Final report of Her Majesty's Commissioners appointed to inquire into the operation and administration of the laws relating to the sale of intoxicating liquors.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on the Liquor Licensing Laws
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Final report of Her Majesty's Commissioners appointed to inquire into the operation and administration of the laws relating to the sale of intoxicating liquors. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    Edinburgh 2,003 or 3033 cases occur in a year of persons not merely drunk when Lewis, apprehended, but who were lying helpless and unconscious in the streets ; 2700 were 50,345. thus found last year in Edinburgh, and in Glasgow the appalling number of 19,765™ Yet in Edinburgh only one publican was prosecuted, and in Glasgow only three. Not without reason, it would seem, did the kirk session of Uphall Free Church Hunter, issue a statement, that in the district of Uphall, in the county of West Lothian, 49,245. men and women are found helplessly drunk, lying in the thoroughfares, and indeed at the very doors of the public-houses in broad daylight, as well as drunken men inside the house in the day-time. In the face of facts like these, even if only a small portion of them were true, we earnestly call attention to the provisions of the Statute Act, 1862, s. 14 : and if the police are so occupied that they cannot properly discharge this duty of reporting, then it would be well if special officers could be placed at the disposal of the licensing authority if they make the request, and if they think that the independent information which they ought to have is not properly brought to their notice under the present system. Our remarks on the proposal of special inspectors for public-houses in England apply to Scotland also. 4. Offences by Licensed Persons. Nearly all the regulations for the good conduct of the certificate holder are contained in the certificate itself. The infringement of the conditions constitutes a breach of the certificate and is punished as such. The offences are— 1. Adulteration of food or liquors. 2. Use of illegal weights or measures. 3. Knowingly permitting breach of the peace or riotous or disorderly conduct. 4. Permitting men and women of notoriously bad fame, or girls or boys to assemble. 5. Supplying drink to girls or boys apparently under the age of 14. 6. Supplying drink to persons who are in a state of intoxication. 7. Taking wearing apparel, goods, or chattels in pledge for liquor. 8. Permitting any unlawful games. 9. Infringing the closing regulations on week-days or Sundays. 10. Selling groceries or uncooked provisions for consumption elsewhere, fro in an hotel or public-house. 11. Allowing consumption on the premises of a licensed grocer. The penalties for a breach of certificate are— 1st offence 51. fine, or in default 1 month. 2nd do. 10L do. 2 months. 3rd do. 201. do. 4 months. The first or second offence may forfeit the certificate, but the third carries forfeiture with it. There are also penalties for— a. Harbouring a constable on duty, penalty 51. or 30 days in default. b. Eefusing to admit a constable, penalty 10Z. or in default 60 days. The chief constable of Dundee made some recommendations in reference to these offences and practices, and we recommend their adoption :— I. There should be a distinct penalty for permitting drunkenness. Dewar, II. The section of the English law (Act 1872, section 14) relative to harbouring tj'lsc prostitutes, should apply to Scotland, as somewhat more stringent and ' ° clearer than the Scotch Act. III. The English provision about harbouring constables, or supplying them with 44 157 drink, is fuller than the Scotch, and should be adopted. ' ° ' IY. The certificate prohibits any unlawful games, but an unlawful game is not 44].Q defined in the law of Scotland. The provisions of the English Act 1872, s. 17, ' ° ' should be extended to Scotland. 5. Offences by the Public. These fall under the heads of— I. Offences connected with illicit sale of liquor. II. Offences connected with drunkenness. E t; 4