The Dean Tavern - A Gothenburg Experiment

There were three applications for licences in Newton Grange before the Midlothian Licensing Court at Whitsun 1897. The applicants were Alexander Henderson, for a public house licence at the Abbey Granary; James Hood, general manager of the Lothian Coal Company, for a public house licence "near the railway crossing, Newton Grange", and Thomas Stewart, grocer, for a licence to sell alcohol from his shop at Hope House. Objections were made by Newbattle Free Church Deacon's Court to Mr. Henderson's and Mr. Stewarts' applications but not to Mr. Hood's. References were made in court to this discrepancy and it was suggested that there may have been a connection between the fact that Mr. Callender, secretary of the Lothian Coal Company, was also a deacon of Newbattle Free Church.

Petitions were produced against the licences (253 signatures) arid in favour (314 signatures). There were four main points made against the applications.

1) There had been no licence in the village before 1880.

2) There were two licensed premises "within ten minutes walk" of Newtongrange.

3) There was widespread opposition.

4) It would cause disorderly and unseemly scenes.

Counsel for the Lothian Coal Company mentioned the large population of the village - 2,500 (This was incorrect. The combined population of Newton Grange and Cowden Grange was 1,210 in 1891 and it was about the same in 1897.) - and that there were 100 houses being built. The public house would be an adaptation of the Gothenburg system, two workmen would be on the management committee and profits would be used for raising an accident fund or "promoting healthful recreation." It was pointed out that the nearest licensed premises (at Eskbank and Newtonloan) were one and a half miles distant (thirty to fortyfive minutes's walk - not ten minutes, as the opposition stated).

The court voted in favour of a second licence (28 for, 8 against) and, for Mr. Henderson's application rather than Mr. Hood's (23 for, 10 against). Mr Stewart was granted a licence unanimously. So for the first time there was a pub in Newton Grange. Mr. Henderson called it the Abbey Inn. There was also a licensed grocer's shop nearby at Hope House. Both licenced premises were on Mr. Romans' property.

The Lothian Coal Company had intended to run their public house, if granted a licence, on an adaption of the Gothenberg system, which needs some explanation.

In the early nineteenth century, Sweden was awash with legally - produced home-made brandy. There were 170,000 licensed stills in a country with a population of under three million. Every householder had an absolute right to distill their own spirits. The annual consumption of spirits per head of population was ~llk gallons. Drunkenness was a national scandal and in 1855 a law was passed making domestic distilling illegal. The local authorities were given powers to grant licences and the city of Gothenburg pioneered a new system which was to provide a model for municipal authorities throughout Sweden and Norway. All the retail spirit licences in Gothenburg were awarded to one company, a trust, which was to run pubs, off licences and restaurants in a manner that would not encourage excessive spirit drinking. The premises were to be clean but not attractive, the employees would have no interest in pushing spirit sales to make a profit and the holders of shares in the company were limited to a 5% annual return on their money. All profits above that were to go to the town treasury and used to benefit the local community through the provision of parks, libraries, museums, etc). Despite the fact that beer and wine sales were excluded from this system it was extremely profitable and yielded thousands of pounds a year to the city of Gothenburg.

The idea caught on rapidly in Sweden and each municipality adapted the system to suit their own purposes. The fame of the system spread and the idea was taken up by public house reformers and temperance com-paigners in Britain - Scotland in particular. Around the turn of the century several public house trusts were set up in such places as Peebles, Leven, Clydebank, Broxburn and Tranent but the idea of controlling public houses and spending the profits of the community caught on most dramatically with the coal companies in Central Scotland.

The Lothian Coal Company applied to Midlothian Licensing Court for a public house licence in Newton Grange for a second time in 1899. This time the application was made by their nominee, a disabled ex-miner called Andrew Anderson, who would be the manager if the licence was granted.

