, p. 16 (Home Office, Cd. 8335). Sunday labour in munition works was shortly after prohibited by the Minister of Munitions, as far as practicable. On this subject see also Industrial Fatigue and its Causes, and Statistical Information concerning Output in relation to Hours of Work (Memoranda 7 and 12, issued by the Health of Munition Workers Committee). 98 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE distaste for food, craving for variety and excitement, recourse to the public-house and to alcohol, the jaded condition of one who rests and eats too little and drinks too much — that is the sequence. 3. Food-supply.— The Second Memorandum of the Health of Munition Workers Committee emphasised the fact that proper food facilities in munition factories were sadly insufficient : "Facilities for obtaining a hot meal at the factory are often inadequate, especially for night workers. Frequently the ar- rangements made for heating carried food are also wholly insuffi- cient. Again, workers who are poorly lodged may be unable to obtain appetising and nourishing food to take with them; others living long distances from the factory may have little or no time to spare for meals, and thus have to rely on what they carry with them to sustain them during the day. Yet the munition worker, like the soldier, requires good rations to enable him to do good work; moreover, many of these workers are only boys and girls." ^ The shipbuilding districts had an unenviable record. The reports of the Home Office investigators were depressingly Tiniform. The Clyde showed up very badly. ScoTSTOTJN and Clydebank. — " The falling-off in output is mainly due to excessive drinking, especially at the week-ends. Fatigue and insufficient food are contributory causes. . . The workers . . . allege that their meals are insufficient owing to the want of proper accommodation for getting meals in the yards." Renfrew and Go van. — " In none of the yards on the Clyde, except at Govan, is there any accommodation for taking meals. Men have to go long distances to and from their homes, and form the habit of taking refreshment by the way. The provision of accommo- dation for meals inside the works would be greatly appreciated and would lessen the temptation to drink." Paetick and district. — " The men complain that there are no places in the yards where they can take their meals." Poet Glasgow. — " The loss of time is attributed mainly to drink. . . . The establishment of canteens in the works would be a great safeguard." The Report from the Tyne stated : " Two of the investigators comment on the insufficient food which the men take, partly owing to the difficulty of getting food in the public-houses. It is thought that in this way they are more easily affected ^ Welfare Supervision, p. 3 (Memorandum 2, issued by the Health of Munition Workers Committee). PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 99 by the amount of liquor which they consume, and are conse- quently unfitted for hard work." The researches directed by the Home Office forced to the front the necessity for a food-policy on the part of the Control Board. Either acting as a stimulus to employers, or on their own account, the Board would be compelled to secure the pro- vision of Industrial Canteens in docks, works, and yards. An adequate food-policy might reasonably be expected to excise some of the worst features of industrial drinking. " There can be no doubt that industrial alcoholism is, in part, due to the lack of cheap good food." ^ 4. Housing and Transit. — The housing difficulty was old and new : old, in the sense that multitudes of the working- class were not decently housed before the War ; new, in the sense that the rush of labour to munition areas intensified the overcrowding. In these neighbourhoods what had been deplor- able became intolerable. " The sudden influx of workers in certain districts has so overtaxed the housing accommodation that houses intended for one family are now occupied by several, and the same bed may be used by day and night." ^ Night workers who had to sleep by day inevitably suffered, for the unrest and noise of overcrowded tenements told heavily against recuperative rest. To get accommodation of any kind a proportion of the new workers had to travel considerable distances from the works, often in densely crowded trams or trains, adding in this way to the strain of the day. Gradually the position bettered, as public authorities or private employers embarked on hutment or housing schemes. Still, right through the war-period, with more or less acuteness, the housing difficulty co-operated with industrial overstrain and a defective food-supply to set a premium on the public- house and the drinking habit. The public -house was a place where a homeless man could meet his mates ; and liquor seemed to banish the staleness of jaded toilers. To use Dr. Sullivan's phrase, alcohol was "an industrial anaesthetic,"^ dulling the ^ Report on Industrial Canteens, p. 3 (Memorandum 3, issued by the Health of Munition Workers Committee). ' Welfare Supervision, p. 3. ' Alcoholism, Chapter II. 100 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE sensations of weariness and discomfort. The price of habitual indulgence was a progressive depreciation in efficiency. 5. The strongly marked alcoholic proclivity of certain trades was another main factor of the problem, and for this reason. Among the trades with a tradition of heavy drinking were two of the " key " industries, without whose maximum efficiency national interests were bound to suffer — dock labour and merchant shipping. A rough and ready token of the prevalence and intensity of the liquor habit in any given industry is its in- clusion in the Registrar-General's decennial Return of the number of deaths from alcoholism in various occupations. In this Table, for the years 1900-1902, dock labourers stand fourth and merchant seamen twentieth in a list of trades which includes only those occupations " in which the mortality from alcoholism exceeds the standard by at least 50 per cent." ^ It is a fact of some interest that the first area which the Board scheduled, to wit, Newhaven, was dealt with as a matter of urgency because of delays to sea-transport. A section of the evidence on which the restrictions imposed by the Board at Newhaven were based is apposite here. The statement subjoined refers to nine ships carrying stores of war to France in the first winter of the War — Dates in 1914-15. Remarks. (1) December 12 . . Seamen under influence of drink. Cap- tain and pUot clear ropes away and take ship out themselves. (2) February 22 . . Firemen in public-house ; had to be fetched; consequent delay, and ship went away shorthanded. "■ Supplement to the 65th Annual Beport of the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages in England and Wales, Part II, p. cix, 1908 (Cd. 2619). Twenty-one occupations were included in the list. Dr. Sullivan has a valuable comment on the measure of alcoholic pro- chvity in various trades : " The tendency to alcoholism depends on the balance between need of force and need of skill, reaching its maximum in the crude forms of transport labour, where brute strength is almost the sole requirement, and being at a minimum in the delicate crafts which make more demand on keenness of perception and accuracy of muscular adjust- ment. . . . The relation, therefore, which the special character of the labour in each form of industry bears to this regular action of alcohol will in the long run decide the alcoholic tendency of the average worker in that industry, and will so, in a large measure, determine its drinking tradition." — Alcoholism, pp. 113-14. PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 101 Dates in 1914-15. Remarks. Same ship — February 25 . . Chief Engineer ^^^th military police search public -houses for firemen. Same ship — March 15 . . . Firemen mostly drunk ; engineer oflScers did their work and got ship to sea. Same ship Early in December A ship-loader taken to sea owing to drink. (3) January 8 . . . Men on shore all returned drunk ; ship unable to put out to sea. Same ship — January 20 . . Men agaiin drunk ; much delay in putting out. (4) November 11 . . Firemen and seamen on shore return drunk ; ship loses the tide. (5) November 20 . . Two men on shore returned drunk and late ; ship had to be sent out without them and had to wait for tug to bring them out. (6) December 13 . . Two men drunk. Same ship — 3 or 4 other occasions Men had given trouble owing to drink, after receiving pay. Same ship — Several occasions Firemen return unfit for duty. (7) January . . . Men return drunk and unfit for duty ; (various occasions) four men discharged. (8) October 10 . . . Several men ashore returned drunk. The gravity of the disorganisation and delay caused by drink is patent. The delays in the transport of munitions through the drunkenness of a few dock-hands or seamen illustrates the interdependence of labour. One man's breakdown might stop the work of a gang, or cause a ship to lose a tide. Another example of this was the " black squad " of riveters and platers : " If one man fails to turn up at 6 a.m. the squad cannot pro- ceed, and because of the absence of one man four or five will lose a morning's or possibly a whole day's work." This bears directly on the matter of insobriety : " The action of a relatively small proportion will disorganise the work of many others who may be capable and willing to work full time." 1 1 Shipbuilding, Munitions and Transport Areas, p. 25. 102 THE CONTROL OP THE DRINK TRADE 6. Two other facts which enhanced the menace of alcohol to war-industries were the employment of casual labour on an unwonted scale, and the ease with which liquor could be obtained. The extended use of casual labour was noted when the drift of labour to the munition factories was described. The same thing happened in the shipbuilding and allied trades. In the first enthusiasm for national service numbers of skilled work- men enjisted in the Army and Navy who, later on, were sorely needed at their own trades. Some were recalled from the ranks ; but the growth of war-work meant that tens of thousands of rniskUled or half -skilled men were brought in to help where and as they could. The Home Office inquiry showed that drinking habits were more prevalent among the newcomers than the old hands. The Tyne investigators noted that " shortage of labour has led to the employment of men who would not in ordinary times be given employment, and no doubt they are more likely to take to drink than the regular workman." As to the drink-shop, that was usually right at hand. It is interesting to speculate what would have been the situation in 1914^15 had the Licensing Bill of 1908 become law. Under the 1908 Bill one-third of the " on"-lieences were to have been suppressed, by compensation, within fourteen years. In 1915 half the term would have gone, and- — presumably^ — the closing of public-houses would have been most general where they were most numerous, namely near large works and factories and in the poorer residential districts. Thus temptations to drink would have notably decreased. As it was, in a time of high spending-power, public-houses abounded where industries congregated, along the roads to work, and hard by the workers' homes. " The yards and works are surrounded by public - houses and drinking-bars, where every possible facility is offered for obtaining drink for consumption both on and off the premises." ^ It remained for the War to show how heavy was the price to be paid for the rejection of the Licensing Bill of 1908. 7. Lest a profusion of references to insobriety should blur 1 Home Office Enquiry, Shipbuilding, Munitions and Transport Areas, p. 18. PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 103 the truth that gross alcoholic indulgence was not characteristic of the mass of war-workers, let that be afi&rmed anew. The best refutation of a suggestion to the contrary was the immensity of the output of stores of war. Unless the majority of the workers had been temperate, the vast and ceaseless volume of materiel could not have sustained the forces on land and sea. The evidence already presented shows that, in respect of industrial drinking, the truth was this : (1) in certain trades in which the maximum output was requisite for national reasons, there was an habitually intemperate minority; (2) the incursion of casual labour, and the enlargement of spending- power, tended to increase this minority ; (3) so interdependent is labour that the drunkenness of a few did, in point of fact, delay the work of many; (4) in the vitally important sea- transport trades there was an old tradition of heavy drinking, hard to break, and hostile to speed and efficiency ; (5) habitual indulgence in liquor, which stopped short of open drunkenness, could seriously impair efficiency; and (6) the social environ- ment of war-workers was often so harsh and unfavouring as to constitute an incentive to public-house frequenting. B. WoMEisr, Girls and Youths gn' Wak-work 1. The imperious call of patriotism evoked no readier re- sponse than among the women of Britain. They filled the places of men who " joined up," and formed fresh battalions of labour for service in munition works. Their aptitude, and power and will to endure, took the industrial world by surprise. It is needless to attempt a complete catalogue of the occupa- tions which women entered.^ Enlistment and conscription depleted industry of male labour, and every day extended the list of trades in which women replaced men. Mr. Montagu told the House of Commons on August 15, 1916, that there were " some 500 different munition processes upon which women are now engaged, two-thirds of which had never been performed by a woman previous to twelve months ago " ;^ and ^ A Table showing " the principal work, hitherto confined to men, which is now being performed by women," will be found in the Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops, 1915, p. 12. ^ For details see Notes on the Employment of Women on Munitions of War (Ministry of Munitions, February 1916). 104 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE that of 30,000 " examiners " of shells, grenades, etc., 14,000 were women. The Glasgow Corporation early in 1915 asked for women tram-guards, and received 12,000 applications. In 150 " controlled establishments " on the Clyde, by the middle of 1916, 14,000 women were employed, the greater proportion of whom were engaged on general engineering work.^ In shops and offices, on railways and omnibuses, and in farm and garden work huge numbers of girls and women were engaged. An exploration of the whole question in the Board of Trade Labour Gazette led to the conclusion that, at the close of the second year of war, allowing for de- creases in women engaged in domestic service or dressmaking, the net result " was an increase of 738,000 in the whole number of women engaged in occupations outside their own homes." ^ The new recruits to war-work came from all walks of life. " The munition workers of to-day include dressmakers, laundry workers, textile workers, domestic servants, clerical workers, shop assistants. University and Art students, women and girls of every social grade and of no previous wage-earning experi- ence ; also, in large numbers, wives and Avidows of soldiers, many married women who had retired altogether from indus- trial life, and many again who had never entered it." ^ 2. The social conditions which pressed harshly on male war-workers affected women even more adversely. Bitter experience of the sufferings of women, and of the public loss through the withdrawal of mothers from child-nurture, had led to special Factory Legislation which hedged round women's work with restrictive regulations. In Factory Legislation a " protected person " means a woman, or a yoiuig person of either sex under eighteen years of age. In textile factories " protected persons " must not normally be employed for more than fifty-five and a half hours per week, in non-textUe factories or workshops for more than sixty hours. The daily maxima are ten and ten and a half hours respectively, excluding meal- times. Sunday employment and night work are prohibited.* 1 Announcement issued by the Ministry of Munitions, August 22 1916 2 October, 1916, 357-8. = Employment of Women, p. 3 (Memorandum No. 4, issued by the Health of Munition Workers Committee). ■• Factory and Workshop Act, 1901. Prior to the outbreak of war, public opinion was decidedly in favour of a further reduction of the maximum hours. See, e. g., E. Dorothea Proud, Welfare Work, p. 150. PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 105 Under the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, the Secretary of State had power to grant, in case of any public emergency, an Exemption Order " in respect of work which is being done on behalf of the Crown ; " and a Regulation issued on June 10, 1915, under the Defence of the Realm Act, enlarged the scope of the Home Secretary's powers. These emergency powers were freely used. At the request of employers engaged on Government contracts, anxious for the sake of output to keep their machinery running with a minimum of interruption, the Home Secretary granted a number of Exemption Orders, per- mitting " protected persons " to work beyond the standard hours. Hence, notwithstanding the safeguard of the Factory Acts, there was reason to fear that under the constrai^it of public need, and impelled by their own sense of duty, women and youthful workers would pay too heavy a physical price in obeying the national call. This actually came to pass. 3. Working-hours. — ^Under the demand for stores of war " the weekly hours " for protected persons were " frequently extended to sixty-seven, and in some instances even longer hours have been worked. The daily hours of employment have been extended to fourteen, and occasionally even to fifteen hours ; night work has been common ; Sunday work has also been allowed, although latterly it has been largely discon- tinued." 1 Sunday labour was " found to be more and more unsatis- factory; apart from the Hi-effects which must foUow from a long-continued spell of working seven days a week, it too often results in loss of time on other days of the week and in conse- quent disorganisation ; " ^ gradually opinion hardened against it, and in most cases it was finally abandoned. The revival of night -employment for women was often equally a drawback to the worker. As to overtime, extended hours of week-day labour were more general in the early months of industrial urgency than later; it was found that habitual overtime wore down the worker and slackened output. One 1 Juvenile Employment, p. 4 (Memorandum 13, issued by the Health of Munition Workera Committee). ^ Report of Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops, 1915, p. 6. Par- ticulars of the Emergency Orders issued in 1915 will be found on pp. 5-8 of the Report. 106 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE instance of overstrain may be cited from the records of the Health of Munition Workers Committee — " A recent inquiry made for the Committee into the conditions of employment of 75 women employed from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. showed that though most of the workers lived within a mUe or a mile and a half of the factory, none of them got more than about 7| hours' sleep and many of them less than 7 hours. The majority rose before 5 a.m. Of the 75 workers only 19 were over 21 years of age, and many were between 16 and 18. Such facts . . . serve to demonstrate both the need for improved facilities in housing and in transit and the need for limitation of the periods of employ- ment." 1 4. Food-supply. — We have seen, in discussing the industrial conditions of men on war-work, that the demand for drink springs not infrequently from lack of food ; that British business concerns, apart from honourable exceptions, had failed before the War to recognise that the supply of wholesome food and the fitness of the worker are cause and effect ; that this failure was carried over into many of the new or enlarged war -industries ; that the arrangements for meals were insufficient in numerous war-factories ; and that the Control Board would require to assure the due provision of Industrial Canteens. All this applied with at least equal force to women workers and young persons ; and to women who carried the double burden of home-work and factory work it applied vdth added force — " Men as a rule are better provided for than women, both as regards the material and the method of feeding. The latter are apt to allow bread, butter, and tea a too prominent place in their dietary, and are careless of the conditions under which their food is taken. Moreover, those who are far froju home habitually rely upon small shops or the fish bar near the works for their mid-day meal. The shops ofier sweets and pastry rather than wholesome, sustaining food, the fish bars offer ' fish and chips.' . Besides the extravagant price paid for food thus purchased there are other disadvantages. The food is not reaUy palatable. It may be attractive at first, but soon cloys, and the batter soon satisfies. It is not a material of which a proper quantity can be taken, and the result is a meal unsatisfactory both in quantity and quality. Indulged in for a long time, and given a chief place in the dietary, it will lead to defective nourishment and lessened energy, whilst ''■ Employment of Women, p. 5 (Memorandum 4, issued by the Health of Munition Workers Committee). PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 107 the fact that, where it is taken, fresh vegetables are often absent from the diet tells greatly against it. . . . The best possible ar- rangement for those who cannot go home to meals is the provision of a well-organised and well-managed canteen." ^ 5. Housing and Transit. — Here, again, the lot of the woman- worker was depressed. Well on in the second year of war the Health of Munition Workers Committee reported : " While the urgent necessity for women's work remains, and while the mother's time, and the time of the elder girls, is largely given to the making of munitions, the home and the younger children must inevitably suffer. Where home conditions are bad, as they frequently are, where a long working day is aggravated by long hours of travelling, and where, in addition, housing accommodation is inadequate, family life is defaced beyond recognition. ... It is far from uncommon now to find some two or three hours spent on the journey each way, generally under the fatiguing conditions of an overcrowded train or tram, often with long waits, and a severe struggle before even standing-room can be obtained. . . . Often far from offering a rest from the fatigue of the day, the home conditions offer but fresh aggravation. A day begun at 4 or even 3.30 a.m. for work at 6 a.m., followed by fourteen hours in the factory, and another two or two and a half hours on the journey back, may end at 10 or 10.30 p.m. in a home or lodging where the prevailing degree of overcrowding precludes all possibility of comfortable rest. Beds are never empty and rooms are never aired, for in a badly-crowded district, the beds, like the occu- pants, are organised in day and night shifts. In such condi- tions of confusion, pressure and overcrowding, home can have no existence." ^ 6. It is beyond contention that the ills of undue fatigue, under -nutrition, and overcrowded and noisy dwellings favoured recourse to alcohol, but the point is of such importance as to merit re-emphasis. The lassitude induced by these evUs let loose the craving for drink in persons accustomed to its use, and disposed others not habituated to alcohol to follow the lead 1 Second Interim Report on an Investigation of Industrial Fatigue by Physio- logical Methods, Kent, pp. 46-8 (Cd. 8335). 2 Employment of Women, pp. 4-5. For a fuller discussion of the effect of war-work on boy labour see Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue, pp. 86-109 (Cd. 8511). 108 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE of their neighbours and workmates. Women, girls and youths new to factory ]ife were prone to do as men in this matter. In their seventh Memorandum the Committee trace the sequence. They say : "At the present time in very many munition factories the complaint is made by workers, and not least by the most intelligent and willing of them, that they are feeling ' done up,' or ' fair whacked,' to use local phrases, and the evidence shows that this state of ' staleness ' is becoming increasingly common and obvious. By experienced managers and medical officers this condition of staleness is attributed almost wholly to persistent long hours and the deprivation of weekly rest. It has grave accompaniments, which paradoxically appear not only in a state of lethargy and indifference, but also in a craving for change and excitement. No doubt the restlessness of the condition must often predispose also to indulgence in the alleviations given hy alcohol. At all points the state is apt to set up a vicious circle in which the very need for change and rest prevents the proper use of such chances of rest as are given." ^ V. Alcohol and Fellowship There is a famUiar distinction between industrial drinking, the habit of recourse to alcohol as a supposed aid to work or as an escape from its fret and stress, and convivial drinking, the custom of drinking in groups " for good fellowship's sake." Industrial drinking is bound up with the modern industrial system. It is a reaction from the monotony of machine- minding, the strain of factory life, the pinch and discomfort of slum dwellings. Convivial drinking is an English tradition, a practice rooted in ancient social usage. The tavern, from remote times, has been the meeting-place of neighbours and fellow craftsmen. The gentry to the King's Head, The nobles to the Crown, The knights unto the Golden Fleece, And to the Plough the clown. ^ Industrial Fatigue and its Causes, p. 9. PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 100 The churchman to the Mitre, The shepherd to the Star, The gardener hies him to the Rose, To the Drum the man of War.i Linked with the meeting of friends at the tavern — the " King's Head " or the " Plough " or what not — is the custom of treating. This doubtless derives from older English habits, from the pledge-cup or Wassail Bowl of the Saxons, the Loving- Cup of City Companies, the Grace-Cup of the Universities, the Stirrup-Cup to speed the parting guest, the " seal drink " which closed a business bargain, the " toast " to the honour of the King or the health of a comrade. In its modem setting, treating has become a prodigal habit, the cause of no small share of public intemperance. Lord D'Abemon cites an inquiry made in Liverpool in 1915 as to the nature of the occasion which led to the intemperance of 136 persons convicted of drunkenness.^ The results were these — 95 Men 41 Women Treating friends and convi- Treating friends and con- viality, including welcome viviality 21 to friends returning from Illness or grief .... 7 abroad 49 Long abstinence from drink lUness or grief . . . .14 before the drinking bout . 3 No food with drink ... 3 No special cause alleged . . 10 Long abstinence from drink before the drinking bout . 6 No special cause alleged . . 23 " Treating " or " conviviality " was the alleged cause of drunkenness in more than half the cases. Mr. F. W. Hackwood, a writer who staunchly holds that " the moderate use of alcoholic beverages will never be entirely dispensed with, so long as human nature exists with its natural , its wisely ordained diversity of taste and inclination," yet makes vigorous onslaught on treating : " It is the English practice of all others which is characteristically stupid, in that it leads to so much unnecessary drinking ; for the meeting of friends on the common ground of a public -house is invariably ^ Thomas Heywood. " British Journal of Inebriety, October 1916, pp. 63-54. no THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE celebrated by their drinking together, and, as a rule, an end cannot be put to the celebration till each man has acquitted himself by paying for ' drinks round ' — and therefore the larger the party the larger the number of drinks taken, and probably all of them except the first quite unnecessary, either for the quenching of thirst or the celebration of a happy meeting. To most reasonable men the custom presents itself in the light of an unmitigated nuisance, though one which needs some amoimt of moral courage to resist, its approach always being made in so pleasant a guise." ^ He quotes with commendation Ben Jonson's line — " As the fund of our pleasure, let us each pay his shot." To require each drinker to pay his own " shot," to put down the money for his drink and for no other, cut athwart an old- time practice. Yet, of all the acts of the Control Board, it is questionable whether any won such wide assent from the best critics as the decision to declare illegal the treating of another to liquor. VI. Alcohol and the Home Two questions arise here : the influence of drink-expenditure on the family budget, and the influence of the war on drinking- habits among women. 1. Our inquiry respecting the losses and gains to family income showed that the cost of living steadily advanced, so that at the end of the second year of war the necessaries of life were priced on the average 40 to 45 per cent, higher, and at the end of March 1917, 65 to 70 per cent, higher than when the war began ; that while persons with fixed incomes suffered, the mass of the workers benefited through increased earnings ; and that separation allowances added to the spending-power of women in many poorer households. The disappearance of unemployment, the decline in pauperism, and the prosperity of Co-operative Societies were unmistakable marks that higher spending-power prevailed in the great centres of industry. To what extent was new family income expended on drink? '^ Inns, Ales, and Drinking Customs of Old England (1909), pp. 151-2 and 384. PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 111 This was, more than in normal times, a woman's question. Enlistment lessened by millions the number of male wage- earners, and the exigencies of war-time added immensely to the total of female wage-earners. Further, women must have formed the great majority of persons receiving separation allowances. Women were handling an unusual proportion of the weekly income of the country. 2. Economy was the order of the day, whether observed or not. Apart from a passing mood in the autumn of 1914 when " Business as usual " was the parrot-cry, it was soon apparent that in war-time nothing could be "as usual," and that the financial, like the fighting, resources of Britain would be tested to the uttermost. " Save, and lend your savings to the State " was the watchword. The cost of the war leaped to figures which only a skilled financier could comprehend. The Premier pointed out that the war expenditure of the first two years equalled the total national expenditure of the preceding twenty, including the cost of the South African conflict. A Parliamentary War Savings Committee was constituted in May, 1915, and on June 29 Mr. Asquith and Mr. Bonar Law at the Guildhall, London, inaugurated " a national cam- paign in support of the War Loan, and a national movement for war economy." " Waste on the part either of individuals or of classes, which is always foolish and shortsighted, is in these times nothing short of a national danger," declared the Prime Minister. Mr. Law laid bare the incongrmty of reck- less spending : " When our minds are filled with the thought of what is being suffered and endured for us by those who are fighting for us, luxury of all kinds is distasteful." 3. "A rigid personal and household economy " was the wholesome doctrine of the War Savings Committee. They fastened on the waste of money on drink. How to Save and Why, one of their earliest publications, discussed the question thus — " Alcohol. — Immense quantities of food materials such as barley, wheat, and maize are used in this country for the manufacture of beer and spirits. As beer and spirits are almost valueless as food, and can only be classed as luxiu-ies pure and simple, all this grain is lost for food purposes. If this grain were available for food, both 112 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE for man and beast, the prices of bread and meat would be lowered. It has been estimated that the average expenditure on alcoholic drinks in this country amounts to 7s. Sd. per family per week. If every family in the land were to cut their drink bill down by, say, one-half and invest the saving on this one item in the War Loan, the amount would come to £90,000,000 per annum. The waste in lowered ability to work resulting from the consumption of alcohol would be largely removed, and the gain in national work- ing capacity would be even greater than is represented by this monetary gain." Economy in the home was as requisite to national interests as efSciency in the workshop. 4. Unfortunately the war stimiilated the very evil which the War Savings Committee sought to counter. The mental stress of the time, and the personal anxieties of women whose men-folk were at the front, conspired to lead women to seek the alleviations of alcohol. The enlarged weekly income at the disposal of many supplied the means. Nowhere is it more needful to speak with understanding and sympathy. Because there were here and there gross occurrences, palpable moral breakdowns, it would be folly without foundation to -write as though soldiers' vsdves as a class became intemperate and unchaste. An implied censure of that character would be altogether contrary to fact. There were, without doubt, women, temperate before the war, who under the stress of the war gave way to drink ; but local increases in female intemperance were to a large extent attribut- able to women who had been accustomed to indulge in liquor, and now, with larger means, indulged more freely. There are also indications that among the recruits to war industries there was a disposition, especially on the part of the younger women, to share with men the fellowship of the public-house. As far as the -wives and mothers of soldiers and sailors are concerned, fellow-feeling and imagination recover the clue to what hap- pened. For a woman to part with husband and son, or maybe husband and sons, often caused the collapse of the home. It emptied, as one after another left at the call of the King's services. Dwindling companionship, dwindling family duties, growing cares and fears, were her lot. To meet with other women and share the news from camp or front was the one relief. The ancient and unshaken custom to link friendship PROBLEM CONTRONTING CONTROL BOARD 113 with liquor led them to the public-house, or formed the drinking- circle in one or another's home. In the Archbishop's appeal for personal abstinence— noted in a former chapter— there was a word of insight : " their example," he said, speaking of men and women who might abstain from drink for patriotic reasons, " would make the rough roadway a little easier for those wives and mothers to whom unusual circumstances and hourly anxiety are, with sad effectiveness, bringing unusual temptation." ^ 5. The extent of the increased addiction to alcohol is hard to gauge. Li the fall of 1915 various social service committees organised counts of persons entering or leaving public-houses, and these offer some guidance. Their general effect was to show that. Justices' and Military Orders notwithstanding, the liquor trade was experiencing remarkable prosperity. The count at Birmingham was particularly significant, because an inquiry six months earher had seemed to show that com- plaints of excessive drinking among women were exaggerated. As reported in the Birmingham Daily Post,^ the figures showed that of the 15,933 persons counted as entering the sixty-four licensed premises under observation for an average of one hour in the evening, 6,329 were women. This high figure arrests attention. It suggests that public-house fre- quenting by women had become more general, and the suggestion is sustained by other social statistics quoted. Ejectment orders for non-payment of rent, summonses for neglect to send children to school, complaints received by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and com- plaints received by the Birmingham Citizens' Committee 1 The Times, October 28, 1914. - October 5, 1915. This investigation is to be carefully distinguished from a later one — in July, 1916 — by a Committee appointed by the Central Control Board. The purpose of the 1916 investigations was to discover whether, after the Board's Order had been in operation in Birmingham for eight months, the efficiency of girl and women munition workers was im- paired as a result of excessive drinking. The Committee found that (1) there was " a strong presumption that the number (of women frequenting pubUo- houses) is greater (than before the war), not only actually but relatively to the population " ; (2) " that public-houses as constructed and conducted at present are most imdesirable resorts, both morally and physically, for young people of either sex " ; but (3) that no evidence was forthcoming to show that " such drinking as exists is interfering materially with the output of munitions." Third Eeport of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), pp. 22-25. Cd. 8558. I 114 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE "of drinking by recipients of separation allowances," had all substantially increased.^ " Actual drunkenness among women," said the leader-writer, " appears to be at a low ebb. Out of more than six thousand women recently observed while leaving licensed premises during the evening, only twenty-four could be set down as ' intoxicated.' But it is impossible to escape the conclusion that a good many of the rest had been drinking more than was wise or seemly. And, what is more, it seems to be indisputable that women, now- adays, form a larger proportion of the publicans' customers than they did (let us say) some months ago." Evidence pointing in the same direction can be traced in the Annual Reports of Medical Officers of Health. Take the Woolwich Report for 1915. The Control Board's Order for Woolwich did not come into force until November 29, so that for eleven months out of the twelve the Report concerns the situation prior to the Board's control. Dr. Sidney Davies, the Medical Officer, refers to a rise in the death-rate : "In spite of abundance of money and food, war-conditions have been unfavourable to health. . . . Excessive emotions, especially grief and fear, unfavourably influence all, but especially women, and through women their children. To these emotions must be added the resulting tendency to indulge in alcohol. . . . There is no doubt that it has unfavourably influenced the ^ " There is a marked increase ia the number of charges of neglect to send children to school. Complaints of this nature do not reach the magis- trates untU the education authorities have satisfied themselves that the law- must be called in to their assistance ; and if the number reached 2,131 during the first half of the present year, against 1,186 during the corresponding months of 1914, the reason is no secret to attendance officers. It is simply that neglect of homes and children is more common than it was — largely because of the drinking habits of parents, and especially mothers. A simul- taneous increase from 260 to 372 in ejectment orders tells very much the same story. If rent is paid less regularly, it is not because times are bad industrially, or even because separation allowances, plus grants from public funds, are inadequate. It is because money is improperly spent — upon drink among other things. Then the officials of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children report that they have been receiving more complaints than usual. Their experience is that neglect of children normally accom- panies abnormal prosperity and its concomitant, excessive drinking; and their testimony is another straw helping us to see which way the wind is blowing. The Citizens Committee also ' report an increase in the number of complaints of drinking by recipients of separation allowances,' and their visitors ' corroborate the allegations as to women frequenting public-houses to a greater extent than formerly.' " — Birmingham Daily Post, October 5, ■1915. PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 115 health of women and children. . . . There were 7 deaths from alcoholism, 3 from peripheral neuritis, and 33 from cirrhosis of the liver,! making a total of 43 deaths probably due to alcohol, compared with 23, 31, 23, 18, and 31 in the five pre- ceding years. Of the 43 deaths, 17 were males and 26 females. As compared with 1913, the deaths (from alcoholic diseases) show an increase of 6 males and 19 females. Excessive drinking among women, especially among wives receiving separation allowance, was noted by many observers. It is no doubt one cause of the increased infant mortality. . . The number of deaths from suffocation or overlying (of children) was 6, com- pared with 1 in 1913, and 2 in 1914. In the previous four years the deaths from suffocation in bed averaged 4 a year, and in the four years 1904-7 they averaged 7. This return to higher figures may be correlated with the increase of alcoholism among women." ^ It would be manifestly unfair to base on a few local instances an assertion that alcoholic indulgence was rife amongst women to an unusual degree. But it is fair to point out that the emotional and economic causes which led to increased drinking in some locahties were characteristic of the life of the country as a whole. Apparently, their operation is reflected in the statistics of convictions for drunkenness amongst women. These increased in 1914 in England and Wales by 4-3 per cent., but decreased in 1915 by 71 per cent.^ In so far as con- victions for drrmkenness may be used as an index to the extent of intemperance — a point discussed in Chapter X — these figures would seem to show that (1) insobriety among women did, in point of fact, increase in the early months of war ; but (2) was checked, and actually began to decrease, in the second year of war, in part as a result of the restrictive Orders of the Justices, Military Authorities, and the Control Board. The second inference is not so surely founded as the first, for the decrease in 1915 may be in some measure due to 1 Dr. Davies states elsewhere (p. 21), " Cirrhosis of the liver can be de- finitely attributed to the causes which give rise to intemperance, and with this is probably connected the increased mortality from congenital debility and premature birth." ,t^ , . , , ^, ,- c 2 Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich, 1915, pp. 9, 10, 23, 60. ^ Licensing Statistics, 1915, p. 5. 116 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE special war-time conditions — depleted police forces, darkened streets, magisterial leniency towards soldiers' wives, etc. The one indubitable fact is the existence, at the time when the Board's work began, of a drink evil amongst women grave and general enough to claim particular regard in the shaping of the Board's policy. VII. Service Men and Civilians The Breakdown of Difebrentiation The defensive measures against insobriety taken by " the competent naval or military authority " — the issue of restrictive Orders, the exclusion of liquor from dock premises, the pro- hibition of the supply of drink to sick and wounded sailors and soldiers — were described in Chapter II. So were the appeals of Army leaders, and the provision on a generous scale of counter-attractions to the public-house. Despite all these, a serious difficulty remained. The restrictive naval and military Orders originated with the needs of the Services, and many of the Orders placed restraints on Service men only. But the policy of differentia- tion between the Services and the rest of the nation was fast breaking down. In theory, the powers of " the competent naval or military authority " were unlimited. In practice they proved un- expectedly insufficient. For example, the Defence of the Realm Act applied to " all or any premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor; " but that excluded clubs, which are registered, not licensed, and the Service man who wanted liquor in prohibited hours might find the club open to him when the public-house was closed. Again, Service restrictions were valid " within any area specified in the Order ; " but men whose homes were outside a specified area encountered unrestricted opportunities to drink when on furlough, tempta- tions multiplied by civilians who " treated " men in rmiform, careless of consequence. The growth of the custom of treating was indeed a con- clusive proof that differentiation could no longer be sustained. From the first days of war, the Press echoed with warnings PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 117 against the habit. When the Public Schools Brigade was formed, a recruit said to a Daily Chronicle representative, " The only drawback is the number of people who speak to me, in the train and in the street, and want me to have a drink. I suppose it is meant good-naturedly, but it is an awful nuisance, and it is bound to do a lot of our men a lot of harm." One special form of the trouble was the supply of pocket flasks of spirits to soldiers and sailors. Many a drinking bout on railway journeys was traced to this cause. These specific references are enough to show that differentia- tion could not and ought not to be maintained. " The sense of inequality is very much resented," said Mr. Wing, speaking to the motion that in deference to the King's example the House of Commons should stop the sale of liquor in its own refreshment-rooms and bars. " I have come across cases where a soldier is not allowed to have a drink until mid-day, and he must not have a drink later than nine o'clock ; while a civilian may commence at ten in the morning and drink untU ten or eleven at night. The man in the street regards these various inequalities as a badge of inferiority." ^ Certainly it was unfair to shape and stiffen discipline for men in uniform, and to place on civilians lighter restrictions or none at all. Treat- ing must be dealt with for the sake of efficiency in the Services ; yet a no-treating ordinance was out of the question unless the civihan as well as the soldier came under new restrictions. The Manchester Guardian spoke as most men felt — " The men who fight are only part of the problem. There is the mass of the population also, and with it comes the question whether there should not be at least a considerable restriction of hours. Some wiU say, ' Prohibition for the army by aU means, but why worry the countless crowd of those who wUl never have to fight ? ' It would be quite reasonable to argue that if alcohol lowers the efficiency of a soldier it must have a similar effect on the man who is engaged on any work which demands a steady hand, a quick eye, or clear head. Those who admit the argument for debarring a soldier from supplies of Uquor, but would place no restrictions in the way of the skilled manual labourer or the brain- worker, stand on dangerous ground if they grant the premise that aU of us must put our best into the common stock. It is all a question of how seriously we take ourselves and the national emergency." ^ I April go, 1915. ' February 27, 1915, 118 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE " We are in a sense all soldiers," continued the Guardian writer ; "we ought to be sparing of our pleasures and lavish of our services." The case for all-round restriction could hardly have been put more persuasively. The day had gone when one could speak as though the Navy and the Army were alone at war. The call to serve rang out to all. The whole nation was mobOising. To limit to one class special restraints on indulgence in liquor could no longer be accounted just. In- sobriety was the common enemy. A new defensive policy must apply to all ranks and classes. VIII. The Problem A Dual Policy Necessaby It is only in retrospect that the problem which confronted the Control Board can be seen in its full scope. Much that is recorded here was far from clear when the Board began their work; the repeated references throughout this chapter to the position of affairs in the second and third years of war are a sufficient reminder of that fact. As the Plan of Control was shaped when the first year of war was ending, judgment had to be formed and action framed while what we have not unfairly described as an Industrial Revolution was actually in progress. Yet if the meaning and final direction of these vast and hurried changes in industry were stUl undefined, enough was plain to make it sure that the solution which the Board sought could not be found along a single line of action. A dual policy was required, in part restrictive, in part constructive. On the one hand, the Board would, without doubt, develop the efforts of the Justices and the Naval and Military Authorities to curtail opportunities for indulgence in drink. The unduly long hours of traffic in liquor, and the over-abundance of liquor-shops, created what Lord Randolph Churchill once called " the fatal facility of recourse to the public -house," which, as he said, " makes it extremely difficult for multitudes of persons, in view of the hardships of their lives, to avoid or resist intemperance." ^ The rise in spending-power made the task of restriction urgent, lest at a time when efficiency was 1 Speech in the Commons, April 29, 1890. PROBLEM CONFRONTING CONTROL BOARD 119 needed at its highest, it should be impaired by excessive drinking, as in earlier cycles of economic well-being. On the other hand, it was no good simply to take away. The Board must give the better in the stead of the worse. Food for the hungry, rest for the wearied, recreation for the jaded, a wholesome place of fellowship for the toiler in his leisure : these were legitimate needs, and, so far as the circum- stances of war-time would permit, ways must be found to meet them. Li particiolar, the re-distribution of labour caused by the growth of the miuiition industries compelled the pro- vision of Lidustrial Canteens on a large scale, and set men thinking of the possibility of a better type of refreshment- house — a true social centre for the interests of the manual worker. PART II The Administeation of State Control CHAPTER V A CHAPTER ON MACHINERY OiTB third chapter chronicled the pubhc agitation which led to the Government's proposals of April 1915; the wreck of the liquor taxes ; the Plan of Control set out in the Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Act ; ^ and the setting up of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) under the chair- manship of Lord D'Abernon. The names of the members of the Control Board were publicly announced on May 27. The powers of the Board were specifically expressed in a series of Liquor Control Regula- tions, made under the Act by the King in Council on Jime 10. No time was lost in getting under way. On July 6 ten ship- building and transport areas were defined by Order in Council, and in steady succession restrictive Orders were made for them. From that date onward one area after another was dealt with, until all the main manufacturing, naval and military districts throughout Great Britain were brought under control. This chapter describes (1) the powers with which the Board were invested by the Regulations of June 10 and after; (2) how the Board gathered evidence of the " drink difficulty," and obtained authority to act in each area ; and (3) what Control Areas were delimited. I. The Liquor Control Regulations 1. Li opening the discussion of the work of the Control Board it is essential to restate the fundamental principles on which that work was based. First, the Board's powers were ^ The full text of this Act is given on pp. 62-3 123 124 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE to be wielded only in defined areas in which war-work was in progress, or men of the Services assembled. Second, the Board's business was to secure efficiency. The first principle was laid down in the charter of the Board, as the Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Act may not unfitly be caUed — " Where it appears to His Majesty that it is expedient for the purpose of the successful prosecution of the present war that the sale and supply of intoxicating Hquor in any area should be con- trolled by the State, on the ground that war material is being made or loaded or unloaded or dealt with in transit in the area or that men belonging to His Majesty's naval or military forces are assembled in the area, His Majesty has power, by Order in Council, to define the area and to apply to the area the regulations issued. ..." A national policy, whether of restriction, prohibition or purchase, was beyond the Board's frontier of responsibility; unless, indeed, in process of time, areas under their control should become co-extensive with either of the national divisions of the United Eangdom.^ The second principle was expressly affirmed in the preamble to the Liquor Control Regulations — " for the purpose of increasing directly or indirectly the efficiency of labour in such areas, and preventing the efficiency of labour in such areas from being impaired by drunkenness, alcoholism, or excess, it is expedient to make such regulations as are hereinafter contained." These citations are a sufficient reminder that the Board were not appointed to carry out a Temperance policy as such. Their goal was efficiency in the commerce of war and in the Services. True, that goal could only be reached by the use, among other methods, of some which had long been advocated by Temperance reformers; but the Board's choice of means had to be determined apart from the consideration whether they accorded with those of any particular school of social thought or service. The plan adopted might be old or new, 1 In point of fact this happened in Wales. The earliest Orders of the Board for areas in Wales and Monmouthshire were for Newport, Cardiff and Barry (August 7, 1915), Pembrokeshire (November 11, 1915), and Flintshire (included in the Lancashire and Cheshire area, February 5, 1916). On April 27, 1916, an Order of the Board was made for the whole of Wales anc! Mopmouthshire, imposing uniform restrictions throughout the area. A CHAPTER ON MACHINERY 126 familiar or untried. The reason for its adoption must be the belief that it was well designed to aid the output of industry or the fitness of the fighting forces of the realm. 2. The tangled and thorny country ahead could be ap- proached from two directions. The Board could set out to diminish drinking facilities. They could plan to meet by wholesome means the proper human needs of food and fellow- ship. A merely technical account of the Liquor Control Regulations, under the guidance of which the Board's poHcy was to be shaped, would be of less service to most readers than to inquire to what extent the Regulations made this dual policy practicable. What restrictive action did they sanction 1 How far could a constructive programme be based on them ? The full text of the Regulations is given in the Appendix for reference ; the present survey is narrowed down to an answer to these questions. 3. Bestrictively, the Board were free to act under the Regula- tions in the following ways. Within any area defined by Order in Council, but only within such an area, " for the purposes of the control by the State of the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor," the Board could — Eegulation (1) Close licensed premises or clubs, either for all purposes | or for the purpose of the sale or supply of intoxicat- ing liquor. 2 (2) Regulate the hours during which licensed premises or clubs might be kept open (a) for the sale or supply of hquor, or (b) for other purposes. 2 (3) Prohibit the sale by retail or supply of any specified class of liquor. 2 (4) Impose conditions or restrictions on the sale by retailj or supply of Hquor. 2 (5) Regulate the introduction of liquor into, and its trans- port within, the area. 2 (6) Require the business carried on in any licensed pre- mises in the area to be carried on subject to the supervision of the Board. 2 (7) Prohibit treating. 4 (8) Direct or permit the dilution of spirits to an extent beyond that allowed under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act. 12 Clubs, as well as licensed premises, were — as far as the supply of liquor was concerned — placed under the control 126 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE of the Board. Powers to act in the ways mentioned above were extended by an amending Regulation to include " the supply, by indirect means, of intoxicating liquor to persons frequenting any unlicensed premises . . . where refreshments are sold." ^ Thus, in the areas to be defined, the supply of liquor in all places of public refreshment was brought under control, the only exception being dealings between trader and trader. 4. Constructively, the Board could in any area defined by Order in Comicil — Regulation (1) Become the sole vendor of liquor. 3 (2) Establish and maintain refreshment rooms, ^ or provide for their establishment and maintenance 5 (3) Acquire any licensed or other premises, or any interest in any such premises, either compulsorily or by agreement, either temporarily or permanently, either in whole or in part. 6 (4) Take possession of and use premises and plant without actually acquiring the same. 6 (5) Acquire any business, including stock-in-trade. 8 (6) Provide entertainment or recreation on their own premises, or authorise its provision. 10 (7) Arrange for postal and banking facilities.^ 11 The power to trade in liquor and non-alcoholic refreshments, and to purchase to this end the licensed and other premises, businesses and plant deemed necessary, was explicitly assured to the Board. As with the applying of restrictions, so with a constructive policy : it could be employed where, but only where, the Board considered it requisite for the effective control of the liquor supply. 5. The Board found it needful to appoint Standing Com- mittees to supervise different departments of the work. A Restrictions Committee dealt with questions arising out of the successive restrictive Orders, and from time to time 1 Order in Council amending the Defence of the Realm (Liquor Control) Regulations, 1915; October 14, 1915. 2 The sale or supply of refreshments might include, " if thought fit, the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor." Refreshments might be sold or sup- plied " to the general public, or to any particular class of persons, or to persons employed in any particular industry in the area." 2 The arrangements made for postal and banking facilities were to be " on or near premises in which business is carried on by or on behalf of the Board," and for " persons frequenting such premises." A CHAPTER ON MACHINERY 127 suggested modifications or additions to them ; further, where breaches of the Orders appeared to be so serious as to defeat the policy of Control the Restrictions Committee investigated the cases, and advised the Board as to whether it was neces- sary to stop the sale of liquor on the premises concerned. A Pubhc House Committee had in charge the State Purchase undertakings of the Board. A Canteen Committee promoted the Industrial Canteen Movement, encouraging employers and voluntary organisations to provide canteens in factories and dock areas. A Drafting Committee framed the Orders in accordance with the Board's decisions. A Scottish Committee devoted special attention to Scottish affairs. II. Delegations of Inquiry 1. Where and how did the Board begin their work ? When, on October 26, 1916, the policy of the Board was debated in the Commons, Mr. Montagu, then Minister of Munitions, said : " No Order for scheduling an area is made except on representations by the Ministry of Munitions, the military authorities, and other representative people con- cerned in essential output ; and no Order is made unless the Ministry of Munitions, acting through the Minister responsible to this House, is satisfied that the evidence warrants the preparation of an Order in Council for submission to His Majesty to schedule an area." Put otherwise, the Regulations did not operate automati- cally. The call to act normally came from a Government Department, who said, in effect : "In this area drink delays war-work; let the Board get to business here." In a dock- yard, shipbuilding or transport area the Admiralty usually took the initiative. In a neighbourhood where troops were stationed, the Army Council or the General Officer Command- ing. In a district where munitions were manufactured, the Ministry of Munitions. The fact that within a year the writ of the Board ran through three-fourths of Great Britain simply shows that, on the one hand, within that term the country had become practically one great camp and arsenal, and its seaports, as in the distant days of strife with Spain or France, were once again the haunts of craft of war ; while. 128 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK^TRADE on the other hand, it is equally a proof that the drink difficulty had been found co-extensive with the industrial activities of the nation. 2. Once the call to act had come, the first step was to investigate local conditions. A Delegation of members of the Board wa^ appointed to visit the locality and confer with those best able to speak of the requirements of the area. For an extensive district more than one Conference might be arranged. On the first visit to the North-East Coast, Conferences were held at Newcastle, Middlesbrough and West Hartlepool; for the Mersey area there were Conferences at Liverpool, Bootle, Birkenhead and Wallasey. The aim at each Conference was to learn how far drink hin- dered war-work, whether the use of the powers of the Board would aid efficiency, and — if so — over what territory and by what methods, restrictive or constructive. To these Conferences there were invited to meet the Delega- tion, Naval, Military, Licensing and Municipal representatives, the Chief Constables of the police districts concerned, leading employers, and officers of the local Branches of Trade Unions. Deputations from Churches and Temperance organisations, and from the various sections of the liquor trade, were heard separately, and encouraged to state their case fully. The result was that the Delegation were enabled to place before the Board a report and recommendations based on close scrutiny of the essential facts. 3. The evidence given at the Conference or Conferences was reviewed in the Delegation's report to the Board. It indi- cated what stores of war were " made, loaded, unloaded, or dealt with in transit " in the area, and whether men belonging to His Majesty's forces were assembled there ; it described the local liquor problem and advised in what ways efficiency was impaired by drink ; it gave the answer of the Delegation to the question, " Is action by the Board required ? " ; where action was recommended, restrictive and constructive pro- posals were made ; finally, the boundaries of the area to which an Order should apply were suggested. Ordinarily, but not invariably, the Delegation recommended action. A request from the Admiralty, the Military Authori- ties, or the Ministry of Munitions, had led to the inquiry. A CHAPTER ON MACHINERY 129 which showed that the Department taking the initiative had reason to believe that drink was delaying war-work. Yet the Board did not proceed on that assumption. The method of investigation by Delegation was adopted to find out the facts on the spot. There were cases where, after local inquiry, the decision was not to act. For example, in South Wor- cestershire, which it was suggested should be added to the Midlands Area of restriction, the Delegation did not find that war industries were suffering because of drink, nor were there troops in the district; accordingly the Board made no Order. Another instance affected a larger territory. On a military request inquiry was made as to the counties com- prised in the Eastern Command. The Delegation held Con- ferences in London, Norwich, Cambridge and Northampton. The evidence justified action in Northampton, the western parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, the parts of Essex and Herts not already scheduled, and a part of South Bucks ; but there was not at that time the same weight of testimony concerning eastern Norfolk and Suffolk, the greater part of Bucks, and the counties of Huntingdon, Bedford and Cambridge. The area was therefore divided, and restrictions placed where the evidence warranted immediate action ; but the whole of the second group of counties and parts of counties was excluded from the new Order.