A GREAT DISTILLER ON " NO TREATING."
[TO THE EDITOR OF TRH " SPEOTATOR.1
SER,—The enclosed cutting from the Huddersfield Examiner of November 11th may interest your readers.—I am, Sir, &c.,
G. D.
" Sir Thomas Dewar, of the great whisky firm, stated in the course of an interview with the London correspondent of the New York Sun, that in his opinion the anti-treating regulation in London was likely to be a permanent feature of licensing in this country. ',It will,' he said, according to this authority, ' undoubtedly diminish fflunkenness, and that is a condition that distillers and retailers alike will welcome. The drunkard,' he continued, ' is a nuisance, and I am firmly in favour of keeping drink just as far away from the habitual drunkard as possible. The anti-treating regulation will undoubtedly strike a heavy blow at the retail trade at first. I estimate that receipts will show an immediate decrease of 20 per cent., but ultimately the decrease will be about 10 per cent.' Then he expressed a view which exactly corresponds with that expressed above. ' In my opinion' ' he declared, all the restrictions on drink brought about by the war in Munition Areas will, if they work successfully, be the basis for drink legislation in peace time. There never will be a return to the conditions that prevailed before the war. It may seem strange for me, a distiller, to say so, but in my opinion there are 50 per Dent. too many licences in Great Britain and Ireland to-day. I would like to see that 60 per cent cancelled, of course with proper compensation for the holders.' "
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