Counsel for the applicants, Mr Crabbe Watt, made a lengthy case on their behalf. He stated that there was only one public house and one licensed grocer in the village, though the population was rapidly expanding. One hundred houses had been recently built, a hundred more were soon to be erected and within a few years three hundred more would go up. A petition in favour of the licence had 430 signatures. Profits would not be retained by the company but would be used to benefit the whole community. The Hill of Beath Tavern, established by the Fife Coal Company, was cited as a successful example of this type of public house management. There, electricity had been supplied to the village using the tavern profits and a bowling green had been provided.

In answer to a question Mr. Crabbe Watt stated that "there would be a balance sheet issued and a public audit of accounts."A letter was read out from the Marquis of Lothian supporting the application and withdrawing any restriction against granting of a licence on his feu. The Chief Constable thought there was room for another public house in Newton Grange.

A petition against the granting of a licence to the Lothian Coal Company was ridiculed, having only seven signatories. Two of these had withdrawn their opposition, one had denied signing and the other four were tenants of Mr. Roman's son.

Mr. C.D. Murray, advocate, opposed the licence application. He thought the premises were unsuitable for a public house being converted from two adjacent dwelling houses. He criticised Mr. Anderson, saying he had no experience in the licensed trade and was disabled. Mr. Murray further stated that the Lothian Coal Company should not be running a public house as it put them in danger of breaking the intentions of the Truck Act (an Act designed to prevent companies selling goods to their employees). He thought the coal company should form a club if they wished to benefit their employees. On three previous occasions, officials of the Lothian Coal Company had petitioned against a licence being granted in Newton Grange.

Mr. Romans, as a J.P. and member of the licensing court, wished to speak against the licence. The chairman felt that he should not take part in the debate as he was owner of the Abbey Inn and an interested party but Mr. Romans insisted on his right to speak. His point was that the members of the licensing court who were also shareholders of the Lothian Coal Company should not vote. Mr. Roman's objection was overruled.

The licence as approved by 19 votes to 10. Three shareholders in the Lothian Coal Company voted in favour and Mr. Romans voted against.

A fortnight later, at a further licencing court meeting to confirm licences granted, the same arguments were brought up for and against. Mr. Murray, advocate for the objectors, declared that, because the Lothian Coal Company shareholders had voted for the licence application made by their company, the decision of the licencing- court was invalid and should not be confirmed. Four voted for confirmation of the licence, Colonel Wardlaw Ramsay, Sir John Cowan (both shareholders in the Lothian Coal Co.), Colonel Trotter and Sir James Gibson Craig and two voted against, Mr. Corstorphine and Mr. Blaik.

The two J.P.s who had voted against the licence, Alexander Corstorphine of Juniper Green and David Blaik of Gorebridge, along with two Newton Grange objectors, J.C. Blaik and J.W. Armitstead, raised an action in the Court of Session against Andrew Anderson and the JPs who had voted for the licence.

Mr. Armitstead and Mr. J.C. Blaik were both shopkeepers in the Loan and claimed to have suffered discomfort and annoyance "by the granting of the licence for premises near to their own".

Dalkeith Advertiser, 22 June 1899: "The pursuers aver that the granting of the certificate was illegal, the premises unsuitable (being workmen's houses), the applicant, Anderson, had no experience, the licence was unnecessary and the Company had hitherto opposed the granting of licences in the village. They further aver that the defenders, Sir John Cowan, D.J. Macfie and Colonel Wardlaw Ramsay, were disqualified from acting at the said licensing meetings by law and were liable for each offence to a penalty of £50, they being proprietors or tenants of house or premises for which such certificate was applied for and granted."

Sir John Cowan had 490 shares in the Lothian Coal Co, Mr Macfie had 410 and Colonel Wardlaw Ramsay had 100. Sir John Cowan also had 50 shares in the Newbattle and Whifu;ll Building Co. (a subsidiary company of the Lothian Coal Co. and owners of the Dean Tavern premises) and was a director of both companies.

Lord Darling reserved judgement and, as the licence was still valid, the Dean Tavern opened for business on October 20th, 1899. A management committee had been formed for the Dean by the Lothian Coal Co., which nominated three members - James Hood, general manager, John Callender, company secretary and Mungo Mackay, manager of Newbattle Colliery. Two workmen had been elected at a public meeting in the village - James'Taylor and William Pryde. Both were active in the running of local Friendly Societies. This was the only time an election was held. Subsequently, vacancies for workmen's representatives were always filled on the nomination of the rest of the committee. James Gilmour, wages clerk at the pit, was appointed clerk and treasurer to the committee at £12 a year.

