Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 261, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 November 1920 — English ‘Drunks’ Double In 1919 [ARTICLE]

English ‘Drunks’ Double In 1919

Statistics. JusfAnnounced Reveal Startling Reaction From Dry Wave. BEGAN BEFORE WAR’S END Women Keep Step With Men In Return to Old Era of Drinking Days —Number of Registered Clubs * Increased Some 900. London. —The licensing statistics for 1919 show that dating that year there occurred a strong reaction from the notable decrease in convictions for drunkenness which began in the latter months of the year 1914 and persisted through the years 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918. The total number of convictions for drunkenness in England and Wales in 1919 was nearly double the figure for 1918, viz., 57,948, as compared with 29,075 —an increase of 28,873 or 99.3 per cent The reaction, it Is pointed out began in 'the middle of the year 1918, and was at first gentle and hesitating; it gathered force early in the year 1919, and from March onward the figures for every month, with the exception of October, exceeded those for the preceding month by percentages which were never less than five and rose to 34 as between December and November, and 48 as between March and February. As compared with the corresponding months of 1918, the figures for every month in 1919 from March onward showed increases varying from 5 to 818 per cent. In September, 1919, the convictions were nearly three times, in November more than three times, and in December more than four times as many as In the sa,me months in the year 1918. Onthe other hand, December is the only month in 1919 which shows figures exceeding one-half of those for the corresponding month of 1913, the year in which the convictions reached the maximum recorded (188,877); and the other months range, in relation to 1913, from less than one-half to less than one-fifth. Some of the Reasons. Ju some general comments on the statistics of drunkenness the report states: There is Jn these records of convictions for drunkenness and the movements shown therein a great wealth of material for research into the problem of public drunkenness and its causes, consequences and cure. But the enterprise is long and difficult, and, to be successful, ought to march with practical administration and" experiment More or less superficial manipulation of the figures and facts on paper has all the dangers and sterility of mere speculation. Out of the many and various contributory circumstances It is almost Impossible and extremely unsafe to isolate this one or that one, or this or that group, and call Jt the cause of the particular movement which may be under consideration. Some of the circumstances or causes —which operated at different times, in different ways, and tn different degrees in different

be stated as follows: There were more men at home, and fewer of them in khaki, more policemen (and those less overworked) available for street duty, more hours for drinking, more (and stronger) liquor, more light in the streets, more money, more leisure, less self-control, less appreciation of the fact that drunkenness "matters” now the war is over, less readiness to realize that the progress toward general sobriety won during the war ought to be carried on in peace time, and lack of adequate equipment for driving that point home. Of the 57,948 convictions in 1919, 53,621, or 93 per cent, occurred in police districts wholly within the operation of the Central Control Boards restrictions, 3,704 in districts partly within, and 623, or just over one per cent in districts entirely beyond their scope. It will be seen that the table given above is dominated by Greater London and Northern England, 1. e„ the coqntles north of a Une drawn from the mouth of the Severn to the Wash. Together, Greater London and Northern England (with a population of about 77 per, cent of the total for England and Wales) account for 53,920, or 93 pbr cent of the total convictions, Greater London showing about 20 per lent of population and 36 per cent of convictions and Northern England 57 per cent of population and 57 per cent of convictions for 1919 were 107.6 per cent In excess of those for 1918, and Northern England showed an increase of 96 per cent; but the December figure for Northern, England was just over five times as great as in 1918, while the Greater London December figure was less than four times as great. Tables are given showing the convictions of men and women separately for each month of 1919. Of\the total number 81 per cent, or 46,765 convictions related to men, and 11,183, or 19 per cent to women. In relation to the estimated number of persons of 21 years of age and upward in 1919, the figures represent for men 50 per 10,000, and for women nine per 10,000. The figures for men are more than twice as numerous as those recorded in 1918, viz., 21,853, and exceed tire total for 1917, viz., 34,100; those for women exceed the 1918 total of 7,222 by 55 per cent, but do not reach the 1917 total of 12,307. In both cases the increase was continuous, with slight fluctuations throughout the year, and the highest percentages of Increase as between one month and the next were, in both cases between February and March, 50 for men and 42 for women, and between November and December, 38 for men and 18 for women. Clubs on Big Increase. , At the beginning of they year there were 8,049 clubs registered—Bs3 less

than the highest previous total. It is estimated that during the year 1919 the number of registered clubs increased by upward of 900, and passed the previous highest total—that of 8,902 on January 1,1915. The increase would appear, states the report, to be due In some degree to the revival of clubs which fell out of existence during the war, and in greater degree to the institution of new clubs to meet the desire of large, numbers of men to maintain associations formed during service with the forces in the war. There were in England and Wales on January 1, 1919, some 84,044 premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor on or off the premises, and 22,288 off-licenses, giving proportions, according to the estimated .population, or 22.41 on-licenses and 5.94 off-licenses per 10,000 persons. The full figure of on-licenses showed a decrease upon the year of 600. In the ten years 1896 to 1904 the average annual decrease was 386. For the fourteen years 1905 to 1918 the average was 1,102, and during 1919 the decrease win probably prove to have been about 606, making an annual average for the fifteen years since the Act of 1904 came into operation of about 1,069, and leaving a total of about 88,438 on-licenses at the beginning of the year 1920. The decrease in the number of off-licenses during IQI9 will prove to have been about 84, compared with 185 during the preceding twelve months. • Tire number of licensed premises closed since January L 1906, when the Licensing Act, 1904, came into operation, is 16.694, and the new licenses granted 654, making the total net decrease of licensed premises over the period 16,040. The number of licenses extinguished with compensation to 1919—namely, 498—while higher than the figures for 1916, 1917 and 1918, is only half the average for the years preceding, the war—l9os to 1914. The loss of efficiency In this method of abolishing redundant licensed premises is due mainly to two causes, viz., (a) failure on the part of the compensation authorities to raise the funds authorized by the act, and (b) increase in the cost of the licenses. During the year 1,459 license holders were prosecuted and there were 989 convictions. In 1918 the figures were appreciably greater, being respectively 1,723 and 1,141.