LET THE PEOPLE VOTE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1746, 21 January 1888, Page 2

LET THE PEOPLE VOTE

A Parliaman »ry Oomralsaion on the drink tn-ffio hai recently been taking ovidanoe from anrao of the leading mtto of New Soath W^es, fcom which the following extrnots are called : — Rbv. J. D. Lavqlry, St Philip's, Sydney Yoa stated to tlui President that yon are a prohibitionist ? Yes. Yoa are therefore a Looal Optloniet ? Yes. Believing absolute prohibition to be Impracticable, yoa are willing that it should obtain where the commnnity by a majority rote m favor of It ? 1 hat U exactly my view. The President asked ma what view I held as to the most perfeot system m connection with tbh question, and I was bound to answer prohibition. I do not think that the community m whioh we live is ripe for prohibition ; I do not think that prohibition would be prßiiibfe jqst now ; therefore I think that tbe Loo>l Option system is the very bust system that can be adopted under tbe cirjurastaDcas. Th»t is tha piohlbitlouiat'a o mpromlae, prohibit where the people say they are ready by their voices 1 Exactly so. Provided this law was patted and pat into force, nud the pabHc-hoaues were shot up. woald yoa oompensate the publicans ? I do not consider that they woald be entitled to compensation ; but if it were 'necessary to oompensate, rather than have the state of things at It is, 3 ihould rather do so than that the state oi things should go on. Bat I oannot see any ground why they should be com* paasated. The trade is supposed to be for the convenience of the public, and if it Is not proved to be for the oonvenlenoe of the public, and the pabllo say so, why should & man be compensated for the taking away of his license ; if so, then the publican ought to pay to the community something handsome for being allowed to carry on the trade, if the trade m itself is so profitable. Mr G. D, Clark, G.E.S,, Good ' Templars, Yon say yon are a prohibitionist wbc ■ooepts Looal Option as a form of carrying out prohibition ? As a method by whioh prohibition will be secured. Presumably beoauee you think that the community is , not ripe for a Maine lquoi law ? Our position is simply this Recognising the evi?s which result from the llqaor traffic, we hold that It ia an unwise policy t:> legalise it. Our ordei has two cardinal principles .* Total abstinence for the individual and Prohibition for the State. .Although we do not bind ourselves as to the methods whioh we will ate to bring about prohibition, we say that the traffic being morally wrong ought not to be legally right. At this point, however, we are met by our opponents, who argue that the country is not ripe for prohibition, and that for legislation to be effective it mast carry with it the assent of at least a majority if the people. We meet oar opponents on these grounds, and make a oonoes»ion. We say let the colony be divided into districts or areas, and let the people vote, not upon each application for a lioenae, but on the broad question a« to whether licensing should or should not be maintained m their localities. Of course if the pooplo vote m favor of licenses we will submit to it, but continue working with a view, and m the hope of educating a better public feeling On the other hand, we contend that if the people say no by a deoiaive majority, no licenses should be issued m that locality. Looal Option is a concession on the part of Good Templars. Rev F. B. Boydb, St. Paul's, Sydney. Your idea, m short, is* to delegate to a oertain seotlon of the community the legislative function which is performed by the representatives of the people t Our idea is to give people the same power which they have In England under the Borough Funds Ant, by which all matters of taxation are directly plaoed before the people. You have ful'y reoogniaed the difficulty, I presume, whioh travellers and wayfarers woald introduce In any settlement of the question 1 Yes ; but my experience is id at the accommodation of travellers would be very much better if it were disassociated with the sale of intoxicating drinks. I find that m the Melbourne Coffee Palace everything is done m the most happy way without the sale of in* toxloating drinks. In a large number of caves the tea-rooms In Sydney — I mean tha most frequented ones—are conducted without any intoxicating drinks being Bold. Do yon know how they deal hi countries where they have established Looal Option ?gf ßation with the question of compensa* ">>> for interests that may be destroyed ? 3 >(4p3nsacion bat never baen allowed so ar as I attn aware ia any place when iiocjl Option pwrtlli.