NEW GOVERNMENT DRINK BILL. ,f WHAT IT WILL BE AND WHAT WE CAN DO. BY CHARLES F. HARFORD, M.A., M.D. THE C.F:N.ha.s' determined to re- spond' to the Premier's appeal and to make it possible for its readers to take part in a practical effort tó. support the Government in bringing in a suitable measure of reform in accordance with the declaration of the Prime Minister. This preparatory article gives a forecast of the Bill as outlined in Mr. Lloyd George's reply to the deputation from the Temperance Council of the Christian Churches, introduced by the Archbishop of Canterbury on Thursday, Novem- ber 20, 1919, and a stirring appeal to the Churches to close their ranks and unite in a determined effort to deal with the liquor problem. PREMIER'S FORECAST OF GOVERNMENT BILL. I think it is very important that the work of the Board should be perpetuated, and the first step, I think, before we come to legislation of a more far-reach- ing character is to prevent this work from lapsing. Unless legislation is passed to perpetuate the powers of the Board, they would lapse, I think, within twelve months after the war. It is therefore proposed to introduce legislation in order to deal with that matter. My right, hon. friend the Minister of Education has taken it in hand, and no more competent hands could it fall to, and 1- need hardly say no more sympa- thetic hands. He is doing his best to achieve agreement, because the difficulty, as everyone knows, results from the, crowded legislation that the period of re- construction forces the Government to introduce into Parliament, and it is very difficult to carry legislation where, at any rate, there is not some measure of agreement. I am glad io be able to say that a great measure of agreement has been already achieved by him. Commissions will be set up under this Bill, if Parliament approves, and I am very sanguine of being able to secure the assent of. Parliament for the setting up of these Commissions. The Bill is ready, and will be introduced before Christmas. Government Department, to, Deal with Alcoholism. What you can do is to set up this in- termediate authority, you can give it real powers of control, you can i-nvest i-t with the powers which have been so efficiently administered by the Board of Control; you can in addition- to that give it the necessary powers to watch, to co-operate, to record and to report, and the power to recommend to Parliament any further measures that may be desir- able. This is the first time a body of that kind will ever have been set up in this country-there -never has been a body up to the present whose business it was to watch the effect of alcoholism in the country as a Government department, as a, Government body. That I regard in itself as an enormous advance, and from that I cannot but hope that good will mature. Co-ordination of Liquor Control. But there are other aspects of this question that can also be watched, and the business of these Commissions will be not merely to administer, but to keep a vigilant eye and to have a complete record of the facts, to co-ordinate all the local reports. In some districts I have no doubt at all that the power which will be entrusted to the various bodies will be administered faithfully, rigidly, and sternly. In others, perhaps, there will be a little more slackness. It will be the business of these Commissions to keep the various bodies up to the mark. It will be their business to supervise, to encourage, to stimulate. It will be their business to point out wherein cer- tain bodies have failed, and it will be their business to call the attention of the House of Commons to the difference be- tween the results which have been achieved in areas where the powers have been faithfully administered and in areas where the administration has; been more defective in its character. A Scientific Branch. As a matier of fact, it will be pat of the functions of these Commissions to set up a scientific branch, as part of the Bill, for the purpose of not, merely watching these experiments, but of watching what is going on in (this oountry, the effects of alcohol and the effects of different methods of dealing with the temperance question, for in- tance, the Carlisle experiment, which, I think, has been a conspicuous success. But I am rather partial to that experi- ment, and I wish it had been extended -to two or three municipalities in more populous areas. It would have been worth while just trying it as an experi- ment if it had been possible to have secured areas ready to allow themselves to be experimented upon. It would have been a cleafr indication upon which to base- future action. We propose that these Commissions should watch very carefully all these problems. Th<§y wiil be aHe to advise Parliament and to inform public opinion. PREMIERS APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES. I congratulate "the temperance cause upon the agreement which has been reached in the matter of organisation.' I consider that in itself to be a very great step forward on the road to achieving the purpose which we all have at heart- namely, sobriety in this land. It is only those who have been-engaged in sup- porting measures for the promotion of temperance in Great Britain who realise the extent to which effort has been paralysed by -division among temperance people. I hope it will not be regarded as a re- proach, but rather as a record of the fact, when I say that I think to a very large extent the opportunities which the war presented were lost by discussions as to methods. If complete agreement had been arrived at. between all temperance people in the country as to the best road to approach—well, not as to the best, but even as to the second best-if they -had agreed among themselves as to the best proposal to urge on the Government of the day, if this had been done with the whole united strength of temperance opinion in the land, I think we should have got very much further than we have been able to get to-day. And this is why I welcome, and welcome very cordially, the signs which are evident here to-day in this list of societies, that you have arrived at a common understanding. I welcome the unity which it prognosti- cates, and I predict considerable results from it. Necess of Influencing Members of Parliament. But, of course, there will be difficulties in the way. I anticipate there will be some. opposition', but I trust. that the Christian Churches will not be satisfied merely, to bring pressure to bear upon the Government, but that they will exercise all the necessary pressure upon Parliament to carry through too measure, to see that it is not emascu- lated in the course of its progress through Committee, and, if it is capable of im- provement, that those improvements will be effected. Vigilance Necessary; But I again urge that this body which I am so glad has come into exist? ence—this united body representing all the Christian Churches in. the land- should not leaveall the vigilance and all the watching to any Government Depart- ment. The Christian Churches in this land, when they are united, are irresist- ible. They have only failed in achieving measures for the promotion of sobriety when they have been divided, and I feel convinced that this body, if it succeeds in keeping the whole of the Christian Churches .of the land alive to the vital importance of this problem to the physical, moral, and spiritual well-being of the nation, will be able to bring such pressure to bear upon religious opinion, as upon the Government, that any measure which the considered judgment of this Commission, when it is set up, recommends to the State as the basis of action will be carried out. That is why I make-I do not think that the appeal is necessary-tliat is why I rather re- joice in the fact that the Churches are coiming together, and that they show every disposition of continuing the unity, and if they do I have no doubt as to the result. WHAT WE CAN DO. 1. We must know the facts of the case, and in succeeding articles in thC.F.N. the following among other subjects will .11 9 be dealt with: The work of the Central Coaitbrbl Board (Liquor Traffic), and especially the Carlisle Experiment; Alternative Policies in Liquor Reform; Analysis of the New Bill when it is, Introduced, &c. In the meantime the following may be consulted The Control of the Drink Trade, by Rev. Henry Carter (Longmans. Cheap edition. Price 2s. 6d. net); The Brewers as Tem- perance Reformers, by Robert B. Batty (Wesleyan Methodist Temperance and Social Welfare Department. Price 3d.). Leaflets: Alcoholism and the C^n|rai Control Bq-aajd (2s. 6d. per 100) Re- strictions on the Sale and Manufacture of Liquor (free. C.E.T.S.). All the above can be obtained from theC. E. Tj S" 50, Marslia,m street, Westminster w. 1. 2. We should at once discuss the matter with our friends and induce as many As possible in our own locality to join in support of the plan proposed by the Prime Minister. 3. We might, even at the present time, communicate with our own M. P. and; see that he receives, a copy of the 'C.F.N. Later on, when the Bill has bean intro- duced, all who can do so should write a personal letter to their M.P. urging him to support it. 4