^ 4. When the Board decided to act in a new area, the steps taken between the decision and the coming into force of a restrictive Order were these — A statement of the grounds for action was placed before the Minister of Munitions. The Minister approving, on his advice an Order in Council, applying the Liquor Control Regulations to the area, was made by the King. The Board were then free, within the scope of the Regulations, to impose restrictions and to begin constructive work. Following the Order in Council came the Board's restric- ^ Of the excluded districts, the Norman Cross Petty Sessional Division of Huntingdon, the Luton Petty Sessional Division of Bedfordshire, and a group of parishes in south-east Bedfordshire, were scheduled a few months later; the first because of migration from Peterborough in the neighbouring scheduled county of Northampton; the second to maintain the efficiency of its munition industries, which were rapidly growing in national import- ance; and the third because of the migration, chiefly of foreign munition workers, from neighbouring towns in Hertfordshire. K 130 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE tive Order. An interval of about ten days was allowed be- tween the issue of the Order and its enforcement, that the authorities, the licensed trade and the pubUc might have notice of the impending changes. Copies of the Order were suppHed to the Government Departments concerned; the Naval, Military, Municipal, Licensing and Police authorities ; ^ and the " Trade " central organisation. The Order was published in the London Gazette, and the keen and general interest in its terms assured that the local press would give it publicity. Distribution to licensed premises and clubs was arranged through the Chief Constables ; licensees and club secretaries were required to keep a copy " permanently affixed in some conspicuous place in the club or in each public room in the licensed premises." Police officers, nominated by each Chief Constable, were appointed Inspectors by the Board to enter and search any premises in the area, including clubs, in which they had " reason to believe " that liquor was sold by retail or supplied. III. The Delimitation of Areas 1. The first areas delimited were small. The drink diflQ- culty was located, a line drawn round it, and restrictions placed on the drink trade within the boundary thus determined. These original areas were defined by circles. The Newhaven area was the district " within the circumference of a circle with a radius of one and three-quarter miles measured from the 1 The circular letter to municipal and other authorities, explaining the provisions of the Order, made an appeal for local co-operation which is worth recording — " After careful consideration of the representations made in the district, the Board have made the Order with the desire to meet local opinion, so far as is consistent with an effective result and with the necessity of treating the various areas over which their powers extend with some degree of uni- formity. The Board have taken steps to ascertain local opinion on the questions involved, but they are conscious that in some respects the pro- visions which they have found it desirable to make may cause some incon- venience and impose some sacrifice. They trust, however, that this will not diminish that hearty co-operation in the locality which is essential to the proper administration of the Order. They confidently hope that all in whose locality the Order is in force will use their influence in attaining this result, both by making the terms of the Order as widely known as possible to all classes, and also by endeavouring, as far as in them lies, to secure adherence to its terms. They will thus con- tribute in the present emergency to the object which the Board's Orders are intended to promote, viz. the successful prosecution of the War." A CHAPTER ON MACHINERY 131 Town Railway Station." The Southampton area was the district within a six-miles radius from Bargate ; Barrow-in- Furness, ten miles from the Town Hall ; Newport, seven miles from the Town Hall ; Cardiff, eight miles from the City Hall ; Barry, five miles from the Town Railway Station. The quick and easy way of definition-by-radius created boundaries which crossed the frontiers of Local Government and Hcensing administration. This soon gave place to the more satisfactory mode of deUmiting areas by the famiUar administrative units of the County, the County Borough, the Petty Sessional Division, or the Parish. 2. It is significant that each of the areas just named was merged sooner or later into a wider restrictive zone . A scrutiny of the Orders for new areas shows a growing tendency to schedule extensive rather than narrow territories. There were three reasons for this course. (1) County and Police authorities — and sometimes the Mili- tary representative — ^pressed a claim for uniform restrictions over a wide area. In general, they greatly disliked a patch- work of differing hours of sale in small contiguous districts. Existing Orders, made by the Justices under the Temporary Restriction Act or by the Mihtary under their Defence of the Realm powers, had not infrequently had this effect. The pubhc were inconvenienced, and the authorities embarrassed, by these diverse provisions. " Schedule the whole County and give us a common Order," was the demand made again and again at the local Conferences. Further, uniformity over a wide area where similar industrial conditions obtained made for pubhc good feeling. There was willingness to accept restrictive acts without resentment when it was seen that the Board had come to a particular town not on a punitive expe- dition, but to find a poMcy according with national interests to be apphed to the whole population of a coalfield, a mimitions district, or a group of ports. (2) The multiphcation of munition works, military camps, and naval bases brought most of the country within the proper sphere of the Board's responsibilities. Parliament, when it sanctioned the Plan of Control, could not possibly have foreseen the sweeping changes which war was to bring to British life and industry. Critics freely charged the Board 132 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE with exceeding their proper functions in scheduling territories so wide and numerous.^ The reply given by Major Astor, in the Commons debate, on October 26, 1916, was convincing — " We have been told that the Board have gone a great deal further than Parliament expected. That is very probable. . . . But the Board have not gone beyond their powers. I do not know how many people, when this particular Act was passed, realised the development of this war. We talk of ' a nation in arms.' The whole nation is organised for the purposes of war. Your armies have grown from thousands into millions. Almost every ship . . has been utilised for the prosecution of the War in the interests of the nation. Industrial establishments have been turned into arsenals. . . Barren wastes are covered with munition factories, and overrun with troops. That is the growth and development necessarily following upon this great war, and it is ridiculous to condemn the Board of Control for having kept up with the development of this war organisation." (3) A protective fringe to each populous area was found to bo essential. Cycle, tram, and train quickly took men beyond the boundary of a small area of restriction. In the early days of the Board's work, when most areas were small, complaints were constant that the object of the Order was defeated by migration during " prohibited hours " from the restricted to a non-restricted neighbourhood. The only remedy was to enlarge the area, and to fix the frontier at a considerable distance from any important industrial or military settlement. Mr. Montagu, in his defence of the Board, said : "A zone of protection is put roinid a particular area which has been scheduled. . . . You cannot merely take the public-houses in the streets in wliich the soldiers or workers live. You must have a zone around the district to prevent the people going beyond it to get drink." ^ 3. One or other or all of these reasons led to the merging of the small areas named above into larger ones. Newhaven became a part of the South-Eastern Area which comprised most of Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Southampton was in- cluded in a Southern Military and Transport Area which stretched from Poole in Dorset to the outskirts of London, and from Reading to the Isle of Wight — a countryside abound- ^ See, e. g.. Speech in the Commons by Colonel Gretton, October 26, 1916. ^ Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons) Official Report, October 26 1916. A CHAPTER ON MACHINERY 133 ing in camps. Barrow-in-Furness and the Furness peninsula were the southernmost section of a Western Border Area, which also embraced the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland' Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, and part of Roxburgh. Newport, Cardiff and Barry were absorbed in the Welsh Area, as the whole of the Principality and the kindred county of Monmouth were denominated. The Scotland (Northern) Area is a good illustration of an immense tract scheduled on the ground of national necessity. The counties of Perth, Forfar, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin and Nairn, and the eastern parts of Inverness and of Ross and Cromarty, were all included. Why? The larger towns — Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth, Inverness and Arbroath — were centres of munition industries, or were of great military and naval consequence. There were camps in remote districts Mtherto sparsely populated. Troops guarded railway bridges and other vulnerable points. On the coast there was a naval base of the first importance. It was impracticable to exempt any part of this wide domain from restrictions aiming at efiiciency. In defining coast areas it was found important to include the arms of the sea, so that the restrictions might apply to passenger steamers.^ This was particularly true of the deeply indented western coast of Scotland, and of the waters between the Hebrides and the mainland. 1 At the inqxiiry at Dunoon, on the Clyde, held on July 6, 1916, drunken- ness was stated to be frequent on the steamers plying between the industrial towns and pleasure resorts of the Clyde, especially at the week-ends. The steamer which left Gourock daily for Dunoon at 2.50 p.m. often carried large numbers of munition workers. The last boat returned from Dunoon at 5.15 p.m., and, to quote one speaker, when the passengers disembarked " the legs of many of them seemed to give way." Some brought back a good deal of drink, chiefly bottles of whisky. These were mainly night-shift men. Saturdays and Sundays were the worst days. On Sundays the boat left Gourock at 12, and many men returned at 7.20 very drunk, and continued to drink on the pier. Their friends as a rule took them away, but there was great difficulty in gettiag them to the trains. As to Wemyss Bay, the evidence was similar. On Saturdays and Sundays, munition workers who left sober came back from Rothesay drunk. Some- times their friends helped them along; but there were actually occasions when the police wheeled drunken men in barrows to the guard's van of the train and packed them oS. The drunkenness on the Clyde passenger steamers was generally traceable to liquor purchased ashore, but it emphasised the need for the application of the restrictions to the liquor-bars aboard. 134 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE 4. The first of the two maps shows the areas delimited within six months. Most of the ports, the great industrial belts of the Midlands and the West Riding, and about two- thirds of Scotland were placed under restrictions. This is another way of sajdng that the claims which the Board first met were those of Admiralty transport, the main munition centres, and the neighbourhoods of camps and naval bases. Roughly, half the population of Great Britain had come under the Board's Orders at the close of 1915. The second map displays the spread of the restrictive areas in 1916. Throughout 1916, for reasons already named, small areas were merged in large ; and nearly all the remaining manufacturing districts, the territories freshly occupied by troops, and the coast-lands and islands where new naval bases were estabUshed, were brought under restrictive Orders. The stretches of country outside the Board's control, at the opening of 1917, were these : In Scotland, the southern counties of Wigtown, Peebles, Selkirk, Berwick, and a part of Roxburgh. In England, northern Northumberland and most of north-eastern Yorks ; a "horseshoe" tract in the Midlands curving through Lincoln, Rutland, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Bedford, Bucks, Oxford, Berks, Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford and Shropshire ; and, in the west, con- siderable portions of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. It will be at once recognised that the parts of the country not under Control were agricultural. None of the main manufac- turing centres, and no great seaport remained outside the Board's Orders. At the beginning of 1917 the Orders applied to thirty -eight millions of the total population of Great Britain, then estimated at about forty-one millions. i-a <3 > H fe! O iz! H b o w „^ Wl^Sd 1— < oc td H to 3 fe?i 1^ jd H Wg W 9 H F-l so *H gd t) M ^•p p RDEB IQUO ORK Ed 50 n^ §gg to S S) H g &3 sss ^ ShI a K > ■s- a fed s^ ,*;:; t?i o -4 2 !z! 50 1 oi H "^ ^ ^ s §^H 01 ^ H g § S 2 H § '^ w H- ' Ul p H td ■ *f»-wtow S3 ED cr ■73 CD O O O O O CB [> c^- rt- ct- Cf Oq P P 56 p p a p p p ^ (IL Pj §gi^ ?a CD • .2, P ^o p • p o O g s 2" p p S2 cc V >> P s >-?§■ to^ b^ O '^ CJi CD CD M f^ t^^ >4 CD P' P N c OQ crq ^ ^ P o p p lio CD g ?i-S-toB toB toboJ^g-i^r CO CO ^j £5 k- "^ c CD CO ro-T"' " ox Ol »-' CD ) o ^ p &^ 2 CD go p p H O CO H Q O O hi KEY TO SECOND MAP Number on Map. 1. 2_ 3,. 4. 5. 6. 7. 11. 12. 13. Area. Orkney and Shetland Scotland, North Coast Scotland, Northern Scotland, North-Western Scotland, West Central Scotland, East Central . Scotland, West Central, (Argyll and Bute) Western Border 9. North-East Coast 10. Lancashire and Cheshire Humber West Riding . Welsh 14. 15. Staffordshire East Midlands 16. Midlands 17. 18. 19. Hereford (City) West Gloucestershire Bristol and Bath . 20. Eastern . 21. 22. Luton . London . 23. South Eastern 24. 25. ShorncMffe Southern Military and Transport . 2G. 27. Plymouth Falmouth Dates when Orders of the Control Board came into force. December 11, 1910. June 26, 1916. September 27, 1915. April 24, 1916. August 23, 1915. August 23, 1915. August 7, 1916. August 2, 1915 (Barrow-in-Furnes.?). November 22, 1915 (Extension to Main Area). August 10, 1915. November 29, 1915 (Extension of Area). December 18, 1916 (Extension of Area). August 16, 1915 (Liverpool and Mersey District). February 14, 1916 (Extension to Main Area). February 7, 1916. November 22, 1915. August 18, 1915 (Newport, Cardiff and Barry). November 22, 1915 (Pembrokeshire). February 14, 1916 (Flintshire, in Lanca- shire and Cheshire Order). May 8, 1916 (Extension to Main Area). May 1, 1916. September 25, 1916. March 19, 1917 (Extension of Area). November 22, 1915. August 28, 1916 (Extension of Area). December 4, 1916. December 11, 1916. August 10, 1915 (Bristol and Avonmouth). February 28, 1916 (Extension of Area). September 4, 1916. July 30, 1917 (Extension of Area). March 19, 1917. August 6, 1915 (Dartford) October 11, 1915 {London: Treating and Dilution only). November 29, 1915 (Main Order). July 26, 1915 (Newhaven). July 24, 1916 (Extension to Main Area). January 10, 1916. August 2, 1915 (Southampton). November 22, 1915 (Portsmouth). February 28, 1916 (Extension to JIain Area). November 22, 1915. November 22, 1915. CHAPTER VI THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD When the Board's restrictions were first imposed they struck competent observers as bold beyond precedent. The Scotsman declared the Orders for the industrial belt of the Lowlands " the largest social experiment of our time." ^ There was much to be said for such a view. The normal hours for the sale of drink in Scotland were cut down by more than one- half , and in England and Wales by two-thirds or thereabouts ; even fewer hours were allotted for the " off " sale of spirits ; treating, the " credit " trade in liquor, and the " long pull " were prohibited ; spirits were diluted ; the iona fide traveller disappeared ; and registered clubs were placed under the same regulations as licensed premises. These drastic limitations of personal habit and convenience, these multiple restraints on a business which was sharing beyond the average in the new economic prosperity, might well appear almost revolutionary. Their precise intent, and effect on industry and society, were keenly scrutinised by critics and defenders. Nor has their significance waned. As long as liquor is sold, the wisest devices to diminish intemperance will be matters of common concern. A detailed account of the Board's restrictive acts is given in this chapter, in view of their abiding importance to the social student and the legislator. An attempt to esti- mate their effect in promoting sobriety, and their influence on eflEiciency and social welfare is made in the final chapters. Most of the restrictions date back to the Orders made for the earhest areas delimited. Others — ^the prohibition of door-to- door canvassing for liquor orders is a case in point — were added as experience showed the necessity for them. Variations to meet local wishes, chiefly as to the hours of sale, were introduced ; but the main lines of policy were found applicable to all the areas. An Order in standard form soon took shape, a restrictive code which was applied to each neighbourhood in England and 1 August 14, 1915. The reference was to the Control Board's Orders for the Scotland (West Central) and Scotland (East Central) Areas. 135 136 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Wales where a drink difficulty demanded action, except in so far as local needs called for modifications. The Order for the Eastern Area, given in full in the Appendix, is a good example of an Order in standard form ; late in date, it in- corporates all the main restrictions and also the improvements suggested by the working of earlier Orders. A serviceable classification of the restrictions, for the purpose of clear description, is the following — I. The Lessening of the Hours of Sale for " on " and " off " consumption; for week-days and Sundays. II. Spirits : Additional Restrictions. III. Restrictive Conditions of Sale. Treating; the "long pull"; liquor on credit; medicated wines; the system of "supervision." IV. Restrictive Conditions of Distribution. Hawking of liquor ; canvassing for liquor orders ; sales for cash on dehvery. In Section V the range of the restrictions is marked out, and the administration of the Orders discussed. Something is said, under Section VT, of modes of restiicticn which the Board debated but did not adopt. I. Lessening the Hours of Sale A. Hours foe " On " Sale : Week-days Before the War Under the Control Board, hi England and Wales} {a) Within the Metropolis- ^^^ ^^^^^"^ i^ standard form From 6 a.m. to half an restricted the week-day sale or hour after midnight .^ supply * for consumption on the = 19J hours of the 24. premises to 6| hours of the 24, ^ The hours for England and Wales, given in the Table above, are specified in the Sixth Schedule to the Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910. One excep- tion is to be noted. Under Section 59 of the Act the Justices are empowered to grant an Early-Closing Licence, enabling the licensee to close one hour earlier at night than the hour specified in the Sixth Schedule to the Act. ^ On Saturday the closing hour in the Metropolis was half an hour earlier than on other nights, viz. 12 midnight. 2 See Article 2 (1) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. * By " supply " of intoxicating liquor was meant " supply otherwise than by way of sale." This definition holds good throughout all the Orders of the Board (Liquor Control Regulation, 27). THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 137 (6) Beyond the Metropolis, viz. 2^ hours at midday, and 3 but in the Metropolitan in the evening. Police District ; and in a The usual hours were — town or populous place — 12 noon to 2.30 p.m., and 6 or From 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. 6.30 p.m. to 9 or 9.30 p.m. = 17 hours of the 24. This refers to Scottish as well (c) Elsewhere (i. e. in thinly- as to English and Welsh Areas, populated country dis- tricts) — From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. = 16 hours of the 24. In Scotland.^ From 10 a.m. to an even- ing hour not earlier than 9 and not later than 11. = 11 to 13 hours of the 24. 1. The Reasons for Restriction. — The Table shows how drastic was the policy of the Board. In the first year of war, in numer- ous places, the Service authorities and the Licensing Justices stopped the early morning and late evening sale of drink. This familiarised the public with the idea of restriction. But the Board, at a stroke, cut off two-thirds of the pre-war hours of business ; the 16, 17, or 19J hours' daily traffic in liquor in England and Wales — in the country, in towns, and in the MetropoHs respectively — gave place to an all-round maximum of 5J hours. In the Board's areas liquor could not legally be sold in the early morning or the forenoon ; there were 2 J hours for sale at midday, then sale ceased until 6 or 6.30 ; 3 hours of business at the most were allowed in the evening ; and at 9 or 9.30, according to area,^ the sale of drink ended. The Board did not act arbitrarily. The questions faced were : (1) What hours of sale involved the greatest detriment to ^ 10 a.m. was fixed as the hour of opening by the Temperance (Scotland) Act, 1913. This Act made no change in the evening closing hour, which was determined by the Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903. The 1903 Act gave the Licensing Court power to issue licences in any one of a number of forms which were appended as a Schedule. In these forms, hours were speciiically men- tioned ; apart from slight alterations the hands of the Licensing Court were tied to the hours named, save that (by Section 35) power was given to vary the hours specified in the forms, as regards particular localities. In any case the evening closing hour must not be earlier than 9 p.m., nor later than 11 p.m. In point of fact, at the outbreak of war, the usual hours of sale in Scotland, both " on " and " off," were from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. * In a few districts for special reasons the Board fixed the evening olosmg hour for the sale of drink as early as 8 p.m. See p. 141. 138 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE national efficiency ? (2) At what times was there a public demand for facilities to buy ? (1) Early morning and late evening drinking made for " broken time " and inefficiency in industry. Again it should be said that this was alleged of a minority only, but a few can disorganise the work of many. The overlong call at a pubUc- house on the way to or from work, and the overlong stay at a pubhc-house by men coming off the night-shift, were acknow- ledged as prejudicial to time-keeping and general fitness. In particular, the tired worker lost recuperative rest at home.^ The forenoon and afternoon were by general admission the times to which intemperance among women was usually trace- able. If the mother spent the best hours of the day in the public-house the meals for the wage-earners of the family could not be properly furnished, the children suffered, and home-life depreciated. Also there was a large measure of agreement that little need existed for the sale of liquor at the times when the great mass of the adult population were at work. (2) The pubhc demand centred on opportunities for refresh- ment at the midday and evening meal -times, and in the leisured hours of the evening. On these considerations the Board's decision was based. " The general conclusions they came to were that there should be no inducement either to men or to women to frequent places where intoxicating liquor could be obtained during the usual morning and afternoon hours of work, and that a considerable interval should be allowed in the middle of the day owing to the varying meal hour. . . . The arrangemeiat of hours for con- sumption is designed to meet the special dangers to national efficiency which are involved at the present time in early morn- ing or in late evening drinking, while affording sufficient facili- ties for reasonable refreshment." ^ The Board in their Third Report, issued in April, 1917, ^ " Some difficulty is caused by the early opening of public-houses in the morning. . . . Many of the night-shift men who come off from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. have too much to drink before going home and do not get proper rest." — The Superintendent of a southern arsenal. " If the hours were shortened a little in the evening it would facilitate a man getting home in good time in order to have a good rest and be able to turn out fresh in the morning." — A speaker at the Glasgow Conference. ^ Second Report of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), p. 10 (Cd 8243). THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 139 after nearly two years' experience of the working of the Orders, ascribed a large share in the remarkable reduction of intemperance to the simple restriction of hours .^ Chief Con- stables and works' managers were, in general, disposed to credit the entire cessation of the morning sale of liquor with an important part in the improvement. The Third Report pointed to other phases of the question : " Some authorities consider that it is to the earher evening closing hour that this great fall in the total figure (of convictions for drunken- ness) is principally attributable, and that the afternoon closing has contributed substantially to the result so far as women are concerned. . . . But the figures of convictions for drunken- ness relate principally to the habitual or occasional drunkards, who . . . form but a small proportion of the total popula- tion. The extent of the benefit of the restriction of hours, and of the comparatively short and broken periods during which intoxicating hquors can be obtained, is far more wide- spread. The habit of ' soaking ' has been practically sup- pressed, and a vast amount of drinking, faUing short of drunkenness, but nevertheless unnecessary or excessive, has been prevented. Increased efficiency and improved time- keeping have resulted, with a consequent material increase in the industrial output." ^ 2. The Restriction of Hours did not apply to the Sale of Food and Non-intoxicants.- — It should be clearly understood that the restriction of hours was intended to apply to the sale of hquor only. For the sale of food and non-intoxicants the hcensee was at liberty to open all day. Indeed, the Board encouraged Hcensees to develop a trade in food. The Order in standard form provided that — " Licensed premises may be opened for the supply of food and Tion-intoxicating Hquor at the hour of 5.30 in the morning on all days, and be kept open for this purpose from that hour until the evening closing hour prescribed by the general provisions of the Licensing Acts." * 1 The increased sobriety whioli followed the application of the pohcy of Liquor Control, and the value of the statistics of convictions for drunkenness as a standard of insobriety, are discussed ia Chapter X. 2 Third Report of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), pp. 7-8. 3 Article 5 of the Order for the Eastern Area. It was chiefly because of evasion of the Orders by illicit sale of liquor, that the Board at last ordered in their Scottish Areas the entire closmg during "prohibited hours" of those 140 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE 5.30 a.m. was half an hour earlier than the house could have opened before the War for the sale of liquor.^ It was reason- able to expect that a business in food and non-alcoholic refresh- ment would spring up with men going to or from work in the early morning. In the same way the holding of Trade Union or Friendly Society meetings on licensed property was not interrupted. If, e. g., a Trade Union Branch which met on licensed premises was accustomed to continue its meeting after 9 (or 9.30) p.m., the Board placed no obstacle in the way. Their responsibility ended with the stopping of the sale of liquor at the appointed time. That being secured, the Board refrained from further interference with social habit. 3. Variations from the Order in Standard Form. — Of the modifi- cations to meet local wishes and needs the most interesting was the provision concerning Saturdays in some of the Scottish Orders. Saturday is the usual pay-day in industrial Scotland. It was put forward at the Conferences, and with most emphasis by the Labour delegates, that there would be great gain to sobriety and family welfare if drink were not purchaseable on Saturdays until 4 p.m. Workmen would go straight home with their wages. The reasoning was sound. The Board acted on the suggestion. Instead of appointing separate midday and evening hours for Saturday, they combined the two periods and fixed from 4 to 9 p.m. as the hours of sale.^ The results were decidedly good.^ drink-sliops which had not a hcma fide trade in refreshments other than intoxicants. 1 Excepting the Metropolis, where the opening hour was 5 a.m., and this the Board left unchanged as regards the sale of food and non-intoxicants. ^ This gave half an hour less for Saturday sale than for other week-days, 5 hours as against 5 J. The Second Report of the Board said : ' ' The alteration'of the general rule on Saturdays was made in order that wage-earners paid at mid- day should have no inducement to spend their money on intoxicating liquor instead of taking it home. Evidence showed that some men frequently went straight to licensed premises with their pay and spent a large portion of it drinking there with friends before reaching home " (p. 10). ' " Every one to whom I have spoken on the matter is strongly impressed by the good effect of the Saturday hours. The men have a square meal before they go to the pubho-house, and they also make purchases of clothing and other articles which would never be bought if liquor had been accessible immediately after the receipt of pay. The poHce have noted that this par- ticular regulation has led to a marked decrease in charges of wife-beatine which used very commonly to originate in the reaction of a drunken husband to the reproaches of his wife when he failed to bring his wages home." Dr. Sullivan, on " Alcoholism in Glasgow with special reference to the effect of the Restrictive Orders of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic)." THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 141 A few other variations are worth noting. In the Midlands Area and southern Staffordshire 11.30 to 2 p.m. were the mid- day hours in place of the customary 12 to 2.30, a change designed to meet a view strongly expressed at the Birmingham Conference. On a mihtary request in the Shornchffe Area, and on naval requests in the Scotland (North-Western and North Coast) and the Orkney and Shetland Areas, the evening hours of sale were two only, from 6 to 8 o'clock. In Scotland (Northern Area), and in parts of Argyllshire, varying hours were fixed to suit the requirements of the Services ; ^ these were the only " patchwork " Orders ; elsewhere the Board held firmly to the plan of uniform hours over a wide territory. The concessions to the London Transport Workers' Federation and to London market employees should also be mentioned. Permits were granted to about 250 houses near London Docks and Wharves, to open between 5 and 7 a.m. for the sale of hquor ; and to about 50 houses near the Smithfield, BiUingsgate, Covent Garden, Spitalfields, Stratford, Borough, Ishngton, and Central London Markets at various hours between 2 and 6 a.m.^ The unusual conditions of Thames-side night labour, and of the carters and other workers engaged in the handhng of food sup- plies in the early morning hours at the great London markets, ^ The variations from the Order in standard form were these — In the Scotland (Northern) Area : Perth City and District, Fridays and Saturdays, 2-7 p.m. ; Peterhead and District, -weekdays (evening hours), 4-7; Nairn County, Saturdays, 2-7 p.m. ; Inverness Burgh and District, week- days, 12.30-6 p.m. ; Ross and Cromarty County, weekdays (evening hours) in part, 5-7, and in part (by an amending Order for certain Burghs and Parishes), 6.30-8.30. The foregoing were for " on " sale; " off " sale was to cease one hour earlier in the evening. In Argyllshire : Parish of Lismore and Appin, Mondays to Fridays, 1- 2.30 p.m. (" on " and " ofi "), 6.30-8 p.m. (" on " only); Saturdays, ^8 p.m. (" on "only); Cowal County District, Saturdays, 6-9 p.m. (" on " only). ^ The exemption Orders to houses in the London Market areas were con- ditional " upon suitable provision being made for the supply during the said hours of refreshment (other than intoxicating liquor) at a reasonable price to any person demanding the same." The exemptions to houses in the London dock and wharf areas were conditional " upon (1) the premises being kept open and suitable arrangements being made for the provision, when required, of shelter, food and refreshment (other than intoxicating liquor), and also, if reasonably practicable, of accommodation for trade union, friendly society and other like meetings during such hours as the premises were allowed to be open under the Lioensmg Acts ; (2) the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor ceasing in the afternoon at 2 instead of 2.30." j> r> j Exemptions for hours varying from those prescribed in the Board s Order were also granted to a few clubs on special grounds (e. g. to meet the needs of pressmen and newspaper workers on night duty), and for a few particular occasions {e.g. the 1916 meeting of the Royal Agricultural Show at Manchester). 142 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE were the ground for the grant of special morning hours of 4. Hotels and Restaurants. — The War must have notably increased the number of persons residing or regularly taking meals at hotels or clubs in towns near camps, .shipyards and munition works. Two provisions were framed to place this more or less itinerant population on an equality, as nearly as could be, with the home-dweller. Neither extended facilities for sale. Both aimed to place the guest in an hotel or club in the same position as a man in his own house in respect of the right to drink what he had legally purchased. (1) The first concerned the restde"/i< at an hotel or club. Inas- much as the premises were licensed it would have been illegal to consume liquor thereon outside the hours of sale,^ had not a " saving provision " been inserted in the Order. This was done. "Nothing . . . shall be deemed to prohibit, in cases where the same is otherwise lawful, the consumption of intoxicating liquor by any person in any licensed premises or club where he is residing." ^ The effect was that drink sold and supplied within the legal hours could be consumed at any hour by a hona fide resident. (2) The other provision was a concession to the customer who took a meal on licensed premises or at a club. As the Order was originally drafted it required that liquor should not be drunk on such premises after the appointed hours of sale. For instance, a man might have bought liquor with his lunch, but after 2.30 he could not legally have consumed the liquor though lunch were not over. The " saving provision " gave him an extra half -hour at both the midday and evening meals. To linait the concession to the case in view, it was provided that the liquor must be sold, supplied and served during the prescribed hours of sale, and at the same time as a meal and for con- sumption at the meal. 3 This amendment was " the result of representations which reached the Board from many quarters that the meal business at bona fide hotels and restaurants had 1 See Article 2 (1) (6) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. ^ Article 6 (a) of Order for the Eastern Area. ' See Article 6 (6) of Order for the Eastern Area. The concession did not apply to the Sunday midday hours for licensed premises. It applied only where consumption was otherwise lawful, and under the ordinary law all licensed premises must close on Sundays at 3 p.m. in the Metropolis and 2.30 p.m. elsewhere. THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 143 been unreasonably interfered with, in tliat large numbers of persons had not finished their midday or evening meal by the afternoon or evening closing hour respectively." ^ B. Hours for " Off " Sale : Week Days Before the War Under the Control Board The same hours as for " on " The Order in standard form ^ sale (see pp. 136-7). allowed one evening hour less for " off " than for " on " sale. The week-day sale or supply, and the dispatch, of all intoxi- cating liquor for consumption oi} the premises were limited to 4J hours daUy (with further restrictions as regards spirits, see p. 148). The usual hours were — 12 noon to 2.30 p.m., and 6 or 6.30 p.m. to 8 or 8.30 p.m. 1. The Reasons for Restriction. — In general, the reasons which justified reduction of hours for " on " sale held good respecting " off " sale. In particular, a limiting of opportunity to buy liquor for " carrying away " was called for as a precaution against a growth of home drinking, now that the hours for consumption on licensed premises were cut down. We shall see that for the " off " trade in spirits the Board's rule was even more stringent than for other liquors ; for beer, wines, cider, etc., " off " sale was required to cease at night one hour before " on " sale. The reason suggested above was given explicitly in the Board's Second Report : " This provision has been pressed upon the Board in order to prevent the practice of drinking in the public-houses until closing time and then carrying away intoxicants in order to resume drinking imme- diately at home." ^ 2. Equal Restrictions onthe Dispatch of Liquor. — It would have been almost futile to cut down the period for " off " sales with- out dealing at the same time and in the same way with the dispatch of the liquor sold. Otherwise freer use of the letter- post for liquor orders by the buyer, coupled with use of the full 1 Second Beport of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), p. 13. 2 See Article 2 (2) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. = p. 11. 144 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE working-day for the dispatch of liquor by the seller, would have completely neutrahsed the Board's restriction of the hours of sale. Accordingly, the Order in standard form fixed the same hours for dispatch as for sale.^ Exception was made where dispatch was for delivery at a distance. If the liquor was consigned to a destination " more than five miles distant," it could be dispatched from the licensed premises in the forenoon of any day on which its " off " sale was permitted.^ C. Sundays 1. HoxTRS OF Sale. 2. The Bona Fide Tkaveller. 3. Clubs. Before the War Under the Control Board In England. In England. 1. HoUES OF Sale ("on" The Order in standard form — and " off "). 1. Restricted the Houes to 5 Within the Metropolis — for " on " and 4 for " off " From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. sale. and from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. mr, i i. _ „ , ^ ^ Ihe usual hours were — „ ~ , ■ 12.30 to 2.30 p.m.;* and Elsewhere- » 6 to 9 p.m. (for " on " sale), From 12.30 p.m. to 2.30 6 to 8 p.m. (for " off " p.m., and from 6 p.m. to 10 sale). p.m. = 6 hours. 2. A bona fide Travellbe, 2. No sale of liquor to bona who had journeyed three fide Teavellers. miles from his place of lodging the night before, could claim to be served 1 i. e. 4 J hours daily for liquor other than spirits ; for spirits, 2J hours per day on the five week-days (Monday to Friday) on which the " off " sale of spirits was permitted. Compare Article 2 (2) and — as to spirits — Article 3 (6) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. The Order affected the time of dispatch only; it did not limit the period for delivery of the goods ordered. '^ For the "saving provision,'^ see Article 6 (d) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. As the " ofi " sale of spirits was prohibited on Saturdays and Sundays, this concession did not permit the dispatch of spirits on those days. 3 Section 56 of the Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, gave power to Licensmg Justices beyond the Metropolis to accommodate the hours of closing on Sunday to the hours of public worship by fixing 1 to 3 p.m. as the Sunday midday hours of closing instead of 12.30 to 2.30 p.m. * In the Metropolis, 1 to 3 p.m. THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 145 with liquor for consump- tion on the premises.^ Cltjbs were free to supply hquor without restriction of hours. In Wales. 1. Sunday Closing of li- censed premises, 2. Except for sale to bona fide Teavellees for consump- tion on the premises. 3. Clubs free to supply liquor without restriction of hours. In Scotland. 1 . Sunday Closing of licensed premises, 2. Except for sale to Teavel- lees, who could buy for their own use for " on " or " off " consumption. 3. Clubs free to supply liquor without restriction of hours. 3. Clubs subject to the same restricted hours as licensed premises. {In three of the English areas entire Sunday Closing ordered.) In Wales and Scotland. 1 . Sunday Closing of Ucensed premises maintained. 2. No Sunday sale of Uquor to Teavellees. 3. No Sunday supply of liquor in Clubs. 1. TJie Reasons for Restriction. — (1) Sunday hours of sale called for review in their bearing on Monday's time-keeping and work- ing ability. The midday hours were left unchanged, but earlier closing at night was adopted : 8 p.m. for " off," and 9 p.m. for " on " sale ; this in place of a uniform time for " on " and " off," viz. 10 p.m. in the country and 11 p.m. in the Metropolis. (2) The hona ^cZe traveller was a familiar puzzle to the police. Three miles on foot was a short journey ; three miles by cycle or char-a-banc, tram or train, was a trifle ; and after this modest effort a man could call for a drink during closing hours. Who could positively tell the man who travelled and wanted a drink, from the man who travelled because he wanted a drink ? For the former, as hona fide travellers, the exception had been made. The latter were a considerable company; 1 The concession did not refer to Sundays only. The hona fide traveller could also claim to be served with liquor for consumption on the premises during prohibited hours on week-days. 146 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE they made the provision for the genuine itinerant an occasion for indulgence in Uquor at a time when it could not otherwise legally be bought. The practice told directly against labour- efficiency. The one sure way to stop the mischief was to cancel the privilege during the war-emergency period. Under the Board's Orders, therefore, the hona fide traveller disappeared.^ (3) The supply of liquor in clubs on Sundays during hours when pubhc-houses were closed was an old grievance with the " Trade " and no small peril to public welfare. The Board's remedy was simple and sufficient. The whole scheme of the Board's restrictions was applied equally to clubs and licensed premises — the Sunday hours of sale or supply included. In Wales and Scotland, Sunday Closing, as commonly under- stood, had been long in force. In point of fact, it was not complete closing : clubs were free to supply liquor at any hour on Sundays, and the hona fide traveller could claim his drink on premises bearing a seven-day licence. The Board's Order made Sunday Closing a reality ; for clubs were placed under the "closing" law, and the concession to travellers was withdrawn. In England the Board ordered entire Sunday Closing in three Areas- — ^Monmouthshire, West Gloucestershire, and parts of Cumberland ; in Monmouthshire, to stop the Sunday exodus of drinkers from the mining villages of Glamorgan, which was under the Welsh Sunday Closing Act ; later, in West Gloucester- shire, to stop a similar incursion from Monmouthshire ; and in and around Carlisle to accord with the position in the adjoining Scottish section of the hinterland of the Gretna National Factory. 2. Variations from the Order in Standard Form. — These were few. As before the War, the London Sunday midday hours were from 1 to 3. In the Shomcliffe Area the evening hours on Sunday were from 6 to 8, as on week-days. In some English provincial areas the Sunday evening opening hour was 6.30, not 6, to accord with the week-evening opening hour. 1 The Control Board Order in standard form dealt with the bona fide traveller exception thus : " The prohibition under this Order of the sale supply and consumption of intoxicating liquor except during certain hours is not subject to the exceptions provided for in the Licensing Acts with respect to bona fide travellers." Article 12 (6) of Order for the Eastern Area. (This referred to the sale of liquor during prohibited hours ahke on week-days and Sundays.) THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 147 3. Christmas Day and Good Friday.— FoWoyfmg the precedent of the ordinary licensing law, the Board applied— with a few local modifications — their scheme of Sunday hours of sale to Christmas Day and Good Friday, in all areas south of the Tweed. Also on these two days the " off " sale of spirits was prohibited. In contrast to the licensing law, the Christmas Day and Good Friday restrictions governed the supply of hquor in clubs as in licensed premises. II. Spirits : Additional Restrictions Spirits, because of higher alcoholic strength, are more inimical to pubUc health and order than brewed liquors. The acuteness of the drink difficulty in Scotland, and to a degree in the north of England, was due to the greater popularity of spirits in those chiUier cUmes than further south. It is surprising that Parliament, before the War, had not elaborated checks on the sale of spirits to adult^.^ In so far as it could be said that the State desired to discriminate against spirits it did so by taxation. The spirit-seller had to pay a licence duty in advance of the beer-house keeper; the spirit-buyer had to meet a scale of charges which covered a tax of 14s. M. per gallon, whereas the pre-war duty on beer was but 7s. 'dd. per barrel of 36 gallons. We saw that the Russian prohibition of vodka, and the French suppression of absinthe, roused a call in Britain for the total prohibition of spirits ; that the Government in the spring of 1915 did not respond, but elected to double the spirit duties ; that the tax-proposals were wrecked by " Trade " opposition ; and that the Government handed over the problem of control to the Board. The Board had to reckon with high spending-power, especially in the industrial regions of the North and Scotland. There was money to spend on spirits, however dear. The tension and excitement of the time favoured recourse to heady liquors. It was urgent to guard against the danger of a growing use of spirits. 1 Section 67 of the Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, made it illegal to sell spirits for " on " consumption " to any person apparently under the age of sixteen years." 148 THE CONTEOL OF THE DRINK TRADE The Board devised with care a stringent restrictive pohcy. Its chief features were — A. Fewer hours for " off " sale of spirits than for other liquors. B. Lowering of alcohoHc strength by dilution. C. Devices to meet particular difficulties — (1) No "off" sale of spirits from railway refreshment rooms. (2) No " off " sale of spirits in less quantity than a reputed quart. (3) Spirits sold for " off " consumption must hear a label giving the vendor's name and address. D. In a few areas, on naval requests, prohibition of the sale of spirits, " on " and " off." E. A " spirit-less " week-end (in the Western Border Area). A. Fewer Hours fob Off " Sale of Spirits than other Liquors Under the Control Board The Order in standard form^ limited the " off " sale of spirits, and their dispatch on — Mondays to Fridays (five days) to 2 1 hours per day, namely, from 12 noon to 2.30 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays the " off " sale of spirits was entirely prohibited. This restriction appHed to the Board's areas in England, Wales and Scotland. Before the War The usual hours for the sale of liquor, namely — On Weekdays — England. 16 to 19-| hours per day. Wales. 16 to 17 hours per day. Scotland. 11 to 13 hours per day. On Sundays — England. 6 or 7 hours per day. Wales. No "off" sale on licensed premises. Scotland. To travellers only, on licensed premises. (In Clubs, "off" supply was legal at any hour to members, Sundays or week-days, through- out Great Britain). 1 Article 3 (a) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 149 1. The Reasons for Restriction. — " This provision was deter- mined upon by the Board in order to diminish the excessive consumption of spirits, and to restrict home drinking, par- ticularly the week-end drinking which results in bad time- keeping on Mondays." ^ To gain these ends it was requisite to reduce facilities for buying spirits to be sent or carried into the home. Hence the discrimination against " of! " sales. ^ 2. Exception to meet Medical Emergencies. — The Order left only two and a half hours daily for the purchase of spirits for taking away, and fixed — as we are to note directly — ^the reputed quart as the minimum quantity which could be bought to be consumed off the premises. But in sudden illness a doctor might desire to order for immediate use a small supply of brandy or other spirits. For such an emergency the Board made provision. Given a certificate from a duly quahfied medical practitioner stating that the spirits were urgently required for medicinal purposes, and naming the quantity needed, the spirits could be obtained at any hour legal before the War. The amount supplied must not exceed that specified in the certificate.^ B. The Lowering of Alcoholic Strength by Dilution Before the War jj^der the Control Board The legal maximum dilution ^he dilution of spirits was a of spirits, vnthout notice to the progressive policy, at first per- purchaser, was missive, afterwards compulsory ifroStowS and permissive. Dilution was Four stages in the develop- Of whisky, brandy and ram* "Is ment are to be distinguished— Of gin 35 1 Second Report of the Centra! Control Board (Liquor Traffic), p. 11. 2 At Wareham, in Dorset, where there was a large camp of convalescent Australian soldiers, the Australian military authorities pressed for additional restrictions on spirits, and the Board prohibited the evening " on " sale. This limited the trade in spirits to the midday hours, 12 noon to 2.30 p.m. The prohibition applied to the Petty Sessional Division of Wareham and the adjacent Parishes of Lytchett Matravers and Lytchett Minster, and came mto force on March 19, 1917. The improvement following this additional restriction led to a military request for a similar Order for an extensive district north of Salisbury, where large bodies of troops were in training. This Order came into force on July 11, 1917. , ^^ 3 See Article 6 (c) of Order for Eastern Area, Appendix V. 150 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE (1) Permissive Degrees under proof to which Dilution was permitted. Whisky, brandy and rum from 25 to 35 Gin . . . . „ 35 to 45 (2) Permissive Whisky, brandy, rum and gin 50 (3) Compulsory and Per- missive Whisky, brandy, rum and gin (unless bottled before a specified date) — Compulsory ... 25 Permissive .... 50 (4) Compulsory and Per- missive Whisky, brandy, rum and gin (unless bottled before a specified date)— Compulsory .... 30 Permissive ... 50 Mr. Lloyd George's plan in 1915 was to advance sobriety by extending the limit of dilution of spirits to 35 degrees under proof. The plan was linked with the tax-proposals, and those were wrecked. But Liquor Control Regulation 12 vested in the Board power to require dilution ; and from the first, and progressively, the Board pursued this policy. The pre-war standard of the alcohoUc strength of spirits was set up by the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts. The 1875 Act laid it down that no person should sell to the prejudice of the purchaser any article of food or any drug which was not of the nature, substance, and quality of the article demanded ; but went on to provide that the sale of a food or a drug mixed with any ingredient not injurious to health, and not intended fraudulently to increase its measure, was not an offence, provided a label plainly declared that mixing had taken place. The 1879 Act affirmed that— " In determining whether an offence has been committed . . . by seUing to the prejudice of the purchaser spirits not adulterated THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 151 otherwise than by the admixture of water, it shall be a good defence to prove that such admixture has not reduced the spirit more than twenty-five degrees under proof for brandy, whisky, or rum, or thirty-five degrees under proof for gin." Dilution was practised beyond these limits by some retailers of spirits vi^ho protected themselves by displajdng notices in the bar such as : " All spirits sold here are mixed ; " " All spirits sold are diluted, no alcoholic strength guaranteed." The Courts had held that such a sale of weaker spirits was not "to the prejudice of the purchaser," who bought with his eyes open to the fact of dilution. Broadly speaking, however, strong spirits not diluted beyond the standard of 1879 held the market. " People have a preference in favour of themselves making any dilution required," remarked a speaker at one of the Board's Conferences, naively. The line taken by the Board was this : " From the point of view of efficiency, it is desirable that licence-holders should not be obliged to sell a more intoxicating drink than their own interests or the wishes and interests of their customers de- mand." 1 The superseding of the standard of 1879 was necessary to a general lowering of alcoholic strength. The Board took that step. In four stages,^ as shown above, they 1 Second Report of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), p. 14. 2 The fourth and final stage was marked by a General Amending Order which came into force on February 1, 1917. Its terms were— A. — CoMp-ULSOEy. (o) No person shall either by himself or by any servant or agent :— (1) Sell or supply to any person in any licensed premises or club for consumption on or ofi the premises or dispatch therefrom any whisky, brandy, rum or gin unless reduced to 30 degrees under proof. (2) Introduce or cause to be introduced into the area any whisky, brandy, rum or gin unless reduced to 30 degrees under proof. Provided always that — , , „ j_ r^ ^ m-l. ^ (i) The foregomg provisions of this Article shall not aflect the sale or supply in bottles of whisky, brandy, rum or gm which is proved to have been bottled before the 6th day of June, 1916; and ^, , , (ii) In the application of the said provisions to the sale or supply in bottles of whisky, brandy, rum or gin which is proved to have been bottled on or after the 6th day of June, 1916, and before the 1st day of January, 1917, this Article shall be read as if the figure 25 were substituted for the figure 30. B. — PEEMISSrVB. (6) The sale of whisky, brandy, rum and gin reduced to a number of degrees under proof which falls between 30 and 50 is hereby permitted. 152 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE reached and maintained a policy of compulsory dilution to thirty, and permissive dilution to fifty degrees under proof.^ This was the high-water mark of dilution. C. Devicbs to meet Pabticular Diffigttlties Harking back to the early and general policy of the Board, we note three devices to counter difficulties met from the first : (1) the stopping of " off " sales of spirits at railway refreshment rooms; (2) the "reputed quart" clause; and (3) the enforced labelling of spirits. Before the War Under the Control Board 1. Sale of Spirits from Railway Refreshment Rooms Prohibited Intoxicating liquor, including spirits, could be sold at a rail- way station at any hour of day or night to travellers actually arriving or departing by train ; ^ and to the general public during the customary hours of sale. The Board's full scheme of restrictions applied to railway refreshment rooms, and, in addi- tion, ' oif '"' sales of spirits wej'e entirely prohibited.^ 1 " Proof spirit " is composed of alcohol and water in about equal parts — 49'28 per cent, alcohol, 50'72 per cent, water (by weight). The following Table marks the alcoholic strength of spirits at the various degrees under proof mentioned in the text — Degrees Percentage under of pure 1. Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1879, permitted reduc- tion of whisky, brandy and rum to .... 25 35-91 Gin 35 30-85 2. The four stages of the Control Board's policy of dilution : — (1) Permissive Whisky, brandy and rum to. . . .35 30-85 Gin . 45 25-92 (2) Permissive Whisky, brandy, rum, and gin to ... . 50 23-49 (3) Whisky, brandy, rum and gin — Compulsory to .25 35-91 Permissive to .50 23-49 (4) Whisky, brandy, rum and gin — Compulsory to ... 30 33-37 Permissive to . . . . . . 50 23-49 2 Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, Section 61 (c). 3 Article 3 (d) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 153 Before the War Under the Control Board 2. Sale of Spirits in Pocket Flasks and Other Small Vessels Prohibited No general restriction corre- No less quantity than a spending to that imposed by the reputed quart of spirits to be ^08'i^^i- sold for " off " consumption.^ In England, holders of "ofi" licences to retail spirits — hut such licensees only — could not sell spirits in any quantity less than a reputed quart .'^ 3. Spirits for " Off " Consumption to be sold only in (a) Closed and (6) Labelled Bottles or other Vessels (a) Holders of "off" licenses to (a) Spirits to be consumed retail spirits — hut such licensees off the premises must not be only — could not seU spirits "in contained " in any open vessel " ; open vessels." ^ and — (6) The labelling of spirits (6) The bottle (or other vessel) was not required. must bear a label showing the name and situation of the licensed premises or club whence obtained.'^ 1. Reasons for the Restrictions. — (1) The ground for the prohibition of the "off " sale of spirits from railway refresh- ment roorcs was that drunkenness on trains was frequently traced back to spirits sold in flasks at railway stations. " The sale of strong alcoholic spirits to soldiers and sailors from the refreshment bars at the railway station should be prohibited," said a military representative at a Scottish Enquiry. His duty was to meet trains by which Service men travelled ; from daily observation he concluded that " most of the cases of intoxication of sailors and troops travelling are caused through the supply of drink from those sources." Action was originally taken by some of the Railway Companies. The Highland Railway Company was one of the first to refuse to sell spirits in flasks to soldiers and sailors. This rule seems to have been adopted later by all the Companies, but its enforcement could not prevent civilians buying liquor for Service men. The Board's prohibition applied to all sorts and conditions of people. 1 Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910. See First Schedule, C II (Provisions applicable to Retailers' Oif- Licences). 2 Article 3 (c) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. 154 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE (2) The fixing of a minimum quantity of spirits to be sold for consumption " off " the premises, viz., not less than one reputed quart,^ aroused much criticism. It was not a new device. In England, since 1861, " off " licences to retail spirits had been issued on this condition. What the Board did was to extend the application of the " quart bottle clause " to aU retailers of spirits in the scheduled areas of England and Wales, and in some of the Scottish areas. The reason for the regulation was " the rapidly increasing trade in small flasks of spirits purchased at public-houses and taken off the premises into works, railway carriages, ships, and other places, and also into the homes, both by men and women." ^ In a word, the clause was aimed at the " nip of spirits," in the hope that one way of getting spirits easily and often would be closed. The " quart bottle clause " was the Verdun of the Board's policy, assailed again and again, yet finally holding its own as an element in the scheme of war-time defences against insobriety. The case against the clause was that it led to (1) more " on " drinking of spirits at licensed premises ; (2) the clubbing together of friends or neighbours to buy a quart and consume it at a carouse ; and (3) the purchase of a quart by hotel guests who drank immoderately in their bedrooms instead of moderately at the bar. Some of the criticism was without foundation. It was freely asserted, e. g., that the drunkenness of Glasgow was due to the Board's insistence on the purchase of not less than a quart of spirits for " carrying away " ; whereas, in point of fact, throughout the Clyde district, including Glasgow, the " quart bottle clause " was never applied by the Board. Careful scrutiny of results led to the conclusion that, as a war-time precaution, the measure was justified, and for these reasons : by stopping the " off " sale of spirits in pocket flasks and other small vessels, it contributed materially to the suppression of (1) intemperance amongst troops travelling by train, ' (2) the introduction of flasks of spirits into shipyards and munition works, (3) the purchase of spirits by seamen to carry on board ship, and (4) the general practice of fre- quent resort to the public-house for small quantities of spirits for home consumption. Perhaps the best tribute to the 1 Ordinary whisky bottles (six to a gallon) hold " a reputed quart." ^ Second Report of the Central Control Board (liquor Traffic), p. 12. THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 155 usefulness of the clause was the demand of the Admiralty authorities, in the autumn of 1917, that it should be enforced throughout the Firth of Forth area, in view of the importance of sobriety to the naval interests in and around Rosyth ; for this demand came after two years' experience of the Board's Orders, both in districts where the " quart bottle clause " obtained, and in neighbourhoods like the Clyde where it had not been applied. (3) The third device to meet difficulties connected with the " off " sale of spirits requires only brief comment. That spirits must not be sold in an open vessel was a regulation framed to prevent one of the minor causes of intemperance. That every bottle of spirits should bear a label showing where it was sold was a precaution suggested by the police, and by the officials of the " Trade " in the interests of " Trade " discipline. The label served as a clue to the law-breaker. D. Peohibition of the Sale of Spirits within Certain Areas At the call of the Admiralty, the Board prohibited the sale of spirits, " off " and " on," throughout wide though sparsely populated districts in the north and west of Scotland.^ The Order stopped the sale of spirits as beverages within the dis- tricts defined, but importation was not prohibited. The effect on the civihan population was probably not very great ; for spirits could stiU be purchased beyond the area and de- hvered by post, rail or road, and this class of trade increased .^ Yet the prohibition, by preventing the sale of spirits within the area to Service men, unquestionably aided Service efficiency. E. A " Spirit-less " Week-end The " spirit-less " week-end was a late development of pohcy. It was appUed experimentally to Carhsle, at the close of 1916, and to the greater part of the Western Border Area ^ in February 1917. It meant the stoppage of all sales of 1 The sale of spirits for medical and emergency purposes on an order signed by a doctor, magistrate, etc., was excepted from the prohibition. 2 It would have been impracticable, in the circumstances of war-time, to have enforced an Order against importation. 3 To the counties of Kirkcudbright and Dumfries, a considerable part of Cumberland, and two parishes in the county of Roxburgh. 156 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE spirits, " on " and " off," on Saturdays. Since entire Sunday Closing was already the rule throughout the district, there could be no legal commerce in spirits from Friday night until Monday noon. Saturday, as the general pay-day, was at once the time when the largest sales of spirits took place and the curve of insobriety rose highest. It is no over-statement that drunken- ness in industrial centres was concentrated at the week-end, and " broken time " in works and yards was ordinarily at its maximum on Mondays. The remarkable decline in drunkeimess in the Western Border Area, following the Order for a " spirit-less " week-end, will be described in Chapter IX. III. Restrictive Conditions of Sale A. TREATINC4 Prohibited Before the War Under the Control Board No restriction on treating. The Order in standard form ^ prohibited treating to intoxicat- ing liquors in licensed premises and clubs. The one exception was the serving of liquor with food : a man could treat his friend to drink if at the same time he treated him to a meal. To lessen evasion, the pro- hibition was extended to any liighway, open ground, or rail- way station near the place where the liquor was served. Reason for the Prohibition. — On treating as a custom making for inefficiency in industry and the Services, evidence taken at the Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester Conferences is to- the point — Glasgow. — " You get half a dozen men going in, and, while one refreshment might suffice, it ends in every one standing a treat, and the result is that, instead of one drink, the man has generally six before leaving the pubhc-house." 1 Article 7 of Order for Eastern Area, Appendix V. THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 157 Edinbitbgh. — " It is a common practice in Edinburgh, especially among workmen, when they leave off work at one o'clock on Satur- days, that a group, say five or six, go into the nearest pubHc-house, and then they do what is termed in Scotland " stand their hand," or, in other words, they treat each other. That means before they leave they have taken five or six drinks each, and on an empty stomach, that very frequently sends a man reehng home, if not drunk, very nearly drunk." Manchester. — "In two cases known to me, soldiers back from the front have declared that they were glad their leave was short because they could not put their heads out of doors without having drink pressed on them by total strangers. . . . Four Red Cross men told me that they can neither go on or off duty at the mihtary hospitals without being pressed to drink by strangers in the streets who hang round the hospitals for news." Treating, like the goodwill which prompted it, was universal. Pay-day was a likely time for its free practice, biit it has been noted that the custom was old, and in a way characteristically British, and did in fact obtain where two or three boon friends foregathered. One exception was made to the prohibition : a person treat- ing a friend to a meal could pay for liquor served with the meal and consumed at the same time. Discrimination could not in practice be carried further. It was impracticable to frame a rule, as some suggested, which would allow the occasional act of hospitality of friend to friend, or even of husband to wife, and yet stop the group-drinking of which the Edinburgh account was typical. The Order to be effective must affect all. Responsible public opinion sustained the prohibition which, though difficult to enforce, did unquestionably diminish intemperance.