After 30 years of continued agitation Scottish temperance reformers secured the passing in 1913, of an Act which gave local option to Scotland. The Act came into force on June 1 this year, and the next six months will see the development in all parts of Scot-Jand of an electoral campaign which, in intensity, in cost, in its use all the arts of publicity will be comparable only to the American prohibition agitation, There will be a poll on the local government franchise in every town and, district of Scotland, and out of that vote will corns the choice of one of three alternatives—whether each area is to be "dry"—to have all its licences closed; or to have its drinking facilities reduced by one-fourth, or to remain as it is, A Certain Drovoat.
A good part of Scotland will go "dry—even the liquor-trade campaignors anticipate that—but there are many doubtful areas where the issue will depend on the force of the appeal to the electors and the degree in which the apathy of the mary man and woman to re cord a vote can be overcome.
Local option is to be exercised in fairly small areas. There will be 1,900 voting areas in Scotland. The electoral unit in the counties is the parish. In the burghs with a Po} ion of less than 25,000 it is the whole burgh; in the burghs with over 25,000 the municipal ward. The effect of this may be curious. Glasgow has 37 wards. Some of them will almost certainly go "dry," others will remain as ut present, so that while the public-houses on one side of the street may be closed, those on the other side, being in a different ward, may remain open.
How rae Pow Witt be TaKen.
The procedure under the Act ma; be set out briefly. Beginning with August 15, requisition forms demanding a poll will be distributed, and must be returned to the clerk of the local authority during the month of September. Before the demand for a poll can be granted the requisition must be signed by not less than one-tenth of the local government electorate. Arrangements will then be made for the poll to be taken on a day in November or December, and on that day all licensed premises must remain closed during polling hours. In the large towns the day will probably be the same as the municipal elections—November 2. The vote will be by ballot, and the paper will bear the three resolutions on which the electors can yote. The official form of the paper will be:—a 1, No-change resolution (means that the powers and discretion of the licensing court shall zemain unchanged.)
2. Limiting resolution (means that the number of certificates
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.