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Bible Encyclopedias
Liquor Laws and Liquor Control
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or "LIQUOR LAWS AND LIQUOR CONTROL ( see 16.759). - In the following article, the later developments on this subject are dealt with as regards the United Kingdom and the United States, but the article Prohibition should also be consulted in this connexion, especially as concerns the United States.
United Kingdom I. -War Legislation. - Two legislative enactments relating to the sale of intoxicating liquors in the United Kingdom are to be recorded respecting the four years from 1910 to the beginning of the World War.
(a) . The Licensing (Consolidation) Act of 1910 codified the greater part of the existing licensing laws of England and Wales. The changes introduced by this Act were few and of minor importance. It was designed to bring within one code the complex legislation outlined in 16.763-4. This Act remained the statute law at the opening of 1921, although during the period 1915-21 it was superseded, in many of its main provisions, by the Orders of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic); ( b ) The Temperance (Scotland) Act, 1913, appointed 10 A.M. as the opening hour for licensed premises throughout Scotland; strengthened the law respecting clubs supplying liquor; and gave powers of Local Option to Scottish Local Government electors on the three resolutions of" no licence," limitation of licences by one-fourth,"and" no change."Under the terms of this Act, the first local option polls were taken in Scotland in 1920 (see Scotland).
2. Emergency Legislation 1914
The necessity for more stringent measures of control over the sale of drink was manifest in the opening days of the war. Insobriety in the services was too obvious a peril to be disregarded. Steps were at once taken under the first Defence of the Realm Act (Aug. 1914). Competent naval and military authorities were empowered to reduce hours of sale, and, in cases of emergency, to close licensed premises in naval and military areas; the supply (except under doctor's orders) of intoxicants to sailors or soldiers undergoing hospital treatment was prohibited; as was also the bringing of liquor into dock premises used for naval or military purposes. Nearly 500 restrictive orders were made by service authorities during the first ten months of the war. But the question was speedily recognized to be one affecting civilians as well as service men. The Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act, passed on the last day of Aug. 1914, and intended to apply to the conditions of civil life, was asked for by the service authorities. It gave licensing justices power, upon the recommendation of the chief officer of police, to vary within narrow limits the opening and closing hours of sale. The Act applied also to the supply of liquor in clubs. The ground for action was" the maintenance of order, or the suppression of drunkenness."Within four months restrictive orders were made in 427 out of the I,000 licensing districts in England and Wales.
3. The Demand for Further Action
As the growth of the army and munition industries drew the vast majority of the adult population into national work, spread camps and munitions works throughout the kingdom, and made efficiency the national watchword, the need for much more drastic action was realized. Lord Kitchener in Oct. 1914, and Lord Roberts a few weeks later, appealed to the public to avoid treating men of the new armies to drink. Sir Edward Henry, the chief commissioner of police for the metropolis, called 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."The chairman of the Birmingham justices, announcing an order under the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act, 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."On March 29 1915, a deputation from the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation waited on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to urge" the total prohibition during the period of the war of the sale of exciseable liquors,"basing their claim on serious delays in shipbuilding and repairs. The statement of delays submitted by the deputation was forwarded to the King, who, resting his action on the evidence thus furnished," set the example by giving up all alcoholic liquor himself, and issuing orders against its consumption in the Royal Household, so that no difference should be made, so far as His Majesty is concerned, between the treatment of rich and poor in this question."The Royal example stirred public thought, yet it was seen ere long that only new legislation could effectively meet national requirements. A speech by Mr. Lloyd George at Bangor on Feb. 28 1915 riveted public attention. The" lure of drink,"he affirmed, was delaying the output and transport of stores of war. This was true of only a minority of manual workers, but" a small minority of workmen can throw a whole works out of gear."There was an extraordinary consensus of opinion in favour of entrusting the Government with whatever new legislative powers they deemed requisite. Possible remedies for the impairment of efficiency by alcoholism were widely canvassed. These included total prohibition; the prohibition of spirits; the sale of light instead of heavy liquors; a general restriction of drinking facilities; State purchase, to be followed by drastic curtailment of the traffic in drink; and the provision of works' canteens to supply wholesome meals for war workers.
