- (1) The maximum amount of duty payable in respect of a retailer's on-licence granted to the proprietor or occupier of a music hall or other similar place of public entertainment shall, if the annual value does not exceed two thousand pounds, and if the proprietor or occupier of the music hall, or other similar place of public entertainment, agrees that the conditions set out in this Section shall be a condition of his licence, be twenty pounds instead of fifty pounds.
- (2) Provision six of the provisions applicable to retailer's on-licences in the First Schedule to the Finance (1009–10) Act, 1910 (which relates to music halls included with other premises), shall, in cases where the annual value of the music hall does not exceed two thousand pounds, and the proprietor or occupier of the premises agrees that the condition set out in this Section shall be a condition of his licence, be read as if twenty pounds were substituted for fifty pounds.
- (3) The condition referred to in this Section is that no sale of intoxicating liquor shall be allowed in any part of the auditorium, and that the sale of intoxicating liquor shall be restricted to persons employed in or bonâ fide attending the performances, and to the time of the performances, and during thirty minutes immediately preceding the commencement or immediately succeeding the termination of each performance.
§ Motion made and Question proposed, "That the Clause be read a second time."
§ Mr. BOOTHI beg to move this Clause, which relates to the duty upon music halls. Much has been done by those connected with music halls to improve the class of performance. Hon. Members will be aware that a generation ago the 2863 music halls largely consisted of places where a man took the chair with a hammer, he went through a programme, and drinks were sold.
§ Mr. BOOTHIt was sometimes necessary to use the hammer to call the low comedians to order. This Clause is a matter of business. The theatres pay a lower duty because they are not allowed to sell drink in the auditorium, but only at the bar and in specified hours. What I submit therefore, is that where a music hall conforms to the practice of the theatre and only sells drink at bars and in restricted hours it should only pay the same duty as the theatre. I put it forward as a matter of pure commercial justice. I further claim that I ought to have the support of the Temperance party in this House, although I do not say that I have brought the Clause forward as their spokesman. I simply bring it forward as a matter of business justice, but I should think if it had any effect it would be to cause music halls in some cases to give up the sale of drink in the auditorium and be content with bars on account of the difference in the duty. Wherever that took place, I think everyone would agree it would make for the cause of temperance, and it is a matter of considerable astonishment to me that some Members of this House are asking for this Clause to be declined in the interests of temperance. I really cannot see that the facts would bear out their case. Strong efforts have been made to get the music halls to raise the tone of the performance and to have less drinking in the auditorium. The better music halls have confined the sale of intoxicating liquors to the bars, and I think this would be just another step forward in the progressive evolution of music halls. I apologise to the Committee. Last year I put this on the Notice Paper, but was not here to move it, and I am exceedingly anxious that the mere hour of the clock at which this has come on shall not lead us to do scant justice to people who embark large sums of money in a perfectly legitimate business, and who, I say, are entitled to justice at the hands of this Committee.
§ Sir RUFUS ISAACSThe difficulty of the proposed Clause is that you cannot properly compare the refreshment sold at music halls with the drink sold at theatres. 2864 I should have thought there was not much doubt that more liquor would be sold at a music hall than at a theatre. It does not seem very much for a house of the annual value of £2,000 to pay this licence duty, and to reduce it from £50 to £20 would be reducing it far too much. Therefore the Government cannot accept the Amendment.
§ Mr. BOOTHI am sorry to hear that reply. It may be that the Government do consider that to drop from £50 to £20 is too great, but surely no one can defend the case of a music hall with drinking facilities in the auditorium as well as the bars paying exactly the same duty as a music hall which has not the same facilities. Can it be suggested that the music hall with only bars, and selling under these restricted conditions, will sell the same amount of liquor as the music hall in which it is sold in the auditorium, and where waiters go round calling "Orders, gentlemen"? I submit that you cannot upon any business footing charge the same duty upon the two classes of music halls. If the Government had a better proportion to suggest, and said that the music hall in which drink was sold in the auditorium should pay the £50, but that the music hall where drink was sold only in the bars should pay a little more than the theatre, there might be something in the argument, but they cannot defend the same rate for both kinds of music halls, because the difference in facilities is so great. I appeal to the Government that if they will consider this point between now and Report with a view to making it commercially sound and in better proportion, I am willing to withdraw the Clause, but if it is a simple negative against the Clause I shall take it to a division.
§ Mr. WEDGWOODThe Government have conceded a lower rate of licence duty for public houses in Scotland which are closed on Sunday, and I submit the case now put before them by the hon. Member for Pontefract (Mr. Booth) is exactly on all fours with that case. My hon. Friend suggests that a music hall which does not allow drinking in the auditorium should be treated on better terms so far as the licence is concerned than a music hall which does allow drinking in the auditorium, and just as we supported the concession to the hon. Baronet the Member for Ayr Burghs (Sir George Younger) because we believed it would induce more public houses to close on Sunday, so, I think, those of us who are in favour of 2865 temperance ought to vote in favour of this Amendment, because that too will induce music halls, in order to get the advantage of the lower duty, to cease the sale of drink in the auditorium and to confine it to the bars. Therefore, if my hon. Friend goes to a Division I shall support him. I think the Government, seeing that they have made an exactly similar concession to
§ hon. Members opposite, might make one concession such as this to hon. Members on their own side of the House.
