Complete Works of Samuel Johnson, page 299
What will be the consequences of any encouragement given to a vice already almost irresistibly prevalent, I cannot determine; but surely nothing is too dismal to be expected from universal drunkenness, from a general depravity of all the most useful part of mankind, from an epidemical fury of debauchery, and an unbounded exemption from restraint.
How little any encouragement is wanting to promote the consumption of those execrable liquors, how much it concerns every man who has been informed of their quality, and who has seen their consequences, to oppose the use of them with his utmost influence, appears from the enormous quantity which the stills of this nation annually produce.
The number of gallons which appears from the accounts on the table to have been consumed last year, is seven millions; ‘a quantity sufficient to-destroy the health, interrupt the labour, and deprave the morals of a very great part of the nation; a quantity which, if it be suffered to continue undiminished, will, even without any legal encouragement of its use, in a short time destroy the happiness of the publick; and by impairing the strength, and lessening the number of manufacturers and labourers, introduce poverty and famine.
Instead, therefore, of promoting a practice so evidently detrimental to society, let us oppose it with the most vigorous efforts; let us begin our opposition by rejecting this bill, and then consider whether the execution of the former law shall be — enforced, or whether another more efficacious can be formed.
Lord CHOLMONDELEY then spoke to the following effect: — My lords, though it is undoubtedly the right of every person in this assembly to utter his sentiments with freedom, yet surely decency ought to restrain us from virulent, and justice from undeserved reproaches; we ought not to censure any conduct with more severity than it deserves, nor condemn any man for practices of which he is innocent.
This rule, which will not, I suppose, be controverted, has not, in my opinion, been very carefully observed in this debate; for surely nothing is more unjust than to assert or insinuate that the government has looked idly upon the advances of debauchery, or has suffered drunkenness to prevail without opposition.
Of the care with which this licentiousness has been opposed, no other proof can be required, than the laws which have, in the present reign, been made against it. Soon after the succession of his majesty, the use of compound spirits was prohibited; but this law being eluded by substituting liquors, so drawn as not to be included in the statutes, it was soon after repealed; and the people were, for a time, indeed, suffered to drink distilled liquors without restraint, because a proper method of restraining them was not easily to be found.
How-difficult it was to contrive means by which this vice might safely be prevented, appeared more plainly soon afterwards, when the outrageous licentiousness of the populace made it necessary to contrive some new law by which the use of that liquor might be prohibited, to which so much insolence, idleness, and dissoluteness were imputed.
The law which it is now proposed to repeal, was then zealously promoted by those who were then most distinguished for their virtue and their prudence. Every man who had any regard for the happiness of the publick, was alarmed at the inundation of licentiousness that overflowed this city, and began to spread itself to the remoter parts of the kingdom; and it was determined that nothing but a total. prohibition of distilled liquors could preserve the peace, and restore the virtue of the nation.
A law was therefore made, which prohibited the retail of distilled spirits; and it was expected that the people would immediately return to the use of more innocent and healthful liquors, and that the new art of sudden intoxication would be wholly suppressed; but with how little knowledge of the dispositions of the nation this hope was formed, the event quickly discovered; for no sooner was the darling liquor withheld, than a general murmur was raised over all parts of this great city; and all the lower orders of the people testified their discontent in the most open manner. Multitudes were immediately tempted by the prospect of uncommon gain, to retail the prohibited liquors; of these many were detected, and many punished; and the trade of information was so lucrative, and so closely followed, that there was no doubt but the law would produce the effect expected from it, and that the most obstinate retailers would, by repeated prosecutions, be discouraged from the practice.
But no sooner did the people find their favourite gratification in real danger, than they unanimously engaged in its defence; they discovered that without informers, the new law was without operation; and the informers were, therefore, persecuted by them without mercy, and without remission, till at last no man would venture to provoke the resentment of the populace for the reward to which information entitled him.
Thus, my lords, one law has been eluded by artifice, and another defeated by violence; the practice of drinking spirits, however pernicious, still continued to prevail; the magistrates could not punish a crime of which they were not informed, and they could obtain no information of a practice vindicated by the populace.
It is not, indeed, to be allowed that the custom of drinking distilled liquors, however prevalent, has yet arisen to the height at which the noble lord, who spoke last, seems to imagine it arrived; for though it is undoubtedly true that seven millions of gallons are annually distilled, it is not to be imagined that the whole quantity is wasted in debauchery! some is, exhausted by the necessities, and some by the conveniencies of life; a great part is exported to other countries, and the distillery promotes many other purposes than those of riot and licentiousness.
That too much, however, is used by the common people, and that intemperance has for some time prevailed in a degree unknown to any former age, cannot be denied; and, therefore, some means of reclaiming them ought to be tried. What then, my lords, is to be done? The first law was eluded, the second is defied: the first was executed, but produced no restraint; the second produces a restraint so violent, that it cannot be executed.
