20  iSypeiimental  Xegtslation
intentions,  and  on  the  most  plausible  theoretical
grounds,  Mr.  Gladstone’s  Government  greatly
extended  the  free  sale  of  wine  and  beer,  so  that
now  [February,  1880],  in  some  popular  wateringplaces,
  I  have  noticed  that  almost  every  third  shop
window  is  ornamented  with  a  pyramid  of  beer
bottles.  Yet  the  late  Government  have  only
succeeded  in  making  the  grocer’s  shop  the  avenue
to  the  publican’s  bar.  No  one  can  for  a  moment
believe  that  the  free  sale  of  liquors  for  home  use
has  in  the  least  degree  weakened  the  publican’s
hold  on  his  customers.  If  I  had,  on  a  priori
grounds,  to  plan  out  a  scheme  of  liquor  traffic,  I
should  just  reverse  the  existing  law  relating  to
Beershops  and  Grocers’  Licenses.  I  would  prohibit ­
  the  “off”  sale  of  liquor  on  any  premises
where  other  articles  were  sold;  the  purchaser
desiring  to  buy  wine,  beer,  or  spirits  for  home
use  should  be  obliged  to  go  to  some  one  of  a
comparatively  few  well-marked  shops  dealing  in
those  things  alone.  On  the  other  hand,  where
liquor  is  sold  for  consumption  on  the  premises,  I
should  oblige  the  seller  to  furnish  food  and  reasonable ­
  sitting  accommodation.  This  would  be
nothing  more  than  a  return  to  the  old  law  about
Licensed  Victuallers,  which  yet  exists  in  the  letter,
though  it  has  been  allowed  to  fall  into  practical
abeyance.  The  very  reasonable  law  obliging
publicans  to  afford  general  entertainment  was
sadly  broken  down  by  the  Beershops  Act,  which