NBWTA Report 1903-044
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82 83 It, therefore, appears to be clear that in the past the magistrates have not carried out the spirit of the policy embodied in the Acts passed upon this question, that license to sell liquor should be given where it was considered that the public convenience would be served, and no evil or nuisance to the community result therefrom. Probably the most scandalous instance of the neglect of magisterial duty is presented by the Hard at Portsmouth, where, out of 25 structures in succession, 16 are licensed premises, and, out of 19 ina row, 14 have licences, and, at one point, 8 out of 9 of the buildings We This part of the town is known as the Devil’s Acre. are licensed. here, licences granting in magistrates, the that conceived have should would have taken into consideration the necessity of guarding the young sailors as they passed to and fro from the docks, instead of permitting this net-work of evil to surround our blue-jackets on their return to the WHO MAGISTRATES AWAKE. At the last Licensing Sessions, however, the magistrates appear to have had an arrest of thought, and a return to a sober sense of their responsibility. Whether it is the increased expenditure ; whether it be the un- hesitating pronouncements made upon the question by judges and medical men and employers of labour; whether it is that the voice of that the truths The result has been, as I have already said, that it is estimated that the licences refused were as follows :— es a nee Not required... Not required and other grounds... m, oe Other grounds only ... PusBLic-HoussEs ? that 220 mas 201 . seers 639 Licences refused on Appeals pending in 311 of these cases. ground of non-requirement only represent about one-sixth per cent. of And the question immediately suggests itself, “ Is it true the whole. ‘that as a rule people thus deprived of licences have lost their means And as we deal with that fact we have to ask “of a livelihood?” ourselves, ‘ Who own the public-houses?” THE ee reformers has at last been heard, and they have enunciated have found an echo in other hearts ; or whether it is that a combination of all these signs of the times point to the acute stage which this evil has reached, I know not ; but I believe that the agitation that has been going on for the last seventy years has borne some fruit, and therefore at last the magistrates are awake to the danger, and by almost unanimous consent have determined to do something to diminish the incalculable harm wrought by the number of licensed houses in all parts of the country. Sere Temperarce THE To this we must unhesitatingly reply, outside London, almost without exception, “ The brewers.” It is here that the great liquor rings have their gigantic monopolies, and it is here that the provisions of the Licensing Act relating to the endorsement of licences are largely nullified. This criticism was made very strongly by no Temperance Society, but by the committee appointed by the Quarter Sessions of Chester to examine the state and effect of the law relating to licensed houses. The forfeiture of licences which often should occur is evaded because as the brewer owns the house he im- mediately offers to substitute the manager by another man, while the manager naturally wishes to ingratiate himself with his employer by pro- moting as far as possible a large consumption of liquor, and, as the Chester Committee stated in 1891, practical experience at all events has created a keen jealousy of the system of tied houses and a determina- tion to make a stand against its unlimited preponderance. Under the present system, as Messrs. Rowntree and Sherwell have truly shown, there exists a monopoly trade admittedly dangerous, which it is in the interest of the State to restrict, the profits and conduct of which are put into the hands of those who have every inducement to extend it. Two such powerful passions as the lust for money and the craving for spirits are allowed so to combine that the force of each is increased to unnatural proportions. homeland. THE Own ACTION OF THE LossES MAGISTRATES TO THE IS FOLLOWED CONSERVATIVE BY ELECTORAL Party. It is memorable that almost immediately following the action of the magistrates two bye-elections took place, Rye and Woolwich, and an unparalleled situation in the history of Temperance Reform was thus created. wesglt will be better for the licensed victuallers to speak for themselves regarding this matter, for at the Woolwich bye-election the following pamphlet was scattered broadcast among licence-holders of the Beer and Wine Trade National Defence League, 7, Victoria Street, S.W. :— **An opportunity now presents itself to you to give practical expression to your indignation against the Government which has raised our taxes, harrassed our interests, and shows no signs ot willingness to protect our property against confiscation by the Magistrates. Licence-holders have too long acted like blind sheep in support of Government candidates. The time has arrived when the Government should be made to feel the full force of our resentment of their policy towards our trade; and if licence- holders have any regard for their rights, they will, at ad? dye-elec- |