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270 BfETH0D.S OF SOCIAL REFORM.
provided that tho necessary Act for the purpose could be
carried without stopping all other legislation on the subject.
Within the last twolvs months Sir Wilfrid Lawson and hia
followers have had the excellent good sense to drop the Permissive
Bill, and proceed, by way of Parliamentary resolution,
in ftivour of “local option.” I really do not know exactly
what is meant by “local option.” Perhaps tho Alliance itself
does not, know; tho wisest course would be not to know, that
is, to leavo a lntitudo of meaning. In any case they have
changed their policy. For year after year, €or nearly the
avcragc length of a generation, it was the eleven clauses and
on(% ~~hcilulc. of the l’ermissive Prohibitory Liquor Bill, pure
and sixnple. Xow it is “ local option.” Even if “local
option ” tuenn option of prohibition, a resolutiou is R more
tentntive method of procedure than tho precise clauses of the
cclelratccl Hill. But if, DY f fondly hope, I‘ local option”
will bo interpreted to menu option for local authorities to
regulnto the liquor traffic in the way thought to be most
suitriblo to the locality, including prohibition when clearly
dosired by tho inhabitants, then the matter assumes A
much more hopeful aspect. Not only will the resistance to
such n proposal bo far less than to tho Per~oissive Bill,
but thoro will bo considerable probability that when passed
some successful erporiments will be carried out,. In fact, this
#‘local option ” would just be the mode of giving a wide field
for diverse experiments which I am advocating. The teetotalers
would bo nt liberty to try their experiments, but they
would not in the meantime stop the progress of many other
experiments, some of which might, in the course of ten or
fiftccn years, offer n sound solution of this most difficult
problem. Of course I am aware that this question of the
driuk traffic is to n considerable extent a politica.1 one. There
is R good deal which I might say upon this topic, but it would
not he suitabla to the tenor of my theme. If the political
conditiou of E~~gland be such that the social reform of the
people is not the main purpose of our Gorernment, then we
must hope that there are brighter lands where the political
position is very Merent.