Whether such wishes are not more ardent than rational; whether their zeal against the abuse of things, indifferent in themselves, has not, as has often happened in other cases, hurried them into an indiscreet censure of the lawful use, I shall not now inquire; because it is superfluous to dispute about the propriety of measures, of which the possibility may be justly questioned.
This last act, my lords, was of this kind; the duties established by it were so high that they wholly debarred the lower classes of the, people from the liquor on which they were laid; and, therefore, it was found by a very short experience, that it was impossible to preserve it from violation; that there would be no end of punishing those who offended against it; and that severity produced rather compassion than terrour. Those who have suffered the penalties were considered as persons under unjust persecution, whom every one was obliged by the ties of humanity to encourage, reward, and protect; and those who informed against them, or encouraged informations, were detested, as the oppressors of the people. The law had, indeed, this effect, that it debarred, at least for a short time, all those from retailing spirits who lived in reputation; and, therefore, encouraged others to vend them in private places, where they were more likely to be drank to excess.
Having, therefore, made trial of violent and severe methods, and had an opportunity of obtaining a full conviction of their inefficacy, it is surely proper to profit by our experience, by that experience which shows us that the use of distilled liquors, under its present discouragements, has every year increased; and, therefore, proves at once the unprofitableness of the law now in force, and the necessity of some other by which the same purposes may be more certainly promoted.
The reformation of a vice so prevalent must be slow and gradual; for it is not to be hoped, that the whole bulk of the people will at once be divested of their habits; and, therefore, it will be rational to endeavour, not wholly to debar them from any thing in which, however absurdly, they place their happiness, but to make the attainment of it more and more difficult, that they may insensibly remit their ardour, and cease from their pursuit.
This, my lords, is proposed in the present bill, which, by the duties which are to be laid upon distilled spirits, will raise the price a third part, and as it is reasonable to expect, hinder a third part of the consumption; for it is observed, that those who drink them set no limits to their excesses, but indulge their appetites to the utmost of their power; if he, therefore, who used to spend threepence a-day in spirits, can now have no more than could formerly be bought for twopence, he must necessarily content himself with only two thirds of the quantity which he has hitherto drank; and, therefore, must by force, though, perhaps, not by inclination, be less intemperate.
It is not to be doubted, my lords, but that spirits will, by this additional duty, be made one third part dearer; for it has been hitherto observed, that retailers levy upon the buyer twice the duty that is paid to the government, as is every day apparent in other commodities; so that the yearly quantity of spirits which is usually distilled will cost five hundred thousand pounds more than before, a tax which, I suppose, those who are charged with this kind of debauchery will not be supposed able to pay, and which yet must be paid by them, unless they will be content with a less quantity.
That spirits will now be sold in every publick-house, of whatever denomination, has been, I believe, justly asserted; but the assertion has not been properly urged as an argument against the bill. One of the circumstances which has contributed to the enormous abuse of these liquors, has been the practice of retailing them in obscure places, by persons without character and without money; who, therefore, neither feared penalties nor infamy, and offended against law and decency with equal security. But when the cheapness of licenses shall make it convenient for every man that pleases to retail spirits in a publick manner, they will be generally drank in houses visited by publick officers, observed by the neighbouring inhabitants, and frequented by persons of morals and civility, who will always endeavour to restrain all enormous excesses, and oblige the masters of the houses to pay some regard to the laws. Those whose appetites are too importunate to be restrained, may now gratify them without being tempted to enter into houses of infamy, or mingling with beggars, or thieves, or 'profligates; and, therefore, though the use of spirits should continue the same, its consequences will be less fatal, since they may be had without the necessity of associating with wickedness.
But, my lords, it is not improbable, that by this bill the number of retailers, at least in this city, where they are most pernicious, may be lessened. It is well known, that the reason for which they are sold in cellars, and in the streets, is the danger of retailing them in other places; and that if they were generally sold by those who could procure the best of each sort, these petty traders would be immediately undone; for it is reasonable to imagine, my lords, that they buy the cheapest liquors, and sell them at the dearest rate.
When, therefore, reputable houses shall be opened for the sale of these liquors, decency will restrain some, and prudence will hinder others from endangering their health by purchasing those liquors which are offered in the street, and from hazarding their morals, or perhaps their lives, by drinking to excess in obscure places.
It is likewise to be remembered, my lords, that many of those who now poison their countrymen with petty shops of debauchery, are not able to purchase a license, even at the cheap rate at which it is now proposed, and that therefore they will be restrained from their trade by a legal inability; for it is not, my lords, to be imagined, that they will be defended with equal zeal by the populace, when the liquors may be had without their assistance, nor will information be equally infamous, when it is not the act only of profligates, who pursue the practice of it as a trade, but of the proper officers of every place, incited by the lawful venders of the same commodities, or of the venders themselves, who will now be numerous enough to protect each other, and whom their common interest will incite against clandestine dealers.