§ Question put, "That the Clause be read a second time."
§ The Committee divided: Ayes, 93; Noes, 153.
2867| Division No. 205.] | AYES. | [2.20 a.m. |
| Agg-Gardner, James Tynte | Gastrell, Major W. (Houghton) | Perkins, Walter Frank |
| Archer-Shee, Major M. | Gibbs, George Abraham | Peto, Basil Edward |
| Ashley, Wilfrid W. | Glazebrook, Capt. Philip K. | Pollock, Ernest Murray |
| Baird, John Lawrence | Goldsmith, Frank | Pryce-Jones, Col. E. (M'tgom'y B'ghs.) |
| Baker, Sir Randolf L. (Dorset, N.) | Greene, Walter Raymond | Rawson, Colonel Richard H. |
| Banbury, Sir Frederick George | Guinness, Hon. W.E. (Bury S. Edmunds) | Richardson, Thomas (Whitehaven) |
| Barlow, Montague (Salford, South) | Gwynne, R. S. (Sussex, Eastbourne) | Roberts, S. (Sheffield, Ecclesall) |
| Barnston, Harry | Hall, D. B. (Isle of Wight) | Ronaldshay, Earl of |
| Beach, Hon. Michael Hugh Hicks | Hall, Fred (Dulwich) | Royds, Edmund |
| Benn, Arthur Shirley (Plymouth) | Hardie, J. Keir (Merthyr Tydvil) | Rutherford, Watson (L'rpool, W. Derby) |
| Benn, Ion Hamilton (Greenwich) | Henderson, Major H. (Berkshire) | Salter, Arthur Clavell |
| Bennett-Goldney, Francis | Hewins, William Albert Samuel | Sanders, Robert Arthur |
| Bigland, Alfred | Hill, Sir Clement L. | Sandys, G. J. |
| Boles, Lieut.-Col. Dennis Fortescue | Hohler, Gerald Fitzroy | Stanier Beville |
| Boscawen, Sir Arthur S. T. Griffith- | Home, E. (Surrey, Guildford) | Starkey, John Ralph |
| Boyton, James | Jardine, Ernest (Somerset, E.) | Stewart, Gershom |
| Bridgeman, W. Clive | Jessel, Captain H. M. | Swift, Rigby |
| Burn, Colonel C. R. | Joynson-Hicks, William | Thynne, Lord A. |
| Campion, W. R. | Kerry, Earl of | Tobin, Alfred Aspinall |
| Cassel, Felix | Kyffin-Taylor, G. | Touche, George Alexander |
| Castlereagh, Viscount | Larmor, Sir J. | Walrond, Hon. Lionel |
| Cautley, Henry Strother | Lewisham, Viscount | Ward, A. S. (Herts, Watford) |
| Chambers, James | Locker-Lampson, G. (Salisbury) | Wheler, Granville C. H. |
| Clive, Captain Percy Arthur | Mackinder, Halford J. | White, Major G. D. (Lancs., Southport> |
| Coates, Major Sir Edward Feetham | Macmaster, Donald | Willoughby, Major Hon. Claude |
| Dalrymple, Viscount | Mason, James F. (Windsor) | Wilson, W. T. (Westhoughton) |
| Denniss, E. R. B. | Mildmay, Francis Bingham | Wood, John (Stalybridge) |
| Dickson, Rt. Hon. C. Scott | Mills, Hon. Charles Thomas | Worthington-Evans, L. |
| Duke, Henry Edward | Neville, Reginald J. N. | Wright, Henry Fitzherbert |
| Eyres-Monsell, Bolton M. | Newdegate, F. A. | |
| Falle, Bertram Godfray | Newton, Harry Kottingham | TELLERS FOR THE AYES.—Mr. |
| Fleming, Valentine | Pease, Herbert Pike (Darlington) | Booth and Mr. Malcolm. |
| NOES. | ||
| Abraham, William (Dublin Harbour) | Dillon, John | Illingworth, Percy H. |
| Acland, Francis Dyke | Duffy, William J. | Isaacs, Rt. Hon. Sir Rufus |
| Armitage, Robert | Duncan, C. (Barrow-in-Furness) | Jones, Edgar (Merthyr Tydvil) |
| Baker, H. T. (Accrington) | Elibank, Rt. Hon. Master of | Jones, Henry Haydn (Merioneth) |
| Bathurst, Charles (Wilts, Wilton) | Esmonde, Dr. John (Tipperary, N.) | Joyce, Michael |
| Bentham, G. J. | Esmonde, Sir Thomas (Wexford, N.) | Kellaway, Frederick George |
| Black, Arthur W. | Farrell, James Patrick | Kennedy, Vincent Paul |
| Boland, John Pius | Ffrench, Peter | Kilbride, Denis |