4. Control Board (Liquor Traffic)
When the Government plan was announced in the Commons, on April 29, it was seen that neither prohibition nor national purchase was to be adopted." Control "was the key-word of the policy. A new national authority was to be established, with unprecedented powers. It was further proposed to increase substantially the taxes on intoxicating liquors. The fiscal plan, devised partly to aid revenue and partly to promote sobriety, did not survive hostile Parliamentary criticism. But the" control "proposals, supported by a White Paper" showing the effects of excessive drinking on the output of work on shipbuilding, repairs and munitions of war,"were approved by Parliament as the Defence of the Realm (Amendment) (No. 3) Act. The new authority, entitled the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), was set up on May 27. The Board, as finally constituted, comprised representatives of the Admiralty, War Office, Home Office and Treasury Departments; men expert in licensing law and public health administration; well-known employers and Labour leaders; and leaders of the temperance movement and liquor trade. Lord D'Abernon served with great distinction as chairman for five years (1915-20). Sir John Baird was appointed chairman in May 1921; in the year preceding his appointment the acting chairman was Sir John Pedder. The secretary of the Board was Sir John Sykes. By the death of Mr. Richard Cross in 1916, the Board lost a member of unusual vigour of mind and long experience in licensing administration.
The Board could take action where, and only where, war material was being made or loaded or unloaded or dealt with in transit, or where men belonging to H.M. naval or military forces were assembled. Action must be" 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 would be a mistake, therefore, to regard the Board's work as a designed contribution to temperance reform. Conversely, the fact that the vast experiment which the Board made in modes of liquor control was entered upon without bias, and dictated solely by concern for the industrial efficiency of the nation, gives it a unique public value.
The first areas were scheduled and restrictions applied in July - Aug. 1915. These areas included most of the sea p orts of England, Wales and Scotland, for it was speedily established that the intemperance of a minority of ship and shore workers had, caused delay in the sailing of vessels laden with stores of war. Restrictive orders for London and the great industrial neighbourhoods of the Midlands and the North followed. Ultimately, the Board's orders came to apply to all the main manufacturing and transport areas; the only parts of Great Britain excluded were certain agricultural districts, and a few of the smaller towns where military orders restricting the sale of drink made action by the Board unnecessary. The procedure was normally this: complaints that drink was delaying war work or efficiency in the services were received from the Ministry of Munitions, the service authorities, or other responsible quarters; a delegation of members of the Board, appointed for the purpose, held a one or two days' conference in the neighbourhood concerned, taking evidence from naval, military, licensing and municipal representatives, the chief constables, employers and trades unionists, deputations from churches and temperance societies, and from the various sections of the local liquor trade; the delegation's report was considered by the Board; where action was found necessary, a restrictive order was prepared to apply to a definite area, usually an extensive one; a statement of the case for action in the area suggested was submitted to the Minister of Munitions; when the area had been defined by an Order in Council an Order was issued by the Board to take effect therein about ten days later. In the areas so defined, the Board was able, during the war emergency period, to vary the restrictions in force, to provide or encourage the provision of industrial canteens for war workers, or to exercise their power to acquire licensed property by purchase and thus directly control the sale of drink.
5. Methods of Liquor Control. (A) The Restrictive Code of the Board
The most notable changes made by the Board in the hours and customs of liquor sale are summarized below. The main lines of policy were found applicable to all the scheduled areas, but minor deviations were made to meet the requests of naval or military authorities, or the special circumstances of localities. The" Standard Order "comprised the following important divergences from statute law or popular custom: (1) Weekday hours for" on "sale (i.e. for consumption on the premises). England and Wales: hours reduced by two-thirds; from 192 (London), 17 (large towns), and 16 (other places) to a maximum of 51, divided between the mid-day and evening meal-time periods; no sale before noon; sale for 2 hours at mid-day (12-2:30 P.M.); period of non-sale until 6 or 6 :30 P.M.; sale resumed for three hours in the evening, ceasing at 9 or 9 :30 P.M. Scotland: hours reduced from 12 to a maximum of 51, divided into mid-day and evening mealtime periods, as in England; a special provision for the industrial areas of the Lowlands and North prohibited sale on Saturdays (the usual pay day) until 4 P.M., sale to continue until 9 P.M.
(2) Sunday hours for" on "sale. England: hours reduced from seven to five. In Wales and Scotland, where a Sunday closing law prohibited ordinary sale or supply from licensed premises, the Board's order brought clubs within the probihition. In Monmouthshire and the Forest of Dean complete Sunday closing enforced, in keeping with the practice in the adjoining Welsh counties from which there had been a considerable Sunday incursion of drinkers.
(3) Hours for" off "sale, i.e., for consumption off the' premises." Off "sale and dispatch of brewed liquors, and wines, ceased one hour earlier at night than" on "sale." Off "sale and dispatch of spirits (save to meet medical emergencies) limited to the permitted mid-day hours (12-2 :30 P.M.) from Monday to Friday, and no off" sale on Saturday or Sunday. No "off" sale of spirits from railway refreshment rooms.
(4) Additional restrictions on spirits, because of their greater alcoholic strength. Before the war, whisky, brandy and rum might not be diluted, without notice to the purchaser, to a lower strength than 25° under proof; the Board extended this limit to 50° and made dilution to 30° compulsory. To stop the trade in "nips" and small flasks of spirits, the "off" sale of a less quantity of spirits than "a reputed quart" prohibited.
