THE PUBLIC HOUSE A PUBLIC NEED [Anti Temperance Bill poster]

Hartlepool; F W Mason, circa 1900., 1900. Undated circa 1886. Poster approximately 77 cm x 51 cm. Single sheet with bold titles and underlining. Creases from folding and a little surface soiling; several small nicks to edge and 2 cm tear central upper edge with associated creasing and very minor loss. The main text is a series of questions posed at working class readers beginning with "Why should you be treated as if you are social outcasts?". The background to the questions is the Intoxication Liquor Act of 1901 to limit Sunday opening of pubs and restrict their other opening times, stated to be "an insult to every labouring man" and a "tyranny of the worst kind" as it would penalise those on small incomes unable to store supplies of alcohol in a cellar. The Bill was principally intended to prevent overly intoxicated working men from sending their children to the pub to buy them more drink. The poster encourages readers to oppose the Bill and sign a petition against it. Unrecorded.