On the other hand, the multiplication and complexity of the laws and rules when administered by an unwise, or over-zealous and tactless constabulary, backed by a harsh and unsympathetic Bench, have been the downfall of many an honest man, and have prevented many another from entering the Trade. This is to be regretted, for, if experience teaches anything, it is that the personal equation is allimportant. Every encouragement should be given to the best men to enter the Trade, and in any scheme of reform, if the publican is to give of his best, full play and wide discretion must, and can, be given for the exercise of his abilities.

Almost the whole of the reason for the existing undesirable condition of most licensed houses can be traced to the tied-house system, which places the retailer entirely in the hands of the merchant. . . . Thus the old English hostelry, once famous for its all-round hospitality and good cheer, has been deposed, and has become, since the growth of the limited liability company, the mere catspaw and counter of the wholesaler; whilst its value is almost exclusively calculated nowadays in gallons of output of alcoholics.

Drink, in fact, instead of being a convenient adjunct to an eating-house, has now become the sole object of the existence of a . licensed house; and legislation, which has been drafted largely upon the assumption that licensed houses are tied, has contributed to make it solely the object of every one connected with the Trade to increase the alcoholic output to the greatest possible amount, by selecting not the quantum of drink but the size of the house, as the basis of taxation. So that it is to the tenant's advantage to limit the accommodation to the smallest extent, in order to secure as small a license duty, compensation charges and assessments as possible.

Could any system be more insane than that which whittles down the ideal licensed house to one which is capable of distributing the greatest quantity of alcohol in the smallest possible space? Can any one wonder that, with the additional pressure of recent taxation, the Trade has not hurried to add amenities beyond the bars?

Although public opinion has long revolted against this state of things, combined circumstances have prevented any real improvement. Music, dancing, café chantants, stage plays, cinematographs, and all games, save billiards, are either illegal or sternly

discouraged, and in some licensing areas are absolutely forbidden. Thus, in the absence of counter-attractions, the only diversion left is to drink. . . . So far indeed has this policy of restriction been carried out that in many divisions temperance seems to be measured by the square yard, and permission to improve premises is refused merely on the ground that to grant it would be to increase the licensed area! In some divisions permission to improve licensed premises can only be obtained upon payment of a sum of money.

The Trade, in view of these restrictions, is unable to carry out improvements, or unwilling to bear the burden of extra taxation, which would be the reward, and in the case of the provision of dining-rooms, etc., often the sole reward, for improving and enlarging the accommodation of its houses. The fact is that a very large proportion of the applications, made in the most specious manner are only cleverly disguised attempts to increase the drinking facili ties, while in the case of many honest applications the altered premises come to be used for a purpose very different from that originally intended.

Considering their elaboration, there is curiously little to be learned from the latest Licensing Statistics upon which it is safe to deduce anything accurately and with certainty; but the following facts are, at any rate, incontrovertible. They show a considerable increase in the number of convictions for drunkenness, a very large increase in the numbers of registered clubs, and the fact that a high proportion of these have been struck off as not bona fide. They show, too, a constant increase in the number of convictions of women for drunkenness.

From this it is fair to deduce that drunkenness has rather increased than diminished during the last four years, and that, although the number of licensed houses has been reduced, a very large part of the trade has been driven into clubs, which are free from license duty, and are not restricted as to hours of opening or closing, or subject to the same inspection as licensed houses. (During the War the sale of alcoholics is in certain districts suspended during certain hours both in clubs and licensed houses.) It is also incontrovertible that the great majority of registered clubs rely as much as, or more than, the ordinary public-house upon the sale of drink for their revenue. Clubs and off-licenses are very

largely responsible for increased drinking among women. Brewers' vans (which in many cases are nothing but public houses on wheels), clubs, off-licenses, and brewery taps compete very severely with the fully licensed house, and undoubtedly create far greater opportunities for secret drinking.

These facts, and the evidence presented by the conditions prevalent in many parts of our crowded towns and country districts, surely present a case for reform of a far-reaching character. It is evident that no sudden revolution would prove a lasting success. What then is the practical remedy?

Obviously, in the first place, the license duty should be levied, not upon the house, but upon the drink. It should vary with the quantity of drink sold or purchased, and not at all with the size of the premises. This plan would be an encouragement to licensees to extend their non-alcoholic trade at the expense of the alcoholic.

