New-York tribune., 1901-09-02
pR1TAIN'S LIQUOR TRADE.
.,,opTs TO ALTER THE LICENSING
SYSTEM HAVE NOT so FAR MADE
MICH HEADWAY.
Glasgow. Scotland. August %.


j. na ,slrlv satisfactory solution seems as far off
Ike Temperance people ard prohibitionists
a. - n rail as ferceiy as ever against the
intemperance, while men in the business
60. e,,inq and selling malt or alcoholic drinks keep
o. Increasing their products. Here in the
.s Isn. c+s+es the brewers and distillers WELD
Chi'eu C ,ovyer either openly or secretly. Just
eD,i+s their purposes and the conditions with
-, ,bev have 10 deal. Here, as on the Ameri-
continent they own or hold mortgages on
%. - the salooqs OF public houses and their
- financial social and political. has enabled
pow - Tsr 10 resist successfully all efforts TO
,-e with their profits. Against this solidarity
NJ .,+, NJ an interest that knows what IL
80 a. end what Il doesa't want is opposed
"an,9 n+tr,ent so chaotic and inharmonious to
po-ob1e a great mass Of wires beginning every
- and having no common centre.
49, stand the Prohibitionists. in small hut
- trort+, with the cleancut proposition 10
-.sIcste the trafic-blot II out blow il up and
- MT vestige Of il even for the relic hunters
- nell say the brewers and oisttllers and pub
r.,rs but II you 90 so YOU must pay us SUBJ
.--,,al cornDensation You cannot, they argue, de-
- ,-ss+es interests: you cannot destroy property
.sbout paving for #. And most Of the other
go interests nod their heads and say that the
point Is well taken
Many of those assuming the name Of temperance
.sn n 6iferentiate themselves from the abolition
ss talk vaguely Of regulations and restrictions
- hest means OF minimizing the liquor traffic with
ont having 10 face the question of compensation or
ssst-oving q very important source Of revenue
Far II must be remembered that the sale OF
vbiskev alone means every year millions Of dollars
% the imperial treasury. This can readily be un-
6erstood when II Is known that every gallon sold
.,- 5on,estic consumption is taxed by the govern
,osn+ never less than 50 50, and frequently more
So that the financial side Of this question is one
moi 10 be lightly passed over by the thrifty tax
payers here.
Hieh license you hear little about. In the first
Mace. TO experiment with that it would be neces-
ssrv to get Parliamentary sanction and nothing OF
.he sort could go through the Commons and the
Lords in the face Of intelligent and well organized
imposition from the trade, as the liquor business
4 cornprehensively described. unless in the very
unlikely event OF tremendous popular pressure.
What would please one locality wouldn't satisfy
another and il doesn't suit the gentlemen who do
the governing here TO expand the home rule idea
any more than political exigencies require.
While the disputants have been pulling this way
and that way and showing a disposition TO do
everything except agree definite plan OF action,
q number Of well meaning men have been trying
10 reform the saloons. Their method is TO form
associations buy up licensed places and run the
establishments high plane. Intoxicating liquors
are sold OF course but 2! is just easy get the
Misunderstanding kind; there is pressure. implied
or expressed, 10 drink any thing more than an
other and the saloons are made more like clubs.
where man may spend HIS evenings reading news
papers and periodicals without being expected 10
keep on ordering drinks ell the time. The profits
applied generally 10 educational purposes. after
paying per cent on the capital invested
That idea has made some headway IN England
but not enough appreciably 10 affect the question
as whole. In Scotland variations OF il have been
attempted. Two towns in Fifeshire have such
places. and they are apparently realizing the ex-
pectations Of their promoters by reducing the
amount OF drunkenness, selling unadulterated
liquor at q reasonable price and providing a place
wherein Borzmen may meet of evening and
either read or exchange views and information. In
loohgeny, one OF the mining centres OF Fife, the
workingmen didn't wait for their Weather neigh
bors to organize an association and provide funds
10 start such public house. They took matters
into their own hands
Let US start a club OF our own, said they.
'clubs don't need licenses. and there's no reason
why We can't have one. just the same as the swels
90 Ana 70 make IL all fair ano square looking wen
announce that out OF the proceeds Wen buy papers
magazines, books and forth. SO we will and at
the same tine Wen have nice little income
from IT,"
So the Lochgelly Ciuh vas started. It is doing
rushing business ser.o days week and par
ticularly on Saturday. The church people are
sesndalized, yet the law gives no hope OF re-
heI so long as the club members keep strictly
within the letter Of the statutes. and UP to now
they have succeeded in doing So One may get a
shght conception Of the situation from the fact
purpose Of discussing and denouncing this club
ana the local Member OF Parliament came all the
way from London 10 speak in support OF resoIu-
uon requesting himself 70 see II laws couldn't be
passed regulating abolishing such clubs This
however is not so easy as IL seems. because Par
Aament hardly dares approve an enactment dis
terminating between the clubs OF well-to-do people
and those OF artisans
IN the large cities attempts to supplant the req
u'ar saloons with the new tangled ones have not
succeeded. The licensing power is vested in the
magistrates who are members Of the Town Coun-
ei| or local governing body, and are selected by
thelr Fellow members. The magistrates are gem
efaly contractors. builders CT merchants and IL
Is easy enough TO understand that they are not
especially anxious 10 antagonize the trade" with
a. us ramihcations and its power to help or hurt
me magistrates usually content themselves by an
occasional play 10 the gallery when a license hold
g oies. II his prospective successor has no pull
slfougn a brewer or otherwise. Then there are
Hith sounding speeches about the necessity of
'eoucng the number OF pubs" and this one
sOSs oy the board Incidentally the other pub
" pubs IN the aeighoorhood have in This yvsv
value. 'aousano dollars added 10 their selling
The unwritten law here IS that when a man gets
= i.cshse II shall be renewed indefinitely from year
cosT5 ssTaI as long as the laws ard regulations are
sses seses released from all obligation II the license
s,b-s oies even though the license be the most
ss-oslentlal asset left 10 his family New licenses
- rarely granted now. so that one entering the
ss must buy an existing license. This suits the
he bos & now In the trade first rate. 1t fits in with
sfttehs OF the brewers and distillers, because
rnsoS-lIilc!ion, on the hand. with a growth of
Ss4Sloh mn. on the other. means that all saloons
a rast oe profitable and there can be no bad debts
err PooT Ilsks. IL likewise peases the saloonkeep-
Fos'I -1T gagged or free, because the value OF the
fbsi, fbSTa us IS going up an the time and sale OF
-''shse; or transfer" as Il Is genteelly called
~ go e| a uoy sum OF money. For the goodwill
fro 81 on saloons n Is no uncommon thing see
sum @ xlUgI TO $4,000 paid, and twice the latter
49, nay pe mad for anything like first class
S.ce The yirtuOus indignation OF the magistrates
No. ehey hear OF any saloonkeeper selling his
Tor that is what il is-at a big profit IS
49, So " tne most comical OF spectacles. Now and
&C. So usey have nj Of curiosity which results in