Licensed Victualler

The Gin Shops.

The economic and fiscal policy of William and Mary at the end of the 17th century, continued as it was by Anne in 1704, brought in its train a flood of gin shops which established in England a new and immeasurably worse type of "tippling" house whose increase and activities put a vicious stamp upon the character of the English public-house which it has never wholly lost. In the Gin Acts, the old idea and ideal of the "victualling house" was not merely ignored but destroyed. The evil wrought by these acts was further aggravated, a century later, by the Act of 183o, which established the beer-houses—a new form of drinking saloon—which, although subsequently restricted, but endowed with a vested interest, still exist in large numbers.

It is to these departures from the original aim and purpose of the English licensing system that we owe the difficulties and complexities of the public-house problem as it exists in England to-day. It is these departures, due partly to negligence and partly to lamentable mistakes in fiscal and legislative policy, that have saddled Great Britain with a "drink problem." Their effects are manifest. They have created a problem of redundancy which is not disputed but which is buttressed and beset by legal interests which make an equitable adjustment of facilities for sale to public need and demand difficult and slow. A return to the idea

of the "victualling house," which, if preserved, would automati cally have determined and controlled the supply of facilities, is not easy. Modification of the original requirement and long per mitted departure from the "victualling house" idea have stimu lated and fostered a habit of dram and "bar" drinking which cannot be summarily suppressed. Sweden is the one country in Europe which has slowly but progressively retraced its steps and, by eliminating private profit interests in the sale of spirits (the national beverage), has been able to substitute the "victualling house" for the dram-shop by compulsorily coupling the "on" sale of spirituous liquors with the sale of food.

The British Parliament in 1910 made it a ground of refusal of the renewal of an "old on-licence" (other than an ante-1869 beer-house licence) that the holder of the licence has persistently and unreasonably refused to supply suitable refreshment (other than intoxicating liquor), at a reasonable price. The Act of 1921 went a step further. By abolishing the old-time "closing-hour," but limiting the sale of intoxicants to what are called "permitted hours," it leaves the publican free to keep his premises open for the sale of food and non-intoxicants at any hour of the day or night. The privilege has not so far (1928) been used. (A. SH.)