That the present law is ineffectual, cannot be doubted by those who assert, that the quantity of spirits distilled has every year increased; and there seems to remain, therefore, no other choice than that of suffering this increase to proceed, or to endeavour to prevent it by new regulations. The present law ought to be repealed, because it is useless; but surely some other ought to supply its place, which may be more easily enforced, and less violently opposed.
The bill now before us, my lords, will, in my opinion, answer all the purposes of the last, without noise, and without disturbance. By lessening the price of licenses, it will put a stop to clandestine retail; and by raising that of the liquors, it will hinder the common people from drinking them in their usual excess. Those who have hitherto lost their reason and limbs twice a-day by their drunkenness, will not be able, under the intended regulations, to commit the same crime twice in a week; and as the temptation of cheapness will be taken away, it may be hoped that the next generation will not fall into the same vice.
Since, therefore, my lords, the arguments in favour of this bill are at least plausible and specious; since the design appears to be worthy of this assembly, and the method proposed such as may be hoped to produce the effects which the projectors of the bill desire; and since the opinions of this house are at least divided, and the other has passed it almost without opposition, we ought at least, in my opinion, not to reject it with precipitation, but to refer it to a committee, that it may be fully considered; and those objections which cannot be answered, removed by proper alterations.
Lord CARTERET spoke to the following purport: — My lords, the bill now under our consideration appears to me to deserve a much more close regard than seems to have been paid to it in the other house, through which it was hurried with the utmost precipitation, and where it was passed, almost without the formality of a debate; nor can I think that earnestness with which some lords seem inclined to press it forward here, consistent with the importance of the consequences which may be with great reason expected from it,
It has been urged, that where so great a number have formed expectations of a national benefit from any bill, so much deference, at least, is due to their judgment, as that the bill should be considered in a committee. This, my lords, I admit to be in other cases a just and reasonable demand, and will readily allow that the proposal not only of a considerable number, but even of any single lord, ought to be fully examined, and regularly debated, according to the usual forms of this assembly. But in the present case, my lords, and in all cases like the present, this demand is improper, because it is useless; and it is useless, because we can do now all that we can do hereafter in a committee. For the bill before us is a money bill, which, according to the present opinion of the commons, we have no right to amend; and which, therefore, we have no need of considering in a committee, since the event of all our deliberations must be, that we are either to reject or pass it in its present state. For I suppose no lord will think this a proper time to enter into a controversy with the commons for the revival of those privileges to which I believe we have a right, and such a controversy the least attempt to amend a money bill will certainly produce.
To desire, therefore, my lords, that this bill may be considered in a committee, is only to desire that it may gain one step without opposition; that it may proceed through the forms of the house by stealth, and that the consideration of it maybe delayed till the exigencies of the government shall be so great as not to allow time for raising the supplies by any other method.
By this artifice, gross as it is, the patrons of this wonderful bill hope to obstruct a plain and open detection of its tendency. They hope, my lords, that the bill shall operate in the same manner with the liquor which it is intended to bring into more general use; and that as those that drink spirits are drunk before they are well aware that they are drinking, the effects of this law shall be perceived before we know that we have made it. Their intent is to give us a dram of policy, which is to be swallowed before it is tasted, and which, when once it is swallowed, will turn our heads.
But, my lords, I hope we shall be so cautious as to examine the draught which these state empirics have thought proper to offer us; and I am confident that a very little examination will convince us of the pernicious qualities of their new preparation, and show that it can have no other effect than that of poisoning the publick.
The law before us, my lords, seems to be the effect of that practice, of which it is intended likewise to be the cause, and to be dictated by the liquor of which it so effectually promotes the use; for surely it never before was conceived, by any man intrusted with the administration of publick affairs, to raise taxes by the destruction of the people.
Nothing, my lords, but the destruction of all the most laborious and useful part of the nation can be expected, from the license which is now proposed to be given not only to drunkenness, but to drunkenness of the most detestable and dangerous kind, to the abuse not only of intoxicating, but of poisonous liquors.
Nothing, my lords, is more absurd than to assert, that the use of spirits will be hindered by the bill now before us, or indeed that it will not be in a very great degree promoted by it. For what produces all kind of wickedness, but the prospect of impunity on one part, or the solicitation of opportunity on the other; either of these has too frequently been sufficient to overpower the sense of morality, and even of religion; and what is not to be feared from them, when they shall unite their force, and operate together; when temptations shall be increased, and terrour taken away?
It is allowed by those who have hitherto disputed on either side of this question, that the people appear obstinately enamoured of this new liquor; it is allowed on both parts, that this liquor corrupts the mind, enervates the body, and destroys vigour and virtue at the same time; that it makes those who drink it too idle and too feeble for work; and, while it impoverishes them by the present expense, disables them from retrieving its ill consequences by subsequent industry.
