We note with pleasure that the Association for Public- house
Reform, agreed upon at the recent meeting at Grosvenor House, has already got under way. The annual subscription has been put at 2s. 6d., in order that the help and sympathy of the great number of persons who cannot afford a larger sum shall not be lost. It is needless to say that the Association hopes for larger subscriptions from those who can afford them. The Association will also, under exeep- tional circumstances, take personal service in lieu of any sub- seription, This is a wise course. It is most important to secure the help of working men, and to many working men even a 2s. 6d. subscription would be a real obstacle. The main objects of the Association are declared to be "the union and organisation of those who, recognising that the Public. house of Entertainment is necessary for the comfort, recrea- tion, and social intercourse of the people, are convinced that reform rather than abolition must be the aim of a sound Temperance Policy ; " and "the extension to Licensed Vic- tualling of the familiar English method of placing affairs of exceptional public concern in public hands, giving to their management the character of a public trust, and eliminating from it as far as possible the motive of private gain." Further, the Association will work for the diffusion of information as to the Scandinavian Licensing System and the Canteen System, "with a view to securing legal facilities for a fair trial on, suit. ably modified lines in our own country."
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