. . . The next remedy is to place clubs upon the same footing, at least as regards taxation, as licensed houses; for it is obviously futile to expend large sums in reducing the number of redundant public-houses, if the result of such reduction is to increase the number of drinking clubs. Every club is run with a view to profit, otherwise it would not be continued, as a general rule; and, as we have seen, clubs compete directly with hotels and public-houses, so that it is difficult to see why they should not contribute substantially to the revenue. A large proportion are proprietary, either directly or indirectly, and only differ in technicalities from public-houses. Many of them indeed are tied and highly profitable to their owners, who most frequently are the nominees of brewers and distillers.

These two reforms would, it is believed, not be objected to by the majority of those interested in the Trade. Indeed the latter would be warmly welcomed by licensees.

LAW, POLICE AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Mr. Newton D. Baker, Mayor of the city of Cleveland, contributes an unusually thoughtful and suggestive article under the above title to The Atlantic Monthly for July, 1915. As the head of one of the most important municipalities, Mr. Baker has had an ample experience with the question of law enforcement in a cosmopolitan center, the intricate police questions arising in connection with it, and its relation to various social problems. In opposition to the view so commonly expressed, that we are a lawbreaking people, he contends that "we are probably the most lawabiding people in the world," and that "we have an inexplicit and inexplicable method of repealing some of the laws we outgrow by simply ceasing to observe them." He sagely notes that the laws which have become dead letters "are in all stages of being dead." Now some people are very slow in accepting the current notion of a law being dead, and cause trouble by insisting upon having the law called into being. Thereby hangs a great deal of the trouble with which police departments have to contend. Mr. Baker puts it in this fashion: "You have taken an oath to enforce all the laws,' the chairman of the Law-Enforcement League will say; 'here is a law you are not enforcing. You are not chosen to elect which laws are to be enforced, nor have you any means whatever of determining whether this law is approved by the general conscience. The best way to repeal a bad law is to enforce it.' . . . The sensational pulpit will rebuke the police department for its failure to enforce the law; a committee will wait upon the mayor and demand enforcement to the letter; but whether the committee be clerical or lay, and however broad the foundation laid upon the vice of disregard of law, the object finally appears to be to secure the enforcement of some particular law."

He thereupon instances some laws of this kind such as midnight or Sunday closing of saloons, the prohibition of certain theatrical exhibitions or prize fights, etc. All this must seem more or less reminiscent to those who follow with any degree of interest the

activities of the police department in any large city. However, these dead-letter laws do not present the greatest difficulty but "lie almost wholly in the region where, for one reason or another, public opinion is uncertain in its attitude toward the things sought to be required or repressed." Among these he mentions the disorders and contentions growing out of labor disputes. Another illustration he draws from the enforcement of laws relating to the traffic in intoxicating liquors and on this topic he has the following to say:

"This of all subjects most sharply divides public opinion. On the one side are the extreme temperance advocates, to whom the business is anathema; on the other side, in most large cities, are a majority of the people, who habitually use intoxicating liquors socially, in their homes, clubs, churches, unions, and outings, and who are easily persuaded that the whole heritage of personal liberty is bound up in the maintenance of their unrestricted right to buy drink when and where they please. The agitation proceeds all the time and throughout the State. In every State legislature the liquor question stands athwart all other legislation. Whether a particular bridge shall be built or public highway constructed is often determined by the fact that the 'wets' are for it in a 'dry' legislature. The short ballot, civil-service reform, woman suffrage, all have lost or won and are winning or losing as they pick their friends between the 'wets' and 'drys.' The really vital subject of state and local taxation, upon which we Americans have made less progress than any other country, awaits the calm atmosphere of the settlement of this insoluble question for a chance to be discussed without distortion. from the license controversy.

"All this shows the wrought-up state of the public mind on the liquor question. Into such a divided society the anti-saloon leagues and other organized temperance bodies, by their control of the rural vote, bring regulations, wise enough and moderate enough for the country districts and small towns, but violently disruptive of the settled habits of large city populations. These regulations the police are to enforce. If they do, the executive under whom they act is frequently voted promptly out of office; if they do not, the more excitable and sensational ministers and other excellent but hasty people conclude and proclaim that the executive and police alike are in corrupt collusion with the forces of evil, and