advanced in Scotland for taking whiskey. They run as follows: Reason
one, because it is raining; Two, because it is not raining; Three,
because you are just going out into the weather; Four, because you
have just come in from the weather; Five; no, I forget the ones
that come after that. But I remember that reason number seventeen
is "because it canna do ye any harm." On the whole, reason seventeen
is the best.

Put in other words this means that the Scotch make use of whiskey
with dignity and without shame: and they never call it alcohol.

In England the case is different. Already the English are showing the
first signs that indicate the possible approach of prohibition.
Already all over England there are weird regulations about the
closing hours of the public houses. They open and close according to
the varying regulations of the municipality. In some places they open
at six in the morning, close down for an hour from nine till ten,
open then till noon, shut for ten minutes, and so on; in some places
they are open in the morning and closed in the evening; in other
places they are open in the evening and closed in the morning. The
ancient idea was that a wayside public house was a place of
sustenance and comfort, a human need that might be wanted any hour.
It was in the same class with the life boat or the emergency
ambulance. Under the old common law the innkeeper must supply meat
and drink at any hour. If he was asleep the traveller might wake him.
And in those days meat and drink were regarded in the same light.
Note how great the change is. In modern life in England there is
nothing that you dare wake up a man for except gasoline. The mere
fact that you need a drink is no longer held to entitle you to break
his rest.