Page:EB1911 - Volume 26.djvu/615

Rh principle of disinterested management, though not in the same form, with a certain amount of prohibition, show markedly different results. The British licensing system has been at least as successful as any of the others. The most probable conclusion to be drawn from the facts is that the movement in each country has been mainly determined by other forces; the rise of consumption in the United States by the rapid and progressive urbanization of the people and the great increase of wealth; the diminution of consumption in the United Kingdom by a change in the habits of the people due to many causes, to which further reference is made below; while the difference between Norway and Sweden is largely due to differences of national character and habits already noted, though some influence must be attributed to the superior system and greater stringency of control in Norway. But if we go back to earlier periods there is no doubt at all that an incomparably worse state of things existed in the United Kingdom and in Scandinavia when the spirit traffic was under little control or none at all. intemperance.-Police statistics are the best evidence we have of the prevalence of drunkenness, which is the most visible and direct result of intemperance. Like other statistics, they must be used with due regard to the circumstances of origin and compilation. They vary according to (1) the laws relating to drunkenness; (2) the administration by police and justices; (3) the method of compiling returns All these vary in different countries and towns and at different times, so that the statistics must not be used for minute comparisons. But properly handled they are of great value, and the discrepancies are less than might be sup osed, because it is found on inquiry that the actual behaviour of tfie police towards drunken persons does not greatly differ. Neither exceptional zeal nor exceptional laxity lasts very long. The general practice is only to interfere with those persons whose violence causes disturbance or whose helplessness creates obstruction or annoyance. The mode of compiling returns is the most serious cause of error. Many countries have no returns, and in others they are incomplete. Those available, however, throw considerable light on the subject. The following quinquennial table shows the movement in England and Wales since the drunken period 1874-78. The important act of 1872, which increased the number of offences, vitiates comparison with the earliest returns, which are, however, given in the article on DRUNKENNESS.

Drunkenness, England and Wales.

Number of Persons proceeded against per 10,000. 1874-78   81-2 1894-98    60-4

1879~83 69-7 1899-1903   65-5

1884~88   63-6 1904-08    62-4

1889-93   61-4

There has been a marked improvement since 1874-78, and on the whole a progressive one, though interrupted by a moderate rise in the period of prosperity about 1900. The figures for the most recent years would be considerably lower but for the Licensing Act of 1902, which altered the police procedure and caused a sudden in the 19th century; and the movement was greatly promoted, as a feature of social life, by the influence of Queen Victoria's reign. Drunkenness went “out of fashion, ” and the social standard has gradually permeated downwards. All this has no doubt been stimulated by temperance organization and teaching, which has constantly kept the question before the public and exercised an educational influence in spite of ridicule and abuse. The change has been very gradual, but far greater than can be shown in figures. It can be better realized by contrasting the present state of things with that described in the past, as in the evidence given before a select committee of the House of Commons in 1834, when witnesses described the scenes that regularly occurred on Sunday morning in London—the crowd round the public-houses, women with babies to which they gave gin, and people lying dead drunk in the streets. The evidence given at this inquiry and by contemporary writers reveals a condition of things to which modern times afford no parallel; and in particular it disposes of the current belief that female drunkenness is a comparatively new thing and increasing. The practice of frequent in public-houses and drinking to excess in England has been noted for centuries and repeatedly denounced. It was described at a meeting of the Middlesex magistrates in 1830, when the chairman said that of 72 cases of drunkenness brought up at Bow Street on the previous Monday the majority were women “ who had been picked up in the streets where they had fallen dead drunk." At the inquiry of 1834 Mr Mark Moore gave the number of customers counted entering 14 public-houses in a week; out of a total of 269,437 there were 108,593 women and 18,391 children. Of late years the proportion of female drunkards to the whole has been perceptibly diminishing. In 1870 the proportion of females to the total number proceeded against for drunkenness was 25-9 per cent.; in 1890 it was 23-4 per cent. The percentage of convictions credited to women in the last few years is: 1905, 20-42; 1906, 20-60; 1907, 20'26; 1908, 20-13; 1909, 19-79. The foregoing observations on drunkenness apply only to England and Wales. The returns for Scotland and Ireland are less complete, but they show the movement in those parts of the kingdom. In Ireland a diminution has taken place in recent years, but in Scotland all ll'1Cl'€3.S€.