It might be imagined, my lords, that those who had thus far agreed would not easily find any occasion of dispute; nor would any man, unacquainted with the motives by which senatorial debates are too often influenced, suspect, that after the pernicious qualities of this liquor, and the general inclination among the people to the immoderate use of it, had been generally admitted, it could be afterwards inquired, whether it ought to be made more common, whether this universal thirst for poison ought to be encouraged by the legislature, and whether a new statute ought to be made to secure drunkards in the gratification, of their appetites.
To pretend, my lords, that the design of this bill is to prevent or diminish the use of spirits, is to trample upon common sense, and to violate the rules of decency as well as of reason. For when did any man hear, that a commodity was prohibited by licensing its sale? or that to offer and refuse is the same action?
It is, indeed, pleaded, that it will be made dearer by the tax which is proposed, and that the increase of the price will diminish the numbers of the purchasers; but it is at the same time expected, that this tax shall supply the expense of a war on the continent: it is asserted, therefore, that the consumption of spirits will be hindered, and yet that it will be such as may be expected to furnish, from a very small tax, a revenue sufficient for the support of armies, for the reestablishment of the Austrian family, and the repression of the attempts of France.
Surely, my lords, these expectations are not very consistent, nor can it be imagined that they are both formed in the same head, though they may be expressed by the same mouth. It is, however, some recommendation of a statesman, when of his assertions one can be found reasonable or true; and this praise cannot be denied to our present ministers; for though it is undoubtedly false, that this tax will lessen the consumption of spirits, it is certainly true, that it will produce a very large revenue, a revenue that will not fail but with the people from whose debaucheries it arises.
Our ministers will, therefore, have the same honour with their predecessors, of having given rise to a new fund, not indeed for the payment of our debts, but for much more valuable purposes, for the exaltation of our hearts under oppression, for the elevation of our spirits amidst miscarriages and disappointments, and for the cheerful support of those debts which we have lost hopes of paying. They are resolved, my lords, that the nation, which nothing can make wise, shall, while they are at its head, at least be merry; and since publick happiness is the end of government, they seem to imagine that they shall deserve applause by an expedient, which will enable every man to lay his cares asleep, to drown sorrow, and lose in the delights of drunkenness both the publick miseries and his own.
Surely, my lords, men of this unbounded benevolence, and this exalted genius, deserve such honours as were never paid before; they deserve to bestride a butt upon every signpost in the metropolis, or to have their countenances exhibited as tokens where this liquor is to be sold by the license which they have procured. They must be at least remembered to future ages, as the happy politicians who, after all expedients for raising taxes had been employed, discovered a new method of draining the last relicks of the publick wealth, and added a new revenue to the government; nor will those, who shall hereafter enumerate the several funds now established among us, forget, among the benefactors to their country, the illustrious authors of the drinking fund.
May I be allowed, my lords, to congratulate my countrymen and fellow-subjects upon the happy times which are now approaching, in which no man will be disqualified for the privilege of being drunk, when all discontent and disloyalty shall be forgotten, and the people, though now considered by the ministry as their enemies, shall acknowledge the lenity of that government, under which all restraints are taken away.
But to a bill for such desirable purposes, it would be proper, my lords, to prefix a preamble, in which the kindness of our intentions should be more fully explained, that the nation may not mistake our indulgence for cruelty, nor consider their benefactors as their persecutors. If, therefore, this bill be considered and amended, (for why else should it be considered?) in a committee, I shall humbly propose, that it shall be introduced in this manner: “Whereas the designs of the present ministry, whatever they are, cannot be executed without a great number of mercenaries, which mercenaries cannot be hired without money; and whereas the present disposition of this nation to drunkenness inclines us to believe, that they will pay more cheerfully for the undisturbed enjoyment of distilled liquors, than for any other concession that can be made by the government, be it enacted, by the king’s most excellent majesty, that no man shall hereafter be denied the right of being drunk, on the following conditions.”
This, my lords, to trifle no longer, is the proper preamble to this bill, which contains only the conditions on which the people of this kingdom are to be allowed henceforward to riot in debauchery, in debauchery licensed by law, and countenanced by the magistrates; for there is no doubt but those on whom the inventors of this tax shall confer authority, will be directed to assist their masters in their design to encourage the consumption of that liquor from which such large revenues are expected, and to multiply, without end, those licenses which are to pay a yearly tribute to the crown.
By this unbounded license, my lords, that price will be lessened, from the increase of which the expectations of the efficacy of this law are pretended; for the number of retailers will lessen the value as in all other cases, and lessen it more than this tax will increase it. Besides, it is to be considered, that at present the retailer expects to be paid for the danger which he incurs by an unlawful trade, and will not trust his reputation or his purse to the mercy of his customer, without a profit proportioned to the hazard; but when once the restraint shall be taken away, he will sell for common gain; and it can hardly be imagined, that at present he subjects himself to informations and penalties for less than sixpence a gallon.