^ One way of evasion, attempted when the edict against treating first came into force, was for a customer to pay for drinks at the bar, bring them outside, and treat his friends on 1 A mark of its worth as an aid to sobriety in the Services is seen in the fact that the Naval and Military authorities at a later date took similar power to prevent treating. This was on December 22, 1916, when the Board's prohibition had been in force above a year. The Service Authorities used their new power in places outside the Board's areas like Shrewsbury. (See final form of Defence of the Eealm Regulation 10.) When the Chairman of the Westminster and Chelsea Licensed Victuallers Association wrote Major-General Sir Francis Lloyd (commanding the London District) protesting against the proposed No-treating Order for London, General Lloyd replied : " While wishing to meet the views of your Society in every possible way, I must say that I think the stopping of treating will be a very great boon to the country at this juncture." — Licensing World, September 25, 1915. 158 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE the pavement or somewhere else near at hand. This was countered by adding a clause to the Order making " con- sumption on the premises " include " consumption of intoxicat- ing liquor in or on any highway, open ground, or railway station adjoining or near to the licensed premises or club in which the liquor was sold or supplied." All parties to the act of treating were liable to penalty : the seller ; the person who ordered, or lent money to pay, or paid for the drink ; and the consumer. B. The " Long Pull '' Prohibited Before the War Under the Control Board The "long pull " was freely The Order in standard form^ given. prohibited the " long pull," or over-measure of beer, given by a publican to attract custom — a form of illegitimate competi- tion long condemned by Licens- ing Justices, and discountenanced by " Trade " officials. Reason jor the Prohibition. — The " long pull " was, in effect, treating by the publican to draw trade to his house. He gave over-measure of beer to stimulate the sale of beer. The " long pull " was given both in the "on " and " off " trade. Licensing Justices had frequently called attention to this form of ille- gitimate competition among licence -holders ; the Birmingham Bench, e. g., had tried by negotiations with the local " Trade " to stop the practice. " Trade " Societies had sought, but with relatively little success, to stamp out this disloyal custom. The iU -fated Licensing BiU of 1908 proposed to extend the authority of Licensing Justices in a number of ways ; amongst these, the Justices were to have power to make it a condition in renewing an " on " licence that the " long pull " should not be given. The Board adopted the terms of this proposal of the 1908 BiU, and included in their Order in standard form the following Article — No person shall either by himself or by any servant or agent in any Ucensed premises or club sell or supply to any person as the measure of intoxicating Hquor for which he asks an amount ex- ceeding that measure. 1 Article 9 of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 159 C. The Retail Sale of Liqttor on Credit Prohibited Before the War Sfirits.—A debt for spirits for " on " consumption was irrecover- able unless amounting to £1 at least and incurred bona fide at one time — an unlikely cir- cumstance. This used to be the law f or " off " sales also, but by an Act of 1862 the quantity instead of the price was made the test, and the law permitted the recovery of a debt for not less than " a reputed quart " of spirits.^ Beer, ale, porter, cider and perry. — No action could be brought to recover a debt for "on" sales of these liquors.^ (This did not apply to Scotland). Notwithstanding these checks on the giving of credit, there is no doubt that credit for liquor was freely given. Under the Control Board The Order in standard form ^ required that the payment for any intoxicating hquor sold or supplied in a licensed premises or club should be made before or at the time when the liquor was supplied, dispatched or taken away. This applied both to "on" and " ofi " sales. Nor must liquor be intro- duced into an area under the Board's control unless paid for in advance. Reason for the Prohibition. — Even the mild checks to the giving of credit, represented by the pre-war legislation indicated above, show that the State recognised the social dangers of the practice. It encouraged home drinking. It put a premium on alcoholic excess. A speaker at the Manchester Conference instanced a working man who paid in " two con- secutive weeks lOs. M. and 6s. QcZ. to the landlord for the previous weeks' arrears for liquor; and before he left the pubhc-house at the end of the second week had started a new debt." That was probably more typical than unusual as an example of " strap," as credit for liquor was colloquially knovra in the North. " Workmen look upon that debt as a debt of honour, and pay it before any other bill," more than one speaker asserted. But the custom prevailed throughout society, and should not be thought of as touching the working- 1 Tippling Act, 1862 (25 and 26 Vict., Chapter 38). " County Courts Act, 1888, Section 182 (51 and 52 Vict., Chapter 43). ^ Article 8 of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. 160 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE class only. Scottish magistrates, in the days before the War, reiterated warnings to licence-holders to refuse credit. Since ready money is better than deferred payment, the Board's prohibition of credit had its advantages for the " Trade." The prohibition applied solely to sales to private customers. An explanatory provision made it clear that the Board's Order as a whole did not affect " the sale or dispatch of intox- icating liquor to a trader for the purposes of his trade or to a registered club for the purposes of the club." ^ D. Medicated Wines : Declaration of Alcoholic Strength Reqxtired Before the War Under the Control Board No declaration required. Medicated Wines must bear " a label correctly stating in clear and legible words or figures the amount of proof spirit contained." 1. The Select Committee on Patent Medicines, whose Report was published in 1914, found that " grave injury is caused to the public by the existing large sale of medicated wines." ^ " Weighty opinions," they said, " have been quoted to us regarding their mischievous effects. . . . The alcoholic con- tents of these wines is very high. . . . The alcoholic strength of well-known brands of medicated wines was stated to us as follows — Per cent. Per cent. Bovril Wine 20 Spiers & Pond's Wine . 17 Lemoo Wine 17 Savar's Wine . . .23 Wincarnis 19-6 Coleman's Coca Wine . 16 Bendle's Wine 20 Hall's Wine .... 17-8 Glendinning's Wine 20-8 Vin Mariani .... 16 Ambrecht's Coca Wine 15 St. Raphael Tonic Wine 16 * The proprietor stated this percentage to be about 17 per cent, of absolute alcohol. (Q 10407). "... Thus, though we cannot take responsibility for the foregoing figures, it would appear that many of these wines '^ Article 12 (d) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. - Report from the Select Committee on Patent Medicines (414), p. xxvi. THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 161 and preparations are as alcoholic as the strongest wine, and most of the rest are about twice as intoxicating as ordinary claret. One wineglassfnl of a 20 per cent, wine or preparation contains three and a half teaspoonfuls of absolute alcohol; one wineglassful of ' Wincarnis ' three teaspoonfuls. The recommended dose of ' Wincarnis ' equals one wineglassfxil of whisky per day.i . . . There can be no doubt that many persons acquire the ' drink habit ' by taking these wines and preparations, either knowing that they are alcoholic, since they can be purchased and consumed without giving rise to the charge of ' drinking,' or in ignorance that they are highly intoxicating liquors." ^ The Select Committee recommended — " That every medicated wine, and every proprietary remedy containing more alcohol than that required for pharmacological purposes, be required to state upon the label the proportion of alcohol contained in it." ^ 2. There was ground for thinking that the Board's restric- tions might be accompanied by an increased demand for medicated wines, which could be bought at the chemist's under the guise of medicine. The Liverpool Justices took this view and moved the Board to act. A Women's Advisory Com- mittee, appointed " to inquire into and advise the Board re- garding the alleged excessive drinking among women," recom- mended " the statement on the labels of medicated wines of the amount of alcohol contained in the bottle." The British Medical Association favoured the proposal. The Board's Order requiring these preparations to bear a label stating the amount of proof spirit contained therein was made on July, 6, 1916. The exceptions to the rule should be noted.* It was of course open to a critic to argue that the 1 Report from the Select Committee on Patent Medicines, pp. xiii, xiv. 2 Ihid., p. xiv. ^ Ihid., p. xxviii. ^ The Control Board's General Order relating to the sale of Medicated Wines provided that : " no pezson shall either by himself or by any servant or agent sell or supply to any person in any licensed premises for consumption ofi the premises or dispatch therefrom any intoxicating liquor in the form of or prepared as (a) medicated wine or (6) any mixture or preparation which contains any drug or medicament or is sold or advertised for sale as containing or purporting to contam medicinal properties except in a bottle or other M 162 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE sale of medicated wines would be stimulated by the public advertisement of their high alcoholic content. But, on balance, the advantage seemed to he in making it clear to persons who took these wines as tonics that they were, in fact, consuming a liquor as intoxicating as sherry or port. E. " Supervision " in Glasgow Dock Area and at Rosyth An interesting experiment in the neighbourhood of Glasgow docks should be noted. The Board's restrictive poUcy went far to meet the need of most industrial neighbourhoods, but the liquor problem on the Clyde was tough and intractable. The Glasgow dock district was the worst patch of all. The fuU scheme of restrictions was, of course, in vogue, with the exception of the " quart bottle clause " which was never apphed to the Clyde district. Restrictions reduced the problem but did not remove it. Ships still lost tides because of failure to secure full crews at the appointed hour for sailing ; delays were fewer, but numerous enough seriously to affect Admiralty projects. The Board, under Regulatioii 2 (/),^ could — " require the business carried on in any hcensed premises in the area to be carried on subject to the supervision of the Board." A Supervisor was appointed to exercise, under a special Committee of the Board, powers delegated to him. The sale and supply of liquor in 108 public-houses and 29 licensed grocers' establishments, all near the docks, were placed under his direction, and notice given to the licensees to observe his instructions. The experiment succeeded. The efficiency of vessel bearing a label correctly stating in clear and legible words or figures the amount of proof spirit contained in such medicated wine or mixtuie or preparation. Provided always that nothing herein shall be deemed to afieot the sale of — (a) Any medicine mixture or preparation appearing in the British Pharmacopeia or the British Pharmaceutical Codex; or (b) Any medicine mixture or preparation which is made up for a customer on the signed prescription of a medical practitioner ; or (c) Medicated or methylated spirits or spirits made up in medicine and sold by medical practitioners or chemists or druggists." ' See Appendix IV. THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OP THE BOARD 163 labour in the dock area improved. Breaches of the Order were checked, and drunkenness decreased. With the growth in naval importance of Rosyth and neigh- bouring places on the Firth of Forth, a similar system of " supervision " was established there at the desire of the naval authorities. The purpose of the scheme was to institute — as at Glasgow — a more intimate local control of the liquor trade, adapted to the peculiar needs of the district in the circumstances of war. The scheme applied to more than four hundred licensed premises, distributed over an extensive territory on both shores of the Firth of Forth. IV. Conditions as to Distribution Prohibition of Certain Methods of Pushing " Off " Sales Before the War Under the Control Board (1) Hawking of Intoxicating Liquor In England and Wales — Only liquor previously ordered Liquor must not be sold, or f o^^^ , ^e dispatched from exposed for sale, by an un- licensed premises licensed person, nor on un- The quantity, description and Ucensed premises.^ P^i"=® of , t^e hquor, and the name and address of the person In Scotland — supplied, must be entered in a Hawking expUcitly forbid- dehvery book (or invoice) car- (jgji a ried by the person delivering (The conditions in Scottish t^e liquor, and in a daybook law as to dispatch and kept on the premises from which delivery were the pre- ^^^ hqaoi was sent.^ cedent for the Board's regulations on these points in English and Welsh Areas.) 1 Spirits Act, 1880, Section 146 (43 and 44 Vict., Chapter 24,); Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, Section 65. ^ Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903, Sections 63 and 67. " The word ' hawk- ing '' shall mean and include trafficking in or about the streets, highways, or other places, or in or from any boat or other vessel upon the water " (Section 107) It was unnecessary, in view of this, to apply the provisions concern- ing hawking to the Board's Scottish Areas. ^ Article 4, paragraphs (a) (6) (c) (d) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. 164 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Before the War Under the Control Board (2) Canvassing for Liquoe Ordbes Orders for liquor must not be Soliciting or canvassing for solicited or taken by any un- liquor-orders by any person, licensed person, except a bona elseAvhere than at licensed iide traveller for a licensee; premises, was forbidden, such a traveller could take Sending order-forms for liquor orders " for goods which his was also prohibited. ^ employer is duly licensed to deal in or sell." ^ (3) "Cash on Deli'.'bry" Systems of Liquor Sales No restriction. Liquor must be paid for at the licensed premises before or at the time of dispatch. Payment on behalf of the cus- tomer by any one in the service or employment of the vendor was also prohibited.^ 1. Reasons for the Prohibitions. — English law recognised the perils of traffic in liquor away from licensed premises, and set out to provide against them, but left wide gaps in the lines of defence. Hawking liquor, in the sense of selling it or exposing it for sale at a place not covered by the licence, was declared illegal ; but this did not prevent, e.g., a vanman or drayman calling at private houses to take orders for liquor for later deUvery, nor did it prevent him from taking payment for liquor. These and kindred forms of sale were known in most industrial districts, and had grown into an important and lucrative branch of the " Trade." The social danger of such modes of pushing sales was that opportunity and facility for obtaining drink for consumption at home were multiplied. In Birming- ham. Liverpool, Bristol and South Wales, in particular, strong representations were made on this point to the Board. It was rightly urged that the restrictions on sale in public-houses and clubs would be nullified if the traffic in the street and on the doorstep were unrestricted. Home drinking would certainly grow. " On "-licensees pressed this argument as well as Licensing Justices. 1 Inland Revenue Act, 1867, Section 17 (30 and 31 Vict., Chapter 90). ^ Article 4, paragraphs (e) (/) of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. 3 Article 4, paragraph (g), and Article 8 (" Credit prohibited ") of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 165 The Liverpool Licensing Committee, in November 1915, after three months' experience of the Board's original Order, which did not deal with " canvassing " and " cash on deUvery sales," forwarded this resolution to the Board— " The Liverpool Licensing Committee, while expressing satis- faction at the result of the Order of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) in Liverpool, view with concern the increasing trade in the delivery of beer at the homes of the people, and request the Board to consider the matter Avith a view to checking this growing evU." The danger was the greater because it was not infrequent to " cut " prices for this " family " trade below the scale of charges at licensed premises. Ingenious systems of stimulating sales were in vogue. A firm of " direct beer distributors " advertised the division of £6000, as a bonus, among their customers. Those who registered as holders of a £1 share were to receive the largest bonus : the cash to be paid for a share was apparently 2s. Gd., the remainder of its presumed value was to be deducted from the profits of future business. In many places order forms bearing words such as, " Please supply weekly until further notice . . . bottles of beer to . . ." were printed as addressed postcards, and distributed far and wide. A vanman called weekly with the liquor, for which payment was collected at the door. The law against hawking aimed to limit the sale of liquor to places hcensed for the purpose ; but methods such as these sought to establish, and did establish, a big trade in hquor at the doors of the homes of the people. 2. Purpose of the Prohibitions. — The Board's methods to check these modes of pushing the sale of drink were developed stage by stage. In its final form,^ which came into force on April 17, 1916, their Order dealt thus with the three matters named above — (1) A better machinery, modelled on the Scottish Act of 1903, was set up to detect and prevent breaches of the law against hawking. No liquor could be dispatched from licensed premises unless previously ordered. Particulars of liquor 1 See" Article 4 of Order for the Eastern Area, Appendix V. 166 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE dispatched must be entered both in a day book kept on the premises of the Hcensee, and also in a delivery book, or invoice, carried by the vanman or messenger ; and any constable had the right to examine the goods en route, and the entries relating thereto. (2) Sohoiting and canvassing for hquor orders — ^save at hcensed premises- — and the sending of order-forms for liquor were prohibited. (3) Article 8, which forbade sales on credit, together with the requirement that liquor must be paid for at the hcensed premises before or at the time of dispatch, made all " cash on delivery " sales illegal. The Order also forbade any one employed by the licensee — say, a vanman — from making payment on behalf of the purchaser. V. The Range of the Restrictions, and the Administration of the Orders 1. The restrictions applied evenly and equally to all licensed premises and registered clubs. The expression " licensed premises " was defined to include " any premises or place where the sale of intoxicating liquor is carried on under a licence." ^ Apart from the exceptions to be named, in the areas under Control, the Orders of the Board applied to the sale and supply of liquor in the following — Beerhouses and public -houses. Restaurants and hotels. Retail wine and spirit dealers' premises having an Excise but no Justices' Hcence. Grocers' and other shops where goods besides liquor were sold. Registered clubs. Passenger vessels. Railway refreshment rooms. Railway restaurant cars. Theatres, music halls and other public buildings. Premises for which an " occasional licence " was granted. Canteens (other than Naval or Military). ' Defence of the Realm (Liquor Control) Regulation 27. The definition in the Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, was narrower : " the expression ' licensed premises '' means premises in respect of which a justices' licence has been granted, and is in force." (Section 110.) THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 167 Sales of liquor to private purchasers direct from breweries, distilleries, the premises of wholesale dealers, and from the manufacturers of " sweets " — i.e. of liquor made from fruit and sugar — were also under the Board's control. Conversely, to obviate needless interference with strictly wholesale business, the Board's Orders did not apply to the sale or dispatch of intoxicating liquor to — A trader for the purpose of his trade. A registered club for the purposes of the club. Navy and Military Canteens. ^ 2. Where, prior to action by the Board, either the competent Naval or Military authority, or the Justices under the Temporary Restriction Act, had cut down the hours of sale, it was generally understood that the Board's Order superseded the earlier Order. 3. All kinds of intoxicating liquor were within the scope of the Board's restrictions, using the expression " intoxicating liquor " in the sense in which it is defined in the Licensing (ConsoHdation) Act.^ 4. To contravene an Order of the Board was a summary offence against the Defence of the Realm (Consolidation) Regulations, 1914. The maximum penalty was a fine not exceeding £100 and six months' imprisonment with hard labour. The goods in respect of which the offence was com- mitted might be forfeited. The penalty inflicted was usually much smaller, though here and there fines approaching the maximum were imposed. The measure of respect for the law, or — to look at it from the other side — the measure of evasion of the Order was undoubtedly influenced by the treatment meted out to offenders. If fines were slight, observance was hkely to be lax. If fines were heavy, there was an added motive for strict comphance. The attitude of the Justices to enforcement affected — not unnaturally — ^the regard paid to the requirements of the new Orders. The judgment of Sheriff-Substitute Guy, which, in effect, treated the Board's 1 See Article 12, paragraphs (d) and (e) of Order for Eastern Area, Appendix V. ^ " The expression 'intoxicating liquor ' means spirits, wine, beer, porter, cider, perry, and sweets, and any fermented, distilled or spirituous liquor which cannot, according to any law for the time being in force, be legally sold without an excise licence."- Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, Section 110. 168 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Order as ultra vires and invalid, was followed by a striking increase of convictions for drunkenness in Scotland, an increase which continued until the judgment was reversed. 5. The Board had power to stop the sale and supply of drink in any licensed premises or registered club. The Tliird Report of the Board showed that up to the end of April, 1917, this power had been exercised in respect of 105 licensed premises in which the sale and supply of liquor was prohibited for the remainder of the current licensing year. It was the Board's practice to confine this measure to cases in which, on a report from the Cliief Constable, they considered that " the circumstances of a conviction for an infringement of the Order are such that it is not safe, in the interests of the proper control of the liquor traffic, that the premises should remain open." ^ VI. Restrictions not Imposed Of the suggestions made to the Board which did not bear fruit, a few suggest comment. 1. Sex Discrimination. — It was seriously and strongly im- pressed on the Board that drinking amongst women, alleged to be on the increase, would only be checked if more severe restrictions were placed on women than on men. The sug- gestion oftenest made was that women should be excluded from pubhc-houses in the later hours of the evening ; and it will be recalled that the military authorities imposed such an Order at Plymouth and a few other places. The Board did not take this course. It would have been opposed to a modern view of justice as between the sexes, as Labour representatives and the spokesmen for women's social and industrial organisa- tions forcefiilly argued. Accordingly the Board held to their decision to place no restriction on women whicii did not apply equally to men. 2. The Rationing of Drink. — Suggestions for rationing the " off " sales of liquor were made in various quarters, and an interesting and detailed scheme was put forward by a group 1 Third Report of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), p. 9. At the end of September, 1917, the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor had been stopped, for the remamder of the current licensing year, in 139 licensed premises and i registered clubs, THE RESTRICTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 169 of Liverpool social reformers. They proposed the setting-up of local District Committees to administer a system of drink- permits. The system was based on recent developments of the Gothenburg (Sweden) policy. It was urged that excessive home drinking would be effectually stopped if the drinker had to obtain a permit for the purchase of drink for " off " consumption, and was unable to obtain more than the maximum quantity stated thereon. Permits were to be granted only to approved applicants not under twenty-five years of age. The scheme was bej^ond the statutory powers of the Board. But that apart, there were practical objections. The permits were to apply to " off " sales only, and a not unnatural result would have been the stimulation of " on " sales. Also it was fairly clear that a permit system could not be worked success- fully in one locality alone, for it would have been impracticable to stop residents from buying liquor in neighbouring towns, and to check the importation of liquor into the permit-area. A permit system must be national to have any chance of success. When the Food Controller cut down the liquor output there were suggestions in the press that a national permit system should be devised. That was a matter for Parliament to decide, and the subject was never seriously discussed in the House. 3. Heavier Penalties for Drunkenness. — From employers, some spokesmen of the Temperance group, and the " Trade " generally, there frequently came requests that the compara- tively trifling penalties sometimes imposed by magistrates for drunkenness should be increased. Drunkenness, in a time of intense national strain, was a serious weakening of the spirit of duty and discipline, as well as a direct cause of loss of efficiency. The legal punishment for drunkenness, it was argued, should correspond with this grave view of the offence. The Home Office had, in point of fact, stated in a circular to magistrates and poKce, in the areas scheduled by the Board, that in war-time " drunkenness is anything but a veiaial offence ; it may amount to a serious crime against the community." '^ The simplest way to secure heavier penalties would have 1 Answer by Mr. Herbert Samuel to a question by Mr. Wing in the House of Commons on March 14th, 1916. 170 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE been to increase the scale of penalties for drunkenness ^ ; and at the same time, in common fairness, to increase the penalties for permitting drimkenness, and for selling liquor to a drunken person. This would have involved an Act of Parliament. The view of the Government appeared to be that legislation of this nature could be better considered in time of peace as a subject of social reform rather than as a question of war-time urgency, and no legislative action was taken. ^ The maxima penalties for simple drunkenness were (1) a fine of 10s., (2) a fine of 20s. for a second offence within twelve months, and (3) a fine of 40s. for a third or subsequent offence within twelve months. For drunkeimess with aggravations a fine of 40s. or one month's imprisonment might be imposed. CHAPTER VII THE CONSTRUCTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD The Board's constructive enterprises were these — I. The Provision of Industrial Canteens in shipyards, dock areas, and munitions works. II. Direct Control of the Drink Trade, following Ptirchase, at Enfield, Invergordon, Gretna and Carhsle. III. The Attempt to Stimulate the Sale of Food on Licensed Premises. IV. Encouragement of the Sale of Light Beer. V. Investigation of the Effects of Alcohol. This was entrusted to a Committee of medical men who advised the Board on specific questions. I. Industrial Canteens The " Industrial Canteen Movement " assumed large pro- portions. It promises to ailect permanently and advantage- otisly the commercial life of Britain. There is therefore good reason for rehearsing in full the story of this fruitful evangel, of which the Board was the missionary. The tale is told in the next chapter. Within the two years which this record covers, the Board secured the provision of more than 700 Industrial Canteens : 1 50 were established in the new National Factories, over 500 in " controlled establishments," and 60 in shipyards and dock- areas. II. Direct Control, Following Purchase This, again, was an enterprise of such magnitude and enduring importance as to demand detailed description. State Purchase 171 172 THE CONTEOL OF THE DRINK TRADE and Direct Control were attempted on a large scale at Gretna and Carlisle ; the story of what was achieved there is told in Chapter IX. Schemes on a smaller scale were carried through at Enfield Lock on the northern fringe of London, and at Invergordon and Cromarty on Cromarty Firth. An accomit of the Enfield experiment (which in a unique way illustrates both the method of Direct Control and one phase of the Industrial Canteen Movement), and of the Invergordon scheme, is given below. The total number of licensed premises acquired by the Board in their four Direct Control enterprises, up to the end of September, 1917, was as follows^ — Area. , Breweries. 4 " On" Licences. " Off " Licences Licences Suppressed after Purchase because Redundant. Enfield . . . Invergordon and Cromarty Gretna (including Annan) Carlisle (city) Carlisle (distiiot) 4 9 20 104 71 1 4 8 12 6 13 46 25 Total . . . 4 203 25 89 The foregoing table illustrates one of the conspicuous advantages of Direct Control following purchase : of the total of 4 breweries and 233 licensed premises acquired, 2 of the breweries and 89 of the licensed premises were closed as redimdant. DIRECT CONTROL AT ENFIELD LOCK The Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock was speedily extended, after the outbreak of war, almost beyond recognition, and the working-strength of the Factory multiphed many- fold. A canteen to seat 1000 persons was erected within the works, but this was insufficient for the army of new workers ; 1 The figures for the Maryport extension of the Carlisle (district) area are not included, as the transfer of properties was incomplete at the time of pubhoation. THE CONSTRUCTIVE WORK OP THE BOARD 173 and the men at meal-times thronged the four nearest pubUc- honses, or ate their food along the roads, in wet or cold weather fmding such shelter as they could beside outbuildings and hedges. The meal -hour spent in the close and crowded rooms and passages of the neighbouring public-houses, or in out- door wandering, without proper provision for the service of a meal, scarcely abated — maybe intensified — the weariness of the worker. When the Board issued their Order for the London Area they were quickly thrown into touch with the Enfield problem. A deputation of the men, who recounted their grievances, was received. It was beyond dispute that more canteen provision must be made, and by the State ; for the inrush of labour had broken down a victuaUing system based on private ownership and devised for normal times. The four " on " licensed houses near the Factory were taken over by the Board, and in this way, on January 4, 1916, the State, for the first time in modern England, entered business as a retailer of liquor. An " off " licence near at hand was acquired a little later, thus placing the Board in complete possession of the facilities adjacent the works for the sale of liquor. The policy pursued was (1) to limit the sale of liquor to the meal-times, and (2) to extend the accommodation for the supply of meals by the erection of dining-halls in which wholesome meals could be served in comfort. (1) The hours for the sale of liquor were limited to 4| per day, appointed so as to meet the needs of successive shifts of workers. (2) The " Greyhound " and the " Royal Small Arms " — two of the four "on" licensed houses acquired^were practically rebuilt. Mr. Montagu, as Minister of Munitions, attended the reopening of the " Greyhound " in November, 1916. The reconstructed building, spacious, airy and comfortable, was soon supplying an average of a thousand meals daily; and although the increased accommodation made it possible to deal with four or five times the former number of customers, the liquor-receipts in the first half-year only doubled, while the food-sales increased almost sevenfold. The reconstruction of the " Royal Small Arms Tavern " was completed in June, 1917, and from the first the new 174 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE building was crowded at meal-times. " In the original building some hundreds of men of each shift during the meal-times sought accommodation in eight small rooms, a small temporary outbuilding, in the passages, and on the stairs. During the night-shift the rooms were crowded, many of the workers being unable to find places to sit down ; the dimly-lit passages were lined with tired men seeking what rest they could by leaning against the walls, and the atmosphere was indescribable. In the place of these unwholesome rooms, one main dining- hall was erected. Between 2000 and 3000 men per day find accommodation in the building. Within a quarter of an hour of the commencement of each shift, the whole of the 600 seats in the hall are occupied. The facilities for obtaining well-cooked and cheap meals, in healthful and pleasant sur- roundings, undoubtedly react on the health of men and help to maintain their efficiency." ^ The good-wiU of the workers went out to the new venture.^ A Committee of the men was chosen to assist in the manage- ment of the new canteens. By general consent the Enfield Lock enterprise resulted in an increase of sobriety, good feeling, and working-ability. DIRECT CONTROL AT INVERGORDON AND CROMARTY Bef,ore the war, Invergorden and Cromarty were quiet fishing villages on the Cromarty Firth, with populations of 1100 and 1200 respectively; the fleet used to make Cromarty a summer station for firing practice and manoeuvres, but otherwise there was little to interfere with their seclusion. The outbreak of war changed all. The Cromarty Firth was selected as a naval base, a dockyard estabUshed, and repair shops erected. The little village of Invergordon was speedily transformed into an industrial town, and also became a play- ^ Report of the General Manager. ^ It is of some significance that at the reopening of the " Greyhound," as a workers' food-and-drink canteen, an address was presented by the men to Lord D'Abemon, as Chairman of the Board, expressing " sincere appreciation of the efforts which have been exercised in regard to their comfort and accom- modation ... in the reconstruction of the ' Greyhound.' They regard it as a model of what all public-houses should be in industrial places." The " Royal Small Arms Tavern " was officially opened by the Duke of Connaught on October 12, 1917. THE CONSTRUCTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 175 ground for Jack ashore. Cromarty, less affected industrially, was crowded with sailors and soldiers. The influx of labourers and artisans, soldiers and men from the fleet, and the coming and going of patrol boats and auxihary craft, made it necessary to secure a firmer control of the drink trade in the two towns. It was decided that the measures requisite to efficiency could best be taken under a scheme of Direct Control ; and in April 1916 the Board acquired the licensed premises at both places. There were at the time in Invergordon two hotels with public bars, two pubUc -houses, and three licensed grocers ; and at Cromarty two hotels with public bars, three public-houses and one licensed grocer. The policy following State Purchase was framed with special regard to naval requirements. The " off " and " on " sales of liquor were separated, " off " sales being concentrated at one licensed premises in each of the towns, and ceasing alto- gether at hotels and public-houses. " Mixed trading " was suppressed ; of the four licensed grocers' shops, two were dislicensed ; at the other two the sale of groceries was dis - continued, and the premises used solely as the depots for " off " sales of liquor. " Off " sales were permitted to residents only, and — as a precaution against the smuggling of liquor into hutments and aboard ship — a list of " off " sales was supplied to the naval authorities weekly. Five of the thirteen licensed premises were deemed redundant, and closed. Special hours for the sale of liquor were arranged to meet the desires of the naval authorities ; 4| hours per day were appointed, 2| at midday and 2 in the evening. The special feature of Direct Control at Invergordon and Cromarty was that it involved the acquirement of hotels as well as public-houses. It would have been difficult to shut off the bars in the hotels from the business as a whole, and perilous to leave the bar trade under private competitive management. The Board, therefore, purchased the hotels ; and, as these afforded the only available accommodation for the famihes of naval officers, they were constantly full. At the time when the Board assumed Direct Control, con- victions for drunkenness were frequent, but the lessening of hours, the restraints placed on " off " sales, the careful manage- ment, and particularly the counter-attractions provided for 176 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Service men, gradually reduced intemperance, and sobriety and public order were at length re-established. A Local Advisory Committee was formed, comprising representatives of the Navy, the Army, the local authorities and the dockyard workers, and rendered valuable assistance. III. The Attempt to Stimulate the Sale of Food on Licensed Premises 1. The traditional function of the licensed victualler is to supply refreshment, both food and drink. " At common law, if a man keeps an ' inn,' ^ that is, a house of entertainment for man and beast, or, rather, for travellers, he is bound, if he has accommodation, to receive and procure food for the traveller, and may be indicted or become liable to an action if he refuses to receive the traveller when he has accommoda- tion, and can make no reasonable objection." ^ Licensing Justices can refuse the renewal of an old "on" licence on the ground that the licensee has persistently and unreasonably refused to supply suitable refreshment, other than intoxicating liquor, at a reasonable price ; and in such a case, the Justices are deemed to have refused the licence because the premises were ill-conducted.^ 2. When the Board determined to restrict the hours for the sale of liquor, they were careful not to curtail facihties for the sale of food and non-alcoholic refreshment. On the contrary, 1 An "inn " has been variously described. It is a place "instituted for passengers and wayfaring men" {Calye's Case, 8 Co. Rep. 32; 1 Smith's Leading Cases (11th Ed.), 119). An inn is " a house where a traveller is furnished with everything he has occasion for, while on his way " (Bayley, J., in Thompson v. Lacy (1820), 3B. & Aid. 283). An inn is " a house, the owner of which holds out that he will receive all travellers who are willing to pay a price adequate to the sort of accommodation required, and who come in a situation in which they are fit to be received " (Best, J., ibid.). — Paterson's Licensing Acts, 1917, pp. 473-4. 2 Paterson's Licensing Acts, 1917, p. 473. An act passed in the first year of James I, 1603, defined " the antient, true and principal use of inns, ale-houses, and ' victualling houses ' to be for the resort, reUef, and lodging of wa3rfaring people, travelling from place to place, and for such supply of the wants of such people as are not able by greater quantities to make provision of victual." — F. W. Hackwood, Inns, Ales, and Drinking Customs of Old England, p. 181. 2 Licensing (ConsoUdation) Act, 1910, Second Schedule, (Supplemental). The Scottish Licensing Courts have power, under the Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903, to require every holder of a certificate to provide and display eatables to the extent prescribed by bye-law. THE CONSTRUCTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 177 one of their aims was to increase these. The Order in standard form permitted the opening of licensed houses for the supply of food and non-intoxicants from 5.30 a.m. to the usual evening closing hour on all days of the week.i As an earnest of their desire to stimulate the sale of food in pubhc-houses, the Board addressed a circular to licensing authorities in the scheduled areas, suggesting that the Justices might undertake a survey of the licensed houses of their district to discover " what are the needs of their district in this respect," and " how these needs are being met." In districts where the population had increased by the influx of munition or transport workers, it was suggested that any structural alterations " intended to give extended accommodation for meals " should be sym- pathetically considered by the Justices, always provided that " satisfactory undertakings are given that the extra accommoda- tion will be used for the purpose for which it is intended." 3. The Board's effort met with only a modest measure of success, and it is interesting to note why this was so. There were, of course, numerous licensed houses, chiefly in residential districts, where the demand for food was negligible ; it is not surprising that of houses of this class many closed for all purposes during the hours in which liquor could not legally be sold, for there was not a sufficient call for non-alcoholic refreshment to make it worth while to keep the house open. An entirely different class of house was that which stood near large works, or in market or business centres. Here there was frequently a steady demand for meals, which many licensees habitually catered for, and were already fulfilling the purpose which the Board sought to serve. The hope of an expansion of a food trade lay chiefly with licensees in suitable districts who had not heretofore given much attention to this branch of business ; and it cannot be said that the Board were able to induce any considerable number of them to cater in a promising way.^ In some houses not much ^ See p. 139. The permitted opening hour for the supply of non-intoxioants in London was 5 a.m. ^ The following interesting comment is from the Manchester Ouardian " History of the War "— " The liquor restrictions might have provided the country with the chance of watching a very interesting social experiment. As licensed premises could remain open for their old hours, so long as intoxicants were not served during the prohibited times of the day, the country had suddenly achieved the most N 178 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE could have been done without structural alterations ; and, in addition to the feeUng on the part of some Benches that more space to seU food might really mean enlarged opportunity to sell drink, there was lack of enterprise on the part of licensees. The attitude of many seemed to argue, " Liquor pays best." On the other hand, the hcensed victuallers of certain towns, notably Cardiff, made a united and determined attempt to develop the victualling branch of their business, not altogether without success. Naturally, most was accomplished in muni- tion and transport areas, and it will be shown in the chapter on Gretna and Carlisle that the Board's own experience in the provision of facilities for the sale of food and non-alcohoUc refreshment was decidedly encouraging. It is fair to say that not every pubhcan who made a bid for a " food trade " found a public response ; there were those who tried, and abandoned the experiment simply because supply did not create demand. Experience seems to show that the British public-house under the " tied " house system is for the most part regarded, both by the " Trade " and the public, as a drink shop. The rapid growth in recent years of cafes, and restaurants of all grades, is a mark of the prefer- ence of the public, under present conditions, to purchase meals elsewhere than at the public-house. The huge additions to the working population of many centres, for which the growth of the munition industries was responsible, gave the opening for new business on a great scale ; but a very large part of this business was secured by the Industrial Canteen Movement, as the next chapter wiU establish. ample opportunities for testing out the possibilities of the teetotal public- house. It can hardly be said that those opportunities were taken up with any determination or enthusiasm. Many urban public-houses made a point of closing down altogether during the prohibited hours — clear proof that those houses at any rate regarded themselves solely as drinking shops, and deoUned to take any trouble to develop the other and appropriate sides of their trade. The better-class houses remained open all day, and by supplies of tea, coffee, and non-intoxicants gave a Uttle feeble encouragement to the notion that they were primarily intended as places of social intercourse. Hardly any took steps to make themselves and their provisions as attractive as the average teashop and caf6. The public-house, as ordinarily understood, evidently rehed on alcohol to supply its own glamour." THE CONSTRUCTIVE WORK OF THE BOARD 179 IV. Encouragement of the Sale of Light Beer 1. By light beer is meant, in this chapter, " any beer which on analysis of a sample thereof at any time is found to contain not more than 2 per cent, of proof spirit." That it was desirable to encourage the consumption of lighter liquors is obvious, but the difficulties were numerous, and not the least were due to the requirements of the revenue. Liquors which for aU practical purposes may be called non-intoxicating, containing but a small percentage of alcohol, were for revenue purposes looked upon as " intoxicating " and " exciseable " — the latter being perhaps the better word to use. This was so with beer of a low alcoholic strength. If brewed at a brewery, notwithstanding that it contained under 2 per cent, of proof spirit — ^the standard used in the definition of beer in the Finance (1909-10) Act i— it might stiU be " exciseable " and therefore in the legal sense "intoxicating"; whereas if not brewed at a brewery it escaped the excise duty ^ and there- fore was not deemed " intoxicating." As a further conse- quence, such liquor if brewed at a brewery — and naturally that was the likeliest place of production could only be legally sold during the hours when the Board permitted the sale of intoxicating liquor, i. e. for a maximum of 5J hours per day. 2. This was an altogether illogical position. The Board attempted to remedy it. As a definition of light beer they adopted the standard suggested by the Finance (1909-10) Act (viz. that it should not contain more than 2 per cent, of proof spirit) ; and, leaving out of consideration the gravity and the place of manufacture, they permitted any beer of this description to be sold on weekdays during the " pro- hibited hours " of the forenoon and afternoon. To diminish the possibility of intoxicating liquor being sold during these ^ " The expression ' beer ' includes ale, porter, spruce beer, black beer, and any other description of beer, and any liquor which is made or sold as a description of beer or as a substitute for beer, and which on analysis of a sample thereof at any time is found to contain more than 2 per cent, of proof spirit." — Finance (1909-10) Act, Section 52. 2 Light beer, containing under 2 per cent, of proof spirit, of an original gravity not exceeding 10-16 degrees, made elsewhere than in a brewery, was taxed as " table waters." — Finance (New Duties) Act, 1916, Section 4. 180 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE hours under the guise of Kght beer, the following safeguarding conditions were laid down. Licensees or secretaries of clubs who decided to sell light beer under the terms of the Board's Order, must — (1) Give not less than seven days' previous notice to the police. (2) Close their premises for all purposes at the evening hour (9 or 9.30) appointed by the Board for the cessation of the sale of intoxicants. The morning sale of light beer was not to commence before 9 o'clock. 3. The experiment was reasonably successful. Beers were produced in considerable variety, not exceeding 2 per cent, proof spirit, some of which obtained a fair sale, especially in " dry " canteens in munition works where intoxicating liquor was not sold.i Unfortunately, just when the initial difficulties were diminish- ing, and a public demand beginning to grow, a new and appar- ently insurmoimtable difficulty arose. The Order of the Pood Controller, which took effect on April 1 1917, reduced, for reasons of economy of food-stuffs and sea-tonnage, the total output of beer to ten million standard barrels for the cur- rent year. This cut down the supply of light beer. It would not have done so, had the brewing of light beer been excluded by the Food Controller from the scope of his Order; but, unhappily — as far as the efforts of the Board were concerned — the supply of light beer was coimted as a part of the total quantity of beer which brewers were permitted to brew. Naturally, brewers, who had to meet a demand for beer out of very limited supphes, were unwilling to produce Ught beer in large quantities, since to do so reduced the quantity which they could brew of normal gravity. The supply of the lighter product was therefore unequal to the demand, and the opportunity to familiarise the public with it was diminished. It is not implied that the pubUc demand for light beer 1 Light beer was cheaper than ordinary beer. In the summer of 1916 the general price of light beer in London was l|rf. per glass, Z^d. per pint ; in Glasgow IJrf. per glass, 3d. per pint. THE CONSTRUCTIVE WORK OP THE BOARD 181 was sufficient to justify a belief that it would speedily replace the heavier intoxicating beverages ; but it is a fact that, until the Food Controller's Order, light beers had a steady and increasing sale. This is sufficient to suggest that the placing of a satisfactory light beer on the market may yet prove a valuable aid in the solution of the problem of intemperance. V. Investigation of the Effects of Alcohol At an early period in the work of the Board it was found that problems of practical importance were arising, the satis- factory solution of which was hampered by the lack of definite and reliable knowledge regarding some of the physiological effects of alcoholic beverages. To take a simple but suffi- ciently illustrative instance : no data were available from which to give an answer to the question whether there is any difference as regards inebriating action between beer and spirits other than could be accounted for by difference in their alcoholic strength. There were, no doubt, confident asser- tions on the point, some writers stating very positively that the alcohol in beer is more rapidly absorbed, and that this beverage therefore causes intoxication more readily. Others were equally sure that the absorption of the alcohol in beer is decidedly slower ; but on neither side of the argument was there adequate evidence. There were similar gaps in know- ledge with regard to other questions, important from a prac- tical point of view. To meet this difficulty, the Board invited the co-operation of a number of scientific workers of recognised authority, and in November, 1916, an Advisory Committee was appointed with the following reference — To consider the conditions affecting the physiological action of alcohol, and, more particularly the effects on health and industrial efficiency produced by the consumption of beverages of various alcoholic strengths, with special reference to the recent Orders of the Central Control Board; and further to plan out and direct such investigations as may appear desirable with a view to obtaining more exact data on this and cognate questions. 182 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE The Committee was under the Chairmanship of Lord D'Abernon, and consisted of the following members- — Professor A. R. Cushny, M.D., F.R.S Dr. H. H. Dale, F.R.S. Dr. M. Greenwood. Dr. W. McDougaU, F.R.S. Dr. F. W. Mott, F.R.S. Sir George Newman, M.D. Professor G. S. Sherrington, M.D., F.R.S. Dr. W. C. Sullivan. After a careful survey, the Committee decided to undertake independent investigations regarding certain specific problems, as, for instance, the influence of dilution on the physiological effects of alcohol. A practical outcome of the work of the Committee was the publication of a volume entitled Alcohol : Its Action on the Human Organism. The purpose of the work was to present an impartial statement of the contemporary position of physiological knowledge on this fundamental subject. CHAPTER VIII THE INDUSTRIAL CANTEEN MOVEMENT I. Grounds for Action 1. The need for ensuring a proper food-supply for industrial workers is so patent that one marvels at the absence of organis- ing effort directed to secure this before the War. Apart from the initiative of a good employer here and there, the War found whole areas of industrial Ufe — ^the shipyards were a conspicuous illustration — where the need was ignored or regarded as entirely the concern of the workers themselves. This was an inheritance from the hard unimaginative in- dividuahsm which pervaded commerce in the nineteenth century. Yet, to put it on no higher ground, the physical fitness of the worker goes far to determine his output, and fitness is impossible without the regular provision of nourish- ing food. In factories and workshops the position at the outbreak of war in 1914, as described by the Chief Inspector of Fac- tories, was this : "a large proportion of workpeople live so far from the factories that they cannot go home for meals, which have to be taken in any place available, and often with dirty hands, for in many works — even in dusty trades — there are no means of washing. Excellent mess-rooms and restau- rants where cheap and good meals can be obtained ... are found in an increasing number of the larger factories, hut the cases are not yet very numerous." ^ Of the shipbuilding districts the summary of the Home Ofiice investigators, included in the famous White Paper of April, 1915, is an authentic accormt — " Attention is drawn in the reports to the fact that many of the workmen take insufficient food, which not only increases the temp- 1 Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops, 1914, p. 3. 183 184 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE tation to drink, but makes the effect of the liquor taken more in- jurious, so that the result is to incapacitate the workmen for the strain of heavy work. The men whose homes are near the works are able to obtain meals without difficulty, but owing to the lack of housing accommodation many workmen are obliged to travel long distances to get to their work. . . . The usual practice is for the workmen to take cold food with them, which is generally consumed in the public-houses with their liquor. Reference is made in some of the reports to cases where food could not be obtained at the public-houses, and it is evident that the sale of drink is out of all proportion to that of food. The reports emphasise the need for mess-rooms and canteens in the yards where the men could get good meals in comfort without having to resort to the public-houses. Such accommodation is very rarely provided." ^ 2. The war-time demands on the worker to " speed up " the delivery of munitions aggravated the defect, for " extra output of energy necessarily depends at least in part on im- proved quality and increased quantity of food." ^ Nor was it solely a question of better provision for existing bodies of workers. The growing units of labour at works where stores of war were made, the colonies of labour settling around the new National Factories, and in particular the massing together of girl- and women-workers in munition areas, compelled a swift reconsideration of the situation. Private employers in no small numbers, and the State as employer, were dis- posed to adopt a fresh policy. In this sphere, at any rate, the War forced the pace of reform. A better beginning became possible. The opportunity was seized. The " Industrial Canteen Movement " was the Board's answer to the call of the hour; and the general welcome to the Movement gives ground for the belief that in the future an Industrial Canteen will be deemed an essential part of the equipment of a well- ordered factory. 3. The Knk between the supply of food and the control of drink was formed by choice and not by chance. Mr. Lloyd George, in the speech which introduced the Plan of Control, pointed to " the inadequate provision of food for the men in and around the works," and asserted the determination of the Government "to use either licensed premises, or any other premises in the areas, for the purpose of supplying 1 Shipbuilding, Munitions and Transport Areas, p. 18. = Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops, 1914, p. 48. THE INDUSTRIAL CANTEEN MOVEMENT 185 reasonable refreshments to the men engaged in these burden- some tasks." Mr. Bonar Law gave frank support to this proposal : " one of the things which have been made per- fectly plain in all the discussions about the drink evil is this," he said, " that the evil is not entirely due to the supplying of drink, but that it is due also to the want of facihties for the supplying of food which should be taken at the same time." More food, less drink, was the formula, and it was a sound one. Liquor Control Regulation 5 gave the Board the requisite authority to act. Its terms were — " The Board may either them.selves or through any agents establish and maintain in the area, or provide for the establish- ment and maintenance in the area of refreshment rooms for the sale or supply of refreshments (including, if thought fit, the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor) to the general public, or to any particular class of persons, or to persons employed in any particular industry in the area." The appointment of a Canteen Committee, to investigate and recommend lines of action, was one of the earhest decisions of the Board. " It devolved upon the Board to secure the supply of proper and sufficient nourishment for the worker in order to maintain his health, to increase his energy and output, and to diminish or prevent fatigue and exhaustion. The circumstances of the moment emphasised the desirability of vigorous action. The enormous and rapid increase in the number of munition workers, their concentration in well- defined districts, the local difficulty in obtaining food at reasonable prices, the distance from the factory at which many of them lived, all these were conditions which made more acute and pressing the whole problem of the food supply of the workers." -^ II. Surmounting Difficulties 1. Some employers were quick to move. Those who had tested the canteen system, and found its worth, were ready to extend it. Others, who recognised the plan to be socially 1 Second Beport of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), p. 18. 186 THE CONTROL OP THE DRINK TRADE right, took advantage of the necessity to reorganise and adapt their works to the manufacture of munitions, and included Industrial Canteens in their new equipment. Other firms, again, had no option; where works were built remote from the homes of the workers, and distant from cookshops or cheap restaurants, a sufficiency of labour could not be ob- tained and retained unless adequate canteen provision was made. Difficulty centred where the workers could bring their food to work, or buy meals near at hand. In two groups of workers, taken at random, it was found that only 151 men out of 592, and 136 boys out of 1280 went home to dinner at midday ; ^ three-fourths of the men and an even larger proportion of the boys bought food or brought it. The easy- going assumption in such instances was that aU was well. Yet, " given suitable food " — and inquiry showed that this could not always be counted upon — " the conditions under which it is taken have next to be considered. A hurried, uncomfortable meal loses much of its value. Food brought from home and consumed in workrooms only just vacated, without proper table or seating accommodation and in vitiated air,- is likely to lead to digestive troubles. Posture, atmosphere, temperature, and surroundings are all against a proper enjoy- ment and utihsation of the meal." ^ Add to this the facts of industrial overstrain, and weariness caused by long journeys to and from work and by unwholesome housing — facts abund- antly illustrated in Chapter IV — and the case for the canteen was more than made out. Apart from sheer unwilhngness, or the insuperable difficulty at some works of finding a site, the common obstacles were (1) the expense, which was often heavy, and (2) inability to find a staff to work a canteen. (1) At first an attempt was made to provide canteens by voluntary agency. The Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., the Munition Workers Canteen Committee, the Women's Legion, the Church Army, the Salvation Army, the British Women's Temperance Association and other bodies appealed for pubhc subscriptions, 1 hulustrial Efficiency and Fatigue (Interim Report), p. 105 (Cd. 8511). - Second Interim Report on an investigation of Industrial Fatigue by Physio- logical Methods. A. F. Stanley Kent, pp. 47-8 (Cd. 8335), THE INDUSTRIAL CANTEEN MOVEMENT 187 and numerous canteens were set up. " The advantages of this method . . . were considerable, as the societies were able to recruit large numbers of voluntary workers for service in the canteens and were thus able to set them going more speedily than would have been possible under any other system. At first sight it appeared that the " voluntary " system was susceptible of practically imlimited development provided that the necessary funds were forthcoming, and in order to ease the situation in this respect the Board obtained Treasury authority to pay grants-in-aid to approved voluntary societies up to one-half of their capital expenditure on canteens for munition and transport workers." ^ It is due to the voluntary societies to set on record the national service which they rendered at a time when, but for their zeal, the lot of the munition worker would have been far less endurable. " It was not long, however, before the flow of public sub- scriptions for the provision of canteens for munition workers became exhausted. The public, on whom numerous demands were being made in other directions, evidently considered that these canteens should be provided by those who jointly with the workers reaped the benefit of their establishment." ^ With the waning of the public response to the appeal for frnids, " it was obvious that some special stimulus would be necessary to induce employers to incur the capital expenditure involved in providing canteen accommodation." The new lever was an offer to " controlled establishments " that a part or all the capital cost of a canteen scheme, approved and sanctioned by the Board, could be deducted by the employer from the sum which otherwise he would have had to pay to the State as war-time " excess profits." ^ In practice this usually meant that the employer bore the cost of the site and a fraction of the cost of the building, while he could treat the main part of the outlay on the canteen and its equipment as a trade expense met out of funds which — apart from the provision of the canteen as a national-efficiency asset— would have accrued to the National Exchequer. In Government munition works — the Royal Arsenals and the National Factories — the Minister of Munitions authorised 1 Third Report of the Central Control Board {Liquor Traffic), p. 10. 2 Ihid. pp. 10-11. 