24 OCTOBER 1908, Page 3

In the course of the debate Mr. Abraham, the Welsh

Working-man Member, placed his finger on what we cannot help feeling is the weak spot in the Government case. Sunday closing, he declared, had put an end to a great deal of Sunday drinking, but he pointed out that there was a recrudescence of the evil "in a worse form" when clubs were opened. An incident in the debate which the House appeared to find very amusing was the state- ment by Mr. Rees about Gothenburg. He declared that he had been to that temperance district, and that nowhere else had he seen so many men thoroughly drunk early in the morning. In the divisions the proposals under the Bill were for the most part voted without amendment. In spite, however, of this triumphant working of the machine, there is a growing uneasiness as to the Government handling of their measure. They not only do not appear to know their own Bill, but often alter it without realising the effect of their alterations.