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.

    70/406 (page 52)
    6. We express no opinion, in this place, on the question of municipal management, but it seems clear that, if adopted, it should be adopted on grounds of public policy, and not on account of temptations held out to public bodies to make a great pecuniary profit. On whatever terms the licenses are bo be suppressed, on those terms would the municipalities claim to take over these valuable monopolies, if Parliament would grant them the privilege; and it appears to us certain that if no compensation is allowed, or only a very fractional com- pensation, an agitation would presently arise in favour of this concession, because the prospect of a large rate of profit would be obvious and certain To give a concrete case, if a public-house worth 10,000Z. has paid the owner and tenant, between them, eight per cent, on their investment, and the muni- cipality were allowed to acquire the premises for 4,000Z., they would reasonably expect to make 20 per cent, on their investment. The temptation would, in our opinion, prove irresistible, and would quite override the reasons of public policy which should govern this question. CHAPTER II. COMPENSATION, (i.) Declaratory Value. We have come to the conclusion that, if compensation is to be paid, it must be raised from the trade itself. We now proceed to describe the machinery by which we propose to ascertain the true and fair value of all licensed houses, whether for the purpose of suppression, or taxation for the provision of a compensation fund. Several of the proposed. Bills explained to us contained a provision for a declaratory value by the licensee, which might be taken as a basis for compensation if suppressed, or taxation if it survive, thus compelling the owner of a license to consider either contingency. This principle we adopt, and suggest that every owner and occupier of licensed premises should be required jointly to declare the separate value of the premises, and also of the license and goodwill attached to them. It may be objected that the owner who expected his License to be suppressed would value high, and vice versa, and this is a real danger, but might be provided against by the following check : the licensing authority might have the option of taking the declaratory value, or, if they were dissatisfied with it, of resorting to the machinery of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act. (ii.) Surrender System. However open to objection, or however imperfect, this system may have been, it should be remembered that it is the only method which the law has hitherto allowed of exacting any quid pro quo for the immense boon often conferred on a private individual or company by the grant of a new license in a growing neighbourhood- Further on we make proposals for what appears to us a far more satisfactory method of attaining this object, and should that, or some similar plan, be adopted by the Legislature, the surrender system would die a natural death. An artificial value has temporarily accrued to many low class houses, owning to their suitability for surrender purposes. These are the very ones which would be the most likely to disappear under our proposals. It should, therefore, be made clear that in valuing them no account is to be taken of such past and temporary value, which will by that time have ceased to exist together with the system that gave rise to it. (iii.) Off Licenses. The scheme, to be described presently, includes in the scope of its operation all retail licensee, i.e., t; off as well as on as contributor] es to the compensation fund, and as liable to suppression under this scheme. This appears to be both desirable in itself and necessary to the satisfactory working of the reduction proposals. In Part I. of the report are included recommendations to the effect that (a) the licensing