188 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE the erection of canteens at the charge of the State, entrusting the Board with general responsibihty for their organisation. (2) The embarrassing lack of a staff to work a canteen was frequently overcome by utilising the willing services of one of the voluntary societies named above. At Liverpool Docks, e. g., on sites provided by the Mersey Dock and Harbour Trust, the canteens for dock workers were staffed by the Y.M.C.A. In scores of other places volunteers came forward to aid in this good work. At one time it was estimated that not less than ten thousand voluntary helpers were rendering service in this way. 2. The Canteen Movement had also to make headway against the settled habit of the workers to cater for them- selves. An Industrial Canteen is really a large, well- appointed communal dining-hall, and the broadening out of habit which it represents had to win way against the con- servatism of custom nowhere more tenacious than in the ritual of food — its choice and price, the place of the meal, and the company in which a man prefers to eat. The general practice had been to bring food from home, or to purchase it at neighbouring coffee-shops or at public-houses serving " snacks." While these methods may often have been satis- factory, that was far from being invariably the case ; and dependence upon " carried food," or on local sources of supply, frequently resulted in underfeeding. The advantages of better cooking, a more varied menu, more comfortable surroimdings, and reasonableness of cost gradually told in favour of the canteen principle. The association of the workers in the actual management was also, where adopted, an important factor in securing goodwill and " smooth running." In some large factories each shop appointed a representative to a Canteen Management Committee. III. Growth of the Movement 1. Sir George Newman, Chairman of the Canteen Committee of the Board, summarised the aims of the Industrial Canteen Movement thus — (a) In order to mitigate and if possible neutrahse the lure of the public-house to the tired worker, who perhaps had little or no other THE INDUSTRIAL CANTEEN MOVEMENT 189 means of obtaining refreshment, it was realised that a counter- attraction must be created in the form of a pleasant and well- equipped canteen for his special use. At this canteen he should be able to obtain nourishing meals, at low cost, in the time at his disposal, and at a place conveniently near his work. (b) It was recognised that much of the evil arising from the drinMng habit — whether dietetic, industrial or convivial — was due to the relatively poor feeding arrangements which obtain in many of the homes of the workers and in the cookshops of the industrial and poorer quarters of towns. The well-fed man is not as a rule the chronic drunkard, or " tippler." To provide suitable and sufficient canteen accommodation seemed therefore likely to prove of direct value in the efiort to secure national sobriety. (c) The more striotlj^ industrial problem also formed a part of the Canteen Committee's undertaking. From the outset the Committee were confronted with the custom of the worker to bring his own meals, due partly to the preconceived idea that all meals bought ready prepared must be more expensive and less economical than meals prepared at home. " Carried " food of this sort is as a rule insufficient, unsuitable and unappetising, and leads the worker to hanker after beer or spirits to make it appetising. It leads also to physical inefficiency, particularly perhaps where women are concerned. Women must have good, appetising and regular meals if, without breaking down, they are to do the heavy and continuous work often required of them. It was also realised that if effective work was to be done at night, it was essential to provide the worker with nourishing and stimulating food. In fact, the more the Committee considered the industrial problem in relation to the control of the drinking of alcoholic beverages, the more they appreciated the importance of the provision of good food as an indispensable condition of obtaining and maintaining maximum output of energy and labour. 2. Conferences with employers and workmen, the circulation of explanatory literature, visits of the Board's officers to munition works of all sorts, and the inclusion of a model canteen in the National Economy and Welfare Exhibition of 1917, were among the Canteen Committee's modes of pro- pagandism. A wide extension of the Movement resulted. At the end of August, 1917, 710 Industrial Canteens for munition and transport workers had been established, or were approach- ing completion. The following Table shows their distribution in dock-areas, National Eactories, and " controlled establish- ments," with the number of employees in the industrial under- takings affected. 190 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Industbial Canteens Established in the Ftrst Two Ybaes OF THE BoAKD'S WoEK ' Number of Approximate number of employees canteens. in establishments where canteens 1 were provided. For Transport Workers at Docks In National Factories . In controlled establishments 60 150 600 70,000 200,000 630,000 710 900,000 Of the total of 710, about 130 were established or staffed by voluntary societies, the remainder by the firms concerned.^ Well over 95 per cent, of the canteens were " dry," that is to say, no intoxicants were supplied in them. Where, here and there, a canteen was registered as a club, so that Kquor could be served, the Board made a special Order pro- viding that no intoxicating liquor should be supphed except beer, and limiting to one pint the amormt to be supphed to each person for consumption with a meal. A fairly successful experiment was also made by the grant of certificates, to 25 canteens, for the sale of light beer containing not more than 2 per cent, proof spirit ; but the difficulty of obtaining regular and sufficient quantities, under the Food Controller's " limita- tion of output," severely handicapped the attempt. The grants-in-aid to voluntary societies, and the sums expended on canteens which employers were permitted to write off in the calculation of " excess profits," totalled £1,133,713, at the end of August, 1917. The gain to the health, contentment and efficiency of the workers was cheaply purchased at this price, which, throughout the two years, did not cost the country more than a few hours of the cost of waging the War. 1 Note should also be taken of the catering for munition workers in hostels under the direction of the Welfare and Health Section of the Ministry of Munitions. There were, in the autumn of 1917, in England and Scotland, nearly 500 hostels where munition workers were housed, and over 50 Best Homes. Of the former, 216 were men's hostels, accommodating approxi- mately 22,800 men, and 276 women's hostels, accommodating 24,000 women. Some of the hostels were provided by the Government, others by religious or voluntary associations, and others again by munition firms. With the exception of four, all the hostels provided either full or partial board. O Pi o s CO O THE INDUSTRIAL CANTEEN MOVEMENT 191 IV. Some Practical Considerations The four illustrations show, better than words, what an Industrial Canteen looks like without and within, with its cooking apparatus, and its meal-service in full activity. Where the number of workers is too small to justify the building of a Canteen, or where all that is required is an airy, well-lighted apartment in which the workers can warm and eat the food they bring, a simple mess-room may suffice. Whether it be a modern Industrial Canteen with complete appointments, or but a plain mess-room, it is essential that the building should be near the works, and easy of access. Other- wise, because of the limited time available for meals, there is a tendency to faU back to the old way of self -catering. Whatever system of management is adopted, it should be the aim to make the canteen as attractive as possible to the workers, to enable them to feel that it is their canteen and not a charitable institution, a place where they can expect a good meal at a reasonable price, and where the atmosphere of the works is left behind. Rules and regulations should be reduced to a minimum, and the workers' legitimate wants studied as far as possible. Success depends on careful and sympathetic administra- tion ; economical bujdng ; a fair and reasonable tariff ; a varied and appetising menu ; quick and convenient service of meals ; the provision of a " light refreshment " counter ; arrangements, where necessary, for suppers and night-shift meals ; provision for " hotting -up " and cooking food brought by the workers ; and a swift and easy method of taking cash- payments.^ All this implies an adequate and skilled staff both in the kitchen and dining-hall. V. Results It is impossible to isolate one " welfare " factor in a large works and determine statistically to what precise extent it 1 Plans for Industrial Canteens of four types, and detailed advice on questions of canteen design, equipment and management, will be found in Feeding the Munition Worker, a pamphlet prepared by the Canteen Com- mittee of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic). (H.M. Stationery Office, 6^.) 192 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE has contributed to improved time-keeping or output. The Industrial Canteen won favour most surely where other human- ising methods were in vogue. The appointment of a Welfare Supervisor, the adequate provision of rest-rooms, cloak-rooms, lavatories, ambulance stations, etc., and the improvement of lighting, warming and ventilating arrangements, all told in the same way. They enhanced the comfort of the workers, and, without doubt, favourably influenced the quantity and regularity of industrial output. The following testimonies from employers, in whose works Industrial Canteens were established, give a fair view of the value of the Canteen as one factor in the better ordering of factory life.^ A Lancashiee Projectile Factory " The majority of our people are resident in the surrounding districts and not more than 10 per cent, can go home to their meals, as there is no tram service to the factory and the number of 'buses running can only deal with the transport of 200 people. There 1 There is a valuable comment in the Report of the Commissioners for the North-Bastem Area (July 12, 1917), in connection with the Commission of Inquiry into Industrial Unrest. The Commissioners say — " Our attention was directed to the question of the lack of adequate canteen provision. It was explained to us that a serious obstacle in the way of establishing canteens was that however desirous employers might be to provide canteens, they sometimes found it impossible to do so owing to the fact that all the available space at their works was occupied by expensive plant. In some cases canteen accommodation had been provided and it was alleged that it had not been taken advantage of. We beheve that two of the reasons which have mihtated against the success of canteens are : — Inadequate provision of facilities for work- men to wash and tidy themselves, leading to men having to sit down to meals just as they leave their bench or machine ; and the difficulty of serving meals with sufficient dispatch without employing an unduly large stafi of attendants. There are no doubt other minor causes, such as inabihty to obtain reasonable refreshment in the shape of beer, which need not be referred to in detail. We are of opinion that notwithstand- ing the want of success which has in some instances attended the attempt to estabhsh canteens, the provision of adequate canteens would be of great advantage to the workmen. Under present conditions men have frequently to travel long distances to their work, and when employed on overtime this involves the carrying of food for several meals ; under such circumstances the food is apt to become unappetising if not un- wholesome. The existence of a Canteen where good meals could be had at prices within the means of the workman, would materially improve this state of affairs, and might incidentally have an indirect bearing on the housing problem, as tending to remove the workman's objection to live at a distance from his employment." The Commissioners for the North-Eastem Area were Sir Thomas Munro, Mr. Philip Bright and Mr. Heiu?y Davies. Canteen at a " Controlled Establishment.'' Kitchen oe Caijtben at a National Pkojectile Factory. THE INDUSTRIAL CANTEEN MOVEMENT 193 are no restaurants in that cater for this class of customer, and therefore the canteen is an absolute necessity and the factory could not be run without it. . . . The better facilities for the people to obtain good food at proper times, well cooked and well served, have undoubtedly had a great influence. Broken time has dropped from about 12 per cent, at its worst in January to the neighbourhood of 5 per cent, at present." An Ikonworks in Kent " We consider our Canteen has been of considerable benefit to our work-people and that it makes for better time-keeping, in their returning promptly after the meal hours are over. In very many cases our work-people had to go outside for their meals long distances, dependent on trams and other means of transport, and this caused a fair average of them to be late in returning to the works. During the winter time they have been able to have their breakfast and dinner in comfort, and this we think considerably helps towards efficiency. We cannot say definitely that the output has increased since we erected the Canteen, but wo are perfectly certain that we have more contentment and efficiency." A Midlands Motor Works " That the Canteens are appreciated by large numbers of our workpeople is undoubted, and the fact that our employees are able to obtain weU-cooked meals unquestionably contributes to their health and powers of production. Especially is this the case with men living some distance from the works, who formerly occupied most of their dinner hour in getting to and from their homes, with the result that the mid-day meal was a scrambled affair and the men returned to their work very little the better for it. " To translate, however, the benefits arising from the Canteen into units of production is quite impossible, and one can only express the general opinion that the installation of the Canteens has had a beneficial effect." Another Midlands Motor Works "It is difficult to say how far the Canteens favourably afiect output, but there is no doubt in our mind that they are a very considerable gain in every way, and we back up our opinion by spending many thousands every year in supporting them." A Kent Munition Works " We have found the Canteen a very great boon to these works. In fact we are of opinion that it would have been impossible to ■"carry on" with the increased numbers of employees without a similar establishment. We find that on an average about 500 females -and 350 males attend the Canteen dafiy. This is of course in o 194 THE CONTROL OP THE DRINK TRADE addition to the number who still prefer to use the mess-room, where they can obtain hot water, and have the food, which they bring, cooked for them. We should like to point out that we feel the Canteen has become more to the workers than a mere place for obtaining food. We have, during the winter season, run in the Canteen on Thursday evenings a cinematograph show for the employees, and on Tuesday evening the Works Entertainments Committee have run a concert, both with great success. Further, various meetings in connection with the Sports Club, etc. have been held there, and we feel sure that it has been looked upon as a great asset for their benefit by the people here." A Midlands Munition Works " For our part, we are more than fuUy convinced that but for the excellent meals and facilities afforded to the employees we should have failed to obtain the output which we have done, as many of the employees — particularly the girl workers — would no doubt have contented themselves with makeshift meals and food of other than nourishing descriptions, Ukely to have an injurious effect on their health. On this account, we feel assured that the provision of suitable Canteens is permanently beneficial to the working and output generally, and a very considerable factor in producing the best results. " We would particularly emphasise the importance of the pro- vision of Canteens as regards the nightshiEt workers." A Black Country Tube Works ' " The Canteen at these works was buUt before the War started, but was not complete, and the opening was delayed owing to war conditions. Since it opened, we have turned the management over to a Committee of 24 of our workmen, with our Welfare Super- visor as Chairman. "It is undoubtedly doing a great deal of good, and is greatly appreciated by our men and boys, and the numbers who attend are continually on the increase. In the month of June we supplied 8592 dinners. The dinner hour at these works is from 1 o'clock to 2 o'clock, and from 1.30 to 1.50 each day we have a musical entertainment, or someone to speak to the men, the musical enter- tainment being almost entirely provided by our workers. " We have also a Boys' Athletic Club with a gymnastic instructor, and have some 90 boys who attend these classes. During the summer months the classes have been discontinued, but will re-start in the autumn. . . . " We are of the opinion that a works which employs anything like 3000 men, women and boys is an organisation which rightly demands that some department should exist which looks after their material weKare, apart from any question of wages. This was our view before the War, and it has been much strengthened by our experience since our Canteen and Club were started." THE INDUSTRIAL CANTEEN MOVEMENT 195 The third Memorandum of the " Health of Munition Workers Committee " supplements usefully the foregoing testimonies. The benefits following the establishment of an effective and well-managed Canteen are direct and indirect, say the Com- mittee. " Among the former has been a marked improvement in the health and physical condition of the workers, a reduction in sickness, less absence and broken time, less tendency to alcoholism, and an increased efficiency and output ; among the latter has been a saving of the time of the workman, a salutary though brief change from the workshop, greater contentment, and a better mid-day ventilation of the work- shop. The Committee are satisfied that the evidence of these results is substantial, indisputable and widespread. In the isolated cases where the canteen has failed it has been evident that its failure has been due to exceptional circumstances, misuse by the workers or mismanagement. In almost all large works the Committee find that there is a body of men or women (averaging at least 25 per cent.) who in the interest of physical health and vigour need canteen provision at the factory. They are convinced that this group of ill-fed workers accounts in a large degree for such inefficiency as exists, and that its energy and output is reduced in the absence of suitable feeding arrangements. . . . " The Committee have been impressed not only with the improved nutrition manifested by the users of the Canteen, but by a lessened tendency to excessive consumption of alcohol, by the prevalence of the spirit of harmony and content en- gendered, and by an increase in efficiency." VI. The Future of the Industrial Canteen Movement It is fortunate that a movement so fraught with hope and advantage for British industrial life has secured the promise of permanence. The Industrial Canteen has come to stay. A new social habit is being formed. Moreover, statutory powers have already emerged. The Police, Factories, etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1916, contains a Section em- powering the Home Secretary to require the occupier of any factory, or workshop, to secure the welfare of the workers by 196 THE CONTROL OP THE DRINK TRADE " arrangements for preparing or heating, and taking, meals." The vahio of the large number of canteens established at the instance of the Board, as an aid to industrial efficiency and goodwill, v/as patent. Parliamentary sanction was readily secured to the proposal that it should be within the com- petence of the Home Secretary, as responsible for the adminis- tration of factory law, to direct the special provision of mess- rooms and other " welfare " arrangements in factories and workshops. As the firstfruits of the Act of 1916, Orders were issued, in the autumn of 1917, requiring the provision of mess- rooms in tin-plate works, and in factories where the process of chrome tanning is carried on. The full text of the relevant clauses of the Act which enabled these Orders to be made is quoted below. ^ The future of the movement is therefore guaranteed, provided that public opinion adequately sustains the administration of the law. 1 (1) Where it appears to the Secretary of State that the conditions and circumstances of employment or the nature of the processes carried on in any factory or workshop are such as to require special provision to be made at the factory or workshop for securing the welfare of the workers or any class of workers employed therein in relation to the matters to which this section apphes, he may by Order require the occupier to make such reasonable provision therefor as may be specified in the order, and if the occupier fails to comply with the requirements of the order or any of them, the factory or workshop shall be deemed not to be kept in conformity with the Tactory and Workshop Act, 1901. (2) The following shall be the matters to which this section applies — Arrangements for preparing or heating, and taking, meals ; the supply of drinking water; the supply of protective clothing; ambulance and first aid arrangements; the supply and use of seats in workrooms; facilities for washing; accommodation for clothing; arrangements for supervision of workers. (3) Orders may — ■ (o) be made for a particular factory or workshop, or for factories or workshops of any class or group or description ; (6) be made contingent in respect of particular requirements upon apphoation being made by a specified number or proportion of the workers concerned, and may prescribe the manner in which the views of the workers are to be ascertained; (c) provide for the workers concerned being associated in the manage- ment of the arrangements, accommodation or other facilities for which provision is made, in any case where a portion of the cost is con- tributed by the workers ; but no contribution shall be required from the workers in any factory or workshop, except for the purpose of providing additional or special benefits which, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, could not reasonably be required to be provided by the employer alone, and unless two-thirds at least of the workers affected in that factory or workshop, on their views being ascertained in the prescribed manner, assent. — Section 7 of the Pohce, Factories, etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act. CHAPTER IX STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE I. The Transformation of the Western Border 1. In few parts of the United Kingdom was social life so disorganised by the War as in that stretch of country wMch flanks the Solway Firth. Gretna, which became the pivot of the transformation, was a pastoral village just over the Border in Scotland, sought out by tourists for its fame as the scene of the runaway marriages of a century or more ago. Carlisle, in 1914, was a placid cathedral city, proud of a history stretching back to the early centuries of British Christianity and laden with the memory and romance of border-strife ; its chief claims to modern commercial importance were the convergence of the northern railway lines which gave to the city a measure of in- dustrial fame and activity, a few factories and foimdrieS; and the traffic which flowed in from the encircling belt of rich agricultural land. Carlisle, in 1916, was astir with the multi- tude of National Factory workers who poured out of the city to Gretna at dawn, and back to the city at dusk, essentially changing by their numbers and habits the ways of civic life. In the autumn of 1915 the decision was taken which revolu- tionised the Western Border. A site surrounding Gretna, and extending some miles on either side of the Border, was selected by the Ministry of Munitions for one of the largest of the new National Factories. The scheme involved the erection not only of factory buildings spread over acres of meadowland, but^ — ^literally — the creation of a town to provide, in due time, for the housing, feeding, and recreation of thousands of muni- tion workers. Drafts of navvies and other labourers invaded the district to make roads and railways ; construct drains, and lay cables for light and power ; erect workshops, hutments, 197 198 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE mess-rooms and stores ; and prepare for all the apparatus of a modern township. 2. No local resources could be expected to cope with the imminent danger of an outbreak of drunkenness. The inrush of the navvies doubled, and, at times and places, trebled or quadrupled the normal drinking population, so that over- crowding of the pubhc-houses, to an extent which made effective supervision impossible, was certain. The navvies were of a migratory class, mostly from Ireland, probably the majority without home associations or other inducements to restraint. They were hard-worked, earned high wages, and were likely to feel that they had the excuse, as they had the means, for indulgence in liquor. The first drafts of constructional workers came to Gretna in the early autumn of 1915, and from that date draft followed draft, so that in June, 1916, their number exceeded ten thousand and was still increasing. As to housing, they filled every available building within many miles of Gretna. Carlisle, Annan, Longtown and all the villages around Gretna were crowded to excess. Isolated units of the overflow found lodging as far afield as Dumfries, Lockerbie, Brampton, and even at Penrith, twenty-five miles from the factory. Carlisle, in addition to a huge increase of residents, had to deal, particu- larly on Saturday, with crowds of workers coming in from their quarters in the surrounding towns and villages, for food, recreation and drink. 3. A delegation of the Board met the local authorities in conference, and without delay a drink-restriction Order was made for the Western Border Area. This came into force on November 22, 1915. It applied, on the English side of the Border, to the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland and adjoining parts of Northumberland and Lancashire ; on the Scottish side of the Border, to the counties of Kirkcud- bright and Dumfries and neighbouring parishes in the county of Roxburgh. The Order placed the Board's customary scheme of restriction on this wide territory : reduction of the hours for the sale of drink to 5 J daily for " on " and i^ for " off " trade ; limitation of the " off " sale of spirits to 2| hours per day, from Mondays to Fridays, with no " off " sale at all at the week-end ; the " flask habit " condemned by the fixing of the reputed STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 199 quart as the smallest quantity of spirits to be sold for " off " consumption ; at railway refreshment rooms the " off " sale of spirits altogether forbidden ; treating, credit-sales of liquor and the " long pull " prohibited ; regulations against hawking included ; dilution of spirits permitted ; and the bona fide traveller's privilege to buy liquor in closing hours cancelled. All these restrictions apphed alike to registered clubs and licensed premises. Further, Carhsle and the parts of Cumber- land adjacent to Scotland — where Simday Closing was the law — were placed under complete Sunday Closing, so as to prevent an exodus in quest of drink from the Scottish to the English side of the Border on Sundays. It should be emphasised that all these regulations were imposed by the Board within a few weeks of the first influx of labour. Critics of the State Purchase scjieme have imphed that the life of the district was allowed to drift into wild disorder. The fact is that if a policy of restriction would of itself have met the need, no disorder would have arisen ; for the placing of restrictions on the area swiftly followed the first incoming of the navvies. It was the inadequacy of the Board's ordinary Plan of Control to meet the extraordinary local situation which impelled the Board to employ another method of grappling with a problem of unique acuteness and complexity. 4. The convictions for drunkenness are a clue to the change which the new population made, and mark the disorder which characterised Annan, Longtown and Carhsle as the invasion of casual labour grew in volume. "Unless something is done," said the Mayor of Carhsle (Alderman W. P. Gibbings) in March, 1916, " the place will soon become completely demoralised." The figures for Annan and Carhsle, for the first six months of 1915 before the Gretna workers had arrived, and for the first six months of 1916 when the Gretna inrush was increasing month by month, are these : — Convictions fob Drunkenness Annan Carlisle January-June, 1915 (no Gretna labourers) ... 6 72 January- June, 1916 (the district flooded with Gretna labourers) 146 564 For a time the neighbourhood was given over to drunkenness. 200 THE CONTROL OP THE DRINK TRADE The figures speak for themselves. The statement of a CarHsle resident cited below explains how and why intemperance gained the upper hand in and around the city.^ But the task before the Board was more than one of restoring order and quiet. Primarily it was a question of efficiency. The men whose intemperance created the problem in the towns around Gretna were Gretna labourers, erecting a National Factory for the manufacture of munitions. Drunkenness and inefficiency are cause and effect. For national reasons, even more than for local advantage, the Board were under obligation to find a new way to overcome the plague of insobriety. Hence their decision to secure, through State purchase, a strict application of the regulations already made, and freedom to apply whatever additional measures were reqtiisite. II. The Beginning and Development of the Scheme of Purchase 1. The account given above of the break-down of pubhc order disposes of the fiction that the Board embarked on a large venture in State Purchase and Direct Control solely as an essay or experiment in hcensing reform. The facts compelled action. The alternative forms of action were 1 The Rev. G. Bramwell Evens, who was resident in CarUsle throughout the period, thus describes the position in the city : " October, 1915-June, 1916 witnessed the coming of a new population. Into this quiet city of 50,000 inhabitants . . . there poured 10,000 to 12,000 of the navvy class whose hard-drinking propensity is proverbial. In addition to these, 2000 to 4000 more took up their abode in the Gretna hutments and neighbouring hamlets, making Carhsle, especially on Saturday nights, their drinking ren- dezvous. . . . The housing problem at once became acute. Small houses were simply stacked with men. Every available room was commandeered for sleeping purposes. Hundreds were compelled to board out. At night these men were practically turned out into the street until bed-time. Their landladies did not want them inside the house ; their money was wanted but not their company. . . . The caf6s and places of entertainment were crowded, and after these there only remained the pubho-house as a place of refuge. " Here, then, were thousands of men wandering aimlessly about, with no home ties, with plenty of money and with pubUc-houses at every few yards inviting them to conviviality and seeming comfort. It is not to be wondered at that scenes of the most nauseating and degrading character became a common occurrence. Men fought like beasts; fierce fights raged round the doors of the public-houses. The diminished pohoe force was unable to cope with the situation. Almost every alley was littered with prostrate drunken men. The main thoroughfare of CarHsle was Bedlam." — The Truth about Direct Control in Carlisle, p. 4 (P. S. King). Penril-hB Map or THE Gbetna AND Caelislb State Puechasb Disteicts. ' lilllkiiiliill Licensed premises in this area acquired, January — March, 1916. 2 p!|^ „ „ ,. .. .. in July, 1916. p=^;^3 „ „ ,, „ ,, from July to the close -■ i i of 1916.1 4. ^^^^ Area added after the acquisition of the Maryport Brewery. Scottish Border, whicli is the boundary between the Qretna- without-the-Township and the Carlisle Direct Control Districts. 1 Excepting certain hotels and a licensed restaurant in Carlisle. 201 202 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Prohibition, and Purchase leading to stricter regulation. Local prohibition of liquor would have been bitterly resented by the army of Gretna workers. Complete Prohibition on a national scale had been deemed impracticable by the Government, but as a policy applying evenly to all social ranks and all neighbourhoods it was not, at any rate, open to the charge of class -favouritism ; on the other hand, to single out one indus- trial neighbourhood and impose total prohibition on its popu- lation, while the sale of drink was permitted everywhere else, would have been an act of partiality that could not have sur- vived the inevitable outburst of local indignation. What could be secured was a closer supervision of the sale of liquor, and freedom to regulate the trade so as to repress the abuses which flourished in spite of restrictions and to effect reforms suited to the abnormal circumstances of the locality. The only available road to improved Control was through Purchase. 2. The historical development of the State Purchase scheme is illustrated by the map on page 201. The licensed premises at and near Longtown and Rockcliffe were taken over in January 1016, and two months later those in Annan and in the villages of Springfield and Kirkpatrick-Fleming were acquired (Area 1 on map). In July the State Purchase area was extended to include eight licensed houses in villages in Dumfriesshire and eight in villages south of the Border, into which the navvy population had come (Area 2 on map). The seriousness of the Carlisle problem led the Board to hold, in June, a series of Conferences in the city with the civic authorities, the Licensing Justices, the brewers, the Licensed Victuallers' Association, and representatives of the eight local registered clubs. In July the first group of Carlisle pubhc- houses came into the possession of the Board. There were four breweries and 120 licensed premises in Carlisle itself. Excluding certain hotels and a licensed restaurant not at that time taken over, the process of transfer went forward steadily, but it was not until the end of October that the last of the houses acquired came into the possession of the Board. It would have been futile to place the properties in Carlisle under Direct Control, and leave outside the new system of management the hou.ses in the country immediately surrounding Carlisle. A few STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 203 of these had already been purchased. Most of the remainder were taken over in the closing months of 1916 (Area 3 on map). The latest stage in development was the decision to include Maryport, and the places between that town and Carlisle. The Maryport Brewery Company, in addition to their properties in Maryport, were the owners of a considerable number of licences in Carlisle "and the adjacent country district, and these the Board were acquiring. It was finally agreed, as the most economical procedure, to add to the State Purchase area the district stretching westward to — and including — ^Maryport (Area 4 on map). The total area over which Direct Control obtains is a territory on both sides of the Solway Firth, about 500 square miles in extent, with a war-time population numbering approximately 140,000. The Board were never in advance of their problem, but dealt with it as it developed. Each extension of the principle of Pvirchase and Direct Control was a response to the national necessity which required throughout this district unusual measures for the suppression of insobriety. A single fact is sufficient to establish this : of the 953 persons convicted during 1916 for drunkenness at Carlisle, 788 were Gretna Factory workers. III. Organisation of the Direct Control Area 1. For administrative purposes, the area is divided into two districts, the Gretna-without-the-Township District lying to the north of the Scottish Border, and the Carlisle District to the South. This separation has been found useful having regard to the difference between the licensing law of Scotland and England, and even more to the differing standpoints of pubhc opinion and sentiment. Each District is under the control of a General Manager who acts under the direction of the Board. The General Manager is responsible in his District for the provision and distribution of supphes, the control of the staff, finance and accounts, the maintenance of a proper standard of supervision and conduct in the houses, observance of the licensing law and the Board's Orders, and for reconstruction of premises in consultation with the Board's architectural department. 204 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE 2. For each District a Local Advisory Committee was formed, consisting of representatives nominated by the County, Mmiici- pal and Licensing Authorities, persons of local knowledge and influence, and members of the Central Control Board.^ The police are not represented on the Committees. The Committees ordinarily assemble monthly, and the General Managers attend aU meetings. In this way, frank interchange of views between local representatives and the central authority is secured, constructive suggestions are freely made, advice is tendered on a host of details concerning which only local knowledge could form a right judgment, misunderstandings and friction are avoided and criticism becomes practical and fruitful. Any decisions of public interest are communicated to the local press. The work of the Advisory Committees has been of the greatest value in both Districts. The Earl of Lonsdale, Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland, accepted the Presidency of the Carhsle Coinmittee, and Mr. F. W. Chance, J.P., D.L., of Morton, the Chairmanship. The Chairmanship of the Gretna-without- the -Township Committee was undertaken by Mr. E. J. Brook, of Hoddom Castle. IV. The Fruits of Direct Control It was recognised at the outset that the mere acquisition of pubhc-houses and breweries was not a panacea. The object and results of the scheme of Direct Control will be radically misconceived unless it is realised that Purchase was not viewed as an end in itself, but as a means to the apphcation of 1 The Carlisle Local Advisory Committee appointed by the following bodies : — consists of representatives Number of Representatives. 4 2 IS 4 1-r I Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) Carlisle City Council Carlisle Watch Committee Carlisle Licensing Committee Carlisle Trades and Labour Council Cumberland Standing Joint Committee . . . . 1 ., Cumberland Licensing Committee . . . . . .11 County of Cumberland . ...... 1, Women members (two from the City of Carlisle and one from the ' f ;! County of Cumberland) 3 ij"*" Power is reserved to the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) to appoint a President of the Committee, and additional members, as they deem expedient. Representatives will, in due course, be added from the Maryport area. STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 205 methods necessary to repress intemperance, promote sobriety, restore public order, and advance social well-being. It should be added with equal explicitness that the object was in no degree financial. The commercial side of the under- taking was closely studied ; it was ascertained beforehand, and the estimate has been justified, that no anxiety need be felt as to the meeting of all current charges and the extinction within a reasonable period of all capital liabilities ; nevertheless the whole design was to increase not revenue, but efficiency. The new methods employed under Direct Control, were — ^in agreement with the Board's dual pohcy^ — in part restrictive, in part constructive. It will be seen that they illustrate in a striking way the inherent advantages of State Purchase. A. Further Restrictive Action Over and above the normal restrictions of the Board, re- counted a few pages back, the following restraints were placed on the liquor traffic throughout the State Purchase area — 1. Redundant and undesirable licences were suppressed; this included the suppression of all " grocers' licences." 2. Further restrictions were placed on the sale of spirits, viz. — (1) Total Prohibition of the sale of spirits in houses near the National Factory. (2) Institution of the " spirit-less Saturday." (3) Reduction of the number of houses selling spirits for " off " consumption. '(4) Mixed drinking — i.e., the custom of drinking beer and spirits mixed — was checked. 3. The " on " sale of liquor to young persons under eighteen was forbidden, excepting the sale of beer served with a meal. 4. The display of liquor-advertisements on the fronts of licensed premises ceased. 5. Complete Sunday Closing was extended with each extension of the State Purchase area in Cumberland. 1. The Suppression of Licences. — Before the advent of the Board there were in the Licensing Districts or parts of Districts afterwards incorporated in the State Purchase area — excluding the Maryport extension ^ — ^four breweries, 195 "on" hcences, 1 The Maryport extension is excluded from these statistics because the process of transfer from private to public ownership was incomplete at the time of publication. 206 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE and 20 "off" licences. Up to the end of August, 1917, 66 "on" and 18 " off " licences had been suppressed as redundant or undesirable, a total of 84. In Carlisle, also, the " off " sale of spirits was withdrawn from a number of houses which were not dishcensed. That apart, the sale of liquor ceased entirely in forty per cent, of the total number of licensed premises in the area. Take Carlisle alone. In the ten years, from 1905 to 1915, eighteen licences were suppressed. The Board, under State Purchase conditions, within a few months made a net clearance of forty -four in the city.^ The houses closed were mainly those in back streets or in the narrow courts characteristic of the ancient part of the city, structurally unsuitable and difficult for the pohce to supervise properly. The simple act of closing houses of this type was a definite contribution to public order. All " grocers' licences " were abohshed. Mixed trading in groceries and intoxicants was stopped throughout the area. There were eight " grocers' licences " in Gretna-without-the- Township and ten in Carlisle District. Of those in Gretna- without-the-Township, seven were discontinued, and in the remaining case the sale of groceries was abandoned. Of those in Carlisle, seven were discontinued ; in the other three instances the sale of groceries was given up. The concentration of business also made it possible to close two of the four Carlisle breweries.^ 2. Ftiriher Restrictions on the Sale of Spirits.- — (1) At the re- quest of the Gretna authorities the Board stopped the sale of spirits at Longtown and a few village pubhc-houses near the Factory. The Longtown prohibition took effect in mid- December, 1916, and remained in force until the autumn of 1917. (2) The Carlisle Local Advisory Committee, fearing that the result might be a large invasion of the city by spirit-drinkers from the spirit-prohibition area, decided to suspend the sale of spirits on the Saturday before Christmas, and the Saturday ^ The actual number of licences suppressed by the Board in Carlisle itself, from July, 1916 to August, 1917, was 46. New licences were given to the Gretna Tavern and the London Tavern ; and the Station Refreshment Rooms, which were formerly worked under the County Hotel licence, received a separate licence. 2 These four were the Carlisle Old Brewery, the Carlisle New Brewery, Iredale's, and the Queen's. The two latter were closed. STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 207 before New Year's Day. There was, however, no suspension on Christmas Day. The result was remarkable. On the Satur- day before Christmas Day there was only one arrest ; on Christ- mas Day, when spirits were sold for " on " consumption, there were fifteen arrests. On the Saturday before New Year's Day there were no arrests ; the prohibition was extended to New Year's Day, and once again there were none. The resumption of sale on the succeeding Saturday was marked by eight arrests. The inference was unmistakable. On Saturday, with the week's wages in hand, the chances of intemperance on the part of the spirit-drinker were at their highest. A " spirit-less Saturday" seemed to promise a great advance in sobriety; but obviously the neighbourhood affected by such an Order must be extensive, or the ease of migration would defeat the intention. Accordingly, toward the close of February, 1917^ acting on the strong recommendation of the Local Advisory Committees, the Board made an Order prohibiting the Satur- day " on " sale of spirits ^ in the counties of Kirkcudbright and Dumfries, two parishes in Roxburgh, the city of Carlisle and a considerable district aroimd. The consequence was quite in keeping with local expectation. On the twenty-three Saturdays following the " spirit-less " Order there were only seventeen arrests in Carhsle, and seven of these were on St. Patrick's Day : on the corresponding twenty-three Saturdays in 1916 there were 220 arrests. Of course the prohibition of spirits was only one amongst the series of reforms which fol- lowed Purchase, yet those who knew Carlisle most intimately placed it high on the hst of causes of improvement. (3) Before Direct Control, " off " sale of spirits in Carlisle was carried on in 101 licensed premises. These were reduced to eighteen, distributed over the city. In Annan and Longtown the policy was carried further, and " off " sales of spirits in each place limited to one building used exclusively for the " off " trade in liquor. (4) Amongst a certain class of customers it was the habit to order a glass of spirits and a pint of beer to be served at the same time. Much drrmkermess was attributed to this custom, as 1 " Off " sale of spirits on Saturday and Sunday was prohibited by the Board's usual restrictive Order. Where Sunday Closing was m force the new Order meant that no spirits could be purchased between Iriday and Monday. 208 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADll the spirits were consumed neat. The Board gave instructions to all their managers in both Districts that no order must be accepted from one person at one time for spirits and beer for " on " consimiption. The discontinuance of the practice had good results. 3. The 8ale of Liquor to Young Persons.— Under the licensing law, the " on " sale of spirits is prohibited to a young person apparently under the age of sixteen. ^ There is no reservation as to the sale of beer, save the provision in the Children Act which excludes children under fourteen from the bar of any licensed premises ; ^ and the requirement that no liquor shall be sold to a child under fourteen except " in corked and sealed vessels in quantities not less than one reputed pint," and for " off " consumption only.^ In the Agreement with their ' Carlisle managers the Board included the following Rule : " The Manager shall not sell or allow to be sold to any person apparently under the age of eighteen years for consumption on the premises (1) spirits of any description ; (2) ale, beer, stout, or porter except for consumption with a meal." 4. The Removal of lAqiior- Advertisements. — The illustrations facing this page show the " Golden Lion " pubhc-house, CarUsle, before and after Purchase, and mark the practice of the Board as to the display of liquor-advertisements. These were removed from the outside of licensed premises, nor can it be said that civic beauty suffered by their disappearance. The only present indication that a house is licensed to sell liquor is the name of the premises painted on the exterior, and the name of the licensee as manager for the Board written over one of the entrances.* 1 Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, Section 67. 2 Children Act, 1908, Section 120. ^ Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, Section 68. * " I find on my second visit here that a considerable number of drinking establishments have been v7onderfully and pleasingly transformed. Sign- boards, the ugly hoardings advertising somebody's entire ales or bright spark- ling brews, the yards of mirrors in the front windows intended to dazzle, are gone or going. In their place we have neat exteriors — ^plain windows with short green curtains and the name of the house set forth in simple white letters. In a word, there is no more indication that the house is a public-house than is absolutely necessary. It is no more obtrusive, less, in fact, than ordinary business premises." — " Special Correspondent," in Birmingham Daily Post,. June 26, 1917. The " Golden Lion," Carlisle (old and new style). STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 209 With the same idea of removing incentives to the passer-by to purchase drink, the display of bottles in the windows has been abandoned. 5. Complete Sunday Closing. — With each extension of the State Pvirchase area in Cumberland, complete Sunday Closing was enforced throughout the territory brought under Direct Control.^ This appUed to the sale and supply of liquor in registered clubs and licensed premises alike. B. Constructive Action The constructive policy, under Direct Control, comprised — 1. Provision for the sale of food. 2. Structural improvements to licensed premises. 3. The beginnings of a scheme of " counter-attractions " to drink. 4. Provision for the holding of Trade Union meetings elsewhere than on licensed premises. 1. Provision for the Sale of Food. — ^The vast inrush of a new labouring population was the immediate justification for an extension of facilities for the supply of meals. There was, in addition, the consideration that alcoholic liquor taken with food is less inebriating than when taken alone, a fact with a direct bearing on the question of industrial efficiency. The cafes and restaurants of Carlisle had been established to cater for the wants of residents and visitors in pre-war days, and the public-houses in general were drinkshops only. Presumably another type of building, and provision for the service of meals on a larger scale, were required in the changed conditions of the city. The Board's first step was the opening of the Gretna Tavern on July 12, 1916. This was the old Post Office adapted to a new purpose. It is in the centre of the city and near the railway station. The hall or room where public postal business was transacted is now a bar ; here beer and wines are sold, but not spirits. The former sorting office is now a restaurant, seating about 180 persons. The kitchens are between the two halls. The restaurant is airy and light, and decorated in a 1 To dimmish the likelihood of migration from the " dry " to n, " wet " area, Sunday Closing was enforced in some parishes beyond the State Purchase territory. P 210 THE CONTROL OP THE DRINK TRADE cheerful fashion. Breakfasts are served from 7.30 a.m., and suppers up to 9 p.m ; the Tavern is open between these hours for the sale of food. Liquor is obtainable only from 12 to 2.30 p.m., and from 6 to 9 p.m. The customers are of all classes, but chiefly Factory workers, including a large number of munition girls, among whom the " Gretna " has won a good repute. In the period ending July 31, 1917, 66 per cent, of the total takings were for food and non-alcoholic refreshment (excluding mineral waters). A visit was paid to the " Gretna " on May 18, 1917, by Their Majesties the King and Queen, who expressed themselves highly interested and gratified that provision had been made in this way for the munition workers resident in and visiting the city. The London Tavern is in the London Road, an artisan neighbourhood, manufacturing and residential. The building when the Board purchased it was the home of the South End Unionist Club. The Club was transformed into an industrial cafe, similar to, but on a smaller scale than, the " Gretna." The bar is on the ground floor ; here also spirits are not sold, but only beer and wines. The restaurant is on the first floor. There are large works near at hand, and the London Tavern was estabhshed to cater for those of the employees who do not go home for meals. In the period ending July 31, 1917, the receipts from the sale of food (excluding mineral waters) were 31 per cent, of the total takings. In the spring of 1917, arrangements were made for the sale of food in a number of Carhsle public -houses, in a.ddition to the Gretna and London Taverns. The war-time hourc for the sale of food and non-intoxicants are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on week- days, and from 12 to 2 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. on Sundays. To encourage the sale of food, of tea, coffee and cocoa, and of non- intoxicating light beers, in what would otherwise have been solely drinkshops, the Board offer a liberal commission. In the Agreement with their managers the following clause is included : " The manager shall at all reasonable times supply to customers good and well-prepared food either hot or cold according to demand, and non-intoxicating drinks. As an incentive to managers to encourage the sale of food and such drinks as meat extracts, tea, coffee, cocoa, and fruit syrups, a commission equal STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 211 to 75 per cent, of the gross profits arising from such sales will be paid to the manager. A commission equal to 25 per cent, of the gross profits arising from the sale of aerated waters and beer substitutes (including light beer which does not contain more than 2 per cent, of proof spirit) will also be paid to the manager. For the purpose of this clause the term " gross profits " shall mean the excess of the selhng price of such food and drinks over the purchase price thereof." The reconstruction of the Pheasant Inn, in Caldewgate, a working-class district, and opposite a factory where large num- bers of girls were employed, gave the opportimity to provide a cookshop for " outdoor " trade. This has a separate entrance in a side street. A good business in " fetched food " was quickly secured. On the first floor, also with a separate en- trance and no commimication with the bar on the ground floor, a cafe, where no intoxicants are sold, was established ; there is also a Rest Room for female workers. At Longtown and Annan industrial refreshment rooms have been provided. A part of the Graham Arms, Longtown, was turned into a working-men's coffee house. At Annan the " Globe " public-house was dislicensed and reopened as the Globe Restaurant for the supply of meals and light refresh- ment, without intoxicating liquor, and proved remarkably popular with the navvies. Beginning with the winter of 1916-17, coffee carts were placed outside the Carhsle station, between midnight and 7 a.m., for the convenience of National Factory workers arriving and leaving by night and early morning trains. In October, 1917, similar facilities were provided outside Mossband station. 2. Structural Improvements to Licensed Premises. — The short- age of labour, caused by the War, severely limited the recon- struction possible in the first year of Direct Control. Nine reconstruction schemes were completed. The houses chosen for earliest re-adaptation were those in which it was reasonable to behave that a trade in food could be developed. The " Irish Gate Tavern " in AnnetweU Street, and the " Citadel " in Enghsh Street, have this in common, that each stands on a site formerly occupied by two public-houses ; the " Irish Gate," in a working-class district, comprises a dining- room and a cookshop for the sale of " fetched food," with 212 THE CONTEOL OF THE DRINK TRADE entrances apart from the liquor-bar ; the " Citadel," near the station, includes a restaurant and an upstairs cafe. The " Albion," in Botchergate, has a dining-room on the first floor. The " Gohath," in Crown Street, one of the poorest parts of the city, has also been adapted for the supply of meals, and has a cookshop for an " outdoor " trade in food. At Rockchffe, a village five miles from Carhsle, an experi- ment of another kind is in progress. There were in the neigh- bourhood two fully -hcensed houses. The Board closed both, and in their stead remodelled the village institute to serve, under the style of the " Mounsey Arms," as a village refresh- ment hall and rest room. The principal room accommodates about forty people ; its equipment includes a pianoforte, bilhard-table, hbrary, and daily papers. There is ample pro- vision for meals and light refreshments ; of intoxicants, beer is sold, but neither spirits nor wines. Minor improvements in other licensed houses included the removal of unnecessary partitions so as to give the manager and staff better control of the drinking-bars, the clearance of external and most of the internal advertisements of liquor, and other structural changes to secure " air, light and publicity." These reconstruction schemes have a significance beyond the mere fact that good property replaces bad. They should, in due time, furnish a measure of guidance for the answering of a much-debated question which can be stated in these terms : How far would the general provision of a better type of pubhc-house in which drink is sold in wholesome surround- ings, under regulations devised to repress intemperance, and where the sale of food is encouraged — how far would a social change of this character, accompanied by a great reduction in the number of licensed premises, promote public sobriety ? It is too soon to seek the answer in and around Carlisle. The novelty of the experiments must pass, and time be allowed for the formation of a new or the reappearance of an old habit, before a reliable judgrnent can be formed. 3. Experiments in " Counter-attractions." — Here the Board, hampered by the scarcity of labour and the high prices of material, simply aimed to meet the needs of the Gretna workers. The food-halls at the Gretna and other Taverns, and the rooms for non-alcoholic refreshment, and friendly intercourse, STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 213 in reconstructed public -houses, are evidence of this intention. Two other completed schemes claim notice. The " Globe Irm," Longtown, was rebuilt ; the new " Globe " is a spacious tavern with bowUng-green, biUiard-room, institute, and large refreshment hall. Grade's Banking, at Annan, opened in November, 1916, was an altogether new structure, comprising a large hall designed as a restaurant and beer-hall for the use of workers from Gretna, a Cinema Hall, and bowling-greens. The abnormal social conditions obtaining in Annan when Grade's Banking was established, the reasons which led to the enterprise, and its share in the restoration of sobriety in the town, are described in the extracts given below from the 1916 Report of the General Manager of Gretna-without-the- Township.^ " " The public-houses in Annan were in no -way adapted for the crush of people who wished to use them, and owing to the congestion of every house it was obviously impossible to close any of them for the period necessary to carry out any effective alterations or enlargements. It was therefore decided to build an entirely new public-house to cope with the pressure, and this resulted in the erection of Grade's Banking Tavern. It was felt that, as the other houses were not fitted in any way for the provision of food and non-intoxicants, a restaurant should form part of the scheme. Further, that with the large number of people in the town for whom some form of recreation was necessary, this should be added so as to make the new experimental public-house a true house for the pubUc in every sense. Hence a cinema house and a bowling-green rounded off the design. " Grade's Banking was opened to the public in November, shortly after the Globe Restaurant. Simultaneously two public-houses, the Alexandra and the Albert, were closed. It was immediately evident that these two restaurants, the Globe and Grade's Banking, were fiUing a real want. The fare provided was good in quaUty, plentiful in quantity, and cheap in price. The sales of the two places grew steadily, and nightly, on the arrival of the train from Gretna, the seats were rapidly filled by hungry men, still bearing upon them traces of the soil in which they had laboured. From small beginnings, the combined drawings of the two restaurants at the close of the year amounted to approximately £200 per week for food alone. " The cinema house has been well patronised by the people of Annan, but the men for whom it was primarily erected, namely the Gretna labourers, have not availed themselves of it to any great extent. . . . " It was decided that, from the outset, beer and wines only should be sold in Grade's Banking ; no spirits ; and further, that a departure should be made from the recognised form of pubHc-house by having no stand-up bar, all Kquor being conveyed to the customer. The hall is provided with plenty of comfort- able seating accommodation and tables. Draughts, dominoes and newspapers are there for those who want them, with two billiard-tables always in great request. " The beer hall has been fairly well filled but, except on Saturdays,its capacity is not fully taxed, and it has not relieved the congestion in the other houses to the full extent hoped for. The reason for this seems to be that in Scotland, 214 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE 4. By the adaptation of property acquired by them in Car- lisle the Board were able to place unlicensed premises at the service of Trade Union Branches and National Insurance Approved Societies. In six instances this led to the transfer of the meeting of the Branch from licensed to unHcensed property. V. Some Difficulties 1. Public-house Management. — Ordinarily the licensee of each house taken over by the Board was offered the position of manager of the house at a salary, and under the terms of a written agreement. This offer was usually accepted. It was made clear that the licensee had no vested right to employment by the Board. The retention of the former licensees and managers of the houses acquired by the Board was a bold step, and, in the opinion of some, likely to jeopardise the whole scheme. Yet, remembering that the licensees were suddenly dispossessed of their status as traders, it was the equitable course to take. The change in status, however, involved a radical change in attitude of mind. Formerly, the financial interest of the licensee lay in the direction of selling as much liquor as he could, consist- ent with the preservation of the licence and the reputation of the house : under the Board, it was his interest and duty to keep a single eye to the maintenance of sobriety and good order. This change of attitude was not, as a fact, attended by as much difficulty as might have been expected. With isolated exceptions, the old hcensees were jealous of the reputation of their houses, and loyally adhered to the spirit of their con- tract with the Board. Yet it is not surprising that some were slow to grasp what the Board really wanted them to do. For example, in early days, the General Manager, who hap- pened to be present in the house, prevented a public-house manager from again serving a customer who had already con- in cold inclement weather, the worker demands spirits in preference to beer. ... It must be borne in mind that we are dealing . . . with older men of ingrained habits not easily changed, to whom novelty presents little attraction. " In spite of the very large influx of people referred to, drunkenness in the town has been remarkably diminished. . . . The greater sobriety of the crowds who frequent the streets in the evenings and the better behaviour on the station platform when the numerous visitors leave the town on Saturday nights by the last train, as compared with conditions in the early part of 1916, are the subject of constant comment." STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 215 sumed a fair quantity of liquor. The manager—who was the former licensee— protested that the man " could carry more liquor without getting into trouble with the pohce." The General Manager explained that from the point of view of the Board this idea was totally wrong. At the end of a long argument the ex-licensee exclaimed, " Of course, I can easily work that way if the Board want it, if you tell me that I'm not to be dismissed for letting down the trade." As soon as the managers reahsed that it was not a crime to " let trade go by," they readily accepted the Rule of the new r6gime, that sobriety, not turnover, was the first concern. ^ The forecast that managers having nothing at stake besides a salary would be careless in conducting their business has proved altogether fallacious. It should be added that the managers appointed by the Board are liable to pohce super- vision and prosecution for offences in exactly the same way as the ordinary publican. 2. Importation of Liquor. — It was feared that the State scheme might be seriously interfered with by importation of liquor into the area, supplied by private traders outside the area. In practice, it was not formd that importation attained large dimensions, although a few cases of drunkenness were traced to this cause. Even before the Food Controller's limitation of the output of liquor, the importation into the area was not sufficient to justify the very elaborate machinery necessary if an attempt to regulate it were to be made ; after the limitation of output, importation naturally shrank to insignificant proportions. 3. Clubs. — The Clubs in Carlisle were neither so numerous, nor so large in membership, as in many other parts of the country. The efiective membership had been heavily depleted by enlistments, and the Gretna constructional workers did not make use of the clubs. It was only when the operative staff arrived, in the course of 1917, that club membership began to 1 Riile 16, of the Code of Rules supplied by the Board to their managers, concerns " Discouragement of Excessive Drinking." The Rule runs : " The manager shall use all possible means to prevent excessive drinking by customers and shall carefully observe the demeanour of all customers who remain in the house for a prolonged period. He shall also satisfy himself as to the com- plete sobriety of a customer before allowing him to be served with intoxicating liquor. No messenger known to be sent by any person who has been refused drink on the premises shall be supplied." 