The Modern Public House
| Date | 01 July 1938 |
| Published date | 01 July 1938 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3801100309 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Modern
Public
House
By
GERALD
MILLAR
IT
may seem austere to call so ancient and hearty an institu-
tion as the public house an instrument of control. Yet that
is exactly what it is. Contrast the highly regulated "
pub
"
with the almost wholly
unregulated"
drinking"
club, and the
point is
plain-too
plain to need further emphasis for police
readers.
It
has been said that the applicant for an on-licence
must have the character of an archbishop. An East London
licensee the other day "engagingly summarized the com-
plexities of his job, which he nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed:
"
There
are dozens and dozens of offences which can be com-
mitted in an hour. An offence may not only mean a fine.
There
is
always the very grave responsibility of losing one's licence, and thus
one's living.
There
is surely no trade so restricted legally as the licensed
trade. We sell drink,
but
must not permit drunkenness; we provide
games,
but
must not allow gaming; we must give full measure,
but
must not give over measure; until, eventually, the poor publican
becomes criminally minded and begins to scent a possible illegality in
his every action."
He must not play his own piano, yet must make out a weekly
return, for the Performing Right Society, of the tunes played
on it:
"all
my customers are not expert
pianists-I
have
spent many a restless night trying to decide whether apar-
ticular tune was '
The
Blue
Danube'
or ' Colonel Bogey
'-or
neither."
Nor
had he only the police and
the
Performing
Right Society to deal with: there was the inspectorate.
Lastly, there were his own brewers, to whom he paid a
generous tribute and who insisted on a high standard of
service and cleanliness.
Every social
student-and
the police are social
students-
will have noticed a vast improvement in the public house.
35°
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