Welsh Journals

wealth of the trade enables it, and its self-interest impels it, to use all sorts of means and methods. respectable and other, to make the Press, the platform, literature, the pulpit, the medical profession and society, channels through which the drink superstitions may be maintained. And can it be questioned that all the power and influence, political, and every other kind, which the trade possesses, will be applied to the work of paralyzing every law that lessens its profits That was written 31 years ago. The direct personal financial interest there is in the trade is vastly greater and is far more widely spread now than it was then, and it has continued to baffle, defy, and defeat us from that day to this. As practical men we must face that problem and reduce that difficulty to a minimum if we are to grapple successfully with our greatest national evil. How is it to be done ? Clearly a distinct step forward would be taken if the direct personal financial interest of individuals in the trade were as far as possible eliminated, and the trade were placed under the control of an authority which would have no interest in pushing the sale of drink or in resisting restrictions and reforms, and conniving at breaches of the law. It has been suggested that the best way of doing this is for the State to buy up the trade and take it out of the hands of those who now own it and con- duct it. In that way the whole of the vested interest, compensation and time notice difficulties would be got rid of, Parliament and public opinion would be set at liberty, and the organised and subsidised opposition of interested persons working in every town and village in the country would disappear. The path of the Government would be clear for Parliament to do what it liked at once, and there can be no doubt that the changes that would be made, and the results that would be achieved would be such that we should look back upon the fumbling, squab- bling, and failure of the last half-century with a feeling of surprise and shame. Considerations of space forbid that I should enter upon a consideration of the terms of purchase in this article. They have been discussed elsewhere, and Committees have been appointed by the Government to report upon them. Broadly stated the proposal is that all breweries, distilleries, and licensed wholesale and retail trades- with the possible exception of importing and wholesale wine merchants-together with the greater part of the premises therein engaged should be acquired by the State ar pre-war market values, payment being made for them in Government stock, also at pre-war value adjusted to the market price of such stock at the time of payment. Reasonable allowances and compensations would be made, the object being to make an equitable bargain and arrive at a fair price. The export trade would doubtless be separated from the home trade, and be carried on under private as distinguished from State management. The actual amount of Government stock ssued for the purchase of the trade in England and Wales would pro- bably be between £ 275,000,000 and £ 300,000,000. This figure would include acquiring the freehold of all breweries and public-houses whether those freeholds now belong to the proprietors of the businesses or not. That was not contemplated in the Report of the Committee of 1915, but the State would thereby obtain a much freer hand in dealing with the businesses, and would acquire a large amount of valuable freehold property, much of which it could dispose of, and thereby substantially reduce the original purchase price, when it had consoli- dated the trade in vastly fewer premises than it now occupies, and had closed a large proportion of the breweries and many thousands of public-houses and beer-houses. For the comfort of those who may be alarmed at the thought of adding to our National Debt an amount equal to five or six weeks expenditure on the War, it may be pointed out-first, that no payments would be made in cash, except for small compensations under £ 500 second, that no charge would fall upon the Exchequer third, valuable properties and a profitable trade, the income from which would be ample to pay the income on the bonds and steadily redeem them, would be obtained. The suggestion that money would be borrowed from America to purchase the trade is, of course, a gross and preposterous misrepresentation. Some criticisms and objections may be noticed here. Mr. J. M. Henderson, M.P., has succeeded in crowding into one pamphlet more misapprehension and fallacy on this subject than anyone else has got into the same space. For instance, his contention that debenture holders would have to be paid in full and the shareholders would only get what was left cannot be maintained. Most debentures are only redeemable at the option of the borrower, and in those cases a debenture holder cannot, as a mortgagee or ordinary creditor can, claim repayment. All that he can claim is the payment of his interest as it becomes due. If he wishes to have his capital back he must sell his security for what it will fetch. In a sound undertaking his position is not so good as that of an ordinary unsecured creditor. If a man holds il,000 London and North Western Railway debentures all that he can claim from the Company is £ 30 a year. If he wants to realise his capital he must sell, and at present he would get about £ 600. But if the Company owed him £ 1,000 for work done or services rendered he could claim and would get the full £ 1,000. If a brewery debenture holder were paid the market value of his security in Government stock he would have a security of corresponding worth. If he desired a higher interest yielding investment he could sell his Government stock and buy another security cor- responding in price and yield to his brewery debenture, and he would have no ground for complaint. On the other hand to compel a brewery company to sell to the State and then repay debenture holders at par, as though the concern had voluntarily or compulsorily gone into liquidation, would be to do a gross wrong to the share- holders, and at present values in most cases give to the debenture holders an enormous financial advantage which they could not otherwise obtain. They could go into the market with the money thus obtained and buy 40, 50 or 60 per cent. as the case might be, more of other debentures giving a similar yield to those with which they had just parted. This indeed would be somewhat cynical but would not succeed." Again, because I had said that as the purchase would be on the basis of ascertained profits-that is to say a given