216 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE revive. The clubs did not present a serious problem. It has been found, in practice, that they purchase their supphes of liquor through the Board. There is an informal understanding that they shall not undersell the Board, and that they shall conform to any general restrictions which the Board impose on their own houses. This practice and understanding could at any time, should necessity arise, be translated into a formal Order. VI. Finance 1. It was of course contemplated from the first that the Government would pay for the properties and rights which they acquired; the private owner receiving the value of his freehold ; the breweries the value of their properties and trading profits ; the licensed tenant the value of his capital invested in the stock, fixtures, etc., and, in addition, the value of his tenant-right. The aim of the Board was to secure settlements equitable ahke to the claimants and the taxpayer. An expert valuer acted on the Board's behalf, and was engaged in CarHsle for many months in negotiating settlements and advising on other cases ; no action was taken on his reports until they had been considered and approved by a Committee of the Board. Any set formi^la or stereotyped system of valuation was avoided ; each case was considered on its merits. The settlements arrived at were generally regarded as fair and reasonable. The defect of the system lay in its slow working. If at the first the Board had been at liberty to conclude settlements on their own authority, subject to the usual Government safeguard of Treasury sanction, the vast majority of the cases could have been settled at an early stage. Objec- tions of principle might, however, have been urged if the administering Authority had been also the compensating Authority. The principle observed, therefore, was that agree- ments should be provisional only, and subject to confirma- tion by an independent tribunal, the Defence of the Realm Losses (Licensed Trade Claims) Royal Commission. It was inevitable, not only from the fact that the inquiries of the Royal Commission occupied a considerable time, but also STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 217 because some of the claimants were miwilling to prejudice their claims by entering into a provisional agreement which had not an effective guarantee of fulfilment, that this pro- cedure should involve considerable delays in payrnent. In the autumn of 1917, however, a change in procedure was sanctioned, and claims settled more speedily.^ The recipients of compensation were paid interest on the compensation for the period between the transfer of their property to the Board and the date of payment. In certain cases, moreover, payments on account were made, in the form of 5 per cent. War Loan ; in others, periodical pajTnents of rent, in lieu of interest on the compensation, were made pending settlement of the capital sum. 2. On the financial aspects of State Purchase, it is scarcely practicable to argue from Gretna or Carlisle to the country at large. Owing to the influx of new population, practically all the houses were working at abnormal pressure ; and in these circumstances a return was obtained, despite all the self-imposed restrictions, which could hardly be expected in other areas where the population has remained constant or diminished. A statement of assets and liabilities, and a profit and loss account for the Gretna-without-the-Township District, as at March 31, 1917, were presented to Parliament,^ showing a return for that year of £15,119 on a capital expenditure of £97,887. In Carlisle, the capital expenditure — at the time of publication — is largely in the region of estimate, nor has a fuU year's trading in all the houses been completed : so far as can be judged after making allowances for these uncertain factors, the return on total capital in the first year, after meeting aU trade charges, should be about 15 per cent.' 1 The public announcement of the change in procedure was made at the meeting of the Cariisle Local Advisory Committee, on September 19, 1917, by Mr. E. C. Sanders, the General Manager of the Carlisle District Control. He reported to the Committee that " the Treasury had authorised the settlement of claims of persons interested in property acquired by the Board without reference to the Royal Commission, provided the Board were satisfied with the amounts provisionally agreed between the parties interested and the Board's valuer— this decision not to affect cases which have already been considered by the Royal Commission." — Cumberland News, September 22,1917. 2 Cd. 8635. 3 Lord D'Abemon, speaking at the opening of the new " Globe Tavern " at Longtown, on June 21, 1917, said : " In some districts of this area and in Scot- 218 THE CONTROL OP THE DRINK TRADE 3. A point which emerged during the process of acquiring the houses was the extent to which private individuals are interested in hcensed premises, usually as reversioners. A number of houses were owned by private persons or their trustees, and leased to breweries which in turn sub-let them to " tied " tenants. It is a mistake to suppose that the ownership of licensed premises by private persons is confined to " free " houses ; the freehold of a substantial number of " tied " houses is vested in similar hands. In addition to these freeholds in reversion, there are numerous instances of copy- holds or similar tenures subject to superior rights ; while the occasional practice of mortgaging licensed premises to private mortgagees still further increases the number of interests to be taken into account in the acquisition of a house. 4. The Board pay the Rating Authorities a contribution in lieu of rates. All the usual licence duties, payable by licensees in the ordinary course of their business, are paid by the Board. Beer and spirit duties are also paid in exactly the same way. As far as excise requirements go, the Board are subject to the same conditions as any ordinary trader. VII. The Improvement in Public Order The improvement in public order which followed the begin- nings of Direct Control, and grew with its growth^ is reflected in the statistics of convictions for drunkenness, and vouched for by the local authorities. 1. The chart given on the next page marks the rise and fall of convictions for drunkenness in Carlisle. land the price of acquisition has not been settled, and in others the full amount of reconstruction has not been carried through, but, so far as results are avail- able, I might say that the profit and loss account shows a balance of about 15 per cent on the capital expenditure after meeting all the usual trading charges — that is to say, after providing for rent, repairs, licence duty, taxes and rates (or contributions in lieu thereof),' managerial and architectural staff, and depreciation on plant, furnishings and utensils. At first sight this looks a very satisfactory result, but you must bear in mind that the circumstances are exceptional in that the returns of the houses taken over have been increased by an influx of population, large in itself and no less desirous than you are of reasonable drinking facilities. You must remember that, regarding the matter as a business concern, it is desirable to make liberal provision for the redemption of capital secured on licence values, and other capital expenditure of a special nature, such as alterations and improvements." — Cumberland News, June 23, 1917. 219 220 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE From 1909 to 1914, in what seem the far-ofE days of peace, there was httle fluctuation year by year ; four or five convic- tions a week marked the average. In the first half of 1915 the average fell to three weekly. Then the National Factory labourers began to arrive, and the curve of convictions moved upward in the second half of 1915 to a weekly average of eight. Month by month the figure advanced : for the four weeks ending January 30, 1916, the average was ten; for the four weeks ending March 26, twenty ; for the four weeks ending June 18, thirty -three. That was the highest point touched; it meant that for every conviction for drunkenness in the early months of 1915, there were eleven in June 1916. State Purchase and Direct Control began in July. The chart shows a sharp decline in convictions for drunkenness from July to September ; from thirty -three per week in the four weeks ending Jmie 18, convictions fell to eleven per week in the four weeks ending September 10. There were minor fluctua- tions in the next five months, the curve rising as the Christmas season approached. At the end of February, 1917, the weekly average stood at seventeen ; then " the spirit-less Saturday " was instituted, and there was a drop to twelve per week for the four weeks ending March 25. Just after this, the Food Con- troller's Order limiting the output of liquor came into force, nominally on April 1, 1917, but in practice it scarcely affected the position for a month or more because of stocks of liquor in hand. It would probably be fair to say that convictions had fallen to an average of seven per week (April 22, 1917) before the limitation of liquor-supply affected the Carlisle consumer. The weekly average number of convictions from that date to the end of June was four ; it is this modest decline from seven to four which is directly related to the shortage of liquor. It is of interest to note that by midsummer, 1917, notwith- standing the huge increase in the industrial population, the weekly average of convictions for drunkenness was actually lower than that of the years immediately preceding the war. It has been asserted that the admitted improvement in the latter half of 1916, when convictions fell off by two-thirds, was due less to Direct Control than to a decrease in the number of Gretna workers. On this point. Sir Edward Pearson, who was STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 221 in charge of the constructional work at Gretna, is the final authority. His statement concerning the last six months of 1916 is : " We ran the same number of workmen's trains for construction daily from Carlisle, including the train from Pen- rith, and the numbers remained pretty constant for the first three months of the period, but grew after that. ... As far as I can gauge the position, the number of our workers who were living in Cariisle during this period was, to all intents and purposes, constant." A slight change was perceptible in the class of workers at Gretna ; labourers had begun to give place to skilled artisans ; but the change was not very marked until 1917 was well under way, and the great reduction in the con- victions for drunkeimess took place earlier. The footnote on pages 213 and 214 concerning Annan describes the extraordinary rush of navvies and casual labourers into that neighbourhood. Wages were high and the new population included hundreds of men accustomed to indulge heavily in liquor. Sobriety was at length restored, but the congestion of population made the task of the Board extraordinarily difficult. 2. By means of the Local Advisory Committees the Board were in close and constant touch with local feeling, and aware of local judgment. The local authorities again and again took occasion to express publicly their sympathy with the effort to re-establish sobriety, and as Direct Control steadily subjugated intemperance there were frequent approving refer- ences by the magistrates and other leading citizens. ^ Perhaps the most significant statement was the request sent to the Board from a meeting of the Provosts and Town Clerks of burghs in the county of Dumfries and the Licensing 1 E.g., the Mayor of Carlisle said at the Town Hall, on June 11, 1917 : — " I think I may say, on behalf of the magistrates who sit here from time to time, that they are very satisfied with the results of the action of the Liquor Control Board in every respect. With regard to the Advisory Committee, who act in conjunction with the Central Control Board, I can say for almost every member that they are very satisfied with the action of the Board with regard to drunkenness in the city. The average number of convictions for drunken- ness for the past five weeks up to June 3 of this year was five per week. This time last year, before the Board had real control over the drink, the average was twenty-five per week. I think the city of Carlisle has reason to congratu- late itself on passing through perhaps one of the most difficult times that one could imagine, when there was an excessive number of guests, and an abnormal housing difficulty before us." 222 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Magistrates of the burgh of Dumfries. In consequence of Gretna labourers finding housing accommodation at increasing distances from the Factory and the extension of the area of insobriety which this unfortunately represented, and in view of the expansion of war -industries, the meeting desired the Board to include the whole of Dumfriesshire within the area of State Purchase and Direct Control. VIII. Inferences froiTi the Operation of the Scheme of Purchase at Gretna and Carlisle 1. The method of State Purchase and Direct Control was subjected to a searching test at Gretna and Carlisle. The local safeguards against disorder had yielded at the first inrush of imported labour. The best tribute to Direct Control is that it succeeded, under conditions of quite abnormal difficulty, in the midst of the social confusion of the Western Border. In view of the national significance of the work achieved, it may be useful, without undue repetition, to set out briefly the advantages of State Purchase and Direct Control as the experience of the Board at Gretna and Carhsle revealed them. 2. The main advantages of the system, as demonstrated on the Western Border, are these : — (1) Freedom to suppress swiftly and permanently all redundant and undesirable licences. Of the 195 " on " licences acquired in Gretna and Carlisle, 66 were suppressed. The average rate of reduction of " on " licences throughout the coimtry in the seven years, from 1908 to 1914 inclusive, was 1-39 per cent, per annum.^ It would have taken 24 years at the national pre-war rate of reduction to have suppressed the " on " licences which the Board, under State Purchase, cancelled within a few months. Redundancy of licences creates excessive economic competi- tion between publicans, and tends to illegal practices ; it subjects the public to unnecessary temptations to excess. AbiUty to suppress licences at any time is therefore a powerful 1 The rate of reduction of " ofE " licences from 1908 to 1914 waa even slower, viz. 1-02 per cent, per annum. It should be recalled that the Board suppressed 18 of the 20 " off " licences which they acquired. STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 223 advantage, particularly when it is recalled that the houses most likely to be closed at once are those badly-planned, and difficult to supervise and inspect. (2) The eUmination of private interest in the sale of liquor. At Gretna and Carlisle the person in charge of licensed premises is not dependent for his livelihood on the amount of Uquor he sells, but earns a fixed salary. He is, therefore, subject to no economic temptation to contrive, or connive at, illegal practices : further, he has no inducement to push sales or encourage cus- tomers to drink up to the verge of drunkenness. On the contrary, his fitness for his position can be judged by the standard of order and sobriety maintained in his house. (3) A closer regard to the law. This follows from the preceding consideration. It is to the interest of the manager of the State public-house to observe the law scrupulously. His present livelihood and future chance of advancement are bound up with obedience to instructions given by a public authority in the public interest.^ In the Board's Carlisle Agreement with the public-house managers there is the following clause : — " The manager shall be debited with the full retail prices of all wines, spirits and malt liquors supphed by the Board, and no commission whatever shall be paid to the manager on the sale ... it being intended that no inducement shall be offered to the manager to press the sale to customers of intoxicating liquors." (4) Economy in business management. The completeness of the Carlisle scheme, in that the purchase extended not only to the retail business but to the wholesale business, including the breweries, enabled the Board to effect great economies. The closing of redundant licences has already been referred to at length, but the economic aspect of this reduction in the number of houses must not be overlooked. 1 The difierence which Direct Control made in this respect was referred to by Major Astor, in a speech in the Commons, October 26, 1916. He said, speaking of Carlisle, " What the Board found was that, until they got direct control and direct management, the law of the land, which happened to be the restrictions of the Board in that area, was to a great extent a dead letter. It is now being enforced to a far greater extent, and for the first time the ordinary standard restriotiona of the Board are being carried out." 224 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Where, e. g., it was found that three houses working in com- petition with each other had not legitimate trade to justify the existence of all three, two were dislicensed, with the obvious result that a substantial economy was effected in the standing charges. It is interesting to note in passing that a certain proportion of trade always appears to be lost when a house or houses are closed. This points to the fact that part of the trade in redundant houses is due to what may be termed redundant drinking. Reference has been made to the closing of two out of the four breweries acquired. Before Purchase, the bottling of beer was carried on in a number of places ; to secure the com- mercial advantages of centralisation, a modern botthng plant was installed at one of the breweries, where practically the whole of the bottling of beer required in the Carlisle District is carried out. For the same reason a central spirit store was estabhshed, from which the spirits required in all the CarKsle houses are distributed. (5) A free hand to effect reform suited to local requirements. After Purchase, the Board had only the public interest and goodwill to consider ; there was no private vested interest in the maintenance of the sale of drink to oppose action deemed desirable. The suppression of redundant licences, and of liquor-advertisements ; the practical prohibition of the " on " sale of liquor to young persons under eighteen ; the successive extensions of the Sunday Closing area ; the " spirit- less Saturday " ; the ban on " mixed drinks " ; and the pro- gressive policy of catering for the workers by the provision of meals and of centres of recreation and social intercourse, freely illustrate what can be done, restrictively and construc- tively, when the State is free to act. This also should be noted. Restrictive reforms which impose financial losses on traders may not command general sjnnpathy ; whereas when no private individual suffers loss, reform does receive — as experience in Carlisle goes to show — a wide measure of public support. This is a substantial aid in securing a close and general observance of the law. (6) The association of local progressive opinion with the control of the drink trade. STATE PURCHASE AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE 226 The extent to which detailed and intimate control can be carried, under the direct administration of the State, acting in conjunction with a local committee, is one of the clearest advantages. The numerous examples given above of control measures — appljing either generally throughout the district, or to a few houses to meet special local conditions — demonstrate the value of calling in the aid and advice of representative citizens. From the mere fact that the State assumes direct responsi- bility for the control of the traffic, it follows automatically that criticism becomes far keener, and that a much higher standard is demanded. The representatives of local authorities find themselves able to secure reforms which they may have long desired but were powerless to effect. The whole locality becomes actively interested in the problem of eradicating the drunkenness within its borders ; and this interest is in itself a long step towards the removal of that reproach. The experience of the' method of State Purchase and Direct Control, obtained by the Board at Enfield, Invergordon, Gretna and Carhsle, led them, on December 16, 1916, to submit to the Government a Memorandum recommending the adoption of this poMcy for the whole country. The Memorandum, which describes the situation then existing, is reproduced in extenso in the Appendix.^ ^ Appendix VI. PART III The Effects oe State Conteol CHAPTER X THE INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES I. Standards of Insobriety 1. There is no single, sufficient and unchallengeable standard by which to measure the insobriety of any given period. In the attempt, on which we now embark, to trace the effects of the work of the Control Board in the years 1915-17, we shall find, like earlier investigators of the data relating to intemper- ance, that the conclusions we reach wiU be drawn from cumu- lative and converging proofs, rather than from any one line of evidence. The statistical data available comprise (1) the convictions for drunkenness ; (2) the records of mortality from alcoholic diseases, of infant deaths from overlying, and of attempted suicide, all of which are commonly recognised as phenomena whose frequency is closely related to the prevailing degree of intemperance ; and (3) the Returns of beer and spirits charged with duty for home consumption. The present chapter is devoted to an examination of this statistical material, and to a review of the influences contributory or hostile to national sobriety throughout the two years. The effect on national sobriety of the operations of the Board can be illustrated in another way, namely, by the judgment of competent observers in official life, in industry, and in social service, in all parts of the country; this second field of evidence is entered in the succeeding chapter. Taken together, the statistical data and the testimony of reliable witnesses will be found to provide a suggestive picture of the results which accrued from the poUcy of Control. 2. Before examining the statistics of insobriety, it will be well to mark the limits of their usefulness. (1) We need not, for our present purpose, discuss in detail the qualifications which attach in normal years to the use of the Returns of convictions for drunkenness. It is agreed that 229 230 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE they represent a proportion only of the actual drunkenness, and that this proportion is affected by differences in magisterial disposition and police procedure in various Licensing Districts, and at times by differences in magisterial and police activity in the same District. Such considerations, however, pale before the enormous falls in convictions which occurred during 1916, 1916 and 1917. Taking 1913— the year before the War- as a standard, the convictions for drunkenness in England and Wales fell in 1915 by 28 per cent., in 1916 by 56 per cent.,^ and in the first quarter in 1917 by 66 per cent. A dechne of this magnitude is without parallel in licensing history. It coincides with the application of war-time re- strictions on the sale of drink, and it will be seen that the dechne in convictions progressed with the development of that restrictive policy. At the same time, it is needful to take note of the influence of certain other unusual conditions which might affect statistics during this period. Three facts command attention : the changes in the strength and duties of the police force ; the transfer, by enlistment, of men of military age from civil to Service discipline ; and the leniency with which for a time, at any rate, intemperance on the part of the wives of sailors and soldiers was treated. The police force was depleted of thousands of constables by enlistment in the Services, and the duties of the force were greatly extended by matters related to the defence of the realm, e. g. the regulations affecting aliens, and the reduction of lighting. Against this is to be offset the employment of civiUans as " special constables " to make good, as far as practicable, the diminution of the regular force. The enlistment of civilians in the Navy and Army is a more disturbing factor in its influence on convictions for drunken- ness. A man in uniform found drunk in a public place was unlikely to be arrested by the civil police, because of the general goodwill to the Services ; and, if arrested, might be handed over to the Service authorities, or perhaps kept at the police-station until sober and then discharged. An element of uncertainty is thus introduced into any estimate of the value of the records 1 Licensing Statistics, 1916, p. 5. The percentage named for the first quarter of 1917 is subject to modification in the light of the final Returns, but may be taken as approximately correct. INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 231 of war-time convictions for drunkenness ; we know what they include, but what do they omit? Yet the margin of un- certainty is hmited in two directions. First, it concerns men chiefly ; the return of convictions against women is unaffected, except by the leniency shown to soldiers' wives in the early months of war; and by studjdng the returns for men and women separately we can get nearer to actual fact. This course will be taken directly. Second, while the figures for male offenders in 1914 (from August) and 1915 may be challengeable, as that was the period when wholesale enlistment in the Army was disintegrating the social fabric, the figures for 1916 and onward are fairly comparable with 1915, because the conditions of national life were not dissimilar. The leniency shown to the wives of Service men sprang naturally from the goodwill towards men serving with the Colours. In consequence and in view of the danger that a conviction for drimkenness might imperil a woman's separa- tion allowance, constables, instead of arresting a drunken woman, would often advise her to go home quietly. Before long, however, it became apparent that this practice might operate against, rather than in favour of, home-life and the woman's best interests ; and, further, the groimd for a dis- tinction between the wives of Service men and civilians almost disappeared as the pace of enlistment quickened. PoUce prac- tice gradually stiffened ; and while it is probable that convic- tions of women for drunkenness would have been considerably greater in the later months of 1914 and the earlier months of 1915 but for this leniency, by the time the Board's work was well under way this distm-bing factor had practically vanished. (2) The medical statistics throw some light on the prevalence of insobriety. They comprise Returns of : — (a) Deaths certified as due to, or coraiected with, alcoholism. (6) Deaths certified as due to cirrhosis of the liver. (c) Deaths of infants caused by overlying, a form of mortality sometimes due to maternal drunkenness. {d) Attempted suicide; "the suicidal impulse is the mcjst fre- quent and most characteristic of the graver disorders of conduct to which the habitual drunkard is prone." ^ (e) Cases of DeUrium Tremens treated in certain Poor Law Infirmaries. ^ SuUivan, Alcoholism, p. 137. 232 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE The qualifications to be observed in the use of these Returns as a standard of intemperance are famihar to students of the problem. The deaths certified as due to alcoholism represent only a proportion, and probably a relatively small proportion, of the mortality really due to this cause ; and not all infant deaths through overlying, nor all suicidal attempts, are to be credited to alcoholic indulgence. But the figures have relative value as an index to the fluctuations of insobriety year by year ; and if in any given year the Returns of con- victions for drunkenness and the Returns of alcoholic mor- taHty rise or fall together there is an additional reason for reliance on the conclusion to which they point. (3) The statistics of beer and spirits charged with duty for home consumption are, for our present purpose, subject to the following deductions from their face value. Beer. — The war-tax on beer, imposed by the War Budget of November, 1914, which immediately increased the duty from 7s. 9cZ. to 23s. per standard barrel ^ and the retail price by one half -penny per half-pint, checked the sale of beer and stimulated the sale of spirits. Further, by the Output of Beer (Restriction) Act, the quantity of beer permitted to be brewed during the year beginning April 1, 1916, was fixed at 26 million standard barrels, a reduction of 10 million barrels on the year preceding the War. Spirits.— Th.Q estimate of the spirits consumed in any year may be complicated by forestalment, i. e. the withdrawal of spirits from bond, not with the expectation of immediate sale by retail, but to escape an anticipated increase of duty. These qualifications are to be borne in mind when the figures referring to the national consumption of intoxicating liquors are before us. One huge confusing factor can be excluded, to wit, the Food Controller's Order reducing for 1917-18 the output of beer from 26 to 10 million standard barrels, and the quantity of wines and spirits to be released from bond to one -half of the total for the preceding year. This Order came into force on April 1, 1917. By confining, as far as practicable, our survey of the effects of the Board's work to a term ending with March, 1 The duty rose to 245. in April, 1916, and 255. in April, 1917. On the efEeot of the duty in checking consumption, see Table at foot of p. 45. INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 233 1917, we can arrive at a judgment which cannot be impugned as a confusion of the effects of " Control " and " Limitation," provided of course that we make allowance for the eariier and smaller limitation of output which applied only to beer. The advantage of examining the results of " Control " before they were entangled with the effects of " Limitation," on the large scale, is obvious.^ II. Statistics of Insobriety 1 . Comndions for Drunkenness. — The convictions for drunken- ness in areas scheduled by the Board are represented in five diagrams. The convictions of male and female offenders are represented separately in the first four diagrams, for the reason mentioned above. The two diagrams relating to England and Wales indicate the experience of the scheduled areas from 1909 onwards, so as to mark the fall and rise of con- victions for a number of years before the War. In each of the five diagrams the record stops at the end of March, 1917, before the Food Controller's limitation of the output of liquor came into force. Diagram A refers to male, and Diagram B to female offenders in all the areas scheduled by the Board in England and Wales. Diagram C refers to male, and Diagram D to female offenders in all the areas scheduled by the Board in Scotland. Diagram E relates to Greater London. The colunms show at a glance the essential facts. A. English and Welsh Akeas — Male Offenders. — In the ' The following Notice, displayed in a Portsmouth public-house on a Tuesday in August, 1917, marks one effect of the Food Controller's limitation of Uquor-output — SOLD OUT No Beer No Spibits No NoTHiNa OPEN AGAIN FRIDAY This is a good illustration of the importance of basing an estimate of the effect of the Board's work on evidence referring to the period pre- ceding the Food Controller's Order. As the Notice indicates, the Food Controller's decree was followed by alternations of " rush-drinking " and "liquor-famine," a fact which altered the nature of the drink problem considerably. 234 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE five years before the War, 1909-13, there was not much fluctua- tion, though it should be noted that convictions increased after 1910 and were most numerous in 1913. In 1914 there was a sHght decline, which as a matter of fact synchronised with the Diagram A Convictions fob Drunkenness in England and Wales (all Scheduled Aeeas) Weekly Averages MALES beginning of the War, and may be attributed to (a) enlistment in the Services and (b) the restrictions on the sale of drink imposed by the Service and Licensing authorities. In 1915 there was a remarkable fall in convictions ; in 1916 a further faU of almost equal magnitude ; and the decline continued in the first quarter of 1917. Now from the latter half of 1915 onward, the Board's Orders INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 235 affected the position. When full allowance is made for the transfer by enlistment of great bodies of men from civil to military discipUne, the fact remains that the fall in convictions was marked not alone in 1915 — ^the year of the great enlist- ment — but persisted throughout 1916 and into 1917; the Diagram B Convictions fob. Drunkenness in England and Wales (all Scheduled Areas) Weekly Averages FEMALES «00 Seco O > o UI a < > < > -J X. IJ 1909 1910 1911 1912 1S13 r9i4 1915 1916 1917 5C0' 400 200 1?-' q; eze 609 — 643 t 6/2 624 - - 396 1 323 — — — - - — ~ weekly average of convictions for drunkenness in the first quarter of 1917 was actually less than one-third of that in 1914. B. English and Welsh Areas — Female Offenders. — We reach here a surer test as to whether the fall in convictions was related to the Board's policy. Women did not enlist as combatants, and so did not — apart, perhaps, from trifling exceptions — ^pass from civil to Service discipline. But women became wage-earners to an unprecedented extent ; and the 236 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE command of money as wages or separation allowances, coupled with the tension of the time, would have led to more extensive insobriety had there been no powerful countervailing influence. What happened? From 1909 to 1913 the Diagram shows the same record as for men — fluctuations, with 1913 marked as the most intemperate of the series of pre-war years. In 1914, the war-year, contrary to the record of males, convictions of women for drunkenness increased, an ominous sign of what was likeUest to happen. But with 1915 the Board's operations began, and a fall in convictions began also ; this continued at an accelerated pace in 1916; and in the March quarter of 1917 the weekly average fell to less than half of that in 1914. There seems no room for doubt that the decline is to be associ- ated with the pohcy of Control ; and this cannot but strengthen the view that the fall in convictions among men was in no small measure attributable to the same cause. C. Scottish Areas — ^Male Oeeenders. — Here a different method is employed in the Diagram, to test the figures in a fresh way. The first column shows the weekly average of con- victions for the four weeks immediately preceding the Board's Orders in 1915 ; the second column the weekly average for the remainder of 1915 under the restrictive Orders. This brings us yet closer to the facts ; and it is noteworthy that the second column shows tha^t a substantial drop in convictions at once followed the Orders. The decline continued in 1916, and into 1917. At the end of March, 1917, the weekly average of con- victions of men for drunkenness, in all the Board's Scottish areas, was reduced almost exactly to one-half of that in the four weeks before the restrictive Orders came into force. D. Scottish Areas — Female Oeeenders. — The Diagram is constructed in the same way, and records practically the same experience. The only difference is in the direction of greater sobriety dxiring the Control period ; the fall in convictions of women is a little more pronounced than that of men, the decline in the weekly average being rather more than 50 per cent. It is important to observe that a decrease in convictions following the Board's Order was almost the invariable experience in industrial centres. The main cause for the improvement must therefore be one affecting the scheduled areas generally ; and a study of the Diagrams presented here, and of the Tables INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 237 Diagram C CONVIOTIONS FOB DrTJNKBNNBSS Dt SCOTLAND (ALL SCHEDULED AeBAS) Weekly Averagea MALES 500 £50 N.B. — ^The Scottish returns show the number of persons found guilty of, or who have forfeited pledges for, all offences involving drunkenness or offences committed while under the influence of drink. 238 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Diagram D L Convictions foe Drunkenness in Scotland (all Scheduled Abeas) Weekly Averages FEMALES ISIS 1915 1916 1917 400 4V BE OR /EEf FOR DER 390- S E S AFTER ORDERS 1ST q? 300 200 TOO Q 306 247 L_ 400 300 ZOO 100 N.B. — The Scottish returns show the number of persons found guilty of, or who have forfeited pledges for, all offences involving drunkenness or offences committed while under the influence of drink. INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 239 in the Abstract mentioned below/ can scarcely fail to suggest that the application of the policy of Drink Control was closely related to the decline in insobriety. Further, the detailed Diagram E CoNvioTioNS roB Dkunkenness in Gbbatbe London (Metropolitan Police Disteiot and City) WeeMy Averages MALES AND FEMALES eieoo » 800 ■ 913 1914 1915 1915 1915 1916 1917 :i 359 1301 TO°NO-TREAT- INCORDER; OCT.M. FROM "nO- -TREATINC" ORDER TO FULL ORDER rjOV.29. N0V.29 TO END OF YEAR. lU- qs loro 792 1 7-13 566 475 1 ( IZOO SOQ Tables in the Abstract show that in most areas there was a sudden fall in convictions when the Board's restrictions came into force. 1 Tables giving the experience in English and Scottish areas are included in the Abstract of BePwrns of Convictions for Drunkenness in Scheduled Areas of Great Britain, with other Statistics hearing on Alcoholism. August, 1917. H. M. Stationery Office.) 240 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE E. Gkeater London. — Diagram E, which records the expe- rience of the Metropohs, exempHfies in a unique way this hnk between the application of drink-restrictions and a decline in convictions for drunkenness. In London, alone of aU the scheduled areas, the Board issued an Order prohibiting treat- ing and permitting dilution of spirits, separately from and before their full restrictive Order. As the provision respect- ing dilution was not compulsory, but only permissive, the prohibition of treating was the more influential provision of this earlier Order. It is instructive to note its effect. " No- treating " was the rule for seven weeks — from October 11 to November 29, 1915 — before the full Order came into force. The diagram shows that during this term the weekly average of convictions for drunkenness in Greater London fell from 1070 to 792, a dechne of 26 per cent. It woiild be difficult to_ interpret this strongly marked decline, contemporaneous with the No-treating Order, as other than a consequence of the Order. [In addition to the influence of the No -treating Order, the Diagram illustrates the effect, in reducing intemperance in the earher part of 1915, of the restriction of hours of sale imposed by the Licensing Authorities ; and the similar effect of the full restrictive Order of the Board from November 29, 1915, onward. 2. Medical Statistics. — These refer to England and Wales only. (a) and (h). — ^The first and second groups relate to deaths certified as due to, or connected with, alcoholism, and to cirrhosis of the liver which is ordinarily classed among ths alcoholic diseases. Deaths cebtified as dub to ob. connbotbd •with Alcoholism (bxcluding ClEBHOSIS OV THE LiVEE) IN ENGLAND AND WaLBS IN BAOH OS THB Yeabs 1913-16. (From the Registrar-General's returns.) 1913 Before the War. 1914 War- Tear. 1915 1916 "Control" general. Males Females Total 1112 719 1136 680 867 584 620 333 1831 1816 1451 953 INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 241 Deaths ceetii'ibd as dtjk to Cirehosis of thb Liveb. 191S. 1914. 1915. 1916. Males .... .... Females Total 2215 1665 2266 1773 2107 1525 1823 1163 3880 4039 3632 2986 In 1915, the year in wMch Military and Justices' restric- tions were freely imposed and in which the Board's control policy was first applied, the deaths certified as due to, or connected with, alcoholism fell by 20 per cent., and deaths certified as due to cirrhosis of the liver by 10 per cent. In 1916, the year in which Control became general, there was a further fall, so that certified deaths from alcoholism were 47 per cent., and certified deaths from cirrhosis of the liver 26 per cent, less than in 1914. A more detailed examination of the facts relating to public health in the period under discussion is necessary before the fuU significance of these and kindred statistics can be esti- mated. Their bearing on the subject before us is provisionally reviewed, in a paper contributed to the Journal of State Medicine, as foUows — " These figures include only deaths officially certified as due, either directly or indirectly, to alcoholism, and, as there are notoriously many reasons why this disease is not put on death certificates as often as it should be, the numbers will not represent more than a fraction of the mortaUty really caused by intemper- ance. This consideration need not, however, affect the value of the statistics as an index of the movemeni of alcohohsm over a short period, since the same qualifying influences will be operative in the case of each of the years brought into comparison. " It was in the second hah of 1915 that the policy of restriction came into force, and it would appear to be the most probable in- ference that the operation of that poHey, though limited to the latter months of the year, was an important factor in bringing about the fall in alcohohc mortahty. It may be objected to this inference that the alcoholic disease which causes death is more usuaUy a chronic condition, and, as such, would hardly be expected to show an immediate reaction to influences that diminish exces- sive drinking. This objection, however, overlooks the fact that as the intensity of the drinking determines to a large extent the duration of the case, so a restriction of the facflities of excess should E 242 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE naturally tend to retard the progress of the alcoholic disease, even in advanced stages, and would therefore lead to a fall in the alcoholic death-rate. Moreover, of course, this category of deaths from alcoholism includes also a large number of cases of acute poisoning and of deaths from delirium tremens, to which the objection re- ferred to would not apply. A further possible objection is that the withdrawal of a large number of adult males by enlistment would contribute to lower alcohohc mortahty, and I think it certain that this influence has been operative to some extent, and may very likely account for the greater decrease in the case of males as compared with females. On the other hand, however, chronic alcoholics would hardly be passed for military service, and more- over, the great majority of deaths from alcoholism occur after the age of forty. On the whole, then, when full allowance has been made for these quahfjdng considerations, there does not appear to be any sound reason to question the inference that the decrease in alcoholic mortahty in 1915 was, at all events in an important manner, due to the influence of restriction. "In 1916 the case is still clearer. Restriction was in force throughout the whole of that year, and over the greater part of the country. And, as you see from the figures, the decline in deaths from alcoholism was enormous, amounting to over 40 per cent, in the case of men, and to nearly 50 per cent, in the case of women, as compared with the 1913 standard. The extent of this movement, and the fact that it affected women even more than men, indicate beyond all doubt the operation of a new and potent influence acting on the general population, and that influence can only have been the restrictions on drinking. " As cirrhosis of the liver is an essentially chronic affection, it is to be expected that the effect of restrictive measures on the number of deaths from that disease wiU be less marked. And this, as you wiU see from the figures in the lower division of the Table, is precisely what has happened." ^ (c) The next Table correlates the mortality from the over- lying of infants with the convictions of women for drunkenness, since the drunkenness of the mother is the cause of a propor- tion of infant deaths through overlying. The outstanding feature is the close correspondence in the decline of both groups of figures in 1915 and 1916. Fewer convictions of women for drunkeimess were accompanied by fewer deaths of infants through overlying. Compared with 1914, the recorded number of infant deaths from this cause was 17 per cent, less in 1915, and 40 per cent. less in 1916. 1 " Public Health and the Control of the Liquor Traffic," Journal of State Medicine, November, 1917, pp. 321-332; paper by Lord D'Abernon. INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 243 OVEBIiYINO OF InpANTS AND CONVTOTIONS FOB DRUNKENNESS (WOMEN only) in England and Wales. Year. Overlying of Infanta under 1 year of age. Convictions for Drunlcenneas (Women only). 1913 [Before the War) .... 1914 [War-Year) 1915 (" Control " began) . . . 1916 (" Control " general) . . . 1226 1233 1021 744 35,765 37,311 33,211 21,245 (d) The subjoined Table records the oases of attempted suicide from 1913 to 1916. These also display a marked decline in 1915-16. Cases of Attempted Suicide in England and Wales. 1913 Before the War. 1914 War- Year. 1915 "Control" began. 1916 "Control" general. Males Females Total 1458 968 1366 1049 792 816 509 436 2426 2415 1608 945 The chart on the following page graphically indicates the unity of movement in the foregoing series of statistics. The curves of convictions for drunkenness ; deaths certified as due to, or connected with, alcohoHsm ; ^ the overlying of infants ; and attempted suicide, all show marked dechne in the period of Control. The fall is plainly indicated in 1915, the year when the restrictive Orders began»to apply ; it is still more conspicuous in 1916. (e) One other group of medical statistics is available, and of unusual interest — the figures relating to cases of Dehrium Tremens treated in the Poor Law Infirmaries of five great industrial centres. A regular system of recording cases of this disease under treatment in Poor Law Infirmaries and in prisons has only recently been introduced. But in Liverpool, East London (nine Unions), West Ham, Glasgow, and Dundee, 1 Deaths from cirrhosis of the liver are not represented on this chart. 244 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE COMPAEISON OF CONVIOTIONS FOB DkUNKBNNBSS, OvEELYING OF INFANTS UNDBB 1 YeaB. of AGB, CaSE3 OF ATTEMPTED SulOIDE, AND DEATHS FEOM Alcoholism (England and Wales). The Curves of Convictions, Attempted Suicides, and Deaths from Alcoholism relate to Women only. BEFORE THE WAR WAR CONTROr CONTROlI' VEAR BEGAN GENERAL !S)4 ISIS 1916 a register has been kept for some years past ; and the following Table gives the experience of the Poor Law Lifir- maries in these places. The Table is constructed to show the experience of the two years immediately preceding the Board's restrictive Order for the district concerned, and the first twelve months immediately following the Order. INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 245 Cases of Deubitovi Tbbmbns treated in certain Poor Law Infirmaries in SoHBDtTLBD AEEAS DURING THREE SUCCESSIVE TWELVE-MONTHLY PERIODS. 1913-14. 1914-15. 1915-16. Liverpool — Males Females .... ... 366 145 263 158 128 77 East London (9 Unions) — Males .... ... Females 151 61 136 70 75 33 West Ham — Males Females 54 19 62 33 30 22 Glasgow — Males Females 138 50 ; 87 : 21 59 12 Dundee — Males Females 28 20 32 ! 31 30 9 The total figures for the Poor Law Infirmaries in the five districts show a decrease of 44 per cent, of males, arid of 51 per cent, of females treated for Dehrium Tremens in the twelve months immediately after the Board's restrictions came into force. 3. The Consumption of Beer and Spirits.- — -The facts con- cerning the national consumption of intoxicating liquor, as far as they are ascertainable, are represented in the chart given on the next page. The chart, which includes the figures for Ireland as well as Great Britain, shows the following fluctuations : — In the financial year ending March 31, 1914, a year of good trade, there was a substantial rise in the quantity of liquor " retained for home consumption." In the year ending March 31, 1915, the rise in the quantity of spirits released from bond continued, but there was a falling- off in the consumption of beer. The latter fact is explained by the war-tax on beer, of November, 1914, which checked the sale of beer by raising its retail price. The higher figures for spirits were probably due to a transfer of demand from beer to spirits, enlarged spending-power, especially in the far North where spirits rather than beer are popular, and also — toward 246 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE the end of the financial year — to forestalment to escape the expected advance in the spirit-duty. In the year ending March 31, 1916, in which Control began, there was a further decrease — nearly 3 million standard barrels — in beer; and a further increase — about IJ million gaUons^ — ^in spirits withdrawn from bond. As no reduction in the output of beer had yet been enforced by the Government, the fall in the consumption of beer is to be attributed in part to the war-tax, and in part to the same factors making for sobriety which account for the reduction, in this period, of convictions for drunkenness and of alcoholic mortality ; and we have seen reason to recognise the influence JUANTITIBS OF BbEB ASTD SpIEITS RETAINED FOR HOME CoNSTJMPTION IN THE United Kingdom (dukinq Financial Yeaes ending March 31) I9t BEFORE THE WAR J-14 WAR COMTROL" 'CONTROL" YEAR BEGAN GENERAL 1914-15 I9l5-ie I9IS-I7 -IZ 1912-13 191. in 1- a. a. m u. o „ 30,000,000 34,296,000 30,887,000^ 34,035 30,736; 35,37 000_„— -< 32,596,000 2,000 < '34>t5,000 JE,525,000 7^000 \ z o -1 J 29,626,00 K < u 25,912,000 a z < 20,000,000 1 84,006,000 of the Board's Orders in this direction. The increase in the spirit figures is again compHcated by forestalment towards the close of the fimancial year. The continued expansion of spending-power, the war-tax on beer, and the new popularity of rum at home in sympathy with the supply of the rum-ration in the trenches, were the factors of increase ; while the policy of Control was the main check on consumption. There is ground for the belief that, when forestalment is taken into account, the actual consumption of spirits showed little, if any, increase. In the year ending March 31, 1917, there was a further fall INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 247 in the consumption of beer, from 29,626,000 to 25,912,000 standard barrels. The Output of Beer (Restriction) Act was now in operation; it Hmited output to 26 million standard barrels, and we may safely credit the reduction to that cause. With spirits, the position is very different. There was a huge fall in the quantity taken out of bond, a reduction of nearly one-third. The advance in retail prices of spirits doubtless affected sales ; but the fact that the drastic restric- tions placed by the Board on the trade in spirits, and their policy of permitting — and, finally, compelling — ^the dilution of spirits, coincided with an unprecedented decline in con- sumption, tells its own tale. Mr. G. B. Wilson, in his estimate of the national consumption of liquor in 1916 — a period including three of the four quarters of the financial year, 1916-17 — ^regards it as " beyond question that the Board has been the means of reducing by at least 20 per cent, the quantity of alcohol consumed in the form of spirits, and to a lesser, but substantial degree, the " bulk " quantity of spirits (irrespective of strength) sold to the public." ^ 4. The broad conclusions to which we are guided by the three groups of statistics — convictions for dnm.kenness, records of alcoholic disease and mortality, and Returns of the con- sumption of liquor — and by other relevant social data to which reference has been made, are these. (1) The great expansion in purchasing-power would normally have led, as in earlier cycles of industrial activity and high wages, to an expansion of the expenditure on strong drink. The increased demand for spirits in the latter part of the financial year 1914-15 is a sign that this tendency was actually reappearing. (2) With the beginning of the period of Drink Control, there can be recognised — after allowing for other restraining factors — the operation of a powerful check on the consumption of liquor ; and, as a corollary, a very marked decline in intemperance and alcoholic disease. (3) The fact that the Board's restrictive and constructive activities were contemporaneous with this notable decrease in insobriety and its social consequences leads to this deduc- tion : along loith certain co-operating factors, and in spite of 1 Alliance News, March 1917, p. 42. 248 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE certain hostile tendencies, the policy of Drink Control prevented the increase in intemperance which economic prosperity made probable,^ and also diminished to an impressive extent the indul- gence in alcoholic liquors which leads to inefficiency, disease, and acts of violence. III. Causes Contributory, and Causes Hostile to Sobriety in the Period 1915-17 It only remains to do justice to the factors, other than the pohcy of Drink Control, which contributed to national sobriety in 1916-17, and to set over against them the factors hostile to sobriety in that period. These gave colour and significance to the varying features of the Plan of Control, and constituted no small part of the environment of the Board's enterprises. All that is necessary is to pass in rapid review facts which have already, at one point or another in the discussion, claimed attention. 1. Influences, other than the Control Board's policy, making for Sobriety.— The chief of these were (1) the restrictive Orders of the competent Naval and Military authorities and the Justices ; (2) self-restraint, rooted in a deepening sense of the seriousness of the national emergency ; (3) counter-attractions to the public-house ; (4) the absence of large bodies of men on military service overseas ; (5) the limitation of the output of hquor ; and (6) the advance in retail prices of liquor. (1) The Service authorities and Licensing Justices freely exer- cised their powers in 1914r-15 to restrict the hours for the sale of drink. The check placed in this way on the tendency to an increased use of alcoholic liquors was acknowledged in Chapter II. As the Board's Orders dealt with treating, credit-sales, canvassing, dilution of spirits, and many other matters besides hours of sale, they superseded for the most part the earlier Orders of the Service and civil authorities. Yet well on in 1917 there were Mihtary and Justices' Orders in some neigh- bourhoods where the Board had not found sufficient ground ^ Mr. G. B. Wilson, in the estimate quoted on p. 247, says : " The restrictive operations of the Board have also counteracted the tendencies making so strongly during the War for increased consumption of intoxicants, so that for the first time in the last half-century, at any rate, extremely high earn- ings have been accompanied, not by a high increase in the consumption of drink, as formerly, but by an actual decrease." INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 249 for applying their full Order, and these are to be counted among the contributory causes of sobriety. (2) The solemn tragedy of world-war, the perception of the immensity of the issues at stake, and the general visitation of anxiety and sorrow affected people diversely, quickening the power of self-restraint in some, slackening the grip of self- control in others. Voluntary abstention from alcohol in which the King set the example ; appeals like that of Lord Kitchener to the Expeditionary Force to " guard against any excesses " ; the labours of the Churches and Temperance organisations on behalf of national temperance ; and the widespread spirit of sacrifice which led multitudes to set toil for the country above personal ease or indulgence : these are marks of a moral disciphne which must be ranked high among the steadying influences of the time. (3) Counter-attractions included the hundreds of rooms placed by the Churches at the service of the troops for rest, refreshment and recreation ; the huts and halls erected or furnished for the same purpose by various organisations, the Y.M.C.A. alone being responsible for 705 at the close of 1916; the popularity of the cinema; and such ameliorative social changes as the spread of the idea that it was a part of a man's civic duty to be his own market-gardener, with the consequent dedication of leisure to the allotment. Sobriety gained ground as social activities multiplied. (4) In public discussion of the causes of the admitted advance in sobriety, it was freely asserted that the absence of masses of men from the home country on military service overseas was a main factor in the improvement. Less drinkers, less drunkenness, ran the argument. But the weight of this con- tention is reduced when it is recalled that the home population was at the same time expanded by the coming of troops from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to complete their training ; by the return of drafts from the front for short terms of " leave " ; by bodies of Belgian refugees ; and by an influx of workers from Ireland to supplement the constructional, munition and agricultural labour of Britain. There is some substance in the contention, but much less than was commonly alleged. (5) As mentioned above, the only limitation of the output 250 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE of liquor affecting o\ir period was that required by the Output of Beer (Restriction) Act. The Act was passed to assure a reduction of 10 milhon standard barrels from the pre-war total of 36 million barrels in the year 1913-14; but the larger part of that reduction had already been secured by other agencies before the Act came into force in April, 1916. For the year ending March 31, 1916, the output of beer was 29,626,000 standard barrels. It is the difference between that figure and the round total of 26 million barrels— a quantity not exceeding 3| to 4 million standard barrels — which was, in point of fact, the amomit of the reduction of output caused by the Act in the year 1916-17. (6) The greatest rise in the retail prices of liquor occurred after the Food Controller's Order came into force on April 1, 1917, and that date is outside our review. The footnote shows the earher advances in retail prices in three centres, Birroing- ham, Liverpool and Carhsle.^ In addition to the general advance 1 The changes in the retail prices of liquor, from the outbreak of war to March, 1917, in Birmingham, Liverpool and Carlisle, were as follows — BiBMINGHAM Beer, per pint. Mild Ale, per pint. Bitter, per pint. Stout, per pint. WhiBliy. On. Ofl. Ath. i qtn. J qtn. Wliisky (Proprietary). On. Ofl. Jtjth. i qtn. i qtn. Before War November 1914 April 1916 . . d. 2 3 ^ d. 3 4 5 d. 3 4 5 d. 3 4 5 d. d. d. 2 4i 4 2 4J 4 3 6J - d. d. d. 3-4 5J-7 5-6 3-4 6-7 64-6J 4-4J 8-9 — LiVBBPOOL Burton Bitter Beer, per pint. Local Bottled Mild Ale, Bottled Beer and Whisky, per pint. Beer, i Dublin per glass. pint. stout. i pint. d. d. d. d. d. Before War .... n 3i 2i 3 4 November 1914, v/hen beer duty trebled . 3 4 3 34 4 After Output of Beer (Restriction) Act, April 1916 4 5 3 4 6 INCREASED SOBRIETY AND ITS CAUSES 251 of one half -penny per half -pint in the selHng price of beer, conse- quent on the war-tax, there was a rise both in the price of beer and spirits following the coming into force of the Output of Beer (Restriction) Act in April, 1916, which, roughly speaking, brought retail prices to a level 50 per cent, higher than the pre-war scale. A portion of the trade lost to the brewer, through the 1914 war -tax on beer, was gained by the distiller through a larger demand for spirits on the part of the pubUc ; but the advance in the retail prices of both beer and spirits in April, 1916, probably led to some reduction in the actual consumption of intoxicants. 2. Influences making against Sobriety. — ^The chief of these were (1) the strain of the War ; (2) the break-up of home-hfe ; and (3) the growth of spending-power. (1) The tension was felt in the factory, the home, and the wider Mfe of citizenship : as industrial fatigue, in workshops and shipyards ; as nervous overstrain, where family life was shaken by the tempests of war ; as public excitement, in the rush of vast events. Reference has already been made to the high level of the consumption of hquor in 1899-1902, the years of the Boer War ; and we have seen that the first year of the Great War showed the same tendency to find in alcoholic indulgence an escape from weariness and care, or an outlet for the common mood of unrest. (2) The break-up of family Mfe on an unprecedented scale was due in part to enlistment in the Army and Navy, in part Cablislb Bitter Burton Mild Ale, Beer, per Local Bottled per pint. pint. Bottled Beer and Whisky, Beer, i Dublin per glass. Ears. Bara. pint. Stout, J pint. d. d. d. d. Before War . . . 2 3 2i 3 Zld. Specials 5d. and Qd. November 1914, when beer duty trebled . 3 4 3 3i After Output of Beer (Restriction) Act, April 1916 . . . 3i 4i 3J 4 Specials Id. and 8i. 252 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE to the migration of men and women, youths and girls, into munition-making areas. The loneliness of women whose men-folk had left home, and the insufficient housing accommo- dation and the practical homelessness of workers in munition centres, were inducements to seek companionship at the pubhc-house. (3) The reasons for the increase in spending-power, and the ground for behef that increased spending-power meant an enlarged use of alcoholic liquors, were set out fuUy in Chapter IV. In many a home, notwithstanding the rise in the cost of living, purchasing-power was greater, not simply because wages were higher, but because there were more wage-earners, for every one who had strength and time to spare could find employment. It is especially needful to recall that among those reaping economic advantages were a large section of workers who were habitually heavy drinkers — casual labourers who, instead of the low and intermittent earnings of peace-time, were now obtaining regular and very much higher wages as Government employees, and scattering their larger earnings freely in liquor. There is httle doubt that the expansion of spending-power in the centres of industry was the chief cause of the prosperity of the liquor traffic at the time when the Board took the field. How this bears on their work is manifest. The Board had not alone to deal with insobriety on the pre-war scale ; they had to take up their task at a time when alcoholic indulgence was likely to increase with the expansion of the spending-power of the industrial community. Amidst the clash of factors con- tributory or hostile to sobriety, this factor was pre-eminently powerful. The worth of the work of the Board should there- fore be estimated by the measure of their success in restraining a general growth of insobriety during a term of abnormal purchasing-power, as much as by the diminution of the drink difficulty in particular neighbourhoods where it obviously lessened efficiency; for this enlargement of spending-power was the chief economic characteristic of the period of Control. CHAPTER XI THE EFFECT OP THE BOARD'S WORK A. On Efficiency The close examination of the statistics of the insobriety which compelled action by the police, or came within the official cognisance of medical men, may have suggested that the sole concern of the Board was with the graver results of alcohohc excess ; and that the success of their work was demonstrated if and when a substantial decrease was recorded in convictions for drunkenness and in alcoholic mortality. That would be but a partial view. The Liquor Control Regulations were made " for the purpose of increasing directly or indirectly the efficiency of labour." It will not be dis- puted that working-abihty may be impaired by drink long before a man is openly drunk. There is therefore a wider view of the work of the Board, and a more comprehensive test of its worth. Looking beyond statistics of admitted alcoholic excess, we can inquire what was the value of the Board's policy to the national interest : did it in any effective and recognisable way aid efficiency in the Services and in commerce ? Granted that additional statistical evidence is, in the nature of the case, only obtainable here and there, still we are not without data on which to found a conclusion. We can call in aid the judgment of competent authorities whose business it was to secure the highest practicable level of efficiency. The whole scheme of Liquor Control was elaborated to meet the require- ments of the Navy and the Army, the transport and munition trades : after the Board's Orders had been in force for a sufficient time to estimate their efficacy, what opinion was formed concerning them by the spokesmen of these pubhc interests ? As far as the restraints of war-time permit, the present 253 254 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE chapter supplies answers to this interrogation. The influence of the policy of Control on efficiency in the war Services is first traced, and afterward its bearing on efficiency in the industries vital to national safety. I. The Effect of Liquor Control on Efficiency in the War Services 1. The persistent requests throughout 1915-16, from naval and miUtary authorities, to place restrictions on area after area, until at last almost every district in Great Britain where naval or military forces were assembled came under drink restrictions, were the surest testimony to the value of Liquor Control. At the Conferences convened by the Board, in all parts of the country, it was the common experience for the naval or military representative to say, " We want the Order which is working well in applied to this area." In point of fact, the call from the Service authorities was, at times and places, for extremer measures than those custom- arily employed by the Board. It was in response to urgent naval requests that the Board prohibited the sale of spirits in northern Scotland, and applied the method of " super- vision " to licensed premises in the Glasgow Docks district, and around Rosyth ; and on military requests that the Board stopped the evening " on " sale of spirits in parts of Dorset and Wilts. 