El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-28

! Z ONDON, Eng, July 2S.-The liquor
trade is a powerful factor in Brit
ish politics, and in the present
| struggle for supremacy between the
! house of commons and the house of
| lords ''the trade is fighting with the
peers and against the people 1t is the
/ liquor trade which the Asquith gov
eminent must fear even more than the
landlords and the church, because the
present government cannot live with
| out the support of the Irish National
| lists, and in Ireland the NationaliSts are
| not in sympathy with the Liberal poll
| icy of restraining the. traffic in alco-
| holic liquors.
! The controverted Lloyd Gearge bud
get was the first effective blow dealt
in the warfare against the liquor bus
mess in Great Britain. The house of
lords had rejected the Liberal Hcens-
ing bill of 1908 and recourse was had
TO the power of taxation. In Great
Britain the annual finance BILL or
budget, goes into effect on the day
1t is introduced in parliament, instead
Of after it is enacted into law, as is
the case with all legislative meas
ures in the United States. Thus the
liquor taxation features of the budget
were in effect for more than year
before the budget actually became the
law of the land. These taxes had
:
the liquor trade that in the general
election of January the liquor inter
ests were militant in their opposition
to the Liberal government. This fact
accounts for a great many Tory gains,
especially in urban communities.
The leaders of both the Conserva-
tive and the Liberal parties agree in
deploring the evil effects of drink
upon the people of the kingdom, but
they differ widely as to the measures
TO be taken to remedy the present
conditions. The Liberals favor poll
icy of cutting down the number of
drinking places, both by arbitrary re-
striction and by higher taxation.
The Conservatives are opposed to any
measure which will in any wise inter
fere with property rights.
In the first year of the operation
Of the new liquor taxes the British
people spent $685.. 100000 for alcohol
ic liquors, decrease of $50. 900 as
compared with the previous year.
The current year will show an even
greater decrease on account of the
higher price of liquor and the smaller
number OF public houses. The excise
duties on the liquor itself were great
~ increased, and the license fees
practically were quadrupled under
the new budget, and yet Mr. Lloyd
George confessed in parliament that
the amount of revenue derived from
the new liquor taxes. The people
stopped buying liquor when the prices
went UP. This was true to a remark
able extent in thrifty Scotland
English Heaviest Drinkers
The British people drink more liquor
per capita than any other people on
earth except the French. Reduced to
pure alcohol, statistics show that the
nQnnle AT he Of
list as consumers followed closely by
the Irish and then the Scotch The
figures show that the annual average
consumption of pure alcohol per
head is 1-9 gallons in England, is
gallons in Ireland, and I.3 gallons in
Scotland. making an average for the
United Kingdom of Is gallons The
annual per capita consumption of
spirits, wines and beers in the United
Kingdom is S31 gallons, as against !
1886 gallons for France, 2S.9 gallons |
for Germany and 14.2 gallons for the |
United States
How difficult it is to deal with this |
vexing problem in England is made /
manifest by the story of the licensing /
bill of 1908. In the United States a Ii /
cense TO sell liquor is privilege |
which may be granted at the will of /
the community but ii never has been /
looked upon as property In England, |
on the other hand, retail liquor Ii !
cense is property, is a vested right, !
and is a sacred thing which the law i
may not terminate without giving /
compensation Until the Lloyd-Georgc /
budget, the liquor license fee in the /
United Kingdom varied from $50 in /
towns of under 1900 to $500 in Lon |
DON These compared with an aver |
age in the United States of from S175 |
for village license up TO $4,000 in the
large cities.