§ MR. JOHN WILSON (Durham, Mid.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (1) whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the published Police Returns for the City of Liverpool for the last five years show a steady decline in drunkenness in that city, the convictions for that offence having fallen from 16,042 in 1889 to 5,657 in 1894; (2) whether the Liverpool Police have, between 1888 and 1895 made any, and, if so, what, change in their methods of dealing with cases of drunkenness; (3) whether the Liverpool Police or the Home Office have made any, and, if so, what, change during the same period in the system of compiling or tabulating the statistics of drunkenness; and, (4) whether the Returns furnished to the Home Office by other municipalities show a similar diminution in intemperance?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY,) Lancashire, BlackpoolThe figures mentioned in the first paragraph of the hon. Member's question are correct, except that they represent prosecutions, and not convictions, for drunkenness. I understand that in 1889 an important change was made in Liverpool in the system of police inspection of licensed houses, and the Chief Constable believes that this alteration has largely conduced to the diminution of drunkenness. No change has been made in the system of compiling statistics which could materially affect these figures. The Returns from other municipalities do not show a similar diminution, but notwithstanding the marked improvement, I regret to say that the proportion of cases of drunkenness in Liverpool still stands high as compared with the Returns from other large towns.