The problem of licensing reform, as every one who has given it even the most cursory attention will readily admit, is by no means an easy one. Whatever step may be proposed is certain to excite the opposition of many. It is impossible for even the most astute statesman to formulate a plan that will receive the assent and approval of extremists of either school. Almost every one, Liberal or Conservative, admits that the present state of affairs is wholly unsatisfactory, and that it demands immediate treatment. Under it we have a vastly excessive number of public-houses, a weak system of supervision, and an entire lack of local control. The publican who wishes to carry on his business decently and respectably often finds it impossible to do so without heavy pecuniary sacrifice, on account of his more unscrupulous licensed rivals, who are willing to descend to any tricks to increase their trade. The whole system of licensing is based on the personal caprices of individual magistrates rather than on any uniform plan.

For many years all these things have been admitted and deplored. For at least a quarter of a century statesmen have declared that the present state of the law is disgraceful, and cannot be permitted to longer continue. Yet it still remains the same.

Can nothing be done? Are the imagined interests of a small body of rich men to over-ride the welfare of the whole nation? It almost seems as though our legislators had resigned themselves to this. One thing at least is certain. No sweeping change has any hope, at least for the present, of coming into law. A drastic licensing Bill, into which one of the great political parties put all its strength, might pass the House of Commons, but would inevitably be defeated by the Lords. The body which rejected without a division the Bishop of London’s Bill, and which mutilated the non-partisan Irish Sale of Intoxicating Liquors Bill, will show but little consideration for any thorough-going schemes. Reformers of one school reply: “Then let us abolish the House of Lords”. This is very easy to say; but if we have to wait for licensing reform until the Lords are abolished, then there is not much hope for improvement in this generation. A more politic course would seem to be the carrying of temperance legislation by piecemeal. Little by little the law may be changed; glaring anomalies may be removed, manifest injustices altered, until at last, while our liquor laws will not be theoretically perfect, they may at least be made reasonably workable.

The following suggestions as to the lines which such alterations might take contain nothing that has not been approved by many members of Parliament of both parties.

1. It is generally admitted that there are far too many public-houses. No doubt it would be found very difficult to reduce the number of those already licensed, but there should be little trouble in preventing the issuance of new licences. Let it be enacted that in no case shall a person be permitted to apply for a public-house licence unless he has previously obtained the signatures of one half of the resident electors in the immediate neighbourhood to a petition requesting such a licence. Even when such signatures have been obtained, the magistrates would still retain their option of refusal.

2. The second reform has already been before the House of Commons. Let every district have the option of Sunday closing, as provided in the Liquor Traffic (Local Control) Bill, 1893. To this might well be added the choice of keeping the houses open on Sundays for two hours only.

3. Let the appeal to Quarter Sessions in case of the refusal of the renewal of licences be abolished, except for manifest illegality on the part of the local licensing session. At present the licensing magistrates in many parts will not use their unquestioned power of refusing unnecessary licences, because they are aware that their decision is almost certain to be reversed at the Quarter Sessions. The county magistrates, knowing nothing of local needs, continually over-ride the deliberate judgment of the local justices.

4. Have a system of supervision of public-houses entirely independent of local control, as proposed by Mr. Bruce in 1871.Those who have carefully watched the working of the present laws know that the police do no part of their work so inefficiently as the control of public-houses. This is due to two causes—bribery, and the power of the drink sellers in local government. The bribes received by the police are usually very small, and no doubt many constables look upon them as their regular perquisites. The man on the beat knows where he will find a pot of beer left out for him on a hot day; and he would be more than human if he did not look on the doings of the publican with a kindly eye after quenching his thirst with the publican’s liquor. But this securing the good-will of the police is comparatively unimportant, and is practically incapable of legal proof. A far more serious thing is the influence steadily brought to bear on the police in many small municipalities, to cause them to refrain from proceeding against certain public-houses. The municipal police are solely dependent for pay and promotion on the Local Watch Committee and the Town Council. The Council is often largely controlled by the men who own the public-houses. Now the most obtuse policeman well understands that if he were to lay information against the manager of a house owned by a town councillor, or by the head of one of the local political associations, it would make his prospects of advancement no brighter. He might be praised by the papers for his zeal; but when a chance of promotion came up, he would be passed over for some one else.

This is no imaginary danger. Many who have tried to secure the better enforcement of licensing laws in towns know well that too often the police will not move further than they are compelled, and then they will do as little as is compatible with appearances.

If there were public-house inspectors entirely independent of local influence, and frequently moved from place to place, a great improvement in the management of many licensed premises would at once be apparent. The law-abiding publican would have a better chance of success, and would not be handicapped in the way he is at present.

5. Let all public-houses be closed on municipal and parliamentary election days.

Other urgently needed reforms, such as the control of clubs, and the abolition of tied houses, have been described in preceding chapters, and need not be recapitulated here.

I feel that I would be untrue to my own convictions if I closed this volume without a final word to those who have followed me so far. I have tried to treat the subject calmly and dispassionately; and zealous reformers may possibly complain (as some have already complained of those parts published in periodical form) that my tone is cold and unsympathetic. I can only assure them that it is from no lack of earnest desire to promote true temperance. But the cause of reform will not be advanced by special pleading, or by that impetuous enthusiasm which leads men to overlook facts in order to give a reasonable air to their theories. The first work of a reformer should be to master his facts, and to discover what lessons the experiments and the mistakes of those who have preceded him can teach.

We are often told that it is impossible to make men sober by Act of Parliament; and no doubt all legislation that seeks to suppress evil has to fight against strong opposition. But do those who so lightly quote this empty aphorism ever seriously resolve to persuade men to be sober by other means? or are they content to let a smart phrase run glibly from their lips as an excuse for doing nothing? To-day we are face to face with a gigantic evil that is destroying much that is brightest and fairest in our national life. To all who have any notion of patriotism, to all who have any real desire for the welfare of the people, and especially to all to whom the commands of the Carpenter of Nazareth are something more than mere words,—the call comes to take their part in the battle for its suppression. How are we to work, each man must decide for himself; but none of us can shirk the manifest duty of doing something, and of doing our best, without wrong.

It is admitted that Acts of Parliament can help in promoting sobriety only so far as they are backed up by a strong public sentiment, and by the earnest endeavours of the people. Legislation can remove temptation, it can make virtue easier; but it cannot do everything. Along with it must go steady work for the brightening of every-day life, for the easing of conditions of labour, for improving the dwellings of the poor, for raising the moral tone, for the realisation by all of the sacredness of this life, and the need to make the most of its opportunities.

As we survey the forces against us in this fight, we may sometimes be inclined to despair of its issue. On the side of intemperance and self-indulgence are great resources of wealth, power, self-interest, and unscrupulousness. Shall we conquer, or is the wrong to triumph over us? The words of a great thinker, written on another subject, best give the answer: “The ultimate issue of the struggle is certain. If any one doubts the general preponderance of good over evil in human nature, he has only to study the history of moral crusades. The enthusiastic energy and self-devotion with which a great moral cause inspires its soldiers always have prevailed, and always will prevail, over any amount of self-interest or material power arrayed on the other side.” [10]