DRUNKENNESS IN SCOTLAND.

Evening Star, Issue 13149, 4 January 1909, Page 5

DRUNKENNESS IN SCOTLAND.

POLICE ON EARLY CLOSING. 'J In a recent debate in the House of Commons on the proposal to curtail the houw of Sunday opening of licensed premises in England, a good deal was made by speakers on both sides of the exierienceof Scot* bind in regard to Sunday closing, and also in regard io tho effect of closing at ten o clock instead of eleven on week mights. As to Sunday closing, there is no difference of opinion. Scotland has had nearly sixty years' experierrco of it, since tho passing of the Forbes Mackenzie Act in ■..853. The general testimony is that the effect has been most beneficial Not even from "tho trade" is there a whisper of going back to Sunday opening. But in regard to ten o'clock closing on week nights there has been considerable agitation of recent years, particularly in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Tho arguments put forward are chiefly Unit drunkenness has not decreased, but has actually increased, judging by police statistics of apprehenf.ions, and that the earlier closing has resulted in driving the traffic into illegitimate channels, auch as "shebeoning," or into clubs. Glasgow and Edinburgh have been held up as awful examples of the evil effects of ten o'clock closing, and attempts have been made to base on the police statistics an agitation far revcrtim' to eleven o'clock closing. Judging bv the information of those in a position'to know the facts at first hand, however, ten o'clock dosing has, on the whole, decidedlv worked for good in Scotland. Tho agitation for a reversion to the late clasing hour <'omes mainly from "the trade," or their mouthpieces in the Press, and has no great force of public opinion in its favor. In every comity in Scotland wince 1904, when ten o'clock closing first came into farce, and in every Scottish burgh the licensing magistrates at each spring licensing court renew their resolution in favor "of ten o'clock, and "the trade'' know well that in the present state of public opinion thev cannot alter that policy. —Why There are More Arrests.— With regard to drunkenness, the police statistics show a considerable increase in arrests, notwithstanding the earlier closing, hut that does not prove what "the trade" contend. Glasgow and Edinburgh are the leal centres of the fight that "is going on; the rest of Scotland may be ruled out of court. In both cities the Chief Constables a,re clear and decided that the earlier closing h,i6 tended to peace antl good order in the streets, and to their earlier clearance on Saturday nights. A new system was adopted in Glasgow some years ago, whereby the '■ drunks" are brought up at a pleading diet on the Mon. day, without the arresting constables being called on to appear at court. In ninetynine cases out of a hundred the "drunk" pleads guilty. If he does not the case is delayed, ;,n<l the police witnesses are warned for the corprt on Tuesday. Formerly the men—often night constables—had always to appear in court on' the Monday, Mhen the cases were .summarily disposed of. It is rield that under the old conditions a constable thought twice before "running m" a "drunk''"or a "drunk and disorderly," knowing his sleep would be broken in upon ; but now he acts more readily, and this tends to swell the number of arivsts. Other causes for the increase of arrests for drunkenness are uiven by the Chief Constable of Edinburgh as tho natural growth of the population and the largely increased number of non-resi-dents arrested for drunkenness. Big football matches on Saturday afternoons"', douraeing, and pedestrian "galas bring in "a large influx of country visitors. In aeldition to a train service, many of the country villages have now motor buses, and Glasgow's tramway arteries extend out in different directions now for nearlv twenty miles. Chief Constable Ross, of Edinburgh, had a return made up showing that the number of non*-resident6 convicted of drunkenness since 1903—the year before ten o'clock closing was adopted—was slightly more than the rise in the total number so convirted. Another factor in the increase was that a few " torluhs" swell the number considerably by being often sent to gaol for short sentences for drunkenness each year. —National Habits.— In regard to clubs, Glasgow ha 6 considerable trouble with drinking dens, and the police are waging war against them with more or lose success. In Edinburgh and other towns many drinking clubs sprang up alxrat ten or a dozen years ago, but they are now practically all done away with. The allegation made" that there was a special rush into the public-houses from 9.30 to 10, when men simply " gulped it down." was disproved by Chief Constable Ross, who, at the instance of the Edinburgh special police observation kept. Cm the other hand, he thinks that more small bottles of whisky are bought just before closing time—that is, bottles containing one gill or two gills. That does not jnean. a 6 "the trade" contend, that the men go home and guzzle and brawl. On the contrary, Mr Roes says that there are distinctly fewer calls on the police for domestic "quarrels late on Saturday or early on Sunday morning than used to be the case. At the root of the larger figures for drunkenness in Scotland as compared with England lies the national beverage—whirtky—and the national habits. In Scotland on Saturday afternoon, working men, immediately after getting their pay, too often go straight to a public and have perhaps three or four rounds of whisky, each standing turn, on an empty stomach. The result is that many of" them pet the worse of drink. In England, on the other hand, jt is said, the men on leaving work first have a "good square meal." and after that their beer, which the food enables them to drink without intoxication. —Less Money Spent.— But. after all. in Scotland the police statistics apply only to a limited number of the Scottish patrons of the publichouses. The hour less saves the pockets of many decent working men wiio before did not get into the hands of the police, but who vet dawdled at public-house bars and 6moked and talked football or politics. Thev now go home earlier, and have nrore in" their pockets for the wives and bairns. That is the chief benefit of earlier closing. The fi'j;ht that the publicans are making is a testimony to the success of the Act of Parliament, '[heir drawings and profits have fallen oil, and at the spring licensing courts in Edinburgh for the last year or two licsnses have lapsed because renewal was not applied for, as they had failed to pay. There ~te too manv'licenses vet in the centre of the city, and a. continuance of the ten o'clock closing policv mav heb) still further to reduce them.—'"Manchester Guardian."