2. The Navy. — The Admiralty " kept the Board informed of the general results of the Board's Orders upon naval efficiency, including the efficiency of the work of naval yards and of the Naval Transport and other auxiliary services." The Second Report of the Board quoted the judgment of the Admiralty, based on reports from admirals and other officers in important commands, that " the general effect of the restrictions has been decidedly beneficial " ; that trans- port officers were unanimously of the opinion that the restric- tions had proved of considerable benefit to the Transport Service ; and, in particular, that the principal officer at Southampton had " commented on the increased efficiency and good health of all the labour at the Docks." ^ These 1 Second Report of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), p. 26. THE EFFECT OF THE BOARD'S WORK 255 statements were made in the spring of 1916. It is legitimate to add that periodical later reports confirmed this view of the general position at the ports, the only variation being the claim for more, rather than less, stringent measures in certain coastal areas. 3. The Army. — " Similar results have been reported by the military authorities. Thus, in October, 1915, the Army Council based a request to the Board to undertake a further extension of areas so as to include certain localities . . . where troops were concentrated, on ' the satisfactory results which are being obtained from the Closing Orders which have been made by the Central Control Board in the areas already scheduled.' " Further, " the Army Coimcil informed the Board on January 29, 1916, that ' reports have now been received from the various Commands, the general effect of which is to show that the Orders of the Board have had a beneficial effect on the discipline, training and efficiency of soldiers, and have helped in the recovery of sick and woimded.' " ^ Sir Edward Henry, Commissioner of Police for the Metro- pohs, commenting on the fall in convictions for drunkenness in London which followed the Board's Orders, said — " The figiu-es given are remarkable. They confirm police ob- servation that many fewer drunken persons are to be seen in the streets, and they indicate that the measures taken by the Central Control Board have had a very marked effect. I have discussed these figures with G.O.C., London District, who authorises me to say that upon the reports he has received from the military patrols and from personal observation he feels justified in endorsing the opinion above expressed." ^ The position in the Army steadily improved under the influence of the restrictive Orders. In August, 1917, Lord D'Abemon stated that the military authorities reported the amount of drunkenness in the army as "very small," and especially commented on a notable reduction in drunkenness among soldiers travelling by train. The marked improvement in the sobriety of the Army was, indeed, a matter of common observation and testimony. The 1 Second Report of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), p. 26. 2 lUA., p. 27. 256 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE prohibitions (1) of treating, (2) of the sale of spirits in pocket- flasks by fixing the " reputed quart " as the smallest quantity which could be bought for " carrying away," and (3) of all " off " sales of spirits from railway refreshment rooms, were selected by careful critics as the most useful of the Board's provisions as far as the Services were concerned. Despite the excitements of the War, drunkenness and the disease and indiscipHne caused or aggravated by it steadily diminished. II. The EHect of Liquor Control on Efficiency in War Industries 1. The testimony of employers, said the Second Report, " goes to show that the work being done in shipyards, muni- tion factories, etc., is advanced in two ways by the Orders of the Board. Where bad time-keeping had obtained, the restrictions on the sale of drink have effected improvement in this as in other respects, with a consequent increase of output. Where time-keeping was good before the issue of the Order, industrial efficiency has often increased, and employers fre- quently speak of improvement in the quality of the work done. The testimony of certain employers who originally dissented from the view that an Order was required for their neighbourhood is particularly valuable ; after some months' experience of the restrictions placed on the sale of liquor in their locality by the Board, they have recognised the gains to efficiency in their yards or works, and have reported favourably to the Board as to the value of the Order issued." ^ Within the limits imposed by the continuance of war-con- ditions, this statement can be illustrated in the two great groups of war-trades, the manufacture of munitions, and the shipbuilding and sea-transport industries. 2. The manufacture of Munitions.- — If the demands of the Navy and the Army were the spring of the Board's restric- tive policy, its sanction was the consent of the Minister of Munitions. No area was scheduled without his approval, and the official exposition and defence of the Board's policy in the House of Commons were in his hands. The dictum of Dr. Addison expressed the judgment of the Ministry on the ^ Second Report of the Central Control Board (Liquor TrafSo), p. 32. THE EFFECT OF THE BOARD'S WORK 257 work of the Board : " In many directions," he said, " they have been almost unexpectedly successful." ^ The following are a few representative statements of em- ployers in the munition trades,^ after some months' experience of the Board's restrictions in their neighbourhoods. A Welsh Steel Smelting and Sheet Rolling Works " A great improvement in sobriety. There is no morning drink- ing now, and the output has greatly increased." A South Wales Engineerinq Firm " There is a distinct increase in the attendance at work, due in a large measure to the new closing hours of public -houses." Black Country Iron and Steel Works " Of six Works' Managers, five were unanimous as to the good results which have followed the Board's Order (the dissentient was 'all for prohibition'). The Orders were held to operate bene- ficially because (1) the temptation for the men to start drinking before going to work had been removed ; (2) the men on the night shift went straight home after work instead of resorting to the public-houses ; and (3) there were not the same facilities for getting drink during working hours." 1 Parliamentary Debates [House of Commons) Official Report, May 8, 1917. 2 It is to the point to note that among the rules made by the Minister of Munitions for securing the safety of Explosives Factories one rule concerned " Sobriety and Intoxicants." It was as follows : — "No person shall (except as authorised by the Superintendent or Manager or by the Factory Rules) bring into or have in his possession whilst within the Factory any intoxicating liquor. And no persons shall drink any alcoholic liquid used in or in connection with any manu- facturing process carried on withiu the Factory, or be in a state of dnmkenness or under the influence of liquor whilst anywhere within the Factory." Posters setting out the rules were displayed in the Factories and at the entrance gates. On one such poster, under the heading " Sobriety and Good Order," it was stated : — " No person employed shall — (a) Be the worse for liquor in the establishment or bring intoxicating liquors into the estabUshment . . ." A person convicted of a breach of any of these rules was liable on con- viction before a Munitions Tribunal to a fine not exceeding £3 for each ofience. 258 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Blast Furnaces and Steel Works on the North-East Coast " The drinMng regulations are having a real effect for the better ; the men come to work more steadily and are more efficient. The unanimous verdict seems to be that the measure is working well and beneficially both to the men and to the owners." Munition Works in the North of Scotland " The output appreciably improved after the restrictions were placed on this district." A Midlands Firm — Brass and Nickel Casting Department " It will perhaps be weU to compare the output for the period from November 11, 1915, to the end of the week before the Christmas holidays, that is, six weeks, with the output for the six weeks prior to the date of the Order. The figures, which are as follows, give our total casting output in all our casting shops at . No. of sets. Week ending Oct. 6 53 „ 13 . ... 53 „ 20 .... 53 „ 27 . . . .54 Nov. 3 . .54 „ 10 . . . 54 Output in tons. 447 386 399 457 395 425 2509 No. of sets. Output in Week ending Nov. 17 . ... 55 441 „ 24 . . ... 57 465 „ Dec. 1 . . ... 57 468 „ 8 . . ... 57 475 „ 15 . . ... 58 520 „ 22 . . ... 59 548 2917 Weekly average . . . 486 " The above figures represent tho total casting of both brass and nickel. The week ending November 10, in which there were 54 sets c^mployed, compared with the week ending December 22, in THE EFFECT OF THE BOARD'S WORK 259 which there were 59 sets employed, shows an increase in output of 123 tons, which is a considerably greater increase than the addi- tional number of sets could give. A fair increase which one might have expected with the additional 5 sets would have been about 50 tons, which goes to show clearly that since the restricted hours were put into force, there has been a very considerable general improvement in the output, due probably to more regular attend- ance of casters and their doing better work during working hours. . . . It is of course altogether impossible for us to say definitely that the increase in output is due to the further restriction of hours, but it is reasonable to assume that it is, and if it is not due to this we know of no other circumstances to which to attribute it." A Steel Smelting Works " The temperature of this steel shop at the time of my visit was 138° Fahr., the temperature of the teemings varying from 1800 to 2300 degrees Centigrade. . . . This class of work causes the men to become very thirsty. For an onlooker, unaccustomed to industrial conditions such as these, the greatest sympathy for the workers is excited because the effort called for is tremendous, and the way these men perspire as a result of their heavy work and exposure to the furnaces is astonishing. Beer is the usual refresh- ment. A few of the workers are abstainers from alcohol in any form. These latter are usually the most reliable men. When the supply of drink was restricted by the closing of the public-houses in the district, a great improvement in the health and the time- keeping of the workmen was noticed and was admitted by the 3. The shipbuilding and sea-transport industries. Statements received through the Board of Trade from the larger ports were summarised in the Control Board's Second Report thus : — " The statements are singularly uniform in their testimony to the advantages secured, the beneficial results being mainly attri- buted to the shortening of the hours during which intoxicating liquor can be obtained. The work of the ports and docks is re- ported to proceed with improved punctuality and efficiency, and in general it is affirmed that increased sobriety among sailors, firemen, and dock labourers enables ships to get away and to proceed to sea with greater dispatch than was the case before the Board's restrictions were introduced." > This summary was in agreement with the view of the Admiralty. In answer to a question in the Commons on 1 Report of an investigator appointed by the Health of Munition Workers Committee. Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue, p. 100 (Cd. 8511). 260 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE December 14, 1915, Dr. Macnamara, then Financial Secretary to the Admiralty, said : " There has been a decided improve- ment in the discipline and general efficiency of the Mercantile Marine employed in the Transport Service, and the restrictions have undoubtedly contributed to this result." ^ It would be too much to affirm that the " drink difficulty " disappeared from dock areas, but that it was substantially reduced was repeatedly asserted in reports from Port Authori- ties, employers and labour leaders. Here, also, a few repre- sentative opinions may be cited. Shipbtjilding and Repairing Firms on the North-East Coast (1) " The effect of the restrictions on the sal© of alcoholic liquors has been, we consider, beneficial to the time-keeping of our work- men, and consequently it has had a good effect upon the amount of the work turned out. The men have kept turning into work more regularly at the beginning of the week than was formerly the case, and while this may be due in some measure to the effect of the Munitions Act, and also to the patriotism of the men, we think that, at any rate in some cases, it is owing to the effect of the restrictions. We are of the opinion that the stoppage of the sale of alcoholic liquors in the early morning is generally of great benefit." (2) " For some time past our workpeople have attended to their work quite up to, or better than, the average. I beheve that the restricted opening of pubUo-houses is accountable for this to a great extent, especially on wet days. In shipyards . . . the men are working entirely in the open air, and in winter time it fre- quently happens that rain may be falling about the starting time, and in the days before early closing these men were frequently lost to us for the whole day, even if it became fine before the re- start at breakfast time. I find now that after a wet early morning, if it becomes fine at rune o'clock, the men return to work. How far this can be attributed to the late opening (of public-houses) or the severity of the Munitions Act it is impossible, to say. Generally speaking, I am of opinion that the early closing and late opening restrictions have been of benefit. ..." A North- West Port . ' .; ' i ;/; _ , '[ " In the opinion of shipowners, master-stevedores, and others — ■ with a very few exceptions — the restrictions have had a decidedly beneficial effect. There is an improvement in the sobriety of men along the docks, and a great improvement in the condition of ^ Parliamentary Debates {House of Commons) Official Report. THE EFFECT OF THE BOARD'S WORK 261 ships' crews on saUing, especially when the sailing takes place ,'^u'^^^. ^- "^^"^ ^°"''^-' ^ *"^**ie^ restriction of hours is desirable." (iiie Chairman of the Employers' Association.) A South Wales Poet _ " The men who attend the office for ' paying-ofi ' in a state of intoxication are now practically nil. The men when they join their ships are much more sober. The Order seems to be working very satisfactorily so far as the merchant seamen are concerned. There is no delay in getting ships away, nor with the firemen. The Order has had a salutary effect." Another South Wales Port "At the beginning of the War shipowners had considerable trouble in obtaining substitutes. Since the (drink-restriction) Order, failure to join, and desertion, have practically ceased, and a delay to Admiralty transports is a rare occurrence." The Thames Area " All the Shipping Companies from whom information has been obtained report a good general improvement in the sobriety of the crews at the time of joining, since the Order came into force, and most Companies as regards the dock labour. . . . There is a marked reduction in the number of ' cases ' seeking admission to the Hospital and requiring attention to injuries and accidents caused through drunkenness, since the Orders have been in force, more particularly since the introduction of the closing Order." ^ III. Labour and Liquor Control The success of the policy of Liquor Control in sustaining and improving efficiency was dependent in no small degree on the goodwill of organised Labour. Had this not been secured, the gains would have been on an altogether smaller scale ; but here, as in other spheres of war-time responsibility, the patriot- ism of Labour sustained the national interest.^ Restrictions, ^ In the London Area the Board first made an Order prohibiting treating and permitting dilution of spirits. This was followed six weeks later by an Order in standard form, including the provisions for lessening the hours of sale. Hence the references to the " Orders " and " the closing Order." 2 The value of the concurrence of Labour was freely recognised in the Board's Second Export . " A general record of the working of the Board's Order would be incomplete unless it acknowledged, in the frankest and most cordial terms, the loyal support given to the Board by Trades Councils and oth.ir Labour organisations. Many helpful suggestions and criticisms have 262 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE some of which would have been keenly contested in normal times, were accepted without protest. The Board's construc- tive policy won from the first the cordial support of Labour representatives ; this was especially true of the Industrial Canteen Movement, and the developments of State Purchase at Enfield and Carlisle. The Reports of the Commission of Enquiry into Industrial Unrest (July, 1917) are significant and instructive in this respect. Broadly speaking, the Commissioners found that there was strong resentment against the Food Controller's limitation of the output of beer, and the enhanced prices of liquor fixed by the " Trade " ; but the Board's Plan of Control — apart from a few local grievances — was described as working without friction. 1 been received from their representatives at the Board's local Conferences, and recognised leaders of some of the largest and most influential Unions have borne testimony to the increased efficiency of labour, and of the com- munity as a whole, which experience has shown to have resulted from the Orders. They have been quick to realise that this increased efficiency con- tributes to the vigorous prosecution of the War, and the Board's task has been materially lightened by the patriotic maimer in which the leaders and the majority of the rank and file have co-operated with the nation generally in accepting the inconveniences which the Board's restrictive measures have necessarily occasioned." ^ The references to the Drink Question in the eight Reports of the Com- mission of Enquiry into Industrial Unrest are as follows — Area. Page in Report . Cd. Nuniber. North-Eastem 3 8662 North-Western 25 8663 Yorkshire and East Midlands . No direct reference to drink 8664 West Midlands 9 8665 London and South-Eastein 4 8666 South-Westem 3 8667 Wales, including Monmouthshire 33 8668 Scotland .... 12 8669 The reference in the West Midlands Report is a good summary of the findings of the Commissioners in most of the English Areas. The West Midlands Commissioners say : " The question is threefold — one of hours, price and scarcity. Of these the last is the most galling. The limitation of hours, though unpopular, has been accepted as a war necessity. The increase of price is resented chiefly because it is felt that brewers are making an undue profit, but the real grievance is the difliculty of obtaining the article." The Welsh Commissioners found " singularly little evidence of any resent- ment on the part of the men against the imposition of restrictions on the sale of liquor." The Scottish Commissioners note that in the whole course of their Enquiry " no complaint has been made from any quarter of the liquor restrictions being a cause of industrial unrest." CHAPTER XI {continued) THE EFFECT OF THE BOARD'S WORK B. On Social Welfare Sobriety and social reform are allies. The experience of the Board is an undesigned confirmation of that common- place. Set up to secure efficiency, and devising measures solely for that end, the Board found themselves achieving two purposes instead of one. The restraints placed upon the sale of liquor, and the provision of centres for food and fellowship, brought benefit to home and city as well as to camp and work- shop. Call this result a by-product, if you will. The fact stands. Family Ufe, and public health and order, gained substantially under the policy of Liquor Control. It is worth while to sum up the advantages which accrued in this way to social well-being. I. Advantages to Home Life and Child-Welfare It was quite a common experience of Delegations of the Board, when visiting areas where a restrictive Order had been operative for some months, to hear at the Conference with local authorities and representative citizens that the restrictions had lessened the quantity of drink sold, and that a lessened trade in drink meant a larger trade in food, clothing and furniture. Nor is it a detraction from this to recall that good trade and higher wages made it possible for parents to spend more on their homes and children, since the restraints placed on the drink trade rendered it easier for wage-earners to spend more freely on domestic necessities and comforts. A report from the Chief Constable of a town in the east of Scotland, in regard to the Board's Scottish policy of prohibiting the sale of liquor on 263 264 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Saturdays until 4 p.m., is typical of the social effects of the restrictions as a whole : — " Non-licensed grocers and other shopkeepers say that they have never done so good business amongst the -working classes on Satur- days. This they believe to be due to the fact that "working men get home -with their -wages, -wliich they hand over to their -wives, and partake of a proper meal prior to the opening of hcensed premises." Conversely, it was not uncommon to hear that pa-wnbrokers were asserting decreased business, and attributing it in part to the reduced facilities for the purchase of drink. Children gained in safety, health and happiness. The de- cline by 40 per cent, in infant deaths through overlying, in 1916 as compared -with 1914,^ is one instance of a general betterment in child-welfare vouched for by social workers in numerous centres. A valuable confirmation of this is afforded by the experience of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The Director of the Society, Mr. Robert J. Parr, O.B.E., stated that the restrictions of the Board, and par- ticularly the no-treating pro"vision, had produced a marked advance in child-welfare. This is reflected in the statistics con- cerning cases of neglect and cruelty -with which the Society dealt in the years 1914-15, 1915-16, and 1916-17. Casks of Child-Stjefbring dealt -wtth by the N.S.P.C.C. sho-wing Pbe- CBNTAGE OF CASES IN -WHICH DRUNKENNESS WAS THE CAUSE OF NEGLKOT OE Ceueltt. (The statistical year of the Society ends on March 31) Cases dealt with by N.S.P.C.C. Percentage of Cases in which Drunken- ness was the cause. 1914-15 . ... 1915-16 . ... 1916-17 .... 49,046 44,051 42,835 40-20 37-83 31-20 In addition to the decline in the percentage of cases of child- suffering due to drunkenness, the officers of the Society re- ported a general improvement in child-welfare. Mr. Parr also confirmed, from direct information, the statement made above that bakers, butchers, grocers and furniture dealers, in various large to-wns, obtained custom which, but for the restrictions on the sale of liquor, would have gone to the public-house. 1 See pp. 242-244. THE EFFECT OF THE BOARD'S WORK 265 Another ameliorative consequence of Liquor Control was the earlier evening hour at which the streets grew quiet. This assured a longer night's rest, especially in overcrowded districts — an important asset to the health of the child-population.^ II. Advantages to Public Health The remarkable decline in deaths from alcohoUc diseases was recorded in Chapter X. The reduction in the hours of sale, and, still more, the separation of the two periods of sale, broke up the habit of "soaking"; and this salutary change probably accounted for a large share of the fall in alcoholic mortahty. The following report to the Board, by Dr. Scurfield, Medical Officer of Health for Sheffield, is a fair comment on the gains to family health from the restrictions : — " I have made inquiries amongst our stafi of women sanitary inspectors, as they, in the course of their work, have better means of knowing what is going on in the homes than any other members of my sanitary staff. There is a strong general impression amongst them that there is a considerable improvement since the introduction of the restrictions on the sale of alcohoHc Hquors. The improve- ment shows itself in various ways ; the women are more in their homes in the morning, and consequently the children are better looked after; there appears to be less drinking during the day, and there is more baking of bread and cooking done in the homes than before ; famiUes go to bed earher, and therefore get more rest." The value of these domestic changes to the health of the community is unmistakable. Usually one of the earhest differences noted in an industrial centre, after the issue of a restrictive Order, was a reduction in the number of patients treated at hospitals for injuries received when imder the influence of drink. The following reports from London hospitals, referring to the winter of 1915-16, are useful evidence :• — CHAEmo Cross Hospital. Dr. George Dickinson, then Resident Medical Officer, said : "It has been of much interest to note the difference in conditions since hquor restrictions came into 1 A letter from a London resident is to the point. " The improvement in this locality due to the early closing of public-houses is extraordinary. There are three small poor streets behind this house. Until the War the noise in them up to 1 a.m. was very bad— children not going to bed, fightmg and hubbub. Now all is quiet and peaceful at, say, 10.30 p.m., the children m bed and all well." 266 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE force. Shortly summed up, the effect is that we get distinctly fewer cases associated Avith intoxication, and these cases come to lis earlier in the evening, and are finished by about 11 p.m. In pre-war times our house staff was generally kept at work tiU 1 a.m. or later. This latter point is an extremely important one in view of the shortage of doctors and consequent strain on those remain- ing. This class of work falls on the youngest quahfied men, and I am sure they could not do the amount of work they do during the remainder of the twenty-four hours, ff they were kept up half the night, as so frequently happened in pre-war times." St. Thomas' Hospital. Mr. Stewart Rouquette, Resident Assistant Surgeon, said : " The hquor restrictions have had a good effect in diminishing considerably the number of intoxicated persons treated as out-patients, as well as the number of those admitted for serious injuries sustained while under the influence of alcohol. Injuries received in domestic altercation or in street brawls are fewer in number than formerly. I believe that this improvement may be attributed to the beneficent influence of the restrictions, particularly as intoxicated persons are now more liable to sustain street injuries on account of the darkening of the streets." The view of the House Surgeons of the Liverpool Dispensaries, in respect of the same period, was that " since the date the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) ordered the earlier closing of the pubKc-houses, the wounds resulting fromrowdyism, coming into these Institutions for treatment, have steadily diminished, and at present almost vanished, particularly on Saturday nights. ... In the opinion of our doctors there is evidence that facilities for home-drinking are greatly abused." An interesting sidelight on the question was the tribute paid here and there by individual publicans and bar employees to the benefit they derived from a shorter working day. The abnormally high death-rate among inn-keepers and inn- servants was doubtless traceable in some degree to the length of the working day, for, before the War, in country places, licensed premises were open for 16, in towns for 17, and in London actually for 19| hours of the 24. The reduction of trading hours could not fail to establish more healthful conditions for licensees and their servants. III. Advantages to Public Order Here the advantage was patent to all. There was an impressive diminution in street brawls, crimes of violence, THE EFFECT OF THE BOARD'S WORK 267 and in the scenes of intemperance at railway stations which disfigured the arrival and departure of troops in the first months of war. At one of the Board's early Conferences in Lancashire a speaker told of a famous street for scuffles known as " the Dardanelles, because of the broken windows " ; and of another called "Hill 60, because of the fighting that goes on." It is not af&rmed that drunkenness and public disorder of this type entirely disappeared as a result of the restrictions, but it is beyond denial that a vast improve- ment took place. Limiting ourselves to the authoritative statements of Chief Constables — as the pubKc officers respon- sible for the maintenance of civil order — the subjoined reports are fairly typical of the experience of industrial neighbour- hoods throughout the country. The statements quoted are from the Second Report of the Board, and refer to the winter of 1915-16 ; convictions for drunkenness still further decreased after that date, as the diagrams on pp. 234-239 show. SCOTLAND Elgin (County). — " My officers in charge of stations, and myself from general observation, consider that the liquor restrictions have had a beneficial effect on tippHng and general drunkenness. The noisy bands of men partly intoxicated on the street after 9 o'clock at night have disappeared entirely, and drinking and the appearance of drunkenness is less prevalent among the soldiers. ... I con- sider one of the greatest advantages is the prohibition of ' off ' sales of spirits after 2.30 p.m. . . . The restrictions have done very excellent work in completely putting a stop to Sunday drinking." Ross AND Cromaety. — " Since the Order of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) came into operation . . . there has been, I am glad to say, a very appreciable improvement in the drinking habits of the people ; drunkenness has decreased, there is better order among the inhabitants, and tipsy persons are rarely to be seen." Montrose. — " The restrictions imposed by the Board's Order . . . have had an excellent effect in my area. I am convinced that drinking in pubhc-houses and clubs has decreased to a large extent, and it has been particularly noticeable that the streets have been cleared of people much earher than was the case previous to the Order coming into operation." Dunfermline. — " From inquiries made I find that the sales of spirits have decreased fully 37 J per cent, during the last quarter of 1915. The general effect of the restrictions has been beneficial in promoting more regular timekeeping, better workmanship, and 268 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE greater sobriety. In short, the curtailing of the hours of sale and the prohibition of ' treating ' have been responsible for an almost total absence of drunkenness during ordinary working hours. . . . The restrictions are appreciated by employers of labour, welcomed by the workpeople, and strongly supported by public opinion." Leith. — " Since the restrictions came into force there is a great improvement in the public conduct. Less drunkenness is visible in our streets ; quarrels in private houses are less frequent, men go to and from their work sober and respectable." Gbbenock. — " Every restriction that has been imposed has had its good effect. The restriction imposed by the Licensing Court considerably reduced drunkenness, and the Order of the Board further reduced it. The most noticeable feature after the Order of the Licensing Court came into force was the desertion of the streets at an earUer hour, and the absence of disorderly scenes. The Order of the Board has had the effect of further reducing drunkenness, and its associated offences, and possibly the most marked feature of the Order is to be found in the reduced number of offences committed in the homes, such as assaults, breaches of the peace, and cruelty to and neglect of children. This is due, I should say, largely to Ucensed premises being closed until six o'clock in the evening during the first five days of the week and until four o'clock on Saturday, preventing men from taking drink on an empty stomach. The workmen, with few exceptions, so far as I have been able to observe or learn, do not remain until the public- houses open, but go direct from their work to their homes, and before partaking of exciseable liquor have a meal. They, therefore, do aot spend their wages, but take them home, thus averting quarrels and allowing money to be spent for the benefit of children who would otherwise have been neglected." ENGLAND Newcastle-on-Tynb. — " The restrictions imposed by the Board have worked satisfactorily, and appear to have had a marked effect on the drinking habits of the people. Scarcely any drunkenness is observable in the streets after 9 p.m., and I understand that timekeeping at the works is greatly improved. . . . The general effects of the restrictions are better order in the streets, more com- fortable homes, better-cared-for children, and better timekeeping at works." •;■■; DtTEHAM CoxTNTY. — " Drunkeimess has greatly decreased, but not only that, drinking has much decreased and its attendant evils — assaults, brawls, fighting, etc. — are not nearly so prevalent." Beadfoed. — " There has been a marked decrease in drunkenness, and the number of cases of assaults and disorderly offences usually arising from drink has also been considerably reduced. " There is, of course, less drinking by workpeople, particularly night-workers, and this undoubtedly has a good general effect." THE EFFECT OF THE BOARD'S WORK 269 DoNOASTER. — " The efiect of the restrictions has been consider- ably to reduce the consumption of intoxicating Hquor, particularly spirits. Cases of drunkenness have been reduced to a very low minimum, and consequently there is an absence of street brawls and a marked improvement in the sobriety of the people, particularly with the week-end crowds." Wakefield. — " So far as the city of Wakefield is concerned, the restrictions on the sale of alcoholic hquors have been the cause of a reduction of quite 60 per cent, in drunkenness of all kinds, com- pared with the period previous to the operations of the Liquor Control restrictions. A noticeable feature is the reduction of drinking amongst women. . . . Undoubtedly the restrictions are conducive to sobriety amongst all classes." Liverpool. — " Taking an all-round view of the restrictions and giving due consideration to the fact that some improvement should be expected through the number of men who have left the city to join H.M. Forces, there can be no two opinions as to the good the restrictions have done. There are fewer arrests for drunkenness, people generally are more sober and go home much earher; more are also going to places of amusement instead of public-houses. There are fewer people under the influence of drink about the streets, fewer street disturbances to quell, and fewer drink quarrels in the home calling for poUce interference. The late hour of opening has been most beneficial to workmen and employers; many men turn up to work in the morning who, if the public-houses had been open, would not have done so, the employers get better labour and the men are better for it. Dock labourers have openly expressed their appreciation of the absence of the temptation to drink." Waewickshire. — " The restrictions are working smoothly and satisfactorily. Employers of labour inform me that their men are keeping better time and turn up more fit for work. There is a very appreciable and general improvement in sobriety throvTghout the districts affected. More especially is this noticeable on Sundays, the regulations having put a stop to the so-called bona ^de travellers, who, in most cases, were simply drinking parties." Bristol. — The Chief Constable refers to "the quiet, orderly demeanour and early retirement of the people, as compared with the time before the Order came into force. The streets are just about as empty at 10 p.m. as they used to be at midnight, and, in my opinion, this is very satisfactory from every point of view. It certainly would never have been brought about had it not been for the restricted hours of closing." Hertfordshire. — " I am satisfied that there has been a marked decrease as regards excessive drinking, particularly amongst the working classes both male and female, with the result that they have more money to spend on food and other necessaries. . . . The Order appears to me to work satisfactorily, and I think it would greatly benefit the country after the War if the early closing were continued permanently." 270 THE CONTEOL OF THE DRINK TRADE The decrease of offences against public order was accom- panied by a decrease in the prison population. The following figures trace the decline from the outbreak of war. Local Prisons. England and Wales. Date. Prisoners. Percentage of Decrease (compared with August, 1914). 32-3 49-2 Male. Female. Total. August 4, 1914 March 31, 1915 „ „ 1916 11,531 7,178 5,321 2,049 2,010 1,575 13,580 9,188 6,896 " The three main causes which seem to have contributed to this great decrease," say the Commissioners of Prisons in the Report for 1915-16, are " (1) the enlistment of many habitual petty offenders ; (2) the Restrictive Orders issued by the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) and those made by the Justices and by the Military Authorities ; (3) the great demand for labour, rendering employment easy and well paid, and resulting in ability to pay fines, this latter being greatly aided by the operation of Section 1 of the Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914." ^ In the Report for 1916-17 the Commissioners say — "It is probable that the reduction which has also taken place in the committals to prison for offences against the person, both serious and trivial, which are frequently the result of alcohohc excess, may, in some degree, be attributed also to the operation of the Restrictive Orders of the Board." The figures are as follows : — ^ Committals to Prison on Conviction 1913-14. 1916-17. J>-S Serious crime against the person — Murder, Manslaughter, Wounding, etc. Minor Assaults ..... 603 8,666 220 2,801 63 68 Reportof the Commissioners of Prisons, p. 5 (Cd. 8342). ^ p_ g ^QjJ^ §764). THE EFFECT OF THE BOARD'S WORK 271 More copious examples of the advantages to home Ufe and child-welfare, and to public health and order, resulting from the pohcy of Liquor Control, could easily be given. The foregoing are illustrative. They point to one conclusion. The Plan of Control, devised to aid efficiency, enhanced social welfare in undesigned but definite and fruitful ways. The bearing of this on the impending task of social reconstruction was indicated in a speech by Mr. Runciman on February 14, 1917. He said— " What is very remarkable is that in those districts where the Liquor Control Board have exercised the largest amount of control, there are great masses of the people most directly affected, the artisan class, who declare that they do not wish to go back to the old state of things. Again and again that has come to our know- ledge, and it has come from many quarters which were entirely unexpected — from men who were not teetotallers, and who rather dislike the demeanour of teetotallers, but who do not wish to have in their own streets and in their own quarters the same sort of squalor which used to be found there three or four years ago, and who do not wish to have the hubbub and rows going on in their alleys and courts after midnight in London, or after eleven o'clock in the provinces, as went on before. Those people will not wiUingly go back to the old state of things. In considering our reconstruction problems we shall be well advised to get to know from those quarters what are the views of the people who hve there, before we decide to dispense with some of the benefits that have accrued from the operations of the Liquor Control Board." ^ ^ Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons) Official Report. CHAPTER XII CONCLUSION : THE DRINK PROBLEM AND THE FUTURE I. The Plan of Control and the Licensing Systexn It is impossible to fence in a stretch of years, and say with an accent of conviction that the events within that term shall not influence life beyond. " That great law which makes a past time serve to-day " knows no exception in the matter of Liquor Control. The work done in 1915-1917 is not to be regarded as though its significance ended with the end of the War. The gravity of the Drink Question will be no whit less in years of peace than in the days of unconcealed peril. To attempt social reconstruction, and ignore the lessons of the period of control, would be folly. Here, at the hand of the legislator, is a mass of experience won in what may fairly be accounted neutral circumstances. Neither party to the drink controversy framed the scheme of Liquor Control ; neither party determined the conditions of its application. This gives the great experiment its unique value. The issue of the experiment has been to place at the service of the State knowledge of the methods which, in our own country and time, have been efficacious, in a notable degree, in repressing intemperance, advancing efficiency, and bettering the social lot. The argument of this closing chapter is that experience was not won to be wasted. Before the War there was a marked disposition to pass over the claim for licensing legislation. " Passions and prejudices and principles," as Mr. Lloyd George said, are stirred to fierce activity when a Government touches the drink problem. The embittered strife over the Licensing Bill of 1908 is his- torical, and explains the hesitancy of political leaders from 272 THE DRINK PROBLEM AND THE FUTURE 273 that date onward to renew the attempt to find a solution. The practical inaction of Parliament has fixed a wider gulf between law and public requirement in this matter than in almost any other sphere. But the choice of the legislator is no longer between inaction and reform. It is between reform and relapse. The Control Board were appointed as a war- emergency body. When their responsibility is discharged, the nation's choice will lie between (1) a restoration of pre-war facilities for the sale of drink, with the danger of a return of insobriety on the pre-war scale ; and (2) the consolidation of the ground won for sobriety during the War, by new legislation adapted to the needs of the nation in years of peace. Apart from new legislation, all the defences erected by the Board against insobriety will fall to the ground at the close of the Board's career. The measure of improvement in industry, health and social order effected by the policy of Liquor Control is a just criterion of the loss which would follow its complete abandonment. It is almost inconceivable that such a loss should be deliberately incurred on the eve of social reconstruc- tion, when an unparalleled call must be made on the brain and muscle of the nation. And here the legislator can count on new allies ; for there exists, in most quarters, good-will towards such a revision of the code of licensing law as shall safeguard industry and public welfare. There are, as is widely recognised, urgent reasons for the achievement of this task ; the most obvious are the need for the maintenance of com- mercial efficiency, and the impending and colossal enterprise of social reconstrtiction. II. Drink and the Future o£ Industry 1. Since August, 1914, and on a constantly expanding scale, the nations have been using up or destroying their industrial possessions. Wide territories in the manufacturing districts of Belgium, France and Poland are strewn with ruins, towns shattered and villages razed. The tillage, the railroads and roUing-stock, and the shipping of Europe have depreciated to an immeasurable extent. The world's store of food and clothing and household commodities is depleted, in some particulars almost to exhaustion. When the peoples turn T 274 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE again to the industries of peace, it will be to start the normal work of hfe at the foundation, to make good the wastage and sheer destruction wrought by war. Everything will be wanted, wanted quickly, and in a volume unprecedented. Simple human need wiU require the maximum of activity in production and distribution of the means of life and the implements of toil. To secure efficiency, when Britain was mobilising for war, Parhament ordained a firm control and restriction of the trade in drink. Efficiency will be equally essential when, after the War, a new mobilisation of industrial resources will be neces- sary, to replace what has been worn-out or destroyed. It is not an overstatement to affirm that the commercial future of the country, , and the pace of reconstruction, will be deter- mined in no small degree by the attitude of Parliament to the question of permanent Liquor Control. Before the War there was considerable scepticism as to the practicability of a rapid advance towards national sobriety. The position has completely changed. New methods have been put to the test and their worth established. From first to last the experience of the Board is a witness to the value of effective control of the liquor traffic as an aid to production. Mind and muscle are impaired by alcohoKc indulgence ; alcoholic indulgence is diminished by firm restriction of the trade in drink. The nation carmot afford the loss of productive power involved in a reversion to pre-war conditions. 2. In view of the renascence of constructive activity, it is therefore important to note what features of licensing reform have been shown, by the experience of the period of Control, to be of the greatest significance. Setting aside minor details, it may be safely said that if the immediate standard be the suppression of intemperance, the legislative efforts of the near future should be directed to the following objectives — (1) The hours of sale. The pre-war '■'drinking day" was exces- sively long, and the needless hours of sale encouraged intemperance. A wide consensus of opinion condemns the morning sale of drink, and approves the appointment of hours of sale to accord with the customary meal-times of the people. There is good ground also for the belief that the suspension of the sale of alcohol between the meal- hours is a substantial aid in the reduction of intemperance. THE DRINK PROBLEM AND THE FUTURE 275 (2) Additional restraints on the sale of spirituous liquors; par- ticularly as regards " off " sales, and the lowering of alcoholic strength by dilution. (3) The inhibition of such incentives to alcohohc indulgence as treating, the " long pull," and the retail sale of Uquor on credit. (4) The reduction, on a large scale, of the present excessive number of hcensed premises. (5) The recognition in law, by a substantial increase of penalties, that drimkenness or the supply of drink to a drunken person is " a serious crime against the community." (6) Due provision for the remedial — as opposed to the punitive — treatment of inebriety. It should be expressly stated that the proposals advanced in the foregoing paragraphs are not to be read as an argument for an indefinite continuance of the powers of the Control Board, or of their policy in all its details ; .but rather as a series of deductions drawn from the actual operation of the scheme of Liquor Control, and as a claim on public grounds for the preservation, by the most appropriate means, of the economic and social advantages already obtained. Along stich lines as these the more pressing factors of the problem may be dealt with. There remains the wider issue of the future relation of the people as a whole to the provision and use of alcoholic beverages. Something must needs be said on the Drink Question as it affects the future social order. III. Drink and Social Well-being 1. The discussion moves to a new plane. It is agreed that efificiency will be a dominant requirement in peace as in war. Yet the commanding issue after the War will not be the indus- trial output of the worker, but his outlook and opportunities. The mechanical will yield precedence to the moral. The quahty of our social life will be the supreme consideration. The central questions of public concern will touch home and health, child welfare and training, the humanising of industry, the re-inter- pretation ot civic and racial rights and duties — in short, the re-founding of civilisation on a basis of common equity. It is at this point that the Drink Question makes contact with the claims and ideals of democracy. If the future is to witness redress of industrial inequities, and a progressive enrichment 276 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE of our common life, something more will be requisite than clear- ness of vision and aptness in statecraft on the part of legis- lators and leaders of democracy. Clearness of apprehension, and restraint and resolve in due degree and place, will be the quaUties indispensable to the toiling mass of the nation. Good following wiU be as necessary as good leading, the sustained response as essential as the convincing appeal. Now insobriety and social idealism are at opposite poles. Insobriety breeds content with squalor, dulls ambition, blunts the faculty of discernment, mars stability of purpose, and is a brake on social progress. The repression of insobriety is vital to the realisation of the best hopes and plans of organised labour. That is but another way of saying that a courageous and comprehensive treatment of the liquor problem is to be placed high on the list of conditions essential to democratic advance. 2. Once the problem is placed in this setting, it is not difficult to discern the principles involved in an attempt to handle it effectively. In addition to the generally accepted dictum that while the traffic in Uquor continues it must be subject to firm and detailed control imposed by law, two other considerations are of primary importance, namely — (1) The Drink Question should not be regarded as isolable from the whole problem of social well-being, of which it is an integral part. Whatever enhances the wholesomeness of life makes for temperance. (2) It is essential that a way should be found for the State, unimpeded by private interests, to determine, in accord with the will of the people, the drink-pohcy of the future. (1) The consequences of intemperance travel far beyond the intemperate person and touch society; they are seen in the sufferings of children, depression of the family Standard of Life, and invasions of public order. In the same way the causes of intemperance are not exclusively personal ; beyond the appetite of the drinker, beyond also the excess in faciUties for obtaining drink, there are social factors which impinge upon, and to some extent explain, prevailing drinking customs. It will suffice, by way of illustration, to mention those with which the Control Board, and the voluntary organisations working for sobriety, found themselves compelled to reckon — the factors of food, fatigue and fellowship. THE DRINK PROBLEM AND THE FUTURE 277 The spread of the Industrial Canteen Movement which led to the establishment, within two years, of over 700 canteens for munition and transport workers, sustains the view that a proper food-supply is one effective means of overcoming the drink difficulty. The food-and-drink Taverns in the State Purchase areas of the Board, and the attempt to rouse the licensed victualler to supply victuals, are further evidence. Granted that these were war-emergency efforts, made at a time of exceptionally heavy demands on manual workers, nevertheless the principle which guided the Board is always vahd. Irregular, insufficient, unappetising meals predispose to alcohohc indulgence. The imsatisfied physical craving for food is appeased by drink. Contrariwise, every step towards assuring the sufficiency and suitability of the food-supply of the worker and his home is a step towards national sobriety. Industrial fatigue was a factor with which the Board could not deal directly. It lay with other authorities to find means to reduce the overstrain to which war-workers were subject. But the fact that overwork and industrial alcoholism are closely associated was never in doubt. Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue, a report based on investigations made on behalf of the Health of Munition Workers Committee, is a valuable review of the contemporary situation, to which some reference was made in Chapter IV. " Long hours, much overtime, and especially Sunday labour, have a pernicious effect upon health, particularly in heavy trades." ^ Add, in countless instances, the drawback of overcrowded and noisy dwellings, and it will be clear how easily the worker may lose — or never gain — briskness and resilience ; and no whit less clear how easy it is to turn to liquor and the liquor-bar in sheer reaction from the dullness of a merely mechanical task, the stress of the working-day, or from life in the cramped and squalid quarters miscalled " home." If drink is to cease to count as an " in- dustrial aneesthetic " to miiltitudes of men and women, life must be less laborious, with wider margin for leisure and a wider range of healthful interests. The need for new centres of human fellowship was seen at a glance in the glare of war. The voluntary movement which placed in and near the camps, harbours and railway stations, 1 Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue, p. 67, Cd. 8511. 278 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE hundreds of huts, " Homes " and institutes for Service-men was a most fruitful contribution to the cause of national sobriety. But the need was not new, nor will it cease with the War. The assumption that the meeting-place of the people must be a house erected chiefly for the sale of liquor has been in no small degree responsible for the perpetuation of intem- perance. The time is ripe for a national effort to found and sustain Social Centres or Common Halls, where recreation and non-alcoholic refreshment could be sought by all, and the ever- expanding activities of communal hfe might find their home. (2) It does not fall within the proper scope of this volume, which describes a war-time mode of administration, to investi- gate the rival claims of reformers concerning the ultimate solu- tion of the liquor problem. Prohibitionists, with an eye on the spread of Prohibition in America and Russia, foretell the end of the drink difficulty by the ending of the drink trade. Others would meet the acknowledged need for improvement and redress by an extended apphcation of the methods on which the State has hitherto relied, namely, the economic check of in- creasing taxation on liquor, and periodic instalments of restric- tive legislation. Yet though discussion of the final judgment of the nation on this vexed issue lies beyond the frontier of the present enquiry, it is directly to the point to affirm that a necessary element of any thoroughgoing scheme of reform is the removal of the barrier of private interests in the sale of drink. Brewers, distillers and licensed victuallers are like the rest of the nation. When they deem their liveUhood im- perilled, they resist. The doggedness of their resistance has almost passed into a proverb. By skilful use of electoral influence they have succeeded in maintaining, with a minimum of modification, a licensing system which is manifestly out of touch at numerous points with public requirements. The breadth and variety of the changes made under the rule of the Control Board mark how far legislation was in arrears of the needs of industry and of social demands, and how swiftly advance can be made towards sobriety when the hostile barrage of private iuterests is lifted. More than one method has been proposed for securing to the State complete liberty to initiate and pursue a pohcy of reconstruction. The plan embodied in the Licensing Bill of THE DRINK PROBLEM AND THE FUTURE 279 1908 was the appointment of a Time Limit of fourteen years. At the end of that term Licensing Justices were to be free (1) to treat all appUcations for the re -grant of hcences, " on " or " off," as though they were apphcations for the grant of new hcences ; (2) to refuse or to renew hcences as they deemed wise ; and (3) to require the payment of monopoly value, and to attach restrictive conditions of sale, in respect of those licences which they decided to renew. Local Option on all hcences was to come into play at the end of the Time Limit.^ WTiatevcr opinion is held as to the proposals of 1908, it will be generally agreed that the present need of the State is immediate freedom, and that the appointment of a long interval of years before reconstruction can be attempted is scarcely the method best suited to an age of swift social change. This sense of pubhc urgency has forced into prominence the alter- native plan of Purchase. The experience of the Control Board is serviceable here. The record of the State Purchase enterprises at Enfield, Invergordon, Gretna and Carlisle claims careful and critical study.^ The main lesson is the compara- tive ease with which reforms long overdue can be acliieved when the private interest in the traffic is ehminated, and the public advantage becomes the sole concern. The gains to sobriety accruing from this method in the four areas led the Board in December 1916 — as we noted — to recommend the Government to purchase the liquor traffic throughout the copntry. Basing their judgment on a review of the situation then existing, the Board affirmed that a policy of Purchase leading to Direct Control offered "the most rapidly effective amd the best permanent solution of the problem."^ The financial operations involved in a national scheme were explored by Committees appointed by the Government in the summer of 1917. ^ A scheme of compensation was set out in Clauses 10-13 of the Bill, to operate in respect of "on " licences extinguished within the term of 14 years, in accordance with a scale of reduction set out in the First Schedule to the Bill. The compensation was to be provided by a national levy on the "Trade." At the expiration of the 14 years the payment of compensation was to cease. 2 See pp. 172-176, and 197-225. 3 Memorandum submitted to the Oovernment in December 1916, by ihe Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic). The Memorandum is cited in fuU in Appendix VI, 280 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Reference has been made, at various stages in this narrative of the drink controversy during the War, to the objections urged against Purchase. Two points which have not hitherto entered into the discussion may be usefully noted here. It is urged, on the one hand, that the State having acquired a remunerative industry, would exploit it for revenue, rather than restrict it for social ends ; on the other hand, it is asserted with no less emphasis, that the State, in pursuit of temperance, would sacrifice both its former revenue from the liquor-taxes and the capital sum paid as purchase-money to the "Trade." Super- ficially these objections answer one another ; but a more satisfying reply is to refer them both to the one sure fact concerning the public life of the coming age, namely, that the franchise of the future in Britain will be practically co-extensive with adult citizenship. This of course means that the State — which it is alleged will act in one way or another against the interests of the people — will not be an entity apart from the people, imbued with hostilitj'^ to their welfare. The State will be the organ of government which the people design. It will be the Common Mind in action, charged to give effect to the judgment of the majority. Looked at from this point of view, the relation of Purchase to reform is seen as a plain issue. The root question for the reformer will be how best to influence the popular judgment so that the will of the nation may be set toward sobriety ; and a reformer who fears that truth cannot woo and win the public mind lacks faith in the authority of truth or in the moral responsiveness of his fellow-men. The real point to be met is to secure that the will of the people is made effective, not alone nationally through Parlia- ment, but locally in the towns and villages where they work and dwoU. This is the ground for the valid claim that State Purchase should be accompanied by Local Option. PubUc ownership adds strength to the argument that each looahty should have power to decide by the vote the dimensions and duration of the sale of drink in the district. The Board's experience establishes the importance of uniform action regard- ing the traffic throughout an extensive area ; and this suggests the advisability, rmder any scheme of Local Option, of the appointment of wide rather than narrow units of territory for the exercise of a local franchise on the Drink Question. THE DRINK PROBLEM AND THE FUTURE 281 Purchase, leading to Direct Control and Local Option, is a policy which would liberate the State from the sway of influences which time after time have frustrated plans of reform, and would give scope for the residents of each neighbourhood to deal remediaUy with the traffic in their midst. But it is not the intention to urge one solution to the exclusion of all others. The goal is national sobriety. Any road which will lead there swiftly and surely will serve. The experiment which this book records, of placing the State in control of the traffic in hquor, illustrates on an ample scale the benefit to the com- munity when the public interest is supreme. Retrogression from the standard reached in 1917 would mean loss at every point, the cession of ground to reaction and disorder. It is assuredly within the reach of true statesmanship to conserve the recent gains to industry, to maintain the improvement in pubKc health and order, and to open the way for further advance towards the object of all endeavour — the suppression of intemperance and the establishment of sobriety throughout our borders. APPENDICES APPENDIX I DEFENCE OF THE REALM REGULATIONS Power to Close Licensed Premises, and to Proliibit Treating 10. The competent naval or inOitary authority or the Minister of Munitions may by order : — (1) require all or any licensed premises within any area specified in the order to be closed, either altogether, or subject to such exceptions as to hours and purjDOses, and to compliance with such directions, as may be specified in the order ; July «s, 1915. (2) make such provisions as he thinks necessary for the prevention of the practice of treating in any licensed premises within any area specified Dec. 22, 1S16. in the order. Any order of the competent naval or military authority or the Minister of Munitions under this regulation may be made to apply either generally or as respects all or any members of His Majesty's forces or of the forces of any of His Majesty's AUies mentioned in the order, and may require copies of the order to be exhibited in a prominent place in any licensed premises afiected thereby. If any person contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of an order made under this regulation or any conditions or restrictions im- posed thereby, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations, and the competent naval or military authority or the Minister of Munitions may cause such steps to be taken as may be necessary to enforce compliance with the order. In this regulation the expression " licensed premises " includes any pre- mises or place where the sale of intoxicating liquor is carried on under a licence. Power to Prohibit Introduction of Intoxicating Liquor into Dock Premises Feb. 15, 1916. 