Soon after the outbreak of War, drastic measures were enforced on the sale of intoxicating liquor. On the 31st August, 1914, the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act, 1914, was passed, and under its provisions numerous Orders were made by the Licensing Justices, suspending the sale or consumption of liquor on licensed premises or clubs. Similar Orders were also made by Naval and Military Authorities. In June, 1915, the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) was constituted under an Order in Council, which established the Defence of the Realm (Liquor Control) Regulations 1915, pursuant to Act of Parliament. Statistics for the offence of Drunkenness showed a remarkable decrease year by year, as will be seen from the following Table:-- ------------------+---------------------------------------------- |Convictions for Drunkenness in England & Wales Year +--------------+---------------+--------------- | Males. | Females. | Total ------------------+--------------+---------------+--------------- 1913 | 153,112 | 35,765 | 188,877 1914 | 146,517 | 37,311 | 183,828 1915 | 102,600 | 33,211 | 135,811 1916 | 62,946 | 21,245 | 84,191 1917 | 34,103 | 12,307 | 46,410 1918 | 21,853 | 7,222 | 29,075 Decrease per cent | | | since 1913 | 86 | 79 | 85 ------------------+--------------+---------------+--------------- Another remarkable feature of prison statistics during the War was the practical disappearance of the Vagrant, convicted of Begging and Sleeping-Out. In the years before the War, as many as 27,000 had been committed annually for this offence (see chapter XIII), while in 1918-19 only 1,066 were received, and these were said to have been largely the aged and the mentally or physically weak.