(5) Treating prohibited, to stop the general and pernicious practice of pressing liquor on men in uniform, and the habit of "group drinking" among workmen, a custom to which a considerable amount of intemperance was due. (A "saving provision" permitted treating to liquor as part of a meal.) (6) The "long-pull," or over-measure of beer, given by a publican to draw trade to his house, prohibited.
(7) Retail sale of liquor on credit prohibited, to stop the practice of running into debt for drink.
(8) Canvassing for liquor orders, elsewhere than on licensed premises, prohibited.
(9) In view of the fact that before the war clubs supplying liquor were not required to conform to the same restrictions as licensed premises, and could supply drink at any hour, it is important to note that the whole code of the Board's restrictions applied to clubs not less than to all classes of licensed premises.
When informed of police-court convictions showing that the restrictive order had been disregarded and the public interest imperilled, the Board was empowered, after due enquiry, to stop the sale or supply of drink in the licensed premises or club concerned for the remainder of the current licensing year. This step was taken in regard to 178 licensed premises and four registered clubs.
In two Scottish neighbourhoods of outstanding naval importance, Glasgow Docks and the Firth of Forth, the Board supplemented the restrictive order by a system of direct supervision, appointing a "supervisor" to assure compliance with the restrictions and to recommend further action as required.
(B) The Industrial Canteen Movement
The Home Office investigators, whose reports were included in the White Paper of 1915 mentioned above, stated that in the shipbuilding areas "many of the workmen take insufficient food, which not only increases the temptation to drink, but makes the effect of the liquor taken more injurious, so that the result is to incapacitate the workmen for the strain of heavy work." They emphasized "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," they said, "is very rarely provided." The need was even more obvious in the munition areas. The answer of the Board was a widespread development of industrial canteens,
ranging from the simplest of mess-rooms to "social centres" with extensive recreative as well as culinary provision. A canteen committee under the chairmanship of Sir George Newman was set up to direct the enterprise. Employers were encouraged to erect canteens under a scheme which permitted them to deduct a proportion of the cost from the sum which would otherwise have been payable to the state as "excess profits." Between 800 and 900 canteens were thus provided for over a million employees in transport or munition areas. Over 95% of the canteens were "dry"; where intoxicating liquor was retailed, the supply per person was restricted to one pint of beer served with a meal. The sale of "light beer" of a non-intoxicating strength was encouraged. The Health of Munition Workers' Committee attributed to this industrial canteen movement the improved nutrition of the workers in the industrial establishments affected, increased contentment and efficiency, and "a lessened tendency to excessive consumption of alcohol." (C) The Direct-Control Areas. - In three neighbourhoods of supreme importance to the nation at war the Board acquired the licensed premises, and carried on the trade in intoxicants under a stringent control. A group of licensed premises adjacent to the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, N. London, was purchased in Jan. 1916. All the licensed premises in a wide area around the Cromarty Firth were acquired in 1916-8 to enable the Board to repress intemperance at the then base of the Grand Fleet, which at a later date became a base for American naval forces. The largest State Purchase enterprise, and the most famous, was on the Scottish Border, where a huge national explosive factory was erected, surrounded by the new township of Gretna.
Table I shows the number of licensed premises acquired in the three State Purchase areas (from 1916 to 1921), and the number of these licences suppressed after purchase as redundant.
