On This Day, 25 April 1916

Birmingham Mail

Tuesday 25 April 1916

SOBER BANK HOLIDAY

EFFECT OF INCREASED PRICE OF BEER

There were only eleven prisoners Birmingham Police Court this morning, and of the offences drunkenness formed an element in only seven of the cases. There were two charges of assaulting the police, but one of these had no bearing on the Bank holiday, having occurred some days ago. Last Easter Tuesday there were twenty-four cases at the court, including sixteen in which drunkenness was a part of the charge.
A veteran licensed victualler with large premises in the centre of the city said in the course of a conversation with a “Mail” reporter this morning, that he attributed this extraordinary immunity from drunkenness partly to the restricted hours, but more especially to the higher prices charged for ale and beer. The fact was that the working man would not pay the additional halfpenny for half a pint. He declared that he had taken less money for drink this Eastertide than he ever had before in an experience in the trade extending over 30 years, and this, moreover, although he was now occupying larger premises than formerly.