10a. Where the competent naval or military authority has control of or uses or occupies any dock premises or any part of any dock premises for naval or mDitary purposes, he may by order prohibit any person from bringing into or having in his possession within the dock premises or any limited portion thereof, or on board any vessel therein, any intoxicating liquor, except for such purposes, and subject to such conditions, exceptions and restrictions as may be specified in the order, and if any person contravenes any provision of the order he shall be guilty of an ofience under these regulations, and any person authorised by the competent naval or military authority, or any pohce 282 APPENDIX I 283 constable, may search any person entering or within the premises to which the order applies, and may seize any intoxicating liquor found on him in contravention of the order. Neglecting to join Ship, Deserting, or joining in State of Drunkenness 39a. If a person lawfully engaged to serve on board any ship or vessel belonging to or chartered, hired, or requisitioned by the Admiralty or Army Council or the Shipping Controller — (a) neglects or refuses without reasonable cause to join his ship or vessel, j^f^f^ 'I or to proceed to sea in his ship or vessel, or deserts or is absent without oec. »,' li leave from his ship or vessel or from his duty at any time ; or •*'''«• 2'. ^ (b) joins his ship or vessel, or is whilst on board his ship or vessel, in a state of drunkenness so that the performance of his duties or the naviga- tion of his ship or vessel is thereby impeded ; he shall be guUty of an offence against these regulations ; and the master, mate, or owner of the ship or vessel, or his agent, or any naval or military oiiioer, or any superintendent as defined by the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1914, may with or without the assistance of any police constable, convey on board his ship or vessel any seaman whom he has reason to believe to be guilty of an offence under paragraph (a) of this regulation, and pohce constables are hereby directed to give assistance if required. The exercise of the powers conferred by this regulation shall not be subject to the restrictions imposed by the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1914, on the exercise of any similar powers conferred by those Acts and for the purposes -Wov. S9, l of this regulation a copy of any entry made in an official log book in manner provided by the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall, if it purports to be signed and certified as a true copy or extract by the officer in whose custody the original log book is entrusted, be admissible in evidence. Prohibition on Supplying Intoxicants to Members of His Majesty's Forces 40. If any person gives, sells, procures, or supplies, or offers to give, sell, procure, or supply, any intoxicant — (a) to or for a member of any of His Majesty's forces with the intent of eliciting information for the purpose of communicating it to the enemy, or for any purpose calculated to assist the enemy; or ""' ' (6) to or for a member of any of His Majesty's forces when not on duty with the intent to make him drunk or less capable of the efficient discharge of his duties; or (c) to or for a member of any of His Majesty's forces when on duty either with or without any such intent as aforesaid ; he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations : If any person gives, sells, procures, or supplies or offers to give, sell, procure, or supply any intoxicant to or for a member of any of His Majesty's forces when proceeding to a port for embarkation on board ship, or when at any port for that purpose, he shall be guilty of a summary offence against these regulations. ^^^•«.^- If any member of the crew of a ship belonging to, or chartered hired or requisitioned by, the Admiralty or Army Council, without lawfiil authority gives, sells, procures, or suppUes, or ofiers to give, sell, procure or supply; any intoxicant, to or for any member of His Majesty's forces embarked as a passenger on board the ship, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations. ^vnl m. The Admiralty or Army Council may by order prohibit, either absolutely or except on compliance with such conditions as may be specified in the order. 284 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE the sale or supply to or for any member of any of His Majesty's forces of any narcotic or stimulant drug or preparation specified in the order, and if any person acts in contravention of any such order he shall be guilty of a summary offence against these regulations. Jan S7 1916 I'or the purposes of this regulation the expression " intoxicant " includes any intoxicating liquor, and any sedative, narcotic, or stimulant drug or preparation. Prohibition on Supplying Intoxicants to Members of His Majesty's Forces undergoing Hospital Treatment Dec. n, 1915. 40a. If any person gives, sells, procures, or supplies or offers to give, sell, procure, or supply, to or for a member of any of His Majesty's forces who is undergoing hospital treatment any intoxicant he shall be guilty of a summary offence against these regulations, unless he proves that the intoxicant was or w£is offered to be given, sold, procured, or supplied under doctor's orders in connection with his hospital treatment, or proves that he did not know and had no reasonable ground for suspectng that the person to or for whom he gave, sold, procured, or supplied the intoxicant or offered to do so, was under- going hospital treatment. APPENDIX II INTOXICATING LIQUOR (TEMPORARY RESTRICTION) ACT, 1914 An Act to enable orders to be made in connection with the present war for restricting the sale or consumption of intoxicating liquor. [31st August 1914] BE it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parhament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : — 1. — (1) The licensing justices for any licensing district may, if they think fit, upon the recommendation of the chief officer of pohce that it is desirable for the maintenance of order or the suppression of drunkenness in any area, by order direct that the sale or consumption of intoxicating liquor on the premises of any persons holding any retailers' licence in the area, and the supply or consumption of intoxicating liquor in any registered club in the area, shall be suspended while the order is in operation, during such hours and subject to such conditions or exceptions (if any) as may be specified in the order : Provided that, if any such order suspends the sale, supply, or consumption of intoxicating liquor at an hour earlier than nine at night, the order shall not have effect until approved by the Secretary of State. (2) If any person acts in contravention of, or fails to comi^ly with, any order under this section he shall be liable on summary conviction in respect of each offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds. If any person feels aggrieved by a conviction under this section he may appeal therefrom to quarter sessions in accordance with the Summary Jurisdiction Acts. (3) The licensing justices shall have power to make an order under this section at their general annual licensing meeting or at any special sessions held by them for the purpose of their duties under the Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, or at any meeting specially called for the purpose under this Act. The clerk to the licensing justices shall specially call such a meeting if an application in writing is made to him for the purpose either by any two of their number or by the chief officer of pohce for the district. APPENDIX III 285 (4) In the application of this section to the county of London the committee of the compensation authority appointed under section six of the Licensing (ConsoUdation) Act, 1910, shall be substituted for the licensing justices. 2.— (1) In this Act the expression " retailers ' licence " means any of the retailers' licences specified in the First Schedule to the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, and the expression " chief officer of police " — {a) with respect to the city of London, means the Commissioner of the City Police ; and (6) elsewhere in England, has the same meaning as in the PoHce Act, 1890. (2) In the application of this Act to Scotland, the Secretary for Scotland shall be substituted for the Secretary of State, and the licensing court shall be substituted for the licensing justices, and the general half-yearly meeting of the court, or any adjournment thereof, shall be substituted for the general annual hoensing meeting; "sheriff-depute " shall be substituted for "chief officer of police " ; the reference to an appeal to quarter sessions shall not ^Pply; "summary conviction" means summary conviction in the sheriff court; "intoxicating liquor" means exciseable liquor, and "retailers' licence " means certificate as defined in Part VII. of the Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903. (3) In the appHcation of this Act to Ireland the Lord Lieutenant shall be substituted for the Secretary of State, and the expression " licensing district " means, as respects the pohce district of Dublin metropolis, that district, and elsewhere in Ireland the petty sessions district. The expression " chief officer of police " means, as respects the police district of Dublin metropolis, either of the commissioners of police for that district, and elsewhere in Ireland a district inspector of the Boyal Irish Constabulary, and the expression " licensing justices " means, as respects the police district of Dublin metropolis, the Recorder of the city of DubHn, and, as respects any other licensing district, two or more justices at petty sessions. (4) This Act may be cited as the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restric- tion) Act, 1914. (5) This Act shall remain in force during the continuance of the present war, and for a period of one month after the close thereof. APPENDIX III REPORTS TO THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY ON THE EFFECT OF EXCESSIVE DRINKING ON OUTPUT OF WORK ON SHIPBUILDING, REPAIRS, AND MUNITIONS OF WAR FlEST LOED, The enclosed statement has been drawn up, showing the effect of excessive drinking on the output of work as regards shipbuildiiig, repairs, and munitions of war being carried out by contract for the Admiralty. A report by the Director of Transports as to the effect on transport work is also enclosed. F. C. T. TUDOR, Third Sea Lord. April 2, 1915. " Reports which have been received from the Clyde, Tyne, and Barrow districts recently are in agreement that at the present time the amount of 286 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE work put in by the workmen is much less than what might reasonably be expected. " Put briefly, the position is that now, while the country is at war, the men are doing less work than would be regarded as an ordinary week's work under normal peace conditions. As instances of this, tables are attached showing the numbers of hours worked in a submarine engine-shop and in shipyards on the North-East Coast. " It will be seen that in the case of the 135 fitters employed on submarine engine work, the number of hours lost during the first week of March amounted to the equivalent of a fuU week's work of twenty -eight men, i. e. on the average each man did little more than three-quarters of a day's work. " The reports from the North-East Coast show that over periods of five to seven weeks the time lost at one of the shipyards by riveters equals about 35 per cent, of the normal week's work ; platers, 25 per cent. ; and the caulkers and drillers about 22 per cent. ; the later returns for the same yard show that by far the greater majority of the workmen are absent at starting time — 6 a.m. " The figures reported from two other shipyards on the North-East Coast are similar, and the reports from the Clyde, though details have not been received, are to the same effect, showing that the large amount of lost time is general throughout the country. " Thus the problem is not how to get the workmen to increase their normal peace output, 6'ut how to get them to do an ordinary week's work of fifty-one or fifty-three hours, as the case may be. " The reasons for the loss of time are no doubt various, but it is abundantly clear that the most potent is in the facilities which exist for men to obtain beer and spirits, combined with the high rates of wages and abundance of employment. Opinion on this point is practically unanimous. " The matter has been referred to from time to time in letters which the firms have written in regard to progress of work in hand for the Admiralty, as shown by the following extracts — Clyde " ' We regret to say a number of men are losing a considerable amount of time, mostly, we are afraid, due to their drinking habits, no doubt aggravated by the extra money they are earning by working overtime, and we respectfully submit that if some step could be taken to restrict their opportunities to indulge in intoxicating Liquor enormous benefits would result in the progress of this and other naval work we have in hand.' North-East Coast " ' Regret to say considerable number of our workmen absent from duty to-day — drinking.' Clyde " Regret to complain construction of H.M.S. delayed through workmen absenting themselves from work through excessive dnnEmg. " The Captains-Superintendent of the Clyde and Tyne districts, who supervise the warships being built and repaired by contract, are very well placed to form an opinion on this matter. " The Captain-Superintendent on the Tyne (which district includes the North-East Coast of England and Barrow) reported on February 26 that APPENDIX III 287 the early morning drink was responsible for a great deal of the short time, and that it would be a great help if the pubhc-houses were closed until 10 a.m. In a later report he stated that ' every one agrees that if the pubs could be closed until 10 a.m. things would improve, and they should close at 9 p.m., being open say from 5 or 6 p.m. In this district no one in uniform can be served between 1 and 6 p.m., so I would advocate closing altogether for those times — and not only in the neighbourhood of the shipyards. I have spoken to some of the foreman class, and they tell me 90 per cent, of the men would approve.' " The Captain-Superintendent of the Clyde district considers that the one thing needed to get the fuU output of work is to prohibit the sale of all spirits. " In a further report he states that the drinking is on the increase and is causing delay and bad work; and as a remedy he proposes the prohibition of spirits and of the sale of hquor by the bottle by public-house, grocers, etc., and the restriction of the hours during which pubHc-houses are open. " The Captain-Superintendent of the torpedo-boat destroyers building in various parts of the country reports that ' the main difficulty that contrac- tors have to contend against is the inabiHty on the part of the men to work fuU time, and the only way to meet the difficulty appears to be to have some form of enUsted labour, or further restrictions imposed on the licensed houses in the vicinity of shipyards.' " An officer, who is overseeing the construction of vessels building by a firm on the North-East Coast, reports, ' The time-keeping of the men is not at all satisfactory; whole gangs are thrown out owing to the absence of three or four hands. The firm are of opinion that, short of Martial Law, the only thing to stop it is to stop the sale of spirits.' " The Director of Naval Equipment's report, after his visit to the Tyne, is appended ; a further report has now been received from him after a visit to the Clyde. " In this he states that ' the conditions of labour on the Clyde are such that, except for one or two firms, the abstentions are so great as to cause a serious loss of time, and consequent difficulty in meeting contracts. " ' When war broke out the opening of pubhc-houses was limited to the hours of 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and this has had a beneficial result, but does not entirely meet the case, and it is generally considered that much greater restrictions should be imposed in the hours that liquor may be sold, and that such restriction should apply to all classes equally.' " The foregoing remarks have reference chiefly to the large ship-building yards and engineering works, but amongst these are included some of the largest armament firms, who are manufacturing munitions of war of all sorts. The output of the last is also adversely affected by the drink question. The manager of works on the North-East Coast, where large quantities of shell are manufactured, stated that if the two pubhc-houses just outside the works could be closed his output would be very largely increased. " The question of the extent to which it is desirable or necessary to curtail the sale of intoxicants involves serious national consideration, and is not a matter for one or two Government departments only, but from the point of view of Admiralty work it does not appear that partial measures are hkely to be sucoesstul, judging from the result's' of the partial restriction of opening of pubhc-houses which has been in operation on the Clyde during the war. " Total prohibition, with all its attendant objections and disadvantages, would at least have the general efPect that all classes would at last reahse the existence and seriousness of the war, and that they were personally mvolved in its consequences. , .„ i 1 1 j i " A great principle, such as ' prohibition for the war,' will probably depend 288 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE for its success largely on details, such as the convenience of obtaining hot and cold non-alcoholic drinks, both outside and inside the yards and works. "Turther, an attractive scheme for saving the large amount of money earned by the men, of which so much is now spent in drink (which might possibly be worked through the Government Insurance organisation), seems well worthy of consideration, but should in no way delay decision and action on the vital question of restricting the sale of intoxicants." ^ REPORT BY CAPTAIN GREATOREX, R.N., DIRECTOR OF NAVAL EQUIPMENT, DATED 4TH MARCH, 1915, TO THIRD SEA LORD The condition of labour is deplorable, and the men are in a most uncertain and undependable state. This is so serious, that at any time the whole of the ship-building work on the Tyne may come to a standstill. Sunday working is of little value, as the money paid for Sunday work leads to abstention from aU work for often two days, and a Sunday worker wiU frequently not return tiU Wednesday. The money earned is sufficient to satisfy the men's standard of living, and anything extra beyond ordinary wages encourages abstention to enable loafing in pubho-houses, instead of doing their honest day's work. The opening of pubUc-housos at early morning conduces to abstention from work till after breakfast, and then the work is unsatisfactory, due to the amount that has been imbibed. I was informed by one of the firms that the average non-attendance of workmen amounts to 1-45 days in six days' work, practically 25 per cent, of time is lost. Unless something drastic in the way of measures is taken, I fear that the state of deliveries of ships and vessels of all kinds will be most seriously affected; but in the present frame of mind of the men, drastic measures might have the effect of producing a critical situation. On the other hand, further extra grants and bonuses only accentuate the present deplorable indifference of the workmen to their duty and to attendance to their daily work. The only approach to a solution that was suggested as being Hkely to do good was to partially or totally close all pubUc-houses, and that all offers of extra wages were most harmful, and only accentuated the difficulty. I make the foregoing remarks with a full sense of the fact that it is not my porsonal duty to inquire into these matters, but these facts were apparent in the course of my visit of inspection to the ships building in the Tyne district, and as the deliveries of ships are being so influenced by these facts, I consider it my duty to bring them to your notice. C. GREATOREX, Director of Naval Equipment. ^ Shipbuilding, Munitions and Transport Areas, pp. 2-4; detailed figures were given on pp. 5-10 to show the loss of time on stated jobs and during specified hours. The labour criticism, outlined on pp. 71-73 of the present volume, should be read side by side with the foregoing statements. APPENDIX rV 289 APPENDIX IV THE DEFENCE OF THE REALM (LIQUOR CONTROL) REGULATIONS, 1915 At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 10th day of June, 1915. PRESENT, The King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Whereas by the Defence of the Bealm Consolidation Act, 1914, His Majesty in Council has power during the continuance of the present war to issue regula- tions for securing the public safety and defence of the Realm : And whereas by the Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Act, 1915, His Majesty in Council has power to issue regulations under the first-mentioned Act, to take effect in any area to which they are applied under the said Amend- ment Act, for the purposes of the control by the State of the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor within the area : > And whereas for the purpose of increasing directly or indirectly the efficiency of labour in such areas, and preventing the efficiency of labour in such areas from being impaired by drunkenness, alcoholism, or excess, it is expedient to make such regulations as are herein-after contained : Now, therefore, His Majesty is pleased, by and with the advice of His Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, that in every area to which these Regulations are appUed by an Order in Council, made under the Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Act, 1915, the following provisions shall have effect : — 1. The prescribed Government authority shall be a Board to be called the Constitution o£ Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) (hereinafter referred to as " the Board " ) Board, consisting of a chairman and such persons as the Minister of Munitions may from time to time appoint. The quorum of the Board shall be such as the Board may determine, and the Board may regulate their own procedure, and no act or proceeding of the Board shall be questioned on account of any vacancy in the Board. The Board may sue and be sued, and shall have an official seal which shall be officially and judicially noticed, and such seal shall be authenticated by any two members of the Board or the secretary to the Board. The Board may appoint a secretary and such officers, inspectors and servants for the purpose of these Regulations as the Board, subject to the approval of the Treasury as to number, may determine. Every document purporting to be an order or other instrument issued by the Board and to be sealed with the seal of the Board authenticated in manner provided by these Regulations, or to be signed by the Secretary to the Board or any person authorised by the Board to act on behalf of the Secretary, shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such an order or instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown. Any property acquired by the Board shall be vested ui such two or more members of the Board as the Board may appoint to act as trustees on then- behalf for the purpose, and upon the death, resignation, or removal of a trustee the property vested in that trustee shall, without conveyance or assignment, and whether the property is real or personal, vest in the succeeding trustees either solely or together with any surviving or continmng trustees, and, until the appointment of succeeding trustees, shall so vest in the survivmg or suc- ceeding trustee only; and in all legal proceedings whatsoever concemmg any IT 290 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Powers of Board to control sale of liquor. Power for Board to prohibit sale of liquor except by themselves. Po-wer to prohibit treating. Power to establish refresh- inent rooms. Power to acquire premises. property vested in the trustees the property may be stated to be the property of the trustees in their proper names as trustees for the Board without further description. 2. For the purposes of the control of the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor in any area, the Board may by order — (a) direct that any licensed premises or club in the area in which intoxicating liquor is sold by retail or supplied shall be closed either for all purposes or for the purpose of such sale or supply ; (6) regulate the hours during which any such premises or clubs are to be or may be kept open distinguishing, where it is so determined, the hours during which the premises are to be or may be kept open for such sale or supply as aforesaid, and the hours during which they are to be or may be kept open for other purposes, and any such order shall have effect notwithstanding anything in the law relating to licensing or the sale of intoxicating liquor ; (c) prohibit the sale by retail or supply of any specified class or description of intoxicating liquor in any licensed premises or club in the area ; (d) provide that the sale by retail or supply of intoxicating liquor in any licensed premises or club in the area shall be subject to such conditions or restrictions as may be imposed by the order; (e) regulate the introduction of intoxicating liquor into the area and the transport of intoxicating Uquor within the area ; {/) require the business carried on in any licensed premises in the area to be carried on subject to the supervision of the Board; and any such order may include suoh incidental and supplemental provisions as appear to the Board necessary for the purpose of giving full effect to the order, and may be made appHoable to all licensed premises and clubs within the area or any specified class or description of such premises and clubs, or to any particular premises or club. If any person contravenes the provisions of any such order, or any conditions or restrictions imposed thereby, he shall be guilty of a summary ofience against the Defence of the Realm (Consohdation) Regulations, 1914. 3. The Board may by order prohibit the sale by retail, or the supply in clubs or licensed premises, of intoxicating liquor within the area, or any part, thereof specified in the order, by any person other than the Board, and if any person contravenes or fails to comply with the order he shall, without prejudice to any other penalty, be guilty of a summary offence against the Defence of the Realm (Consolidation) Regulations, 1914. Provided that the order may except from the provisions thereof any specified class or classes of premises or clubs. 4. The Board may by order make such provisions as they think necessary for the prevention of the practice of treating within the area, and if any person contravenes the provisions of any such order he shall be guilty of a summary offence against the Defence of the Realm (Consolidation) Regulations, 1914. 5. The Board may either themselves or through any agents establish and maintain in the area, or provide for the estabhshment and maintenance in the area of, refreshment rooms for the sale or supply of refreshments (including, if thought fit, the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor) to the general public, or to any particular class of persons, or to persons employed in any particular industry in the area. 6. Where the Board consider that it is necessary or expedient for the purpose of giving proper effect to the control of the liquor supply in the area, they may acquire compulsorUy or by agreement, either for the period during which these Regulations take feffect or permanently, any licensed or other premises in the area, or any interest in any such premises : APPENDIX IV 291 Provided that the Board may, in Ueu of acquiring any interest in such premises, take possession of the premises and any plant used for the purposes of the business carried on therein for all or any part of the period during which these Regulations take effect, and use them for the sale or supply of intoxicat- ing liquor or for the purpose of any of the other powers and duties of the Board. 7. Where the Board determine to acquire compulsorily any premises or Procedure for any mterest therein, they shall serve on the occupier of the premises and, it any compulsory person other than the occupier will be afifected by the acquisition of the interest acquisition, proposed to be acquired, also on any person who appears to the Board to be so affected, notice of their intention to acquire the premises, or such interest therein as may be specified in the notice, and where such a notice is served, the fee simple in possession of the premises or such interest in the premises as aforesaid shall, at the expiration of ten days from the service of the notice on the occupier, by virtue of these Regulations vest in the trustees for the Board, subject to or free from any mortgages, rights, and interests affecting the same as the Board may by order direct. On any premises or any interest therein becoming so vested in the trustees for the Board the trustees may — {a) if the title to the premises is registered under the Land Registry Act, 1862, or the I: and Transfer Acts, 1875, and 1897, enter a caveat or caution to prevent their estate or interest from being impaired by any act of the registered proprietor ; and (6) if the premises are situate in an area where registration of title is com- pulsory lodge a caution agaiast registration of the premises ; and (c) if the premises are within the jurisdiction of the Acts relating to regis- tration of assurances in Middlesex and Yorkshire register in Middlesex a memorial of the notice, and in Yorkshire an affidavit of vestiag against the name of every person whose estate or interest is affected, and in Middlesex any such notice shall be deemed a conveyance. A copy of the minutes of the Board to the effect that a notice has been served in accordance with this regulation, certified by the secretary to the Board, or by any person authorised by the Board to act on behalf of the secretary, to be a true copy, shall be evidence that the premises or interest therein mentioned in the minutes have become vested in the trustees for the Board. 8. Where the Board consider that it is necessary or expedient for the pur- pose of giving proper effect to the control of the liquor traffic ia the area they may, by the like procedure, acquire any business (including stock in trade) carried on in any premises within the area, whether or not they take possession of or acquire the premises in which such business is carried on, or any interest in the premises. 9. The Board may, without any licence (whether justices' or excise, and immunity from whether for the sale of intoxicating liquor or otherwise), carry on in any licensing law. premises occupied by them any business involving the sale or supply of intoxi- cating liquor, refreshments or tobacco, and for that purpose shall not be subject to any of the provisions of the law relating to licensing, or to any restrictions imposed by law on persons carrying on such business. Any person appointed by the Board to conduct any business on their behalf shall have, to such extent as they may be conferred by the Board, the same powers as the Board of carrying on business without a licence, but all such persons shall in all other respects, except in such cases and to such extent as the Board may otherwise order, be subject to the statutory provisions affecting the holders of licences, and the occupiers of premises licensed, for any such business as aforesaid, in like manner as if they were the holders of the Power to acquire businesses. 292 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE provision of entertainment and recreation. Provision of postal and banking facilities. Provision as to dilution of spirits. Suspension of covenants, etc. Suspension of licences. appropriate licences, and to any restrictions imposed by law on persons carrying on any such business as aforesaid. 10. The Board shall have power, on any premises in which business is carried on by them or on their behalf, to provide or authorise the provision of such entertainment or recreation for persons frequenting the premises as the Board think fit, and where such provision is made or such authority is given no licence shall be necessary, and no restrictions imposed by law on the provision of the entertainment or recreation in question shall apply, except to such extent, if any, as the Board may direct. 11. Arrangements may be made by the Board with the Postmaster- General and any other person for affording postal and banking facilities on or near premises in which business is carried on by or on behalf of the Board to persons frequenting such premises. 12. Where, by any conditions or restrictions imposed by the Board on the sale of spirits, the sale of any spirit is prohibited unless the strength of the spirit is reduced to a number of degrees under proof which falls between such maximum and minimum limits as may be specified, or where by any order of the Board the sale of spirit so reduced is permitted, section six of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1879, shall within the area haveeSect, as respects that spirit, as if the maximum number of degrees under proof so specified were substituted for the number mentioned in that section. 13. All obligations under covenant, contract, or otherwise, to which the holder of a licence or the occupier of licensed premises is subject, and which the provisions of these Regulations or any action of the Board taken thereunder make it impossible for him to fulfil, or which are inconsistent with any con- ditions or restrictions imposed by the Board, shall be suspended so long as such impossibUity or such conditions or restrictions continue, and shall not be binding during that period. 14. Where by virtue of any action taken by the Board under these Regula- tions the holder of any licence is temporarily prevented from carrying on his business as the holder of such licence, the licence shall be suspended, and the holder thereof shall be entitled to such repayment or remission of excise duty as he would have been entitled to had the licence been permanently discon- tinued, and at the expiration of the period during which the disability continues the licence, if a justices' licence, shall revive and have effect as if it had been granted for the then current licensing year, and a person who was the holder of an excise licence which has been suspended shall be entitled to take out an excise licence on payment of such an amount in respect of excise duty as would have been payable by him had he commenced to carry on business at the expiration of that period : Provided that if during the period for which any licence is so suspended a contingency occurs upon which a transfer of the licence might have been granted but for the suspension, a transfer may be granted either — (a) at the time at which, and to a person to whom, a transfer might have been granted had the licence not been suspended ; or (6) after the expiration of the period to any person to whom a transfer might have been granted had the contingency occurred immediately after the expiration of the period. Where a licence for the sale of intoxicating liquor is so suspended, the holder of the licence may, during the period of suspension, without further licence continue to carry on in the premises in respect of which the suspended licence was granted any business, other than the sale of intoxicating liquor, which had the suspended licence not been suspended he would have been entitled to carry on by vu-tue of that Ucence, but the premises shall be deemed to be duly licensed for the carrying on of such other business. APPENDIX IV 293 15. An excise licence may, notwithstanding anything in the law relating to licensiag, be granted as respects any premises in the area on the authority of a certificate from the Board, and any excise licence so granted shall be valid in all respects, and, subject to the provisions of these Relations, the law relating to the holders of justices' licences shall apply to the holders of such certificates as if such a certificate was a justices' licence. No such conditions need be attached to the grant of any such certificate as must be attached to the grant of a new justices' on-licence. 16. Any powers conferred on the Board by these Regulations may, if the Board by resolution so determine, be exercised on behalf of the Board by any persons whom the Board may appoint for the purpose. 17. In addition to the powers expressly conferred on them by these Regula- tions, the Board shall have such supplemental and incidental powers as may be necessary for carrying into effect the purposes of these Regulations. 18. Any inspector or other person authorised by the Board shall have power to enter, if need be by force, and mspect any licensed premises within the area and any club or other premises within the area where he has reason to believe that intoxicating liquor is sold by retail or supphed, to demand the production of and to inspect and take copies of or extracts from any books or documents relating to the business carried on therein, and to take samples of any intoxicating liquor found therein. 19. If any person obstructs or impedes any inspector or other person acting under the instructions or authority of the Board, or refuses to answer any question reasonably put to him by any such inspector or person, or makes or causes to be made any false statement to any such inspector or person, or refuses to produce any document in his possession which he is required by any such inspector or person to produce, he shall be guilty of a summary offence against the Defence of the Realm (Consolidation) Regulations, 1914. 20. If any person attempts to contravene, or induces or attempts to induce any other person to contravene, any provision of these Regulations or any order made thereunder, or any conditions or restrictions imposed by the Board, he shall be guilty of a summary offence against the Defence of the Realm (Consolidation) Regulations, 1914. 21. A person guilty of a summary offence against the Defence of the Realm (Consolidation) Regulations, 1914, is liable to be sentenced to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or to both such imprisonment and fine, and if the court so orders, to forfeit the goods in respect of which the offence is committed. 22. No person shall be liable to any penalty under the law relating to licens- ing or the sale of intoxicating Liquor in respect of any action taken by him if such action is taken in pursuance of any order made or instructions given by the Board. 23. The Board before acquiring any licensed premises or club or an interest therein, or taking possession of any Licensed premises or club, shall give notice of their intention to the Commissioners of Customs and Excise, and where the Board carry on, or appoint or authorise any person to carry on, any business involving the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor they shall furnish to the Commissioners of Customs and Excise particulars as to the nature of the business to be carried on by him, and as to any person so appomted or author- ised, and any other particulars required by the Commissioners. 24. It shaU be the duty of the police to enforce these Regulations, and any orders of the Board made thereunder. , . „ ■ 25. These Regulations shall apply to Scotland subject to the toUowing modifications : — References to real or personal property shall be construed as references Power to grant excise licence on authority of certificate from Board. Delegation of powers by resolution. Supplemental powers. Powers of inspectors. Prohibition on obstructing inspectors, etc. Attempts to commit offences. Exemption from penalties under licensing law. Notice to be given to the Commissioners of Customs and Excise. Enforcement by police. Application to Scotland. 294 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE Application to Ireland. Short title. to heritable and moveable property respectively : " intoxicating liquor " shall mean " exciseable liquor " : " fee simple in possession" shall mean " estate of the proprietor or lessor " ; " mortgage " shall mean " heritable security " : and a reference to a justices' licence shall be construed as a reference to a certificate as defined in Part VII. of the Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903. In any case where under these Regulations the Board acquire or determine to acquire compulsorily any premises or any interest therein, a person transaotiug on the faith of any register of sasines with the proprietor or lessor of such premises or with any other person whose title is recorded in such register shall (notwithstanding anything in these regulations contained) not be affected by any notice served by the Board or any vesting following thereon unless a certified copy of such notice has been recorded in the register of inhibitions prior to the completion of such transaction. For the purpose of enabling the trustees for the Board to complete a title if thought fit to any heritable property or estate compulsorily acquired by the Board and vested in the trustees by virtue of these Regulations, by expeding a notarial instrument or otherwise, these Regulations shall be deemed to be and (without prejudice to any other method of completion of title) may be used as a general disposition or assignation of such property or estate in favour of the trustees. 26. In the application of these Regulations to Ireland, the expression " excise licence " includes any licence for the sale of intoxicating liquor granted by an officer of excise, and the expression " justices' licence " includes any certificate of a recorder, justice, or justices required for the grant of an excise licence. 27. For the purposes of these Regulations — The expression " sale by retail " means sale other than sale to a trader for the purposes of his trade. The expression " supply " in relation to intoxicating liquor means supply otherwise than by way of sale. The expression " licensed premises " includes any premises or place where the sale of intoxicating liquor is carried on under a licence. 28. The Regulations may be cited as the Defence of the Realm (Liquor Control) Regulations, 1915. AMENDING AND ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS WERE MADE AS FOLLOWS:— October 14, 1915. 1. Evidence of documents. 2. Supply of liquor on unlicensed premises. 3. Time when billiard-playing is allowed. March 30, 1916. Weekly half-holiday of assistants employed in the sale of intoxicating liquor. APPENDIX V 295 APPENDIX V A TYPICAL ORDER OF THE CENTRAL CONTROL BOARD (LIQUOR TRAFFIC) ORDER OF THE CENTRAL CONTROL BOARD {LIQUOR TRAFFIC) FOR THE EASTERN AREA Any person contravening any provision of this Order or of the Liquor Control Regulations is liable to imprisonment for six months with hard labour and' a fine of £100. We the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) in pursuance of the powers conferred upon us by the Acts and Regulations relating to the Defence of the Realm hereby make the following Order : — Limits of Area 1. The area to which this Order apphes is the Eastern Area, being the area comprising the County Borough of Southend-on-Sea and the County of Essex (excepting such part thereof as is comprised in the London Area as defined and specified in the Schedule to an Order in Council dated the 24th day of September, 1915); the County Borough of Ipswich and the County of East Suffolk ; the City of Norwich and the County Borough of Great Yarmouth and the Petty Sessional Divisions of Holt, Eynsford, Forehoe, Depwade, Diss, North Erpingham, South Erpingham, Taverham, Swainsthorpe, Earsham, Tunstead and Happing, East and West Elegg, Blofield and Walsham, and Loddon and Clavering in the County of Norfolk; the County of Hertford (excepting such part thereof as is comprised in the London Area aforesaid); and the Petty Sessional Divisions of Chesham and Bumham (excepting the Parishes of Farnham Royal, Bumham, Taplow, Hitcham, Dorney and Boveney) in the County of Buckingham. Hours during which intoxicating liquor may be sold A. — For Consumption ON the Premises 2. (1) The hours during which intoxicating liquor may be sold or supplied in any licensed premises or club for consumption on the premises shall be restricted and be as follows : — On Weekdays : — The hours between 12 noon and 2.30 p.m. and between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. On Sundays : — The hours between 12.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. and between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Except between the aforesaid hours no person shall — (o) Either by himself or by any servant or agent sell or supply to any person in any licensed premises or club any intoxicating liquor to be consumed on the premises ; or (6) Consume in any such premises or club any intoxicating liquor ; or (c) Permit any person to consume in any such premises or club any intoxicat- ing liquor. 296 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE B. — For Consumption OFF the Premises (2) The hours during which intoxicating liquor may be sold or supplied in any licensed premises or club for consumption off the premises shall (subject to the additional restrictions as regard spirits) be restricted and be as follows : — On Weekdays : — The hours between 12 noon and 2.30 p.m. and between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. On Sundays : — The hours between 12.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. and between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Except between the aforesaid hours no person shall — (a) Either by himself or by any servant or agent sell or supply to any person in any licensed premises or club or (except as hereinafter expressly provided) dispatch therefrom any intoxicating liquor to be consumed off the premises ; or (6) Take from any such premises or club any intoxicating liquor; or (c) Permit any person to take from any such premises or club any intoxicat- ing liquor. Additional Restrictions as to Spirits 3. In addition to the above general restrictions as to hours during which intoxicating liquor may be sold or supphed, the sale and supply of spirits in licensed premises and clubs shall be subject to the following special restrictions, that is to say : (a) No orders for spirits to be consumed off the premises shall be given by or accepted from any person actually present in any licensed premises or club except on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays and during the hours between 12 noon and 2.30 p.m. (6) Spirits to be consumed off the premises must not (except as hereinafter expressly provided) be dispatched from any licensed premises or club, nor must they be taken therefrom by the person to whom they are sold or supplied or by any person acting on his behalf, except on the days and during the hours aforesaid. (c) Spirits to be consumed off the premises shall not be sold or supplied or taken from any licensed premises or club in any bottle or other vessel not bearing a label showing the name and situation of the premises or club, or in any vessel of a capacity less than one reputed quart, or in any less quantity than one reputed quart, or in any open vessel. (d) No spirits to be consumed off the premises shall be sold or supplied in or taken from any refreshment room in any railway station. Conditions as to Distribution 4. No person shall either by himself or any servant or agent — (a) Sell, supply, distribute or deliver any intoxicating liquor from any van, barrow, basket or other vehicle or receptacle unless before the liquor is dispatched it has been ordered and the quantity, description and price thereof together with the name and address of the person to whom it is to be suppHed has been entered in a delivery book or invoice, which shall be carried by the person delivering the liquor, and in a day book which shall be kept on the premises from which the liquor is dispatched. (6) Carry or convey in any van, barrow, basket or other vehicle or receptacle APPENDIX V 297 while m use for the distribution or dehvery of intoxicating liquor, any such liquor not entered in such delivery book or invoice and day book. (c) Distribute or deliver any intoxicating liquor at any addi-ess not specified in such delivery book or invoice and day book. (d) Refuse to allow, any constable to examine such van, barrow, basket or other vehicle or receptacle or such delivery book or invoice. (e) SoUcit or canvass for orders for, or collect or receive payment for, intoxicating liquor except at the licensed premises. ' (/) Send or cause to be sent or leave or cause to be left toor at any premises, or to or with any person, any order form for intoxicating liquor. (g) Cause or permit any payment for intoxicating liquor to be made on his behalf by any person in the service or employment of the vendor of the liquor, or, being a person in such service or employment, make any such payment as the agent or on behalf of the purchaser of the liquor. Hours of Opening for the Supply of Food and Non-intoxicants 5. Notwithstanding any provisions of this Order or of the Law relating to licensing or the sale of intoxicating liquor : — (a) Licensed premises may be opened for the supply of food and non- intoxicating liquor at the hour of 5.30 in the morning on all days and be kept open for this purpose from that hour until the evening closing hour prescribed by the general provisions of the Licensing Acts ; and (6) Refreshment houses may be kept open for this purpose at any time during which they may be kept open imder the general provisions of the said Acts. Saving Provisions 6. Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Order shall be deemed to prohibit, in cases where the same is otherwise lawful; (a) The consumption of intoxicating liquor by any person in any hcensed premises or club where he is residing ; or (6) The consumption of intoxicating liquor at a meal by any person in any licensed premises or club at any time within half an hour after the conclusion of the afternoon and evening hours during which the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor is permitted by this Order ; Provided that the liquor was sold or supplied and served during such hours at the same time as the meal and for consumption at the meal ; or (c) The sale or supply of spirits to any person producing a certiiicate in writing dated and signed by a duly qualified medical practitioner that the spirits are immediately required for medicinal purposes and specifying the quantity of spirits required ; Provided that the quantity sold or supphed shall not exceed the quantity specified in such certifi- cate; or {d) The dispatch from licensed premises for delivery at a place more than five miles distant of any spirits or other intoxicating liquor in the forenoon of any day on which the sale of the same for consumption off the premises is permitted by Article 2 (2) and Article 3 of this Order as the case may be. Treating Prohibited 7. No person shall either by himself or by any servant or agent sell or supply any intoxicating liquor to any person in any licensed premises or in any club for consumption on the premises unless the same is ordered and paid for by the 298 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE person so supplied ; nor shall any person order or pay for or lend or advance money to pay for any intoxicating liquor wherewith any other person has been or is to be supplied for consumption on the premises; nor shall any person consume in any licensed premises or club any intoxicating liquor which any other person has ordered or paid for or agreed to pay for or lent or advanced money to pay for ; Provided always that if such intoxicating liquor is supplied or served for consumption at a meal supplied at the same time and is consumed at such meal the provisions of this regulation shall not be deemed to be contravened if the person who pays for such meal also pays for such intoxicating liquor. For the purposes of this regulation consumption on the premises includes consumption of intoxicating liquor in or on any highway open ground or railway station adjoining or near to the licensed premises or club in which the liquor was sold or suppHed; and any person consuming intoxicating liquor in or on any such highway open ground or railway station shall be deemed to consume the liquor in such licensed premises or club as the case may be. Credit Prohibited 8. No person shall — (1) (o) Either by himself or by any servant or agent sell or supply in any licensed premises or club or dispatch therefrom any intoxicating liquor to be consumed either on or off the premises ; or (fe) Consume any intoxicating liquor in or take it from such premises or club ; unless it is paid for before or at the time when it is supplied or dispatched or taken away. Provided always that it the liquor is sold or supplied for consumption at a meal supphed at the same time and is consumed at such meal, this provision shall not be deemed to be contravened if the price of the liquor is paid together with the price of such meal and before the person partaking thereof quits the premises. (2) Introduce or cause to be introduced into the area any intoxicating liquor unless it is paid for before it is so introduced. Long Pull Prohibited 9. No person shall either by himself or by any servant or agent in any Ucensed premises or club sell or supply to any person as the measure of intoxi- cating liquor for which he asks an amoimt exceeding that measiire. Dilution of Spirits A. — Compulsory 10. (a) No person shall on or after the eleventh day of September, 1916, either by himself or by any servant or agent — (1) Sell or supply to any person in any licensed premises or club for con- sumption on or off the premises or dispatch therefrom any whisky, brandy, rum or gin unless reduced to 25 degrees under proof. (2) Introduce or cause to be introduced into the area any whisky, brandy, rum or gin unless reduced to 25 degrees under proof. Provided always that jthe foregoing provisions of this Article shall not affect the sale or supply of whisky, brandy, rum or gin which is proved to have been bottled before the fourth day of September, 1916. APPENDIX V 299 B. — Permissive (6) The sale of wiiisky, brandy, rum and gin reduced to a number of degrees under proof which falls between 25 and 50 is hereby permitted. (c) In determuiing whether an offence has been committed 'under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts by selling to the prejudice of the purchaser whisky, brandy, rum or gin not adulterated otherwise than by an admixture of water, it shall be a good defence to prove that such admix- ture has not reduced the spirit more than 50 degrees under proof. Sale of Light Beer 11. The Order of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) made on the third day of July, 1916, with reference to the sale of Hght beer shall apply to the area and come into force on the fourth day of September, 1916. Explanatory Provisions 12. (a) Nothing in this Order authorises any licensed premises to be kept open for the sale of intoxicating liquor except during the hours permitted under the general provisions of the Licensing Acts. (6) The prohibition under this Order of the sale supply and consumption of intoxicating liquor except diiring certain hours is not subject to the exceptions provided for in the Licensing Acts with respect to bondfde travellers and the supply of intoxicating liquor at railways stations or any other provisions in those Acts enabling intoxicating liquor to be supplied during closing hours in special cases. (c) The expression " licensed premises " includes any premises or place where the sale of intoxicating liquor is carried on under a licence. {d) This Order does not affect the sale or dispatch of intoxicating liquor to a trader for the purposes of his trade or to a registered club for the purposes of the club. (e) This Order does not aSect the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor to or in any canteen where the sale of intoxicating liquor is carried on under the authority of a Secretary of State or of the Admiralty. Exhibition of Order 13. The Secretary of every club to which this Order applies and every holder of a licence for the sale of intoxicating liquor shall keep permanently affixed in some conspicuous place in. the club or in each public room in the licensed premises a copy of this Order and any other notice required by the Board to be so affixed. Commencement of Order 14. This Order shall come into force on the fourth day of September, 1916. Given under the seal of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) this twenty-fourth day of August, 1916. ^ .) 6 D'ABERNON ©Chairman. JOHN PEDBEB, Member o the Board. 300 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE APPENDIX VI MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNMENT IN DECEMBER 1916 BY THE CENTRAL CONTROL BOARD (LIQUOR TRAFFIC) 1. Orders of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) are now in force over by far the greater part of Great Britain. Under these Orders the hours for the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor are rigorously curtailed; the practice of treating and the sale of liquor on credit are prohibited ; the strength of spirits has been reduced; and other regulations of a restrictive character have been imposed. 2. From all quarters favourable reports have been received of the remark- able improvement which these Orders have brought about, and unmistakable evidence has been forthcoming to show that, notwithstanding the largely increased spending power of the industrial classes, the measure of success attained by the Board's Orders has been far greater than might have been anticipated from a policy of restriction unaccompanied by fundamental re- organisation of the Trade. But, on the evidence before them, the Board are convinced that, though there has been great improvement, further sub- stantial progress is attainable. The successful prosecution of the war is stiU being hampered by excessive consumption of intoxicating liquor. 3. This excessive consumption is of serious consequence to the efficiency of our fighting forces, especially in regard to material. Looked at from another point of view, it involves wastage of the nation's food supplies and prevents economy in the use of the nation's resources in the matter of sea and land transport. In the light of the experience which they have gained during the last 18 months, the Board are of opinion that the time has now come when comprehensive measures, beyond their present powers, are necessary in order to carry to completion the work of restriction and control which the Board were established to discharge. 4. There are three possible pohcies : — (a) More stringent restrictions ; (6) Prohibition; and (c) Direct and complete control by the State of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor throughout Great Britain. 5. With regard to (a) the Board are of opinion that the limits of effective action by alteration of the existing Orders have been well-nigh reached, and that any further action on these lines would be inadequate to obtain the further progress which is necessary for the best efficiency of the nation. What is required is not modification or increased stringency of the existing Orders, but their stricter observance. For this, a different and less imperfect machinery is needed. In many areas, and those the areas in which excessive drinking is most prejudicial to efficiency, the Orders now in force admittedly do not and cannot produce their full effect on account of the inherent difficulty, under present conditions and with the Trade as now constituted, of securing the compKance of the public and the Trade. The pressure of competition in the Trade, aggravated as it is by a redundancy of pubHc-houses, has made it difficult for hcensees to employ measures of restraint, which may have the result of irritating customers and diverting trade to competing houses. 6. With regard to (6) the policy of prohibition has been widely canvassed during the war, but as at present advised the Board do not feel justified in APPENDIX VI 301 recommending its adoption. They do not regard it as essential for the con- duct of the war, provided that sufficiently stringent measures of control are applied. From the purely financial point of view it would probably have the disadvantage of involving the State in the payment of large sums as com- pensation, apart from the loss of a considerable proportion of the national revenue. And there are obvious objections to any poUoy adopted for the period of the war which would be likely to lead to violent reaction when the war is over. 7. The remaining poKcy, namely, direct and complete control by the State, has already in four areas — Carlisle, Gretna, Invergordon, and Enfield — been put to the practical test of experience by the Board. In all these areas the results so far achieved, even in the short space of time duiing which the Board have been in possession and in spite of exceptional difficulties, including the influx of a large temporary population, have been most encouraging. Excessive drinking in these areas has been substantially reduced, and measures have been taken to meet the demand for improved conditions in the supply of food and non-alcoholic refreshment. 8. State Control has come to be regarded with more and more favour as being the policy which offers the most rapidly effective and the. best permanent solution of the problem. Local authorities in adjacent areas have urged the Board to provide, by an extension of the existing boundaries, for their own inclusion in the area within which State Control is now in operation. 9. The Board are satisfied that State Control would give the following important results : — (a) Strict observance of the law; (6) The elimination of all private profit in the sale of liquor; (c) The immediate suppression of many thousands of redundant licences ; {d) The regulation of the quantity, quality and strength of liquor, facilitating the conservation of food supplies and the more economical use of transport ; (e) Extended facilities for the supply of food and non-alcohoHe refreshment ; (/) The amalgamation and re-organisation on an economical basis of manufacturing and wholesale businesses ; ig) The release of a large number of men and women for work con- nected with the war. Although not an essential element in a scheme of State Control, the temporary suspension of the sale of spirits would become immediately practicable if deemed necessary by the Government in the national interest. 10. With regard to the financial aspect of the poHcy, the Board desire to point out that suppression of Hcences, concentration of businesses, the reduc- tion and economical use of land transport, would result in a large saving of working expenses, and that, in their opinion, no apprehension need be felt as to the effect of the proposed reform on the annual revenue of the State. 11. The Board have considered the possibihty of assuming control of the drink traffic for the period of the war only, or as a prehminary to purchase at some later date, but they are satisfied that both on financial and on adminis- trative grounds a poHcy of purchase outright is by far the more desirable course to adopt in the particular circumstances of the liquor trade. Acquisi- tion, except on a permanent basis, would make it impossible to bring into full effect a revised and improved system of management — the central feature of which is undoubtedly the substitution for tenants of salaried managers having no financial interest in the sale of liquor. The governing authority could not deal effectively with concentration of businesses, reconstruction 302 THE CONTROL OF THE DRINK TRADE and adaptation of premises, and with the staS of the various undertakings and licensed houses. The expedient would be a costly one, involving the payment of large sums from the Exchequer in the form of compensation, without securing to the State the advantage of permanent control. If State Control is to be adopted, purchase outright appears to the Board to be the most practical and the only financially sound procedure. 12. Having regard to all these considerations, the Board recommend that the policy of State purchase be adopted. 