The Act usually
known in Scotland as the Forbes M‘Kenzie Act, 16 and 17
Victoria, cap. 67, came into operation May 21st, 1854. The bill,
about which so much has been said, as bearing on the cause of
sobriety and good order in Scotland, was introduced into the
House of Commons by the gentleman whose name it bears; but
having vacated his seat before the measure had made much
progress, it was watched over, and carried through, mainly by Mr
Cumming Bruce. In the House of Lords it was under the charge of
Lord Kinnaird, and, as I once stated at a public meeting in
Edinburgh, his lordship also did a great deal privately, by his
personal exertions, to promote its passing through the House of
Commons; and he may thus be said to have been the chief author
of the Act. Its short title is 6 Public-Houses (Scotland) Act.’
I need not state
to the people of Scotland that the leading provisions of the Act
are two in number—(1,) That there shall be no selling of
intoxicating drinks on Sundays, except to bona fide travellers,
and (2,) That there shall be no selling of such drinks during
any day of the week after eleven o’clock at night. These two
provisions are so manifestly just in themselves, and so
conducive to the welfare of society, that I am happy to say they
have commended themselves to the great body of the people of
this country.
There is,
however, an active and influential section of the community who
have always been opposed to these provisions, and who have been
using all the means in their power to get the Act modified or
repealed; and they have endeavoured to procure the appointment
of a Parliamentary Committee to inquire into the working of the
Act, with a view to accomplish their object in this indirect
way. The ostensible movers in this cause are a committee of
Glasgow publicans and spirit dealers, but they are privately
receiving the sympathy and support of influential distillers,
and other persons who do not publicly come forward to advocate
their cause. They are also supported in their efforts by a
portion of the public press, and by a small number of Scotch
members of Parliament.
Being always more
anxious to know what opponents haye to say against any cause of
which I have formed a decidedly favourable opinion, than to know
what friends say in its favour, I have read and heard much
against the ‘ Public-Houses Act;’ and if I understand the
objections of its opponents aright, they may be classed under
these heads :—
They say that,
both as regards the requirements for shutting up public-houses
during the entire Sunday (as compared with the former law, which
required them to be shut only during the hours of divine
service), and as regards restricting the business hours on
week-days to 11 o’clock at night, they are novelties in the
legislation of Scotland, of a Puritanical character, and
interfering with the liberty of the subject; that they are
unjust to the persons engaged in the spirit trade; that they
have proved injurious in their operation as regards all classes;
and in particular, that in place of diminishing drunkenness,
they have increased it—causing an enormous increase in the
consumption of whisky, amounting to nearly two millions of
gallons annually. These allegations have often been made, and
those last mentioned were embodied in an official memorial
recently prepared by the Glasgow Committee, and presented by
them to Sir George Grey, the Home Secretary, with a view to
induce him, on the part of the late Government, to appoint a
Parliamentary Committee of inquiry.
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