Number of Charges of Drunkenness.

rise, as shown by the following table, for the last 10 years:- 1900 . . 63-4 1905 64-2

1901 64-5 1906 " 61-3

1902 63-6 1907  60-1

1903 69-o 1908  59-3

1904 . . 67-4 1909 53-2

When allowance is made for the act of 1902 it is seen that the movement of drunkenness corresponds broadly with that of consumption, but the decline of drunkenness is more marked; the level is lower than it used to be whether good or bad times be taken. This plainly shows a large change in the habits of the people, which is further emphasized by the fact that police procedure has become more stringent and the returns more complete. The exceptional hgure for 1909 (estimated) is ascribed to the heavy increase of spirit duties in that year. The change has been accompanied by a continuous fall in the number of public-houses in proportion to population. Between 1870 and 1909 the number of “ on ” licences was reduced from 53'3 to 26-3 per 10,000 of the population; but the correspondence between the two movements is not exact. The number of public-houses has fallen steadily from year to year, whereas drunkenness, like consumption, has fluctuated with the state of trade. The facts, therefore, demonstrate a connexion, but hardly establish one of cause and effect. The (principal causes which have brought about the general decline of drunkenness are wider and deeper. The standard of behaviour has gradually changed with education and the rovision of alternative recreations in many forms, among which tfie chief are games, theatres, locomotion, public libraries, institutes, tea shops and eating houses. At the same time great social changes have taken effect and have tended to remove class barriers and foster the aspirations of the working classes, who have more and more adopted the standard of conduct prevalent among the more highly educated sections of society. The old drinking habits of the latter, which were notorious at the end of the 18th century, began to give way to greater sobriety early Year. Scotland. Ireland.

1890 . I 36,293 100,202

1900 - - 43.943 97,457

1901 .   88,295

1902 . . . 91,276

1903  36,930 85,502

1904 ~ - 41.852 81.775

IQOS. 43,518 79,968

1906  55,408 77,262

1907 - 58,900 76,860

1908   55,104

It is worthy of note that police drunkenness is higher in Wales, Scotland and Ireland than in England. The respective number of proceedings per 10,000 in the year 1907 was: England, 59~8; Wales, 65-2; Scotland, 123-3; Ireland, 175-6. The figures for Wales are strictly comparable, those for Scotland and Ireland less so; but the coincidence is striking. The greater prevalence of spirit drinking as a national habit, particularly in Scotland and Ireland, may account in part for the discrepancy. Other (points which distinguish the three countries from 'Eng and are their eltic blood and Sunday closing. No connexion can be shown between the number of licensed houses and the prevalence of drunkenness; they are fewer in Scotland than in England and Wales, but more numerous in Ireland, though there has been a diminution there since 1902, which may have something to do with the fall of drunkenness. The same lack of correspondence is shown more fully by the de» tailed figures for England and Wales published in the official volume of licensing statistics. Taking the county boroughs in groups according to the number of licences in proportion to the population we get the following:-

Licences and Drunkenness, County Boroughs, 1905. Licences

per 10,000 under 20 20 to 30 30 to 40 40 to 50 over6o Convictions

per 10-000. 7I'05 55'89 62'4 36~6 35-27

The corresponding figures for the counties are as follows:- Licences and Drunkenness, Counties, IQOS.

Licences per 10,000 under 30 30 to 40 40 to 50 over 50) Convictionsper10,000 57~39 l 36-74 l 40-0 I 33-2