THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1944, 14 September 1888, Page 2

THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

g TO THB EDITOR. , Fir,— Recent events .have once more , brought this question to the front In oar , oommunlty. C»lm and intelligent dtacua* alon can do no harm. Aa yeara go by, ' light and understanding are being ob- , talned. Whatever views men may hold, '' Individually, truth must win the day. If the liquor traffio la founded on principles of rlghteouaneaa and justice, it need have no fear as to the future. On tho other hand, the temperance movement has a _ splendid record m the past, and to-day atanda In the front rank of those foross whioh make for tbe improvement of sooiety. It Ib no longer a disgrace to be >. numbered amongat Its friends. Major Steward olalma a plaoe amongat the latter, i- at the same time reserving to hloiaelr a , mode of operation different from that i- generally employed In promotion of temn peranoe principle?. In fartherance of thia 1- view, during the late session of Parliao ment, he Introduoad a Lioepslng Committees Election Amendment BUI. The 0 prlnolple of the Bill Ia to make the election * of these Committees triennial, Inatead of annual as at present. In a rooent issue of ° the " Guardian," the Major sets forth his !» reaaona m support of the Bill. Ho _ states that it ia ln no sense an un« , a friendly mov3 towards tha temperance party, inasmuch aa it wonld bear aa heavily c upon the Bupportera of the liquor i. traffic. The prinolpal reason, however, for its introduction i>, that it is m accord a with the general desire for retrenchment s everywhere, and would relieve the local 3 bodies of a heavy financial burden, whioh a they are ill able to bear. I think I am • expressing the opinion of a very larga t number of the temperance party, when I r say that we are opposed to this Bill on th* 3 ground that it deals with only one detail , or portion of a wide and important sooial 1 question. The working of tbe present l Act has helped to educate publio opinion » upon this question of the control of the » liquor traffic. Its manifold defeots are i being continually brought out, and tho, ' time is fast approaching when the Go- \ vernmant of tho day must be prepared to i make a new licensing law part of ita i policy. We hold it to be the duty of r -Government, and not jaf private mambere, > to introduce legislatioa dealing with social - questions of thia kind; Major steward I and others must not be surprised, there- , fore, if they dp not secure thia united > support of the temperance party for such t measures as that recently introduced into ) Parliament by the former. ) I would also point out tbat Major i Steward's Bill is directly opposed to tho , fundamental principle of Liberalism m - politics, i,e , "-the government of the. | people, by the people, for tho people.'* I The present Aot— which has been claimed! > as a liberal measure, but not too. fc liberal— confers very large powers upon ! the^ people. Major ISioward's Bill » la In the direction of lessening those j powera, whereaß if there is to be any ) alteration it muse be In quite a oontrary ■ dlreotlon Tho temperance party, at > least, will not be satisfied w«th anything i less than a considerable extension of thoao • powers, even to giving tho people the, ■ right to vote directly upon the quorum of license or no Hoenae. But Major Steward's ohlef reason for i Introdnolng his proposed Amendment BUI i Ib to give relief to the local governing bodleß. Even I{ we. allow his estimate of the ooat of the annual elections (£20,000) to bo porreot, I. do not think the looal bodies have any real oauae of oomplaint. These bodies now receive, apart from tha Customs duties which go to tho oonsolldated revenue, all the income derivable from the drink traffio. Tho lioanie fee* amount to a aum considerably more than £20,000, and it la only reasonable that the looal bodies should bear the burden of the annual eleotiona^ If they had no revenue * from the drink traffio there might be Borne ground of oomplaint, but nnder the preient clroumataneeß it seems only fair they should have aomo of the bitter thlnga aa well aa the sweet. Whilst writing on thla point, I ought to say that a seotion of tho temperanoe party lv opposed to that portion of the present Licensing Aot whioh gives to looal bodies tho revenue from license feet. These fees being local revenue ia often urged aa a reaaon why lieenaes should ba laraed la dl-tr|Qta where there Is no absolute necestolty for licensed houses, simply to lncre.so the revenue of Jooal bodlea. I think Major Steward himself will admit that this la » serious defoot In the Act, and opem a door for abwe. A similar objection helped very laigely to secure the defeat of the licensing clauses of tha Looal Bodies Bill recently introduced Into the Brltlah Parliament. The friends of the looal bodlea would perhaps aot more wisely If they » let aleeping dogs alone." If the Borough and Oounty Counoils require financial help, let some source be fonnd other than revenue from the drink traffio. Juat a few words on Major Steward* opinion of the compensation queatlon. He concedes the point that he would not give compensation if a five yeara' notloe of withdrawal of license were announced. Iv that concession he yieldi tbe principle of the whole dlnouMlon. Perhaps no written notloe haa yet beeu given, but a man must be blind to the sign, of the , time, if he oan not soe the drift of publio I opinion upon this question. Io England the battle haa been fonght and' won. Ia New Zaaland tha work of edooatlng the publio mind la going on, and some fine morning the trafficker* m strong drink will wake from their slumbers and find that the taxpayers of this oolony are nob so almplo aa to give them thousands o_ pounde for nothing. — I am, eto., J. Nbwmaw Buttle.