The British system has the great merit of combining adaptability to different circumstances and to changing customs with continuity and steadiness of administration. The advantages of abandoning it for some other are more than doubtful, the difficulties are real and serious. Over a very long period it has been repeatedly readjusted in conformity with the movement of public opinion and of national habits; while under it the executive have gradually got the traffic well in hand, and a great and progressive improvement in order and conduct has taken place. The process is gradual but sure, and the record will compare favourably with that of any other comparable country. Further readjustment will follow and is desirable. The great defect of the law is its extreme complexity; it needs recasting and simplification. There are too many kinds of licence, and the classification does not correspond with the actual conditions of the traffic. Some licences are obsolete and superfluous; others make no distinction between branches of the trade which fulfil entirely different functions and require different treatment. The full or publican's licence, which is incomparably the most important, places on the same legal footing hotels, restaurants, village inns and mere drinking bars, and the lack of distinction is a great stumbling-block. In the attempt made in 1908 to introduce new legislation it was found necessary to incorporate distinctions between different classes of establishment, although that was not contemplated in the original bill. It will always be found necessary whenever the subject is seriously approached, because the law has to deal with things as they actually are. It does not fall within the scope of this article to discuss the numerous controversial questions which arise in connexion with various legislative proposals for dealing with the liquor traffic; but an account of the methods which it has been proposed to adopt from other countries will be found below. THE UNITED STATES