| Retail licences | Total | suppres- | Brew- | "On" | "Off" | retail | sed after | Area | eries | licences | licences | licences acquired | purchase because | redun- dant | Enfield | - | 4 | I | 5 | - | Cromarty Firth | Area | - | 28 | II | 39 | 19 | Scottish Border | Area, Gretna (including An- nan). . | - | 20 | 8 | 28 | 16 | Carlisle (city) . | 4 | 104 | 12 | 116 | 50 | Carlisle (adja- cent country districts) | I | 196 | 2 | 198 | 67 | Tota | 5 | 352 | 34 | 386 | 152 [[Table I]].-Licensed Premises Acquired in the Direct-Control Areas. The rapid influx of a new industrial population overwhelmed the normal social life of Carlisle and district. Sixteen thousand navvies were at work at Gretna. The available housing accommodation proved inadequate, and the public houses were packed to excess. "Broken time" at Gretna became a matter of grave concern; of 953 persons convicted for drunkenness in 1916 at Carlisle 788 were Gretna factory workers. The Board's restrictive code had been applied but was extremely difficult to enforce; the abnormal conditions demanded changes more fundamental. Consultations with the local authorities led to the decision to purchase the licensed properties throughout the area, and to institute under State ownership a firmer control of the traffic in intoxicants. The houses first acquired were those adjacent to the national factory; but the problem was speedily seen to be co-extensive with the district over which the industrial workers had spread, and in successive stages the purchase area was extended to a territory of Soo sq. m., flanking both shores of the Solway Firth, with a war-time pop. of 140,000, including the towns of Annan and Gretna in Dumfriesshire, and the city of Carlisle and the town of Maryport in Cumberland. The properties acquired in this Border area numbered five breweries and 342 licensed premises (320 "on," 22 "off" licences). Local advisory committees were set up at Carlisle and Gretna to cooperate with the Board in the work of administration. Sir Edgar Sanders, as general manager of the Carlisle undertaking, rendered unique national service. The chief changes effected under the State Purchase regime at Carlisle, over and above the Board's usual restrictive code, were these: (1) A vast improvement was speedily achieved in the observance of the restrictive code. (2 ) Redundant and undesirable licences were extinguished; up to June 1921 133 licensed premises were closed, and brewing discontinued at three of the five breweries; all "grocers' licences" were extinguished as soon as purchased. (3) The sale of spirits was stringently regulated. The number of houses selling spirits for "off" consumption was greatly reduced, and throughout the war no sale of spirits ("on" or "off") was permitted on Saturdays. (4) The "on" sale of intoxicants to young persons under 18 was prohibited, excepting the sale of beer with a meal. (5) All display of liquor advertisements outside licensed premises ceased. (6) During the war complete Sunday closing was enforced in the State Purchase area of Cumberland to accord with the practice north of the Border. (7) Certain licensed premises were reconstructed and structural improvements made in others. (8) All private interests in the sale of intoxicants were eliminated, and a weekly wage paid to bar employees irrespective of the quantity of liquor sold. (9) The sale of food and non-alcoholic refreshments was encouraged, and a commission on these paid to the managers of licensed houses. "Food taverns" were established in industrial neighbourhoods, and tea-rooms provided at country inns. In 1920 570,000 meals were served in the Board's "food taverns" at Carlisle. (to) Licensed restaurants with ample recreative facilities were opened at Carlisle, Longtown and Annan. (I I) Provision was made at Carlisle for the meeting of Trades Union Branches and Friendly Societies on unlicensed premises. (12) Substantial economies in the manufacture and sale of liquor were secured as a result of the acquirement of many competing businesses by one organization. The social results of this new system of administration were seen in a rapid decrease of drunkenness, and a marked improve ment alike in public order and in industrial efficiency at the neighbouring national factory. The annual reports of the chief constable of Carlisle testify to the reduction of insobriety. A convincing proof of the social value of the policy of direct control in the Scottish section of the Border area was an official request to the Board from the local authorities of Dumfriesshire asking that the whole of the county should be included in the State Purchase area. Similarly valuable social results were achieved at Enfield and in the Cromarty Firth area. The value of the assets of the Board's direct-control undertakings -in the Carlisle and Gretna, Cromarty Firth, and Enfield areasamounted at March 31 1920 to £1,307,448; while the balance of Exchequer issues outstanding, after crediting interest amounting to £89,058, was £ 6 4 6 ,939; and the accumulated profits amounted to £435,335. The direct-control undertakings had at that date been in existence for about four years, and as the current annual profits were sufficient, after allowing for Exchequer interest, to admit of the Exchequer issues being repaid at the rate of £120,000 per annum, it was possible that the whole capital expenditure would be repaid with interest in about ten years from the commencement of operations. (D) Investigation of the Effects of Alcoholic Beverages.-Early in the Board's career it was found essential to obtain reliable data concerning "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." An advisory committee for this purpose was formed under the chairmanship of Lord D'Abernon, and their successive reports on the nature and action of alcohol were ultimately published under the title of Alcohol: its Action on the Human Organism. The impartial spirit of this volume, and the representative character of the distinguished men of science who served upon the advisory committee, combine to make the volume the standard authority upon the field which it covers. 6. The Food Controller's Limitation of Output.-Within the period under review another series of drastic restrictions on the liquor trade is to be recorded, a limitation of brewing and of the release of spirits and wines from bond. The Output of Beer (Restriction) Act, 1916, caused some reduction in the output of beer; but it was the activity of German submarines in the third year of the war which, by endangering the national food supplies, led to the policy of severe limitation of liquor output adopted by the Food Controller in the early months of 1917. On April 1 1917, brewing was restricted to an output of io,000,000 standard barrels per annum, compared with 36,000,000 standard barrels, the output for the year ending March 31 1914; and the quantity of spirits and wines to be released from bond was limited by one half. This policy of restriction of output was maintained for three years in varying degrees of stringency. After the Armistice, successive relaxations were made, and the restrictions on output were finally withdrawn in July 1919. The permitted average gravity of beer, and the retail prices of beers and spirits, were fixed by a series of Orders of the Food Controller; this system of control was continued until the passage of the Licensing Act in Aug. 1921.
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