"But this was the least of the evils which were effected by that act. A clause, which was still more injurious, was that which prescribed that the liquor _must be drunk upon the premises of the beer-house_, i. e. either in the beer-house or on a bench just outside the door. "This has the effect in many cases, where the poor would otherwise take the beer home to their own cottages, of forcing the young men who wish to have a little to drink, to sit down and take it in the society of the worst people of the neighbourhood, who always, as a matter of course, spend their leisure in the tavern. I am convinced that nothing can be more injurious in its effects upon the poor than this clause. It may be said to _force_ the honest labourers into the society and companionship of the most depraved, and so necessarily to demoralize the young and honest labourer. "The following is the number of gallons of _native_ proof spirits on which duty was paid for home consumption in the United Kingdom, in the undermentioned years:— Years. Gallons. 1843 18,841,890 1844 20,608,525 1845 23,122,588 1846 24,106,697 "To the above must be added the number of gallons of foreign and colonial spirits retained for home consumption, as follows:— ┌───────┬────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ No. of Gallons of Home │ │ Years.│ No. of Gallons of │ and Foreign Spirits consumed │ │ │ Foreign, &c. Spirits. │ in the United Kingdom. │ ├———————┼————————————————————————┼——————————————————————————————┤ │ 1843 │ 3,161,957 │ 22,026,289 │ │ 1844 │ 3,242,606 │ 22,042,905 │ │ 1845 │ 3,549,889 │ 26,672,477 │ │ 1846 │ 4,252,237 │ 28,360,934 │ └———————┴————————————————————————┴——————————————————————————————┘ "From the above statistics it appears that the consumption of spirits in the United Kingdom is increasing much more rapidly than the population! "The number of licenses granted to retailers of spirits or beer amounted, in 1845, to 237,345; that is, there was to be found, in 1845, a retailer of beer or spirits in every 115 of the population! Of the beer licenses, 68,086 were for dwellings rated under £20 per annum, and 35,340 were licenses for premises rated under £10 per annum! This shows how large a proportion of the beer-shops are situated in the poorest districts, for the use of the poorest classes.[102]