| Bowerman, C. W. | Field, William | Lambert, Richard (Wilts, Cricklade) |
| Boyle, Daniel (Mayo, North) | Fitzgibbon, John | Law, Hugh A. (Donegal, W.) |
| Brace, William | Flavin, Michael Joseph | Lewis, John Herbert |
| Brady, Patrick Joseph | George, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd | Lundon, Thomas |
| Brocklehurst, W. B. | Gill, A. H. | Lyell, Charles Henry |
| Burke, E. Haviland- | Greig, Col. J. W. | Lynch, A. A. |
| Burns, Rt. Hon. John | Guest, Hon. Frederick E. (Dorset, E.) | Macdonald, J. Ramsay (Leicester) |
| Byles, Sir William Pollard | Gulland, John William | Maclean, Donald |
| Carr-Gomm, H. W. | Hackett, John | Macnamara, Rt. Hon. Dr. T. J. |
| Clancy, John Joseph | Hall, Frederick (Normanton) | MacNeill, John G. S. (Donegal, South) |
| Clough, William | Hancock, J. G. | Macpherson, James Ian |
| Clynes, John R. | Harcourt, Rt. Hon. Lewis (Rossendale) | MacVeagh, Jeremiah |
| Collins, G. P. (Greenock) | Harcourt, Robert V. (Montrose) | McGhee, Richard |
| Collins, Stephen (Lambeth) | Harvey, W, E. (Derbyshire, N.E.) | McKenna, Rt. Hon. Reginald |
| Condon, Thomas Joseph | Havelock-Allan, Sir Henry | Markham, Sir Arthur Basil |
| Cornwall, Sir Edwin | Hayden, John Patrick | Marshall, Arthur Harold |
| Crooks, William | Hayward, Evan | Mason, David M. (Coventry) |
| Crumley, Patrick | Henderson, Arthur (Durham) | Masterman, Rt. Hon. C. F. G. |
| Cullinan, John | Henry, Sir Charles | Meehan, Francis E. (Leitrim, N.) |
| Davies, Ellis William (Eifion) | Higham, John Sharp | Molloy, Michael |
| Davies, Timothy (Lincs., Louth) | Hills, John Waller | Mooney, John J. |
| Dawes, J. A. | Hinds, John | Morison, Hector |
| Delany, William | Hogge, James Myles | Muldoon, John |
| Denman, Hon. Richard Douglas | Howard, Hon. Geoffrey | Munro, R. |
| Devlin, Joseph | Hudson, Walter | Murray, Captain Hon. Arthur C. |
| Nannetti, Joseph P. | Pointer, Joseph | Sheehy, David |
| Needham, Christopher T. | Power, Patrick Joseph | Shortt, Edward |
| Nolan, Joseph | Price, C. E. (Edinburgh, Central) | Simon, Sir John Allsebrook |
| O'Brien, Patrick (Kilkenny) | Primrose, Hon. Neil James | Smith, Albert (Lancs., Clitheroe) |
| O'Connor, John (Kildare, N.) | Pringle, William M. R. | Smyth, Thomas F. (Leitrim, S.) |
| O'Doherty, Philip | Raffan, Peter Wilson | Stanley, Albert (Staffs, N.W.) |
| O'Donnell, Thomas | Rea, Rt. Hon. Russell (South Shields) | Tennant, Harold John |
| O'Dowd, John | Rea, Walter Russell (Scarborough) | Thorne, G. R. (Wolverhampton) |
| O'Grady, James | Reddy, Michael | Thorne, William (West Ham) |
| O'Kelly, Edward P. (Wicklow, W.) | Redmond, John E. (Waterford) | Trevelyan, Charles Phillips |
| O'Malley, William | Redmond, William (Clare, E.) | Wadsworth, John |
| O'Neill, Dr. Charles (Armagh, S.) | Roberts, Charles H. (Lincoln) | Webb, H. |
| O'Shaughnessy, P. J. | Roberts, G. H. (Norwich) | Wedgwood, Josiah C. |
| O'Shee, James John | Robertson, J. M. (Tyneside) | White, J. Dundas (Glasgow, Tradeston) |
| O'Sullivan, Timothy | Roche, Augustine (Louth) | White, Patrick (Meath, North) |
| Outhwaite, R. L. | Rowlands, James | Williams, J. (Glamorgan) |
| Parker, James Halifax | Scanlan, Thomas | |
| Pearce, Robert (Staffs, Leek) | Scott, A. MacCallum (Glas., Bridgeton) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES.—Mr. |
| Phillips, John (Longford, S.) | Seely, Col. Rt. Hon. J. E. B. | Wedgwood Benn and Mr. W. Jones. |