LICENSING COMMITTEES ELECTOIN BILL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1275, 28 June 1886, Page 2

LICENSING COMMITTEES ELECTOIN BILL.

money, be will not hnvelab'Ured in vain. The only objection I h>ve heard urged against the triennial instead of annual elections is that taken by the Premier last year, that there is an educational advantage from the temperance point of view In holding the elections annually. I think that is very much exaggerated. It has also to bebone in mind that if the one patty is active at the time of the election, so also is the other ; and I am not sure that there are not counterbalancing evils which, on that ground alone, more than counteract any supposed advantage. Bat there is this further argument ; I am fully persuaded that a better class of candidates will coma forward for a triennial than for an annual term ; and I do not see if members of Parliament can be elected to deal with all kinds of subjects, Including the licensing law, for three years, why the body which is to administer the law male here shoo’d not also have three years’ term of office. In order to bring about the change so that it may be concurrent with the local-option poll, so that on the one day the local-option poll and the election of the Licensing OomrJttea shall take place, nnder the same machinery and for the one expense, it would be necessary, as provided in the Bill, that ’ the next election should be for one year as before, and thereafter the elections would he triennial, being concurrent with the local option-poll. I may »dd that the extension of the franchise, which is the first point in my Bill to whieh 1 referred, is, I see, one of the planks of the platform of the Trades Union Congress whieh assembled in Auckland in January last. That Congress adopted resolutions, copies jof wh ch have been s nt to honorable members ; and one of these was as fol--1 lows:—

