136 THE ALCOHOL PROBLEM 
the public house, as there is no floating population of 
strangers. who can come in and misbehave themselves. 
They can always be sure of meeting friends who will 
join them in a chat, a game, or a drink, and if drinking 
is not desired, there is no sense of compulsion. Drink- 
ing to excess. is strongly resented, and the committee 
would censure the steward and the member if the 
matter came to their notice. 
On the other hand, some of the clubs are little more 
than drink shops. In some instances they occupy 
licensed premises which had been closed on the ground 
of redundancy and upon which compensation had 
been paid. The chairman of the Bradford Licensing 
Magistrates said: * “ In eight cases of clubs recently 
formed they were established in premises recently 
deprived of licences which were considered very 
undesirable.” Again, the chairman of the Birming- 
ham Justices saidt that “ on December 12 last the 
Committee paid [£4,590 by way of compensation for 
the closing of the Vine, Alma Street, Aston. On 
January 1 the place was opened as a club within 
three weeks of the time it was closed as a public house. 
We regard this as a scandal.” As has been well 
stated, “ Our present method of automatic registra- 
tion of clubs, with its exceptional privileges, including 
the absence of supervision and control, is inconsistent 
with our established licensing arrangements as they 
apply to public houses, beer houses and other licensed 
premises. The two sets of law clash and conflict. . ... 
The club law now obstructs and largely negatives the 
¥ The Times, February 12, 1925. 
t Birmingham Post, January 23, 1926. 
I “ Monthly Notes of Temp. Legis. Lg..” 1027. p. 18.