PREFACE 
vii 
It is certainly remarkable that measures which have 
relieved this country of three-fifths of the opprobrium 
of drunkenness which prevailed fifteen years ago— 
which have therefore realised the temperance objective 
of that date to a vast extent—and have diminished the 
charges against the drink trade in a like degree, have 
been allowed to pass unnoticed. 
Dr. Vernon’s book will, it may be hoped, contribute 
to modify this position. He has treated the available 
evidence in a scientific and impartial spirit, and his 
pages will thoroughly repay perusal. I can praise his 
method and his independence of preconceived opinion 
the more unreservedly as I am not prepared—without 
further examination—to endorse all the details of his 
suggested scheme of differential taxation, ingenious as 
they may be. The principal merit of his scheme is 
that it can be introduced at any time, either in stages 
or in a complete form, and it might at once begin to 
exert some influence in promoting sobriety. 
It has the further merit of giving a general direction 
to tax reform, but the effect of such a reform would 
have to be considered in connection with commercial 
relationships with foreign powers. Dr. Vernon’s pro- 
posals might cause difficulty. They might, on the 
other hand, afford an instrument of negotiation. 
In addition, I consider that the present situation is 
amenable to treatment (a) by a maintenance of the 
measures already tried and found so remarkably 
effective—viz., physiological restriction of hours and 
adequate taxation; (b) certain administrative changes 
in the licensing system. 
If the two hostile camps, Trade and Temperance, 
only knew it, they have one common enemy—ill-