Temperance

The Church of England Temperance Society is much the larg est. It was founded in 1862, and re-constituted in 1873 on a dual basis of (1) total abstinence, and (2) general promotion of the society's objects, which are (a) promotion of habits of temper ance; (b) reformation of the intemperate ; (c) removal of the causes which lead to intemperance. It was incorporated in 1907, re-constituted in 1911 and 1921, and recognized by the Church Assembly in 1923. Its activity is many-sided; it carries on an extensive publication department and educational courses, police court and prison gate missions to seamen, travelling vans, and inebriate homes. The King and Queen are its patrons, the arch bishops of Canterbury and York its presidents, and the bishop of London its chairman.

The United Kingdom Alliance, founded in 1853, is the chief political fighting organization. Its object is prohibition of the drink trade, but it has adopted the policy of local prohibition by means of the option. It has for many years furnished the "na tional drink bill," a calculation of the national expenditure on alcoholic liquors. No details of the membership are given, but the expenditure in 1927 was £9,420. Other legislative organizations are the National Temperance League, the British Temperance League, the National United Temperance Council, the National Temperance Federation, the Temperance Legislation League, and others in Scotland, Ireland and Wales. There is also a Royal Army Temperance Association, of which the King is the patron, and a Royal Naval Temperance Society. The National British Women's Total Abstinence Union has 44 county branches. The international societies enumerated are the World League against Alcoholism, the World Prohibitive Federation, the International Orders of Good Templars and the World's Women's Christian Temperance Union.

Effects of the Temperance Movement.—The organized agi tation against the abuse and, in most cases, also the use, of alco holic liquor is a very interesting feature of social life in those countries where it is mainly carried on. These are the United States of America, the British Islands and Dominions, and the northern countries of Europe, particularly Scandinavia and Fin land. It is largely a matter of climate. In the wine-producing countries it is either weak or non-existent. In France alcohol means spirits, and that is generally the case on the Continent. In Spain, Portugal and along the Mediterranean there is no need to check drunkenness, because the people are naturally sober. But in the countries first mentioned that is not the case. It is here that the temperance movement is carried on with great energy, and when we come to ask what effect it has had, the enquiry is found to be full of difficulty. Of the societies some rely on moral influence, others aim at legislation, but too often at unattainable legislation. Nevertheless they must be credited with a large part in procuring the very varied and constantly changing mass of leg islation dealing with drink; and, so far, the laws must be consid ered as results.

Consumption.

The following table gives the amount con sumed in the United Kingdom per head of population in gallons from 187o onwards : The most notable feature in this table is the great change in 1914-26, the years of war and the subsequent period. The World War has, indeed, produced a greater change than any other event throughout the centuries of liquor control. Apart from this we notice a fluctuating tendency, with a general downward movement, which is most striking in the spirits column. The rise and fall correspond with the state of trade ; consumption always rises with good trade and falls with bad. The year of the greatest con sumption is 1875, which marked the close of the most prosperous trading period ever known. The years 1885-88 were years of extreme depression, followed by a short rise and later by a longer one, culminating in 1899. This slowly gave way to another de pression, which lasted until 1909, when a rise began again. But throughout these fluctuations a general downward movement is discernible. The high-water mark is never so high as the previous one, while low-water mark is lower. The general decline is due to a change of social habits, to which many causes have con tributed—the spread of education, the provision of alternatives to the public-house, the growth of sport and athletics, the exam ple of the higher classes, and the temperance movement.

Coming to the World War we find the effects of a drastic and progressive interference with the drink trade. The interference operated in three ways: (I) Reduction of the amount available for drinking, (2) raised prices, (3) reduced hours of sale. To gether with the withdrawal of men for service, these three condi tions fully account for the fall of consumption shown in the table from 1914 to 1918, when the lowest point was reached. Their subsequent partial relaxation, with the return of men to civil life, accounts for the rise in 1919-20, when a period of temporary prosperity prevailed. That consumption remained still far below the level of 1913 was due to the fact that the war time restrictions were relaxed only in part ; and to that has since been added a marked depression of trade, notably in 1922, when the consump tion of beer, the most tell-tale commodity, fell heavily. In 1921 a new Licensing Act was passed, which embodied certain restric tions. The most important of these were the hours of sale, which had been reduced during the war from 16, 17 and, in London, 191 to five and one-half ; they were now extended to eight and in London to nine, but a break between the morning and evening is retained. At the same time the prices of drink remained un altered, as affected by the high taxation of loos. on a barrel of beer and 72s. a gallon on spirits. In the budget of 1923 a remis sion of 20S. a barrel on beer enabled brewers to lower the price by id. a pint. The continued state of comparative sobriety in sub sequent years must be attributed to these three conditions: (I) Hours of sale, (2) high prices, (3) the depression of trade.