The San Francisco call., 1910-03-27
LIQUOR LEGISLATION
DATfSBACk TO1495
Earliest Licensing Laws Re-
corded Passed in Time
of Henry VII


began early in old England. Nearly
three-ouarters of q century before the
influence of Puritanism made Itself felt,
there was a strong feeling in Britain
that alehouses were too numerous.
In 1895. only three years after the dis
covery Of America. the earliest licensing
law was placed on the statute book in
the time of Henry VII, empowering any
two justices ito put away common ale
selling in towns and places where they
should think convenient and TO take
sureties of keepers of alehouses for
their good behaving
In the time of Edward VI. 1852. il was
enacted that no one should be allowed
TO keep an alehouse unless he had OBJ
tained the authority Of two justices,
who were TO take sureties for the
proper conduct Of the houses. to try
offenders for the breach of rules and
to punish persons who kept alehouses
without being licensed so to do-for
even in that day il would appear that
there were blind tigers"
Excessive drinking reached its height
IN the court OF James I. and the spirit
Of Puritan England was reused against
the prevailing vice. In this reign among
other enactments was this: That any
slehouse keeper who permitted
townsman-not a stranger or a traveller
to sit tipping IN his house, forfeited
10 shillings TO the poor of the place in
which the offense was committed, and
the offender might be committed TO jail
till ii was paid. SAYS the Indianapolis
News. An amending enactment disabled
the offender from keeping an alehouse
for three years after-and this was 800
years ago.
STRONG LANGUAGE USED
A temperance orator Of today could
scarcely use stronger language than
this, the preamble to one Of these en-
actments:
Where's, The loathsome and
o0ious sin of drunkenness is of late
grown into common use in this
realm. being the root and foun-
dstion OF many other enormous
sins, as bloodshed, stabbing. muir
der, swearing. adultery and such
like, TO the great dishonor of God
and Of our nation. the overthrow
OF many good acts and manual
trades, the dishonor OF divers
Workmen and the general impoy-
erishment Of many good subjects,
etc
The Puritan spirit followed up the
ippler himself and he was made to
forfeit shillings pence to the use
Of the poor. If unable to pay he was
placed in the stocks for four hours.
II one Of party of guilty sots con-
1essed, the oath of this confessed drunk
ard was accepted as sufficient to con-
vict his boon companions. In 1927 in
the time of Charles I any one keep
ing an alehouse without license was
10 forfeit 21 shillings, or in default to
be whipped. A second conviction was
punishable by commitment to the
mouse of correction for one month. But
at the same time IL was 'Merrie Eng
land" for any person was free TO sell
malt liquor in booth during a fair
As many of these Illicit drinking |
houses were kept by ale wives it was
further enacted that if the offender I
were a married woman her husband |
might suffer the punishment (whip- /
ping) ordained. From 1904 until 1927 /
no less than seven acts of parliament 1
were directed against drunkenness and |
the drink trade But il can not be said /
that much improvement in the social
and moral condition of the people |
had been effected thereby. There had |
actually been an increase in drunken |
ness.
ALE HOUS DESCRIPTION
4 description Of the alehouse in the
time Of Lord Protector Cromwell says:
IN these houses you shall see the
hfstor- Of Judith. Susanna Daniel |
ill t1e lions den or Dives and Laz-
aTus painted on the wall IT NAV
oe reekoned a wonder to see or find
the house empty. for either the par
son. church warden or clerk, or all
are doing some church or court
business usually in this place Hot
weather and thunder and want of
company are the hostess grief for |
Lieu Her ale sours.
Tipping on Sunday during the hours
% divine service was punished bv the
stocks tlll a comparatively late period |
ln 1890 nine men were locked in the
stocks st Sheffield. all at one time, for
this ofense. More than half a century
later II was still the practice in some
old fashioned places, at Beverley, for
instance, in 1s53-for the church war
den TO go around the parish looking in
at the various public houses to detect
any one drinking during these prohib- |
tied hours. Perhaps the last recorded |
case Of an offender being placed in the |
stocks for drunkenness occurred at |
Newbury IN 1872
During Cromwell's commonwealth a |
special form Of punishment was devised |
for drunkards. This was a device |
called 'the drunkard's coat" It con-
sisted Of a wooden barrel: the culprit |
had to put his head through hole in |
the top end and bear the weight of the |
barrel on his shoulders. Two holes in |
his wooden coat allowed him to thrust |
out his arms, one on each side
Bylaws and local ordinances were
directed to the suppression of gaming
on licensed premises, the fixing of |
closing time for public houses the pre-
hours Of divine service and the main |
tenance Of standard price for ale AS
TO the last named point, a statute of |
1903 had declared that none shall sell |
less than one quart Of the best beer or 1
ale for a penny. and two quarts of the |
smaller sort for a penny"
JURY7s ODD DUTY
At Market Drayton, at the close of |
the sixteenth century, the court impan- |
eled a jury to discover not only who /
had been guilty of high treason, re- |
bellion. murder and robbery. but to in |
quire If any brewer had made ale and |
beer hurtful to mans body"
Until the end of the reign of James |
the offending drinkers tippIe had been |
either ale or wine. BY the end of the |
fifteenth century the wine countries of
Europe had begun the manufacture OF |
brandy on a large scale. The English |
troops employed in the Low Countries |
were mainly responsible for introduc- /
ing the habit of drinking spirits into
England.
In the sixteenth century the use of |
distilled spirits spread over Europe and /