LICENSING ISSUE
Sir,—The letter of Mr F. Prideaux, on the Licensing Committee issue, is an amazing document. It is regrettable that Mr Prideaux has chosen to insert an insinuation, that the previous correspondence may be the output of persons with individual axes to grind, but this gives one the right to ask, whose axe Mr Prideaux is grinding. Mr Prideaux pays a fulsome tribute to the members of past committees. It is worth noting that the state of affairs, discovered by the Licensing Control Commission did not always call forth the admiration of that body. The claim that two Rotorua men stood down to give representation to Whakatane and Opqtiki is not convincing. These men gave nothing to Whakatane because they had nothing to give. The seats were not theirs until they had been elected to fill them, and had no proprietary rights in these positions to bestow. In any case, both Whakatane and Opotiki are capable of electing representatives if they want them. In spite of the fact that some citizens of Whakatane choose to give active support to Rotorua candidates. This is of course their rights. The statement that the ticket systerii has bden more or less forced upon the Committee, as without it, there was always the possibility that there would not be enough candidates, is extraordinary. These tickets were issued after the closing of nominations, when it was already known how many candidates were offering. For the benefit of the public who have xj-ot as yet seen these tickets, they carry only five names, yet there were ten candidates.
Are we to gather that the tickets were issued by the retiring members of the Licensing Committee? If so, this is a very disturbing state of affairs, calling for some enquiry. It is true that polling places are few and far between, and that in the past there has been very few votes cast. ' The question now is, whether this has been the outcome of public apathy. It could have been caused by the lack of publicity, and lack of reasonable facilities for voting. ' . , Since the 'cost of the election has been brought up, would it-- have been any more expensive to have the one Whakatane polling booth placed in the Borough Council Chambers where it is reasonably central, instead of an out of the way place like the Courthouse? At this stage it would be most helpful, if Mr Prideaux could tell the public, who it was who issued the tickets, whether or not the organiser was paid, and if so. by whom, v Yours etc., F. P. McCALLION. Whakatane, March 14.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19500315.2.13.1
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 10, 15 March 1950, Page 4
Word count
Tapeke kupu
436LICENSING ISSUE Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 10, 15 March 1950, Page 4
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Beacon Printing and Publishing Company is the copyright owner for the Bay of Plenty Beacon. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Beacon Printing and Publishing Company. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.