The following ia the “ Hansard "report of Major Steward’s speech, made in moving the second reading of the above Bill : Major Steward.—Sir, there has for some time-been a pretty general consensus of opinio*) as to the necessity for some amendment of the licensing system ; and it is simply—paradoxical as it may appear —because amendments are desired in so many directions that hitherto it has been impossible to pass an amending Bill. Every measure introduced for that purpose, with the single exception of the Act of 1882, has failed, owing to its being overloaded with additions and amplifications proposed from all sides. It has therefore become apparent that no comprehensive amendment of oar llceogIng system can be successfully attempted until the matter la taken up, and taken ap earnestly, by the Government. Therefore, In moving in the direction of reform to-night, I have limited myself to one particular aspect of the c»se —one branch of the question—and have the honour to place before the House two very simple, but, as I think, very Important, propositions. These are, that the franchise should be extended aj as to include all adults, both m ile and female, who have been resident for six months in the licensing district, and who have been registered ; and that, in fatnre, elections should be made triennial instead of annual, as they are at present. Now, the first of these proposals is, I conceive, consistent with the principles of true liberalism. It has already received the assent of this House, having last session been affirmed in a full House by a substantial majority ; and I hope and believe that the principle will again be affirmed to-night. For years past the tendency of oar legislation. I am glad to say, has been in the direction of elevating woman as regards social and political privileges to an equal platform with ourselves. The doors of our colleges and the gateways of our learned professions, have been thrown open to the fair daughters of New Zealand, and already oar sweet girl-graduates have shown that they only needed the opportunity to prove the success which their bright Intellects and patient industry are able to achieve. One by one the bar>i ri to the exercise by women of equal rights with ourselves have been removed ; and, so far as I am aware, in no single instance have the privileges which have so long been so ungenerously and unjustly withheld, and at length so tardily conceded, been misused or perverted. It is marvellous to me that it should over have bean supposed that such privileges would bo abused; for do we not know that nearly all that is good and godlike within ns we owe to the influence of mothers, of wives, and of sisters whose true and tender instincts are so infinitely higher and nobler than our own ? From the gracious lady to whom this House this aft-r noon passed a loyal address, who sways the sceptre over the vast Empire to Which It is oar pride to belong, to that nearer and dearer one who has dominion over each Individual heart, and who reigns over hearth and heme, do we not all owe more than we can express to the Influence of woman 1 Then, can we deny to our mothers, oar wives, our sisters, and our daughters an equal voice with ourselves in questions affec Ing the social weal of the people 1 I think not; and if there be any one matter in which the Influence <f woman can be beneficently exercised It Is ia regard to this very licensing question ; foi upon whom fall the misery, the sorrow, the suffering, the privation, and, alas ! too often the shame, which are wrought by that curse of in temperance that lies like the shadow of death across the threshold cf hundreds of homes in this fair land ! Is It not chiefly upon woman ? Then shall we deny to her a voice in this matter —a voice that is sure to be exercised for good ? I cannot believe it, mere particularly when I remember that session after session there have beeq presented to this House numerous petitions praying £ >r the removal of this unjust restriction The very claim to a right is a proof that the right is valued, and, if valued, that it will be rightly exercised. And perhaps the House will permit me here, as proof that that will be the effect of giving the franchise to women, to read to it a short extract from a letter addreaed to me by a lad; residing in one of our principal southern cities. Writing to mo on the 14th of May last, earnestly urging me to proceed with the effort 1 made last year in the direction of obtaining a rote for women in licensing questions, this Is what she says : -r» “As it r'i nds at p esea*, women are practically disqualified, only those possessed of landed property being eligible. The matter has come under notice here In consequence of the result of the late elections, which we >t entirely in favour of the publicans’ nominees. The opening ■ f several new publiohouses, and a consi :io-able incre-»*e in drunkenness, and andc mß°quan d islress'of oou'sef 110 ved. i’aia induced m < women, who felt the raa'ter could be dealt with in no other way, to eur 11 their names on the list of voters, when they were informed that they were mt qualified “ In the cane of a woman who has a drunken husband, and upon whose labours her family principally depends for their support—and of such there are many in this city—the hardship is evident. “ For instance a publichouse was built three years ago c ose to the terminus of the tramway. The Committee refused to license It, and it remained closed till after the late elections. Now it ia licensed, and the workmen going home with their wages are enticed to spend them there as soon as they leave the tram. The women of the neighbourhood are complaining of this trap set for their husbands and sous, and their own powerlessness to prevent it “This being a matter that specially affects the social interests of men and women equally, both surely should have au equal voice in voting for or against it." Surely the writer of that letter exhibits I an intelligent appreciation of the question which 1s a guarantee that, at any rate, her vote would be exorcised wisely and well; and I faelieVe there are thousand of | women of whom the same may be said. But, If the right to vote be conferred on all adult women who choose to register, the samo right cannot be denied to man who—possessing the same residence qualification—also desira to register. If that were not the case, then la remedying one injustice we should be perpetrating another. The proposal of the Bill, therefore, Is that all adults, without distinction of sex, who have been resident six months within the licensing district shall be entitled, If they think fit, to claim a vote. I believe that is a reasonable proposal, which will commend Itself to the acceptance of the House. Tne only other point in the Bill I will dispose of in a very few words : it Is that which proposes to dimi

“ That this Congress denounces the present 'ratepayer’ qualification ajniaraoW and unjust, and maintains that IMHiring Committees should be elected by the adults resident in each district,”

This proposal ia the proposal of my Bill, and I think it should command tha support of every true Liberal; while the further proposal to reduce the coat of tha administration of the system by reducing the frequency of the elections is a step in the direction of economy which I think thorough!}- justifies me in commending this measure to the co sideration of the House. I trust that honorable members will approve what, at any rate, is an honest effort to bring about what I venture to think a large and important measure of reform.

nlah the frequency of elections hy making them triennial instead of annual.

On the ground of saving of expends alone this change is a very desirable one. It has been shown to this Home in previous sea: ions, by »n hnonoarable member who has moved for a

return with that object in view, that the cost of these licensing elections i* not less than from £7,000 to £IO,OOO per annnm. Therefore, If the frequency of the elections can be diminished so that

they shall be triennial instead of annual It follows that theca will be a sav : ng |q

each triennial period of nearly £20,000. Under the circumstances of the heavy taxation which the colony now has to

bear, if a private member can only succeed In relieving us ox such a large burden

as Is represented by a sum that equals thp interest for one year on half a million of