13. The Board have not deemed it necessary at the present stage to refer to the basis on which compensation should be paid to the various interests or the precise method by which direct control should be exercised. With regard to the basis of compensation, H.M. Government have already at their disposal the reports (Cd. 8283 and 8319) presented in April 1915 by the Liquor Trade Finance Committee appointed to consider this question in its relation to England and Wales and to Scotland.' The question of the best means to be adopted for the exercise of direct control has for some time past been engaging the attention of the Board, who have accumulated a considerable mass of information on the subject. The Board would be prepared, if so directed, to submit a full report on this and other relevant questions for the consideration of H.M. Government. (Signed) D'Abbenon, December 16, 1916. Chairman. APPENDIX VII STATEMENT BY LORD D'ABERNON RE THE STATE PURCHASE UNDERTAKINGS AT GRETNA AND CARLISLE MADE AT LONGTOWN, NEAR CARLISLE, ON JUNE SI, 1917 " I do not appear to-day either as an advocate or critic of State Purchase. I am not discussing any national problem, but I think this is a sxiitable opportunity to give the main facts regarding the local and special reorganisa- tion which has been conducted in this neighbourhood during the last eighteen months, and in which you are all deeply interested. I shall endeavour to put the facts before you in a strictly impartial manner. The Carlisle scheme was not instituted as a dehberate experiment in State Purchase ; it was started because the estabhshment of Gretna Factory gave rise to a local liquor problem of extreme difficulty, for which the ordinary machinery of control was confessedly inadequate. The point to remember is that the problem here was exceptionally difficult. No one who knew the conditions in the early part of 1916 will deny that. It must not be supposed that the purchase of pubHc-houses and the removal of private interest in the trade is anything like a panacea. If too much is anticipated from State Control disappointment must result. It is not an end in itself ; it is merely a means to an end ; one of the methods which may be adopted to attain certain objects. What State Purchase can do is to secure that restrictions and regulations shall be observed more strictly, and that certain developments not attainable under private manage- ment can be carried out. It is no reflection on the " Trade " as a whole to say that a centrahsed authority can achieve more than several rival con- tending owners, with no very secure tenure and often without adequate capital. APPENDIX VII 303 Now our experience in the Carlisle Area shows that it is possible largely to reorganise the alcohol trade without causing public friction or incon- venience. Changes have been achieved in several directions ; I will mention some of the more important. Out of the 119 licences in CarUsle when the scheme started, 44 have now been closed. Under the 1904 Act this reduction would have taken forty or fifty years. In Longtown the 7 existing licences have been reduced to 4. In the country districts a similar reduction has been made. We have also permanently closed two of the four Carlisle Breweries, and a third since the brewing restrictions have been apphed. In addition to special measures to meet special dangers, such as excessive drinking on Saturdays and in certain holiday seasons, great improvement has been achieved in the management of our " off " sales. The joint sale of groceries and liquor has been abohshed. " Off " sales of spirits in Carlisle have been confined to 18 houses as contrasted with over 100 houses pre- viously. These measures greatly facifitate the control of " off " sales and give warning if there is excessive home drinking. Perhaps the most interesting development has been the increase in the sale of food and other non-aloohofic refreshment. The desirabifity of de- veloping the food trade rests on obvious principles. It is generally agreed that hquor taken in conjunction with food is apt to be less injurious than liquor taken by itself, and > that a house offering food affords a preferable alternative to a house for the mere consumption of liquor. We have foimd that the proper development of a sohd meal trade demands fundamental reconstruction of the old premises. Without reconstruction you may increase the light refreshment business — you cannot estabfish a steady trade in regular meals. To get public-houses on to a proper refreshment-house footing requires a considerable extension of floor space per customer served, together with a higher standard of amenities and comforts. I turn to the financial results. It is too soon to say anything final regarding this aspect of Direct Control. In some districts the price of acquisition has not been settled, and in others the full amount of reconstruction has not been carried through, but so far as results are available I may say this — that the Profit and Loss account shows a balance of about 15 per cent, on the capital expenditure after meeting all the usual trading charges, that is to say, after providing for Rent, Repairs, Licence Duty, Taxes and Rates (or contributions in lieu thereof). Managerial and Architectural Staff, and depreciation on Plant, Furnishings and Utensils. At first sight this looks a very satisfactory result, but you must bear in mind that the circumstances are exceptional in that the returns of the houses taken over have been increased by an influx of population, large in itself and no less desirous than you and I of reasonable drinking faoihties. You must remember that, regarding the matter as a business concern, it is desirable to make liberal provision for the redemption of capital secured on Ucence values, and other capital expenditure of a special nature, such as alterations and improvements. As I have shown, up to the end of March 1917, the financial result has proved satisfactory; if conditions remain constant there is every reason to expect that result to continue. We have, however, to recognise the existence of a new factor in the shape of the recent limitation of output of beer to 10 milUon standard barrels. This limitation, as I have before said, is no part of the poHcy of the Central Control Board ; it is not a temperance measure, it is purely a food measure, taken by the Government indepen- dently of the Central Control Board, to conserve food supplies. It is reason- able to presume that the profits derivable from the sale of 10 milfion barrels per year cannot for long be equal to the profits from the sale of 36 million 304 CONTROL OP THE DRINK TRADE barrels per year, and that, however much the ratio of net profit may be increased by improved organisation, so large a limitation of turnover cannot be permanently made up. We have also to recognise the possibility of further disturbing factors to eventual profit in the shape of possible further restrictions or other steps in the direction of prohibition. I need not indicate the direct financial result if total prohibition were enacted; that every one can judge for himself. Analogous results would of course foUow local prohibition if enacted under local option. Therefore any financial forecast must be made subject to any such alteration of previous conditions. Subject to these reservations, and they are vital and important reserva- tions, the result of our experience of Direct Control is to show that the economy resulting from the concentration of brewing and the closure of redundant houses is so fully up to expectation that I should feel no appre- hension as to the financial event if State Purchase were carried through as a permanent and substantive poHcy and provided the basis of purchase was estabhshed on reasonable lines. If it is resorted to as a stepping-stone to prohibition or upon an extravagant basis of compensation, I can be responsible for no financial forecast. , I have endeavoured to give you the main facts which have been ascer- tained by our experience of Direct Control. I do not desire to put forward any general conclusions. The matter is one for which every one must draw conclusions for himself, and regarding which Parliament must decide for the country." INDEX (Compiled by W. T. Crilchinson) Aberdeen, 133 Absinthe, suppression of sale of, in France, Italy and Egypt, 11 Addison, Dr., quoted, 256-7 Admiralty — Conferences of Central Control Board, 128 Efficiency, effect of Liquor Control on — (a) Navy, 254-5 (6) Mercantile Marine, 260 Prohibition of spirits within certain areas, 155 Report to Central Control Board, 264 Reports to First Lord on effect of excessive drinking on output, 67— 8, 70-1, 285-8 Representative of, on Central Control Board, 75, 76 Requests for restrictions, 128, 155, 163, 254 Shipyards, 67-9, 259 Transport, 70-1, 259 See also under (a) Naval Authorities ; (b) Restrictions (1) Advisoby Coramittees, see under Com- mittees Alcohol, investigation of the effects of, by Committee appointed by Central Control Board, 181-2 Alcohol : Its Action on the Human Organism, 182 Alcoholic Mortality, 240-5 Alcoholism (Sullivan), quoted, 96 (foot- note), 99, 100 (footnote), 231 Alliance News, quoted, 38, 40, 247 Annan, see under State Purchase — - Oretna and Carlisle Appeals to nation to abstain from drink — Churches — Archbishop of Canterbury, quoted, 40, 113 Bishop of Manchester, 39-40 United appeal of, 42 Lord Kitchener (quoted), 22, 24, 249 Lord Roberts (quoted), 40 Religious and Temperance Organisa- tions, 17-18, 40, 249 Boyal example, The, 41-2, 50-1, 249 Abbeoath, 133 Abeas — Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic)— Action within areas defined by Order in Coimcil, 125-6, 129 Coast areas, delimitation of, 133 Delegations of Inquiry respecting, 127-30 Delimitation of, 130—4 Maps of, 134 Practice in applying restrictions to new areas, 129-30 Prohibition of spirits in certain areas (Admiralty request), 155 Protective fringe to, 132 Small areas merged into larger, 131, 132-3 Welsh Area, 124 (footnote), 133 See also under Conferences Abmy, see under (a) Restrictions (1); (b) Wa/r Office AsQTJiTH, Rt. Hon. H. H. (quoted), 20-1, 31, 97 War Loan and economy campaign. 111 AsTOR, Major the Hon. Waldorf, M.P., 76 Quoted, 132, 223 (footnote) AtJSTEALIA Australian camp at Wareham, 149 (footnote) Restrictions on alcohol, 12 Wine industries of, 54 AusTKiA, malting during War, 12 B Balfode, Rt. Hon. A. J., Draft Bill of, 51 Banff, 133 Bangor, Speech of Mr. Lloyd George and its effects, 48 Baekow — Area (Order of Central Control Board), 131, 133 Home Office investigation, 55, 69 Labour conditions at, 73 Baeby, 124 (footnote), 131, 133 Bedfoed (County), 129 Beee — " Bread versus Beer," 7 " Cuts into barrelage " during War, 7 (footnote), 232, 247, 260 Definition of, 179 (footnote) 305 306 INDEX Beer {continued) — Food Controller, Order limiting out- put of beer, 1917 :— 7, 220, 233 (foot- note), 250, 262 Germany, output during war, 12 Gra\^ty, lowering of, 45, 66, 61, 63; 64-5 Irish beer industry, 65-6 National consumption of — 1895-1908:— 90-2 1911-12 to 1916-17 :— 245-7 Dec. 1913 to Nov. 1915 :— 45 (foot- note) Output of Beer (Restriction) Act, 1916, 7, 232, 247, 250, 251 Relation of consumption to fluctua- tions of employment, 90—4 1914; War-tax on beer, 44, 45, 232 1915; proposed new taxation of beer, 60-61, 64^-66 See also under (a) Light Beer : (b) Besirictions (3) Beesly, Gerald (quoted), 35 Birmingham — Beealy, Gerald (quoted), 35 Birmingham Daily Post, quoted, 35, 113, 114 (footnote), 208 (footnote) Chamberlain, Neville, 76 Chief Constable of, quoted, 93 Citizens' Committee, quoted, 113 Count of persons entering licensed premises, 113 Inquiry by Central Control Board re drinking among women, 113 (foot- note) Girl-workers of, 82, 113 Justices of, 35, 158 " Long Pull," the, IDS Retail prices of liquor (Table), 250 Bishop of Liverpool, see under lAverpool Bishop of Manchester, see under Man- chester " Black List," Order of Naval and Mili- tary Authorities at Lerwick, 25-6 Boabd of Trade Returns, 79, 85, 87 Board of Trade Labour Gazette, quoted, 84, 86, 104 Bona fide traveller, the, see under Mestriciions (3) Bottles, closed and labelled, see under Restrictions (3) BotTENE, Cardinal, 42 Bkadfokd — Chamber of Commerce, 53-4 Chief Constable's Report, 268 Bbampton, 198 Brewers' Gazette, quoted, 36 Brewery Manual, quoted, 93 Brewing Trade Review, quoted, 93, 94 Bp.istol and Avonmouth, Order of Central Control Board, effect of, 269 British Journal of Inebriety, 109 British Medical Association, 161 British Women's Temperance Associa- tion, 186 Broken time, see Time lost BuTiEB, W. Waters, 76 C Cambridge, 129 Canada, restrictions on alcohol, 12 Canterbury, Archbishop of, see under Appeals to Nation CANTEENS— Alcoholism in relation to inadequate food-supply, 97-99, 106, 107-8, 184-5, 195, 277 Canteen Committee, Central Control Board, 127, 185 Canteen Construction and Equipment, 95 (footnote) Hostels for munition workers, catering in, 190 (footnote) Industrial Canteen Movement, Cen- tral Control Board (Liquor Traffic), 171, 183-96 Aims of : summary by Sir George Newman, 188-9 " Dry " Canteens, 190 Employers — Attitude of, 184, 185-6 Testimonies of, regarding value of Canteens, 192-4 " Excess profits," deduction from, of capital expenditure incurred, 187, 190 Feeding the Munition Worker, 191 (footnote) Pood -supply for workers, need of assuring, 59-60, 64, 98-9, 106-7, 119, 183-96, 277 Grants-in-aid of canteens, 187, 190 Growth of the movement, 189- 190 Health of Munition Workers Com- mittee, Memoranda of, see under Coynmitiees Light Beer in Canteens, 190 Liquor Control Regulation 5 (author- ity for Board to act), 126, 185, 290 Management of canteei:is, system of, 188, 191 Permanence of, 195-6 Police, Factories, etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1916, 195-6 Mess-rooms, provided under, 196 Propagandism, modes of, 189 Results of, 191-195 Voluntary agencies, work of, 186-8, 190 Workers — Customs of, regarding self -catering, . 186, 188, 189 Management of canteens, associa- tion of workers in, 188 Industrial Canteens, quoted, 99, 195 Powers of Central Control Board regarding, 166, 167 Canvassing for liquor orders, see under Restrictions (3) Cardiff, 124, 131, 133, 178 Carlisle, see under State Purchase INDEX 307 Cakson, Sir Edward, 67 Cabter, Rev. Henry, 76 Cash on delivery, see under Restrictions (3) CENTRAL CONTROL BOARD (LIQUOR TRAFFIC)— Appointment of, 4, 75 Areas, see under Areas Chairman and Members of, 75—6 Comniittees appointed — (o) Advisory Committees : For Investigation of Effects of Alcohol, 181-2 Women's, 161 (6) Standing Committees : Restrictions, Public House, Canteens, Drafting and Scottish, 126-7 Conferences of, see under Conferences Contravention of Orders of, 167, 300 Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Act, 1915 :— 7, 60, 63-4, 75, 123, 124, and (full text) 61-3 Defence of the Realm (Liquor Control) Regulations, full text, 289-94 Delegations of, 127-9 Dual plan of (restrictive and con- structive), 118-19, 125-6 EHects of State Control, 247-8, see also under — (a) Drunhenness, Convictions for ; (b) Efficiency ; (c) Medical Statis- tics, and (d) Sobriety " Limitation of Output " not part of Board's pohcy, 7, 233 Naval and Military Authorities, 128, 129, 131, 149, 155, 163, 254 Orders of, see under Orders (3) Permanent significance of work of Board, 10-11, 272-281 Powers of — Constructive, 126 Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Act, 63-4 Defence of the Realm (Liquor Con- trol Regulations), 123-6, 289-94 Duration of powers, 62, 74 Prohibition, 63, 124 Purchase, 64, 124 Restrictive, 125 , To stop the sale and supply of drmk on certain premises, 168 Unlicensed premises, 126, 294 Practice of, in delimiting areas — Delegations of Local Inquiry, 127-9 Method of delimitation, 130-4 Pubhoation and distribution of Orders, 130 . . Steps taken leading to a restrictive Order, 129 Reports of , qnoted— ,,„ « . Second, 138 (footnote), 140 (foot- note), 143, 149, 151, 154, 185, 254, 255, 256, 261-2 (footnote), 267-9 Third, 138, 139, 168, 187 X2 See also — (I) (for Restrictive work of the Board) under Restrictions (3) (II) (for Constructive work of the Board) under (a) Canteens ; (6) State Purchase; (c) Food — stimulation of, in licensed premises ; (d) lAght Beer, and (e) Alcohol, investigation of effects of Chamberlain, Bt. Hon. J. Austen, M.P., quoted, 45, 64 Chamberlain, Neville, 76 Chance, F. W., J. P., D.L., 204 Charts, see page xvi Chief Constables, see under Police Children Act, 1908 (quoted), 208 Children, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to, 113, 114, 264 CniLD-welfare and Home Life, advan- tages to, 263, 264, 265 (with foot- note) Christmas Day, see Restrictions (3) Church Army, the, 186 Churches — Appeals to the nation, 38-42, 249 " Counter-attractions " to public- houses, 42, 249 Deputations to Central Control Board, 128 National Free Church Council, 42, 54 See also under Appeals to nation to abstain from drink Churchill, Lord Randolph, quoted, 118 Civilians and Service men, 116-118 Clubs — Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act, 30, 35 Powers of Central Control Board regarding, 125, 166, 167 Restrictions applied to, 125-6, 146, 166, 167 See also under (a) Restrictions (3) ,■ (b) State Purchase Clyde Area — Clydebank, 98 Drimkenness on Clyde steamers, 133 Glasgow — Corporation of, 46, 104 Glasgow Herald (quoted), 46 Hours of sale of liquor, 138 (foot- note), 140 (footnote) School Board of, 46 Treating at, 156 Govan, 97, 98 Greenock, 268 Home Office investigation, 55, bM, 97, 98 Partiok and district, 98 Port Glasgow, 98 Renfrew, 97, 98 Scotstoun, 98 ,r, ^ i r^ " Supervision '' scheme (Central con- trol Board), 162, 163, 254 308 INDEX Committees — Health of Munition Workers Com- mittee — (a) Interim report {Industrial Effi- ciency and Fatigue), quoted, 80, 96, 97, 259, 277 (6) Memoranda, quoted — Welfare Supervision, 95, 98, 99 Industrial Canteens, 96, 99, 195 Employment of Women, 95, 104, 107 Hours of work, 95, 96, 97 Industrial Fatigue and its Causes, 95, 97, 108 Statistical Information concern- ing Output in relation to hours of work, 96, 97 Juvenile Employment, 96, 105 Munition Workers Canteen Com- mittee, 186 Patent Medicines, Select Committee on, 160, 161 Prices, Departmental Coraimittee on, 87 State Purchase, Committees appointed by Government on iinancial aspects of, (1) 1915:— 56-8 (2) 1917:— 279 ^ee also under (a) Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic); (b) State Purchase Commons, House of — Sale of alcohol at bars of, 42 See also under Parliamentary Debates Compensation to "Trade," 74, 279 (foot- note) See also under State Purchase Compton-Rickett, Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph, M.P., 42 Conferences — (1) Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) Aim of, 128 Carlisle, 198, 202 Eastern Area, 129 Invitations to, 128 London, 129 Mersey Area, 128 Midlands Area, 129 North-East Coast Area, 128 Requests at, 128, 129, 131, 254 (2) Trade Union Conferences with Government, 31, 48-9 Constjmption of beer and spirits (statistics), 45, 90-2, 245-7 Contemporary Review, quoted, 54, 58 Contravention of Orders of Central Control Board, 167, 300 Control Board, see Central Control Board {Liquor Traffic) Controlled Establishments, 79, 103, 104 Convictions for Drunkenness, see under Drunkenness, Convictions for Convivial drinking, see under Treating Cork, 65 " Counter-attractions " to drink, 24, 42, 43, 209-14, 249, 277-8 County Courts Act, 1888 : — 159 Coventry, 77 Craik, Sir Henry, 37 Credit, retail sale of liquor on, see under Restrictions (3) Cromarty, 133 {See also under State Purchase) Cross, E. Richard, v, xiv, 69, 76 and footnote Cumberland, 133 See also binder State Purchase {Qretna and Carlisle) Cumberland News, quoted, 217 (footnote), 21S (footnote) CusHNY, Professor A. R., M.D., F.R.S., 182 D'Abeenon, Lord — Alcohol Committee, 182 Army, sobriety of, 255 Chairman, Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), 75, 123, 299, 302 Enfield, address by workers, 174 (footnote) Preface, vii— xi " Public Health and the Control of the Liquor Traffic," 241, 242 Speech at Longtown, 217-8 (footnote), 302-4 Statistics (Treating at Liverpool), 109 Daily Chronicle, The, quoted, 66, 117 Dale, Dr. H. H., P.R.S., 182 Davtes, Dr. Sidney, quoted, 114—15 Deaths due to Alcoholism and Cirrhosis of the Liver, 240-2 Debt for sale of liquor, 169-60 Defence of the Realm Act, 1914, — 18-19 Defence of the Realm (No. 2) Act, 1914,-28 Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act, 1914, — 19 (footnote) Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1916,-31 Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Act, 1915— Full text, 61-3 References to, 7, 60, 63-4, 75, 124 Defence of the Realm Regulations — No. 10. Power to Close Licensed Premises, and to Prohibit Treating, 20, 167 (footnote), 282 No. 10a. Power to Prohibit Introduc- tion of Intoxicating Liquor into Dock Premises, 20, 282-3 No. 39a. Neglecting to join Ship, Deserting, or joining in State of Drunltenness, 20, 283 No. 40. Prohibition on Supplying Intoxicants to Members of His Majesty's Forces, 20, 283-4 No. 40a. Prohibition on Supplying Intoxicants to Members of His Majesty's Forces undergoing Hos- pital Treatment, 20, 284 Consolidation Regulations, 1914, — L67 See also on p. 19 references to Regula- tions 7, 17, and 62 INDEX 309 DEFENCE OF THE REALM (LIQ UOR OONTROL) REG VLA TIONS — (under which the Central Control Board acted) June 10, 1915 — Full text, 289-94 No. 1. Constitutionof Board, 289-90 2. Powers of Board to control sale of liquor, 12S, 162, 290 3. Power for Board to prohibit sale of liquor except by themselves, 126, 290 i. Power to prohibit treating, 125, 290 5. Power to establish refresh- ment rooms, 126, 185, 290 6. Power to acquire premises, 126, 290-1 7. Procedure for compulsory- acquisition, 291 8. Power to acquire businesses, 126, 291 9. Immunity from licensing law, 291-2 10. Provision of entertainment and recreation, 126, 292 11. Provision of postal and banlv- ing facilities, 126, 292 12. Provision as to dilution of spirits, 125, 150, 292 13. Suspension of covenants, etc., 292 14. Suspension of licences, 292 15. Power to grant excise licence on authority of certificate from Board, 293 16. Delegation of powers by resolution, 293 17. Supplemental powers, 293 18. Powers of inspectors, 293 19. Prohibition on obstructing inspectors, etc., 293 20. Attempts to commit offences, 293 21. Penalties, 293 22. Exemption from penalties under licensing law, 293 23. Notice to be given to the Commissioners of Customs and Excise, 293 24. Enforcement by police, 293 25. Application to Scotland, 293- 4 26. Apphcation to Ireland, 294 27. Defimtions, 136 (footnote), 166, 294 28. Short title, 294 October 14, 1915. 1. Evidence of documents, 294 2. Supply of liquor on un- licensed premises, 126, 294 3. Time when billiard-playing is allowed, 294 March 30, 1916. Weekly half -holiday of assist- ants employed in the sale of intoxicating liquor, 294 DErENoB of the Realm Losses (Licensed Trade Claims) Royal Commission, 74. 216 Definitions — " Beer," 179 (footnote) " Competent Naval or Military Authority," 19 " Hawking," 163 (footnote) " Inn," 176 "Intoxicating liquor," 107 (and foot- note) " Licensed Premises," 166 " Light Beer," 179 "Proof Spirit," 152 (footnote) " Protected persons," 104 " Reputed Quart," 154 (footnote) " Supply " (Intoxicating Liquor), 136 " Sweets," 167 Delegations — Appointed by Central Control Board, 127-9 See also Conferences (1) DELmruM Tremens, deaths due to, 243-5 Delivery of Liquor, see under Restric- tions (3) Denmark, restrictions on alcohol, 12 Denny, Col. J. M., J.P., 50 (footnote), 76 Deputations (Central Control Board), 128 Devonpobt, Lord, quoted, 7, 8 Diagrams, see p. xvi Dickinson, Dr. George, quoted, 265-6 Dickinson, W. H., M.P., quoted, 27 DlFrBBBNTIATION Breakdown of, between Service men and civilians, 116—18 Dillon, Dr., quoted, 54 Dilution of Spirits, see under Restric- tions (3) Dispatch of liquor, see under Restric- tions (3) Distribution of liquor, conditions aa to, 163-6 Dock Areas — Defence of the Realm Regulations — 10a. Power to Prohibit Introduction of Intoxicating Liquor into Dock Premises, 20, 282-3 39a. Neglecting to join Ship, Desert- ing, or joining in State of Drunken- ness, 20, 283 40. Prohibition on Supplying In- toxicants to Members of His Majesty's Forces, 20, 283-4 Sea-transport trades and alcoholism, lOO-l See also under (a) Clyde Area; (b) Ship- yards: (o) Time lost; (d) Tync Donoastbb, 269 Drunkenness — Convictions for — Abstract of Returns of Convictions for Drunkenness in Scheduled Areas of Great Britain with other Statistics bearing on Alcoholism, 239 Charts and Diagrams of, 219, 234, 236, 237, 238, 239, 244 310 INDEX Dbunkenness {continued) — Convictions for {continued) — Decrease in, following State Control, 233-40 Liverpool, 109 Overlying of Infants and, 243 Qualifications attaching to Returns of Convictions, 229-31 Munitions, output of, retarded by, 69-70 Penalties for, 169-70, 275 Shipyards, delays to work, 67-9 Standards of Insobriety, 229-33 Statistics of Insobriety, 115, 233-40 Transport, delays to, 70-1, 100-1 See also under — (a) Alcoholic Mortality ; (b) Beer : (o) Birmingham; (d) Clyde Area; (e) Home Drinking ; (f ) Liverpool ; (g) Restrictions ; (h) Sobriety ; (i) Spirits; (j) State Purchase; (k) Time lost ; (1) Treating ; (m) Wom^en. Dtjmfbiesshibe, see under State Purchase DrraoAif, C, M.P., quoted, 72-3 Dundee, 133 duni^bmlinb, 267-8 Dunoon, 133 Dtjbham County, 268 E Economy — How to Save and Why, 111 In management of licensed premises, see under State Purchase National, 5, 6, 111-12 National Economy and Welfare Ex- hibition, 1917, 189 Parliamentary War Savings Com- mittee, 111-12 Edinbttegh, 157 Effects of State Control — See under (a) Drunkenness, Convic- tions for ; (b) Efficiency ; (c) Medical Statistics and (d) Sobriety EmciENCY — Aim of Central Control Board, 124, 200, 253 Demand for increased restrictions on intoxicating liquor, 44 Effect on, of work of Central Control Board — Army, 255-6 Munitions, 256-9 Navy, 254-5 Shipbuilding and sea-transport, 259- 61 Hours of Work "j Industrial Fatigue and its Causes y Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue) See for these under Committees {Health of Munition Workers Committee) National, need of, 5, 21, 124, 274, 275 Egypt, action in regard to absinthe, 11 Elgin (County), 133, 267 Eneibld, see under State Purchase Essex, 129 Evens, Eev. G. Bramwell, quoted, 200 (footnote) " Excess profits " — deduction from, of capital expenditure incurred by pro- vision of canteens, 187, 190 Exemption Orders of Central Control Board, 141 F Factories and Workshops, Reports of Chief Inspector of — 1914:— 183, 184 1915: — 103, 105 Factoeies, Police, etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1916, quoted, 195, 196 Factoey and Workshop Act, 1901, quoted, 104, 105 Faimouth, 25 Family — Disruption of family life durmg the War, 82, 83 Earnings and spending power, 86-9 Expenditure on drink, 110-13 How to Save and Why, 111 Income — Gains, 86-9, 110 Income — Losses, 84^6, 110 See also under {a) Restrictions (3) — {Home Drinking) ; (6) Spending- power Feeding the Munition Worker ; pamphlet on Industrial Canteens, 191 (footnote) Finance — Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, quoted, 153, 179 Finance Act, 1914 (Session 2), quoted, 29 (footnote) Finance (New Duties) Act, 1916, quoted, 179 (footnote) See also under (a) Committees ; (b) State Purchase Finot, M., quoted, 13 Food — Chart of retail prices, 85 Food-supply for workers, 59-60, 64, 98-9, 106-7, 119, 183-96, 277 Prices, rise in, 84, 85 Stimulation of sale of food on licensed premises by Central Control Board, 176-8 See also under {a) Canteens ; {b) Re- strictions (3) ; (c) State Purchase Food Controller, Order limiting output of beer, 1917: — 4-5, 7, 180, 220, 232, 233 (footnote), 250, 262 FOEFAE, 133 Feance — Absinthe, action regarding, 1 1 Finot, M., quoted, 13 Restrictions modelled on those of the British Liquor Control Board, 11 Spirits prohibited to soldiers, 12 Wine industries of, 54 " Free " houses, 57, 58, 218 French, R. V., Nineteen Centuries of Drink in England, quoted, 9 (footnote) INDEX 311 G George, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd, M.P. Bangor, speech at, and its effects, 46-8 Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Act, 1916, 60-4, 67-71, 150, 184 Quoted, 3-4, 6, 7, 8, 18, 45, 46-8, 48-9 60-1, 63, 68, 69, 70, 75, 184-5, 272 ' Stamfordham, Lord, letter to, 41 State Purchase, policy of, 56, 73-4 Trade Union Conferences, 31, 48 Germany — Restriction of Alcohol, 12 Submarine menace, 7 GiBBiNGs, W. p., 199 Girls on war-work, 103-4, 113 (footnote) GiiAsoow, see under Clyde Area Good Friday, see under Restrictions (3) Gothenburg, see under Sweden GovAN, 97, 98 GRAJSTTS-in-aid of Canteens, see under Canteens Greatohex, Capt., R.N., 288 Greenock, 268 Greenwood, Dr. M., 182 Gretna, see under State Purchase — Oretna and Carlisle Gretton, Col., M.P., (quoted), 132 Grocers' licences — Powers of Central Control Board re- garding, 166 See also under State Purchase — Oretna and Carlisle Guthrie, Alexander, J.P., 51 (footnote) GijY, Sheriff-substitute, Judgment of, 167, 168 Hackwood, F. W. (Inns, Ales, and Drinking Customs of Old England), quoted, 109, 110, 176 (footnote) Habcourt, Rt. Hon. Lewis, quoted, 86, 87 Hawking of liquor, 163-6 Health of Munition Workers Committee, see under Committees Healy, T. M., M.P., quoted, 66 Henderson, Rt. Hon. Arthur, M.P., 72 (footnote) Henry, Sir Edward, quoted, 35, 255 Hertfordshire, 129, 269 Hodge, Rt. Hon. John, M.P., 76 HoLYWOOD, Co. Down, 25 Home Drinking, see under Restrictions (3) Home Life and Child -welfare, effect of drink-restrictions on, 263-5 Home Office — Chief Inspector of Factories and Work- shops («ee under Factories and Work- shops) Circular letters to — (a) Clerks to Justices, 34 (6) Magistrates and Police, 169 Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Re- striction) Act, powers of Home Secretary under, 29, 33, 44 Penalties for drunkenness, 169-70, 275 Home Office (continued) — " Report of Inquiries made by the Home Office in regard to loss of time in the Shipbuilding Trades " — Investigators' instructions, quoted, 73 Investigators' reports, quoted, 55, 67, 69, 95, 97, 98, 99, 183-4 Representative of, on Central Control Board, 76, 76 Hospitals — Effect of drink-restrictions on number of patients treated at, 261, 266-6 Prohibition on Supplying Intoxicants to Members of His Majesty's Forces undergoing Hospital Treatment (Defence of the Realm Regulation, 40 A), 20, 284 Hostels, Munition, 190 (footnote) Hotels and restaurants, see under Restrictions (3) Hours : (a) Hours of sale of liquor — Defence of the Realm Regula- tions, quoted, 19, 20 See also under Restrictions (3) (6) Hours of work — Health of Munition Workers Committee, Memorandum 5, see Committees Overstrain and its results, 97 Overtime and night-work, 97, 105, 106 Special Factory legislation, 104, 105 Women, 104-6 See also under (a) Labour ; (b) Time Lost ; (c) Women House of Commons, see Parliamentary Debates Housing and transit, 99, 107, 192 (foot- note), 198, 262 huddebstield, 25 Huntingdon, 129 Immature Spirits (Restriction) Act, 1915:— 66-7 Impobtation of Liquor, see under State Purchase (Oretna and Carlisle) Income, National, 77, 83-9 See also under Family Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (War Restrictions) Act, 1915 : — 86 Industrial Canteens, see under Canteens Industrial Conditions and Alcoholism, 94-108 Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue ; In- dustrial Fatigue and its Causes. See under Committees (Health of Munition Workers Committee) Industrial Fatigue, . Investigation by Physiological Methods (A. F. Stanley Kent, M.A.) quoted, 97, 107, 186 Industrial unrest, relation to drink- 'restrictions, 192 (footnote), 262 (with footnote) 312 INDEX Industey, Drink and the Future of, 273-5 Inebriety, British Journal of, 109 Inebriety, remedial treatment of, 275 Infants, overlying of, and Convictions for Drunkenness (Women), 242—4 Inlakd Revenue Act, 1867 (quoted), 164 Inn, definition of, 176 (footnote) Intbenationai. movement against alcohol in war-time, 11—13 Intoxioaxinq Liquor, definition of, 167 (footnote) Intoxicatino Liquor (Temporary Re- striction) Act, see under Restrictions (2) Invebgordon, see under State Purchase Inverness, 133 Ireland — Analysis of economic claims of Irish liquor trade, 66 (footnote) Central Control Board and, 75 Irish labour, 198 Opposition to proposed liquor taxa- tion, 1915:— 65-6 Italy — Action in regard to absinthe, 11 James, Lord, of Hereford, Commission, 67 Jellicoe, Admiral Sir John, quoted, 67 Jones, Lief, M.P., quoted, 73, 83 (foot- note), 94 Journal of State Medicine, Nov. 1917, quoted, 241, 242 Judicial Statistics, quoted, 93 Justice of the Peace, The, quoted, 34 Justices, see under Licensing Justices Juvenile Employment, see Committees {Health of Munition Workers Com- mittee) K Kent, A. F. Stanley, M.A.— Investigation of Industrial Fatigue by Physiological Methods, quoted, 97, 107, 186 KlNCAKDINE, 133 King, J., M.P., quoted, 46 KlEKCTJDEIUGHT, 133, 207 Kitchener, Lord, quoted, 22—23, 24, 40, 48, 249 Labour — Attitude towards drink proposals, 1915:— 48-50, 71-3 Conditions in shipbuilding areas, 69, 73, 97, 98 Conferences with the Government during the War, 31, 48-9 Demand for, during the War, 80-3, 102, 103-4 Disruption of family life during the War, 82-3 Labour {continued) — Family Income, see under Family Hours of work, see under Hours Industrial unrest, relation of drink restrictions to, 192 (footnote), 262 (with footnote) Redistribution of, during the War, 77-83 Representation at Conferences of Central Control Board, 128 Representation on — Central Control Board, 75—6 Canteen Management Committees, 188 Carlisle Local Advisory Committee, 204 (footnote) Enfield Lock Local Management Committee, 174 Invergorden Local Advisory Com- mittee, 176 Social issues in decade preceding the War, 1-2 Support by, of policy of Liquor Con- trol, 49, 261-2 Trade Union meetings on licensed premises, 140, 214 Transport Workers' Federation, 49—60, 141 See also under (a) Birmingham ; (b) Canteens ; (c) Clyde Area ; (d) Food ; (e) Hours ; (f ) Industrial; (g) Shipyards ; (h) Sobriety ; (i) iState Purchase ; (j ) Statistics ; (k) Trade Unions ; (1) Tyne ; (m) Unemployment ; (n) Women Lansdowne, Lord, quoted, 75 Law, Rt. Hon. A. Bonar, M.P., quoted, 51, 64, 111, 185 Leith, 208 Lerwick, 25, 26, 33 (footnote) Lever, Sir Wm., Bart. (Lord Lever- hulme), 76 Licensed Premises—^ Definitions of, 166 (with footnote) Hoxu's for sale of food and non- intoxicants, 139 Sale and supply of drink, on certain premises, stopped by Central Con- trol Board, 168 Specification of premises to which restrictions of Central Control Board applied, 166-7 Trade Union, etc., meetings on, 140, 214 See also under (a) Defence of the Realm Regulations ; (b) Defence of the Realm {Liquor Control) Regulations ; (c) Food ; (d) Restrictions (1), (2) and (3) ; (e) State Purchase Licensing Bill, 1908: — 3, 64, 71-2, 102, 158, 272, 278-9 Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, references to, (footnotes) 136, 144, 147, 152, 163, 166, 167, 176, 208 Licensing Justices — Circular addressed by Central Control Board to, respecting food in public- houses, 177 INDEX 313 LiOENSINO Ju3tio63 (oontinaed) — . Emergency powers unilur Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act, 1914, see under Eestrictions (2) Liverpool, proposal re Medicated Wines, 161 Representation at Conferences of Central Control Board, 128, 131, 202 LlOENsiNQ (Scotland) Act, 1903, 137 (footnote), 163, 176 (footnote) Licensing Statistics^ quoted — 1915:— 115 1916:— 230 Licensing World, quoted, 167 (footnote) Light Beer — Conditions of sale, 179, 180 Definition of, 179 Encouragement of sale of, 179-81 Grant of certificates for sale of, 190 Order of Central Control Board respect- ing, 180 Prices of, 180 Limitation of output of liquor — Distinction between *' Limitation " and " Control," 7-8, 232-3 See also under (a) Food Controller, Order of ; (b) Output of Beer {Re- striction) Act LiQtroR Control Regulations See under Defence of the Realm {Liquor Control) Regulations LiVEBPOOI. — Bishop of, quoted, 38 Convictions for drunkenness, 109 Dispensaries, value of drink restric- tions, 266 Drink rationing, suggested scheme regarding, 168—9 EHeots of Order of Central Control Board, 269 Justices, proposal re Medicated Wines, 161 Licensing Committee and delivery of beer at the home, 165 Liverpool Daily Post, quoted, 56 Lord Mayor of, 56 Memorial asking for strengthening of Temporary Restriction Act, 51 Mersey Dock and Harbour Trust Canteens, 188 Retail prices of liquor (Table), 250 ** Trade," voluntary curtailment of hours of sale, 56 Lloyd George, see under George, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd Lloyd, Major-General Sir Francis, quoted, 157 Local authorities, see Municipal Authorities Local Option, 58, 74, 279, 280-1 lockebbie, 198, 201 London — Changes due to Temporary Restriction Act, 1914 :— 35-6 Convictions for Drunkenness, 239, 240 Docks, Wharves and Markets : Exemp- tion Orders, 141 London (continued) — Eiiects of Orders of Central Control Board, 239-40, 265, 261, 266-6, 271 Henry, Sir Edward, quoted, 35, 266 Hospitals, value of drink restrictions, 265-6 Lloyd, Major-General Sir Francis, quoted, 157 (footnote) Military authorities and drink diffi- culty, 35 No-treating Order, 240, 261 (footnote) See also under (a) State Purchase — {Enfield); (b) Woolwich Long, Rt. Hon. Walter, M.P., quoted, 82 " Long Pull," 168, 275 Lonqtown, see under State Purchase — Gretna and Carlisle Lonsdale, Earl of, 204 Luton, Petty Sessional Division, 129 (footnote ) M McDouGALL, Dr. W., F.R.S., 182 McKenna, Rt. Hon. R., M.P., quoted, 28, 29, 30, 33, 44, 45 (footnote), 73 (footnote) Macnamara, Dr., quoted, 260 Manchester — Bishop of, quoted, 39-40 Credit sales (evidence at Manchester Conference), 159 Manchester Guardian, quoted, 52, 117-18 Manchester Guardian (History of the V/ar), quoted, 177-8 (footnote) Treating at, 157 Maps — Gretna and Carlisle State Purchase Districts, 201 Restrictive Areas, 134 Meals, supply of liquor with, 142-3 Medical Certificate, sale of spirits under, 149, 156 (footnote) Medical Officers of Health, Reports of — Sheffield, 265 Woolwich, 114-15 Medical Statistics — Attempted Suicides, 243-4 Deaths due to Alcoholism and Cirrhosi.9 of the Liver, 240-2 Delirium Tremens, 243-5 Overlying of Infants and Convictions for Drunkenness (Women), 242-4 See also under Medical Officers of Health {above) Medicated Wines, 160-2 Meiklejohn, R. S., C.B., 76 Mercantile Marine, see under Admiralty Military Authorities — Competent authority, definition of, 19 (footnote) Order of, superseded by Order of Central Control Board, 167 Powers of competent authority under Defence of the Realm Regulations, 10, 10a, 40, 40a:— 19-20, 282-4 314 IKDEX Military Authorities (continued) — Representation at Conferences of Central Control Board, 128, 254 See also under (a) Restrictions (1); (b) War Office MiLLAB, J. Duncan, M.P., quoted, 33 (footnotes) MiNiSTBY of Munitions, see under Muni- tions {below) MOND, Rt. Hon. Sir Alfred, M.P., quoted, 28 Montagu, Rt. Hon. E. S., M.P., 103, 127, 132, 173 MONTBOSE, 267 MoBBisoN-Bell, Major, M.P., quoted, 29 MoTT, Dr. F. W., F.R.S., 182 Mtjnicipai, Authorities — Circular letter (explanatory of provi- sions of Order of Central Control Board), 130 (footnote) Representation at Conferences of Cen- tral Control Board, 128 Munitions — Health of Munition Workers Com- mittee, see under Committees Hostels for Munition workers, 190 (footnote) Ministry of — Action of, in scheduling an area, 127, 129, 256-7 Addison, Dr., 266 Controlled Establishments, 79, 103, 104 Creation and powers of, 31 Labour, demand for, during the War, 80-3, 102, 103-4 Lloyd George, see under Qeorge, St. Hon. D. Lloyd Montagu, Rt. Hon. E. S., 103, 127, 132, 173 National Factories, 77, 79, 172, 173, 184, 187, 197, 203 " Sobriety and Intoxicants," Rule for Explosive Factories, 257 (foot- note) Welfare and Health Section of, 190 (footnote) See also under Canteens Output of — Effect of Orders of Central Control Board on, 256-9 Retarded by drink, 69-70 See also under (a) Labour ; (b) Time lost ; (c) Women MuNKO, Rt. Hon. R., K.C., quoted, 33 MuNBO, Sir Thomas, 76, 192 (footnote) Music-halls, powers of Central Control Board regarding sale of drink at bars of, 166 N Naibn, 133 Nation, The, quoted, 58, 59 National Drink Bill, 6, 43 National economy, see JHconoTny National efficiency, see Efficiency National Factories, 77, 79, 172, 173, 184, 187, 197, 203 National Free Church Council, 42, 54 National income, 77, 83—89 See also under Family National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 113, 114, 264 Naval Authorities — Competent Authority, definition of, 19 (footnote) Order of, superseded by Order of Cen- tral Control Board, 167 Powers of competent Authority under Defence of the Realm Regulations, 10, 10a, 39a, 40, 40a :— 19-20, 282-4 Representation at Conferences of Central Control Board, 128, 254 See also under (a) Admiralty ; (b) Restrictions (1) Naval Transport, see under Transport Neuteal nations, restriction of alcohol, 12 Nevilb, S. O., 76 Newoastle-on-Tynb, Chief Constable of, quoted, 93, 268 Newhaven — Area — Scheduled on account of delays to ' sea-transport, 100-1 Delimitation of, 130-1, 132 Order of Central Control Board, 17, 22 Newman, Sir George, M.D., 76, 96, 182, 188-9 Newpobt, Cardifi and Barry — Area, delimitation of, 131, 133 Orders of Central Control Board, 22, 124 (footnote) New Zealand, restriction of alcohol, 12 NiGHT-work, see under Hours NOBFOLK, 129 NoBMAN Cross, Petty Sessional Division of, 129 (footnote) Nobthampton, 129 NoBTH-East Coast — Conferences (Newcastle, Middles- brough, West Hartlepool), 128 Labour conditions on, 69, 260 NoBWAY, prohibition of spirits, 12 NoBwiOH, 129 O'Bbien, W., M.P., quoted, 65 Occasional licences, powers of Central Control Board regarding, 166 " Off " Sales, see under Restrictions (3) — (Hours of Sale) O'Gbady, J., M.P., quoted, 72, 97 " On " Sales, see under Restrictions (3) — (Hours of Sale) ORDERS— (1) Naval and Military Authorities, see under Restrictions (1) (2) Licensing Justices, see under Restrictions (2) (3) Central Control Board (Ligtuor Traffic)— Effect of Liquor Control on War Services and War Industries, see under Bffitciency INDEX 315 ORDERS— (3) Central Control Boaid (Liciuor Traffic) (continued) — Exemption Orders (London Docks, Wharves and Markets), 141 General Orders — Christmas, 147 Dilution of spirits, 151 (foot- note) Good Friday, 147 Light Beer, 180 Medicated Wines, 161-2 (foot- note) Issue and publication of Orders • of, 130 Order in standard form (Eastern Area) Full text of, 295-9 References to, 135-6, 139, 142, 143, 144, 148, 149, 163, 156, 158, 159, 160, 163, 164, 165, 167 Variations from, 140, 141, 146 Orders relating to seaports, 17, 22, 100, 131, 132, 133, 134 Population to which Orders applied, 134 Range of the Restrictions, 166, 167 Steps leading to a restrictive Order, 129 See also under (a) Areas ; (b) Conferences; (c) Restrictions (3) Obdebs in Council, applying Liquor Control Regulations to an Area, 123, 124, 125, 127, 129 OuTPTTT of Beer (Restriction) Act, 19 16 : — 7, 232, 247, 250, 251 Overlying of Infants and Convictions for Drunkenness (Women), 242—4 OvEBSTBAiN and alcoholic indulgence, 97, 106 OVEETIME, see under Hours Pall Mall Gazette, quoted, 52 Paeliamentaby Debates (House of Com- mons) OfBcial Reports, quoted, 61, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 73, 74, 75, 257, 260, 271 Pahe, R. J., O.B.E., quoted, 264 Pabtick and district, 98 Passenqeb vessels, 133 Powers of Central Control Board re- garding the sale of drink on, 166 Patent Medicines, Select Committee on, quoted, 160, 161 Paterson's Licensing Acts, quoted, 176 (footnotes) Patxpeeism and vagrancy, decline of, during the War, 81, 82, 89 Peaeson, Sir Edward, 220 Peddee, John, C. B., 76, 299 Penalties for — (a) Drunkenness, 169-70, 276 lb) Contravention of Order of Central Control Board, 167, 295 Peneith, 198 Peemanent significance of State action regarding drink during the War, 9-11, 263-71 Peeth, 133 Peteeboeouqh, 129 (footnote) Plymouth — Action by Service Authorities, 26, 168 Action by the " Trade," 27 Order of the Central Control Board, 27 Police — • Changes in strength of, 230 Chief Constables, 93, 128, 131, 267-9 Henry, Sir Edward (Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis), quoted, 36, 255 Initiative under Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act, 29, 33, 34, 44 Power to enter and search premises, 130 Reports from Chief Constables as to value of drink -restrictions, 267—9 Representation at Conferences of Central Control Board, 128, 131 Police, Factories, etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1916: — 195-6 POBTSMOUTH, 72, 233 (footnote) Postal and Banking facilities, powers of the Central Control Board to establish, 126, 292 Peess — Publication of Orders of Central Con- trol Board, 130 Support for Government action, in 1915, regarding the drink difficulty, 52, 53-9 Peevention of Cruelty to Children, Society for, 113, 114, 264 Pbice, retail, of liquor; changes in, 250, 251 Peisons, Commissioners of — Reports (value of the drink -restric- tions), 270 Table of prison population, 1914r-17, 270 Pbohibition of Spirits : Absinthe (France, Italy, Egypt), 11, 39 National, advocacy of, 55 Norway, 12 United States, 12 Vodka, see under Prohibition, Total {Russia) Within certain Scottish areas, 155 See also under Restrictions (3) Peohibition, Total — Britain — Central Control Board; nationa prohibition not within powers of, 63, 124 Demands for, in Britain, 4, 53-5 Canada, 12 Glasgow — Corporation of, 46 School Board of, 46 National Free Church Council and, 54 Roumania, 11 316 INDEX Pkohibition, Total (continued) — Russia, U, 39, 47, 54, 278 Scottish Temperance Organisations and, 46 Shipbuilding Employers' Federation, and, 41, 50, 63, 67, 68 Pkoot Spirit, definition of, 152 (footnote) " Pbotected persons," 104 " PiTBLio Health and the Control of the Liquor Traffic " (Journal of State Medicine), November, 1917, quoted, 241, 242 Pttblio Health, effect of drink-restric- tions on, 265—6 Public Order : Effect of drink restrictions on, 266-71 Gretna and Carlisle, 199, 200, 218-22 QtrAET, reputed, of spirits ; see under Restrictions (3) — Reputed Quart R Railway News, The, quoted, 87 Railway Refreshment Rooms, 152, 153, 166, 256 Rationing of drink, 168-9 Redmond, John, M.P., quoted, 65 REGISTEAK-General {65th Annual Re- port), quoted, 100 Regulations, see under Defence of the Realm Renfbew, 97, 98 Residents in licensed premises and clubs, see under Restrictions (3) {Clubs, Hotels and Restaurants) RESTAUltANTS, 142-3, 166 RESTRICTIONS ON SALE OF IN- TOXICATING LIQUOR— General advantages of , 56, 135, 247- 8, 263-271, 274-5 (1) Eestrictions oJ Naval and iSilitary Authorities — Defence of the Realm Aot, 1914:— 18, 19 Regulations made under, 19, 20 Defence of the Realm Regula- tions (Nos. 10, 10a, 39a, 40, 40a), 282-4 Definition of competent authority, 19 (footnote) Emergency powers of, 4, 17, 18-20, 22, 116 Exceptional Orders of, 25—7 Measures of precaution, 17, 18-27 Orders during first ten months of war, 25 Sobriety, influence of Orders on, 248 Treating, 157 (footnote) (2) Restrictions o£ Licensing Justices — Emergency powers of, 4, 17 (2) Restrictions o! Licensing Justices {continued) — Intoxicating Liquor (Tempo- rary Restriction) Act, 1914— Beesly, Gerald, quoted, 35 Clubs, inclusion of, 30, 36 Defects and limitations of, 30, 43-4, 46 Home Office Circulars to Justices, 34 Introduction and passage of, 28-30 London, effect of the Act in, 35-37, 240 Memorial asking for strengthening thereof, 51 Orders of Justices under, 32, 33 Orders under, superseded by Orders of Central Control Board, 167 Roberts, Charles, M.P., quoted, 34 Text of, 284-5 Measures of precaution, 17, 27-37 Sobriety, influence of Orders .on, 35-37, 248 (3) Restrictions of Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic)— Bona fide traveller, 135, 144-6 Canvassing for liquor orders, 135, 164-6 " Cash on Delivery " systems of liquor sales, 164r-6 Christmas Day, 147 Closed and Labelled Bottles of Spirits, 153, 155 Closing of licensed premises during " prohibited hours " 139-40 (footnote) Clubs, 136, 142, 144, 145, 146, 159, 166, 167, 168 See also under (a) Clubs, and (b) State Purchase Credit, retail sale of liquor on, 135, 159-60, 164, 166 Dilution of Spirits : Board's policy regarding, 135, 149-52 Comparison with pre-war maximum, 149-51 General Amending Order (Feb. 1, 1917), 151 (note) Liquor Control Regulation 12: — 125, 150, 292 Mr. Lloyd George's plan of 1915;— 56, 61, 150 Dispatch of Liquor, conditions as to, 143, 144, 148, 167. See also " Cash on De- Distribution of liquor, con- ditions as to, 163-66 Food : restriction of hours did not apply to sale of food, 139-40 INDEX RESTBICTIONS ON SALE OF IN- TOXICATING LIQUOR— (3) Restrictions of Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) {continued) — Good Friday, 147 Hawking of liquor, 163-6 Home Drinking, 110-16, 138, 143, 149, 154, 159, 164, 165, 265, 266 Hotels and Restaurants — Powers of Central Control Board regarding, 166 Supply of liquor with meals, 142-3 Supply of liquor to resi- dents, 142 Hours of Sale : (a) " On " Sales — Weekdays, 136-43 Sundays, 144-6 (6) " Ofi " Sales- Weekdays, 143-4, 148, 149 Simdays, 144, 145, 148 Importation of Liquor, 155 (footnote), 215 Intoxicating Liquor, defini- tion of, 167 (footnote) " Long Pull," 135, 158 Meals, supply of liquor with, 142-3 Medicated Wines — Declaration required of proof spirit contained, 160-2 General Order relating to, quoted, 161—2 (footnote) Select Committee on Patent Medicines, report, quoted, 160-1 " Ofi *' Sales, see und^r Hours of Sale {above) " On " Sales, see undtr Hours of SaU {above) Orders — Administration of, 166—8 Order in Standard Form, full text of, 295-9 Penalties for contravening, 167-8 To stop the sale and supply of drink in licensed pre- mises or registered clubs, 168 See also under Orders (3) Quart -bottle, see Reputed Quart {below) Railway refreshment rooms — Powers of Central Control Board regarding, 166 See also under Spirits, {below) Railway restaurant cars — Powers of Central Control Board regarding, 166 Range of Restrictions, 166—7 317 Reasons for Restrictions — Bona fide traveller, 145-6 Canvassing for liquor orders, 165 " Cash on Delivery " sys- tems of liquor sales, 166 Closed and Labelled Bot- tles of spirits, 155 Credit, retail sale of liquor on, 159-60 Fewer hours for " ofi " sale of spirits, 149 Hawking of Hquor, 164-5 " Long Pull," 158 " Ofi '^ Sales, 143, 145, 149 " On " Sales, 137-9, 145 Railway refreshment rooms, 153 Reputed quart of spirits, 154-5 Sunday hours of sale, 145-6 Treating, 156-8 Reputed quart of spirits — Admiralty demand (Rosyth) 155 Comparison with pre-war regulations, 153 Defiuition of, 154 (footnote) Reason for restriction 154-5 Restaurants, see Hotels and Restaurants {above) Restrictions not imposed : Heavier penalties for driaxk- enness, 169-70 Rationing of Drink, 168-9 Sex Discrimination, 168 Saturdays, hours for sale of liquor in Scotland, 140 Saturday, spirit-less, 156, 206- 7, 220, 224 " Saving Provisions " — Dispatch of liquor for de- hvery at a place more than five miles distant, 144 Meals in licensed premises or club, consumption of liquor with, 142-3 Medical certificate, sale of spirits under, 149, 165 (footnote) Resident in licensed pre- mises or club, consump- tion of liquor by, 142 Social eifects of the restric- tions, 263-71 Spirits ; additional restric- tions, 147-56 Closed and Labelled Bot- tles, 153, 155 Dilution of, 56, 61, 149-52 Fewer hours for " ofi " sale of spirits than for other liquors, 148-9 Importation of spirits, 155 (footnote) Prohibition of sale of, within certain areas, 165 318 INDEX RESTRICTIONS ON SALE OF IN- TOXICATING LIQUOR— (3) Restrictions of Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) — Spirits (continued) — Railway refreshment rooms, 152, 153, 256 Reputed Quart, 153-5, 256 Sale of, in pocket flasks and other small vessels, pro- hibited, 163-5, 256 Spirit-less week-end, 155—6, 206-7 See also under State Pur- chase — Gretna and Car- lisle " Strap," 159 Sunday closing, 144-7. See also under State Purchase — Oretna and Carlisle " Supervision " Schemes — ■ Glasgow Dock Area, 162- 3, 254 Rosyth, 163, 254 " Sweets," 167 Traveller, bona fide, 135, 144-6 Treating — Convivial Drinking, 108-10 Defence of the Realm Regu- lation 10, powers of com- petent Naval or Military authority under, 20 (foot- note), 282 Evidence of treating at — Glasgow, 156 Edinburgh and Man- , Chester, 157 Liverpool, 109 Growth of the custom of, 116, 117 Hackwood, F. W., {Inns, Ales and Drinking Cus- toms of Old England), quoted, 109, 110 Liquor Control Regulation 4, powers of the Central Control Board under, 125, 290 Lloyd, Major-General Sir Francis, quoted, 167 (foot- note) Lord Kitchener's " Message to the Nation," 24 Naval and Military Author- ities and, 157 (footnote) Of men in uniform by civilians, 19, 24, 40 Reason for prohibition of, 166-8 Results of prohibition of, 157, 239-40, 256, 268 Tradition of, 108-9 Unlicensed premises, powers of Central Control Board ex- tended to, 126, 294 Variations from Order in Standard Form, 140-1, 146 For Limitation oj liquor-output dur- ing the War, see under (a) Output of Beer {Restriction) Act, 1916 and (6) Food Controller, Order of, 1917 Retail wine and spirit dealers' premises, powers of Central Control Board re- garding, 166 RoBEBTS, Charles, M.P., quoted, 34 RoBBBTS, Lord, quoted, 40 Ross and Cromarty, 133, 267 Rosyth, 166, 163, 254 Rothesay, 133 (footnote) ROTJMANIA, 11 RotJQTTETTE, Stewart, F.R.C.S., quoted, 266 RoxBUEGH, 133, 207 RmicmAN, Rt. Hon. Walter, M.P., 31, 271 Russia, action in respect of vodka, 11, 38, 39, 47, 54, 278 S Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1876, 1879, quoted, 150-1, 162 SaIiIsbxtby, 149 (footnote) Salvation Army, 186 Samuel, Rt. Hon. H. L., M.P., quoted, 169 Saudbbs, E. C, 76, 217 (footnote) Satueday, spirit-less, 206-7, 220, 224 Satubdays, hours for sale of liquor in Scotland, 140 SAVma Provisions of Orders of Central Control Board, see under Restrictions (3) Scotland (Temperance) Act, 1913 : — 58, 74, 137 Scotsman, The, quoted, 135 ScOTSTOUN and Clydebank, 98 SooTT, R. Russell, C.S.I. , 76 Scottish Advisory Committee on Pro- Eosals for State Purchase of Licensed iquor Trade, 57 Scottish Areas, 133, 134, 141 SouBi'iELD, Dr. H., quoted, 265 Seapobts, see under Orders (3) Sepabation allowances, 78, 88, 111, 114 Sex Discrimination, attitude of Central Control Board regarding, 168 SHErriELD, 265 SHBBirF and sheriff-depute (Scotland), 29 (footnote), 33 Shbbbington, Professor C. S., M.D., F.R.S., 182 Shebwell, Arthur, M.P., 64, 65, 73 Shipbuilding Employers' Federation, aee under Prohibition, Total Shipbuilding, Munitions, and Transport Areas (Return to Hoiise of Commons, 29th April, 1915), quoted, 50, 65, 67, 68, 71, 95, 97, 101, 102, 183-4, 285-8 Shipyards — Delays to work, resulting from drink, 67-9 Eflecta on, of Orders of Central Control Board, 259-61 Shoe and Leather Record, quoted, 80 INDEX 319 Shkewsbuey, 157 (footnote) Simon, Sir John, M.P., quoted, 74 Snowden, Philip, M.P., 76 SOBBIETY Causes contributory and causes hostile to sobriety in 1915-17, 248-52 Effect of Central Control Board's Orders on — (1) Navy, 254-5 (2) Army, 255-6 (3) War Industries, 256-61 (4) Home Life and Child-Welfare, 263-5 (5) PubUc Health, 265-6 (6) Public Order, 266-71 Increase of, and its causes, 174, 176, 218-22, 229-52 Medical Statistics and insobriety, 231, 240-5 Restoration of, in State Purchase Areas — Enfield, 174 Gretna and CarUsle, 218-22 Invergordon and Cromarty, 176 Standards of insobriety, 229-33 Statistics of insobriety, 109, 115, 233- 248 See also under (a) Drunkenness, Con- victions for ; (b) Medical Statistics ; (c) Time Lost Social Centres, need for, 82-3, 277-8 SociAi, Welfare — Effect of drink-restrictions on, 263- 71 Relation of the drink-habit to, 275-8 SotTTHAMPTON, 22, 131, 132 Spectator, The, quoted, 63, 58, 59 Spending-powek — Family, 86-9 National, 89, 252 Relation of increased spending power to consumption of drink, 6, 89-94, 147, 251, 252 SpmiTS — Additional restrictions on, 147-56, 206- 8, 275 , Alcoholic strength of (Table), 152 Consumption of, in relation to fluctua- tions of employment, 90-4 Dilution, see under Restrictions (3) Hours of sale of, see under Restrictions, (3) Immature Spirits (Restriction) Act, 66-7 National consumption of — 1895-1908 :— 90-2 1911-12 to 1916-17: — 245-7 Prohibition of, see under Prohibition of Spirits Spirit-less Saturday, see under State Purchase (Gretna and Carlisle) Spirit-less Week-end, see under Restric- tions (3) Spirits Act, 1880, quoted, 163 Taxes on — Pre-war taxation, 147 1915; proposed new taxation of spirits, 60-1, 64-6 STAMffOBDHAM, Lord, 41 STATE PURCHASE OF LICENSED PREMISES— Advantages of, 54, 56-9, 204-5, 222-6. 279-81 Attitude towards — Organised Labour, 262 Temperance leaders, 59, 73—4 "Trade," 74-5 Unionist Party leaders, 58 Carlisle, see Gretna and CarUsle (below) Committees appointed by Government on financial aspects of — (1) 1915:— 66-8 (2) 1917:— 279-80 Cromarty, see Invergordon and Cromarty {below) Definition of powers of Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), 62, 64, 126, 289-294 Discussion in House of Commons, 73-4 Enfleld Lock- Acquisition of licences, 173 General Manager, Report of, quoted, 174 Local Management Committee, 174 Policy pursued by Board — (a) Hours of sale, 173 (6) Accommodation for workers, 173 Reconstructed Licensed Premises — (1) "Greyhound," 173, 174 (2) " Royal Small Arms Tavern," 173, 174 Results of Direct Control, 174 Gretna and Carlisle — Administrative Districts, 203—4 Advantages of Direct Control at, 206, 222-5 Advertisements (liquor) removed, 208-9, 224 Annan — Drunkenness, convictions for, 199 Globe Restaurant, 211 Gracie's Banking, 213 Licensed Premises taken over, 202 " Off " sale of spirits, 207 Social conditions at, 83, 198, 213-14 (footnote) Assets and Liabilities, statement of, 217 Breweries — Acquired, 202 Bottling Plant, 224 Closed, 206 Maryport Brewery Company, 203 Brook, E. J., 204 Chance, F. W., J.P., D.L., 204 Clubs, 199, 215-16 Coflee Carts, 211 Committees, Local Advisory, 204, 206, 207, 217 (footnote), 221, 225 Compensation, 216-17 Conferences with Local Authorities — 1916:— 198 1916:— 202 320 INDEX STATE PURCHASE OF LICENSED PREMISES— Gretna and Carlisle {continued) — Constructive Action, 209—14 Commission to Managers on food sales, 210, 211 *' Counter-attractions " to drink, 212-14 Food, provision for sale of, 209— 12, 213 (footnote), 303 Food takings, 210-13 Structural Improvements, 211-12 Trade Union meetings, place of, 214 '* Counter-attractions " to drink, 209-14 Cumberland News, quoted, 217—18 (footnotes) D'Abernon, Lord, quoted, 217 (foot- note), 302-4 Defence of the Realm Losses (Licensed Trade Claims), Royal Commission, 216 Development of the Scheme of Purchase, 200-3 Drunkenness, convictions for, 199, 203, 207, 219, 220 Dumfriesshire, 133, 198, 201, 202, 207 Local authorities request inclu- sion of county within State Purchase Area, 221—2 Economy in management of licensed premises, 223-4 Elimination of private interest in sale of liquor, 223 Evens, Rev. G. Bramwell, quoted, 200 (footnote) Extent of State Purchase Area, 203 Finance, 205, 216-18, 303 Food, see Constructive Action (above) Gibbings, W. P. (Mayor of CarUsle), quoted, 199 " Golden Lion " (Illustrations), 208 Grade's Banking, Annan, 213 Gretna, National Factory, 77, 79, 197, 203, 302 Gretna Tavern, 209-10 Grocers' Licences (abolished), 206 Housing problem, 198, 200 (foot- note), 222 Importation of Liquor, 215 Inadequacy of ordinary restrictions, 199 Kirkpatrick-Fleming, 202 Labour at, conditions of, 83, 198, 199, 200 (footnote), 213-14 (foot- note) Licensed premises acquired, 172, 201-3 Licences — Grocers' (abolished), 206 New licences granted, 206 (foot- note) Redundancy of, 222-3 Suppression of, 205-6, 222, 224, 303 London Tavern, 210 Lonsdale, Earl of, 204 Longtown — Disorder at, 199 " Globe Inn," 213, 217 " Graham Arms," 211 Licensed Premises taken over, 202 Spirits, 206, 207 Managers, General, 203-4, 213, 214r- 15, 217 (footnote) Managers, Public-House — Agreements with, quoted, 210- 11, 223 Code of Rules, references to, 208, 215 (footnote) Public-houae management, 214-15 Maryport included in scheme, 203, 204 (footnote), 205 (footnote) Map (illustrating historical develop- ment of State Purchase Area), 201 Mayor of Carlisle (quoted), 199, 221 Mixed Drinking, 207-8, 224 " Off " sale of spirits, 207 Pearson, Sir Edward, 220-1 Rates, contribution in lieu of, 218 Results of Direct Control, 204-14, 218-25 Rockcliffe, 202, 212 Spirits — Mixed drinking checked, 207-8,224 '* Oif " sale of; reduction in number of houses for, 207 " On " sale to young persons pro- hibited, 208, 224 Prohibition — total, in houses near Gretna Factory, 206 Spirit-less Saturday, 206-7, 220, 224 Springfield, 202 Structural improvements, 211-12 Sunday Closing, 199, 207 (footnote), 209, 224 Suppression of licences, 205-6, 222, 224, 303 Trade Union Meetings, 214 Treasury, 216, 217 (footnote) Valuation of premises acquired, 210 Western Border — Area, 133, 198 Order for, 198-199 Transformation of, through erec- tion of National Factory, 197-8 Young persons, sale of liquor to, 208, 224 Invergordon and Cromarty — Hotels acquired, 175 Local Advisory Committee, 176 " On " and " Off " sales, 175 Policy pursued, 175 Results of Direct Control, 175-6 Licensed Premises acquired by Central Control Board (Table of), 172 Licences suppressed after Purchase (Table of), 172 Memorandum on State Purchase sub- mitted to Government by Central Control Board, 225, 279, 300-2 National State Purchase not within i;o\vfcra of Central Control Board, 64, 124 INDEX 321 Statistics — Abstract of Returns of Convictions for Drunkenness in Scheduled Areas of Great Britain, with other Statistics bearing on Alcoholism, 1917 : — 239 Alcoholic strength of Medicated Wines (Table), 160 Alcoholic strength of Spirits (Table), 152 Alcoholism, deaths due to (Tables), 240-5 Beer — Barrelage of, 7, 44, 45, 246, 247, 250 Consumption of, 90-4, 246 Taxes on, 44, 45, 64^7, 92, 232 Canteens (Industrial) (Table), 190 Convictions for Drunlienness (Dia- grams and Charts), 219, 234—9, 244 Delirium Tremens (Table), 245 Dilution of spirits, 149—52 Employment, fluctuations of, in rela- tion to consumption of beer and spirits, 90-2, 247 Infants, overlying of (Table), 243 Insobriety, 233-48 Judicial Statistics, quoted, 93 Licensed Premises (acquired by Cen- tral Control Board) (Table), 172 Licensing Statistics, quoted, 115, 230 Light Beer, prices of, 180 Medical Statistics, 240-5 National Drink Bill, 6, 43 Prices of food, retail ; rise in, 84, 85 Prices of hquor, retail ; rise in, 250-1 Prison population (Table), 270 Separation allowances, 88 Spirits, 60, 61, 90-2, 152, 246 Statistical Abstract for the United King- dom, 54, 90-92 Suicides, attempted (Table), 243 Steamees, see Passenger Steamers Stewart, G., M.P., quoted, 43, 44 Stockton-on-Tees, 69, 97 Stjefolb:, 129 Suicides, attempted, 243—4 Sullivan, De. W. C. — Alcohol Committee, 182 Alcoholism, quoted, 96, 99, 100 (foot- note), 231 '* Alcoholism in Glasgow," 140 (foot- note) Sunday Closing, 144^7, 199, 207 (foot- note), 209, 224 Sunday labour, 68, 96, 97 (footnote), 104, 105 Sunderland, 69 Supervision Schemes (Glasgow Dock Area and Rosyth), 162-3, 254 " Supply " of Intoxicating Liquor, deHnition of, 136 (footnote) Sweden — Gothenburg system of drink-rationing, 169 Restrictions on alcohol, 12 " Sweets," 167 Switzerland, restrictions on alcohol, 12 Sykes, J. C. G., C.B., 76 Taxes on Liquor — Beer, war tax on, Nov. 1914, 44, 48, 232 Pre-war taxation on spirits, 147 Proposed new taxes (1915) on spirits. beer and wines, 60-1, 64-6 Taxation of the Liquor Trade (Rowntroe and Sherwell), quoted, 90 Temperance — British Women's Temperance Associa- tion, 186 Church of England Temperance Society, 46 (footnote) Deputations to Central Control Board, 128 National Free Church Cotincil, 42, 54 Societies, 40, 46, 186, 249 State Purchase, attitude towards, 73-4 Temperance Legislation League, 46 (footnote) Monthly Notes of, quoted, 66 Temperance (Scotland) Act, 1913, 58, 74, 137 (footnote) United Kingdom Alliance, 73 Alliance News, quoted, 38, 40, 247 Wesleyan Methodist Temperance Com- mittee, 46 (footnote) See also under (a) Sobriety ; (b) Medical Statistics Tempoeary Restriction Act — See under Restrictions (2) Theatres, powers of Central Control Board regarding sale of drink at bars of, 166 Thomson, Graeme (Director of Trans- ports), quoted, 70 " Tied "-houses, 57, 58, 178, 218 Time lost — As result of overstrain, 97 Delays resulting from drink — Munition works, 69-70 Shipyards, 67-9 Transport, 70-1, 100-1 Effects on, of Orders of Central Control Board, 257-61 Times, The, quoted, 6 (footnote), 7, 8, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42, 48, 49, 50, 54, 55, 88, 97, 113 Tippling Act, 1862, quoted, 159 Total Prohibition, see Prohibition, Total TowLE, W., 76 Trade, Board of, 79, 84, 85, 86, 87, 104 " Trade " (Liquor) — Action at — Liverpool, 56 Plymouth, Devonport, etc., 26, 27 Brewers' Gazette, quoted, 36 Brewery Manual, quoted, 93 Brewing Trade Review, quoted, 93, 94 Contravention of Orders of Central Control Board, 167-8, 223 (footnote), 300 Deputations from, at Conferences of Central Control Board, 128 Food Controller's Order (1917) limiting output of liquor — effect of, 233 (footnote) 322 INDEX " Tbadb " (Liquor) (continued) — Food, sale of, 176-8 Labelled bottles of spirits, 155 " Long Pull " discountenanced by, 158 Orders of Central Control Board ; dis- tribution to, 130 Westminster and Chelsea Licensed Victuallers' Association, 157 (foot- note) Tbadb Unions — Conference with Government, 31, 48, 87 Conferences of Central Control Board, representation on, 128 Employment, Returns of, 90, 91 Meetings on licensed premises, 140, 214 See also under Labour TEAiJSPOBT — Delays to, resulting from drink, 70-1, 100-1 Eifects on, of Orders of Central Con- trol Board, 259-61 Transport Workers' Federation, 49- 50, 141 Tbakspobts, Director of, quoted, 70, 71 Tbavelleb, bona fide, 144-6 Tbeastjby, 187, 216, 217 (footnote) Tbeating, 3ee under Restrictions (3) Tudoe, Admiral, quoted, 67, 68, 285, 288 Tynb, The — Home Office investigation, 55, 69, 98, 102 Order of Central Control Board, 22 U Unbjmployment Charts, 81, 91 Decline in, during the War, 80-2, 88 Fluctuations in, and relation to con- sumption of beer and spirits, 1895- 1908 :— 90-4 United Kingdom Alliance, 73 United States, restrictions on alcohol, 12 Unlicensed Premises, powers of Central Control Board extended to, 126, 294 V Vabiations from Order in Standard Form (Central Control Board), 140-1, 146 Vodka, 11, 38, 39, 47, 54, 278 VoLUNTABY Societies, 42, 43, 186, 188, 190, 249 See also under Canteens AV WAKErlBLD, 269 Wallace, Robert, K.C., quoted, 36 Wak and the Social Question, 1-3 Waed, John, M.P., quoted, 37-8 Waeeham, 149 (footnote) Wab Office — Army Council, report on effects of Orders of Central Control Board, 255 Army sobriety, 256-6 Conferences of Central Control Board, 128 Representative of, on Central Control Board, 75 Requests for restrictions, 128, 129, 131, 149, 254 Treating of men in uniform, 19, 24, 40, 157 (footnote) See also under (a) Military Authorities, (b) Restrictions (l) Wab Savings Committee, 111, 112 Waewickshiee, 269 Welfare and Health Section (Ministry of Munitions), 190 (footnote) Welsh Orders, 22, 124 (footnote), 131, 133 Wemyss Bay, 133 (footnote) Wesleyan Methodist — Institutes for soldiers, 43 Temperance Committee, 46 (footnote) Westebn Border Area, see under State Purchase — Gretna and Carlisle West Hartlepool, 69 Westminster Gazette, The, quoted, 55 Westmobland, 133 White, Patrick, M.P., 45 Whittakeb, Rt. Hon. Sir T. P., quoted, 8, 37, 58, 73 Wilkie, a., M.P., 72 (footnote), 73 Wilson, G. B., quoted, 6 (footnote), 247, 248 (footnote) Wilson, J. W., M.P., quoted, 46 Wines, proposed new taxation of, 1915, 60-1, 64-6 Wines, Medicated; see under Restric- tions (3) Wing, T. E., M.P., quoted, 117, 169 WlBBAL, 43-4 Women — Alcohol and the home, 110-16 Birmingham, drinking in, 113 Convictions for Drunkenness, 115, 116, 235, 238, 243, 244 Employment of Women, see Committees (Health of Munition Workers Com- mittee) Factory legislation, 104 Hours of Work, 104, 105, 106 Housing and transit, 107 Infants, overlying of, 243, 244 Intemperance amongst, 112—16, 138, 269 Licensing Statistics, 1915, quoted, 115 Sex Discrimination, attitude of the Central Control Board towards, 168 Soldiers' wives, leniency to, 231 Women, Girls and Youths on War work, 103-8 Women's Legion, 186 INDEX 323 Wood, Rt. Hon. T. McKinnon, JI.P., quoted, 33 Woolwich — Medical Officer of Health, report ot, quoted, 114, 115 War-workers of, 82 WOBCESTERSHIKE, 129 World-wide Movement against Alcohol, 11-13 Youiv, Archbishop of, 42 York^hlrG Observer^ The, quoted, 54 Y.M.C.A., 42, 186, 188, 240 Y.W.U.A., 186 YouNGEB, Sir George, Bart., M,P„ quoted, 73 (footnote), 74-5 FBiNTEn IN Great Britain btt Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, eevnswjck st., stamfobd st., s.e. ij and bungay, suffolk,