THE NEW TEMPERANCE LAW IN ENGLAND.
WITH the beginning of the year the new law in relation to the selling of liquor to children has gone into operation, and there is already evidence of its effectiveness. Hitherto small children could be sent to the public house for beer or whisky, and too often the taste for liquor was developed by means of the surreptitious sips on the street or stairs. A special provision of the new law prohibits the selling of liquor to children under fourteen years of age, except “in sealed receptacles, in quantities not less than one pint, for consumption off the premises.” The penalty for infraction is a fine, for which the sender of the messenger is liable equally with the publican. To quote again from the law: “The expression ‘sealed’ means secured with any substance without the destruction of which the cork, plug, or stopper can not be withdrawn.” Naturally the English publicans are perturbed over this virtual cutting off of a valuable part of their trade. Some idea of the immensity of the liquor traffic in England was given the other day by Mr. John Burns, the Socialist labor leader. According to his statement, it has taken the twelve million members of friendly societies fifty years to gather £40,000,000, and each year four times that sum is spent by Englishmen for liquor. The amount of money spent for liquor, betting, and sport represents an average of fifty days’ work for every laboring man in England each year.—Evangelist.