Meantime the case in the Court of Session was continuing and in December Lord Stormonth Darling ruled that the licence was invalid as three shareholders in the Lothian Coal Co. were on the licensing court bench and had voted for the licence which had been granted to that company.

The Dean Tavern Committee resolved to appeal against this decision and business continued meantime. Dalkeith Advertiser, 12th April 1900: "THE DEAN TAVERN - At a meeting of the Committee of Management of the Dean Tavern, Newton Grange, held on Tuesday night, the balance sheet, for the period from its opening to 31st March, as audited by Messrs Howden & Molleson C.A., was submitted. The balance sheet which had been prepared to produce to the court on the occasion of the application for a renewal of the licence, in accordance with the promise made to the last licensing court, showed an available profit, as the result of the five month's working, of £,175 17s. As only the highest class of liquors has been sold and that at moderate prices the committee deemed the result highly satisfactory. The committee took into consideration the object to which this profit should be applied, and being informed that there was a general desire among the inhabitants tor a public bowling green, it was resolved to lay aside this sum and as much of the future profit as would be required for that purpose."

The balance sheet had been prepared to present to the Midlothian Licensing Court in support of Andrew Andersen's application for the renewal of the Dean licence. Lord Darling had not yet ruled whether there were sufficient grounds in law to carry an appeal to the Inner House and the committee decided to make two licence applications. One application was made for the renewal of the existing licence and one for a new licence for other premises in case the court case was lost.

Dalkeith Advertiser: 19th April, 1900 "On the suggestion of the Chairman, when the application of Andrew Anderson, Dean Tavern, Newton Grange, on behalf of the Lothian Coal Co. Ltd. for a public house licence, came up, all the members of the Court who had shares in either the Coal Company or Whitehill Building Co. Ltd. left the bench"

New petitions were produced. The Dean Tavern committee had organised one and that had attracted 353 signatures. Another petition for the objectors had but 9 signatures, including that of the Abbey Inn's manager, the barman and the potboy. Mr. Cooke, representing the licence applicants alleged that the four gentlemen who had brought the action in the Court of Session against the granting of the licence were, in fact, representing the Licensed Trade Defence Association.

Mr Young, on behalf of the objectors, said that "to give a licence to a company in the position of the Lothian Coal Company would be to enable it to take back from its employees, in the price of excisable liquor, the money which had been given to them as wages. That was a result to be avoided, because it was plainly open to abuse. It would also be opposed to the interests of free and fair trade, because a company which had exceptional means of directing the custom of their employees should not be encouraged and assisted to come into unfair competition with the ordinary individual trader." There was applause in the court at this statement but it was immediately suppressed.

Mr. Robert Brown, JP, a miners union leader, supported the application and assured Mr. Young that the employees were quite capable of looking after themselves. He could testify that the community was nearly unanimous in favour of the licence. Another JP, in favour, remarked that the employees "were not yet under the thumb of the employers."

The licence was granted by 24 votes to 7.

Lord Stormonth Darling made his decision on the so-called "Gothenburg Experiment" in the Court of Session on May 29th, 1900. The case had hinged on the fact that three Lothian Coal Co. shareholders had voted for the Dean Tavern licence at the Licensing Court in April, 1899. As the licence had been re-granted at the Whitsun Licensing Court on April 17th 1900, and the Coal Co. shareholders had taken no part in the voting, Lord Darling held that the licence was valid.

Expenses in the original action had been granted to the pursuers (the two J.P.s and Mr. Armitstead and Mr. Blaik). So the Lothian Coal Co. had to pay for that, as well as their own expenses. Lord Darling refused to grant expenses in the appeal case and each party was responsible for their own expenses. The Dean Tavern Committee had an account for £151-4-7 from their solicitors, Anderson and Chisholm, and this was paid out of the first years profits of the Dean.