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flux. There are not only many varieties of liquor laws, but also frequent changes in them, and new experiments are constantly being tried. The See also:

general tendency is towards increased stringency, not so much because the evils increase, though that happens in particular places at particular times, as because public opinion moves broadly to-wards increasing condemnation of excess and increasing reliance on legislative interference. The first is due partly to a general See also:

PROCESS

process of refining See also:

MANNERS, CHARLES (1857– )

manners, partly to medical influence and the growing See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention paid to health; the second to a universal tendency which seems inherent in See also:

DEMOCRACY (Gr. 3np.oKparia, from S)µos, the people, i.e. the commons, and Kparos, rule)

democracy. Liquor laws may be classified in several ways, but the most useful way for the See also:

PRESENT

present purpose will be to take the principal methods of conducting the traffic as they exist, under four See also:

main headings, and after a brief explanation give some See also:

account of the laws in the principal countries which have adopted them. The four methods are: (I) licensing or commercial sale for private profit under a legal permit; (2) sale by authorized bodies not for private profit, commonly known as the Scandinavian or See also:

COMPANY

company See also:

SYSTEM

system; (3) state See also:

MONOPOLY (Gr. govomeXla or govoircaXwv, exclusive sale, from govds, alone, and irwXeiv, to sell)

monopoly; (4) See also:

PROHIBITION (Lat. prohibere, to prevent)

prohibition. It is not a scientific See also:

CLASSIFICATION (Lat. classis, a class, probably from the root cal-, cla-, as in Gr. icaMce, clamor)

classification, because the company system is a form of licensing and prohibition is no sale at all; but it follows the lines of popular discussion and is more intelligible than one of a more technical character would be.

All forms of liquor legislation See also:

DEAL

deal mainly with See also:

RETAIL

retail sale, and particularly with the sale for immediate See also:

CONSUMPTION (Lat. consumere)

consumption on the spot. I. Licensing.—This is by far the See also:

OLDEST

oldest and the most widely adopted method; it is the one which first suggests itself in the natural course, of things. Men begin by making and selling a thing without let or hindrance to please themselves. Then objections are raised, and when they are strong or general enough the law interferes in the public interest, at first mildly; it says in effect—This must not go on in this way or to this extent; there must be some control, and permission will only be given to duly authorized persons. Such persons are licensed or permitted to carry on the traffic under conditions, and there is obviously See also:

ROOM

room for See also:

INFINITE (from Lat. in, not, finis, end or limit; cf. findere, to deave)

infinite gradations of strictness in granting permission and infinite variety in the conditions imposed. The See also:

PROCEDURE (Fr. procedure, from Lat. procedere, to go for-ward)

procedure may vary from See also:

mere notification of the intention to open an See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment up to a rigid and minutely detailed system of See also:

ANNUAL

annual licensing laid down by the law. But in all cases, even when mere notification is required, the governing authority has the right to refuse permission or to withdraw it for reasons given, and so it retains the See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of control. At the same See also:

time holders of the permission may be compelled to pay for the See also:

PRIVILEGE

privilege and so contribute to the public revenue. The See also:

GREAT

great merit of the licensing system is its perfect See also:

ELASTICITY

elasticity, which permits See also:

ADJUSTMENT (from late Lat. ad juxtare, derived from juxta, near, but early confounded with a supposed derivation from justus, right)

adjustment to all sorts of conditions and to the varying demands of public opinion. It is in force in the See also:

UNITED

United See also:

KINGDOM

Kingdom, which first adopted it, in most See also:

EUROPEAN

European countries, in the greater part of North See also:

AMERICA

America, including both the United States and See also:

CANADA

Canada, in the other British dominions and elsewhere. 2.

The Scandinavian or Company System.—The principle of this method is the elimination of private profit on the ground that it removes an incentive to the encouragement of excessive drinking. A monopoly of the sale of liquor is entrusted to a See also:

BODY

body of citizens who have, or are supposed to have, no See also:

PERSONAL

personal interest in it, and the profits are applied to public purposes. The system, which is also called " disinterested management," is adopted in See also:

Sweden and See also:

Norway; and the principle has been applied in a modified form in See also:

England and See also:

FINLAND (Finnish, Suomi or Suomenmaa)

Finland by the operation of philanthropic See also:

SOCIETIES, LEARNED

societies which, however, have no monopoly but are on the same legal footing as See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary traders. 3. State Monopoly.—As the name implies, this system consists in retaining the liquor See also:

trade in the hands of the state, which thus secures all the profit and is at the same time able to exercise See also:

COMPLETE

complete control. It is adopted in See also:

Russia, in certain parts of the United States and, in regard to the wholesale trade, in Switzer-See also:

LAND

land. 4. Prohibition.—This may be general or local; in the latter See also:

case it is called " local See also:

OPTION (Lat. optio, choice, choosing, optare, to choose)

option " or " local See also:

VETO (Lat. for " I forbid ")

veto." The sale of liquor is made illegal in the See also:

hope of preventing drinking altogether or of diminishing it by making it more difficult. General prohibition has been tried in some See also:

AMERICAN

American states, and is still in force in a few; it is also applied to native races, under civilized See also:

RULE

rule, both in See also:

Africa and North America. Local prohibition is widely in force in the United States, Canada and See also:

AUSTRALASIA

Australasia, Sweden and Norway. In certain areas in other countries, including the United Kingdom, the sale of liquor is in a sense prohibited, not by the law, but by the owners of the See also:

PROPERTY

property who refuse to allow any public-houses. Such cases have nothing to do with the law, but they are mentioned here because reference is often made to them by See also:

ADVOCATES, FACULTY OF

advocates of legal prohibition.

End of Article: LIQUOR LAWS

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