LICENSING LEGISLATION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 676, 29 November 1909, Page 8

LICENSING LEGISLATION.

Sir,--As one who ■ has for many years 'beeriactively, working. on behalf of tlifi No-license •movement, I,would like; to .briefly defend the action of the Noiv Zealand. Alliance" re theabove matter. I am sorry that Eome of oar more ardent supporters are, not able to tako a more statesmanlike'. and; far-seeing view of the question... .As.-to the Eev.. E. Whlkor's attime; towards',the Hew Zealand,/ Alliance, no ' one- takcis, him ; '. seriously: - ' ■ ' For' reasons.. , best! known' to,.himself, lie never loses .an ppportmiity to oppbse the. exfeiutiVo 'of ttte atlianM since he has' ceafeed tt? -bfe"'- ife'- s&brefcary;"' Eike the proverbial; Irishman. who-firsfi'lands;- on:' ; the American coast,-; ho is "agin *• the Geverinnent, ■anyhow. Having ;becn from''thol inception of -our No-License ,movement ;a ';.baVc-marjotity : supporter, I can to some extent sympathise with your correspondents who are'disappointed' at any agreement that will not givo us this just, and, democratic' provision. Butt some-'of our, friends should remember that the history of all reforms emphasises the necessity of com-' promise.' Wo cannot always get'our own'way, and when a.'compromisE is 'oftered-that goes in the -direction of our: final goal; we' will be 'obviously 'Unwisn' in refusing to accept it.' Moreover, would'it not'be better for ns to trust'ourleaders more fully? Those who at present guide tie W-Lmsb lielm have been-democratically elected to .their responsible positions,'and the least wo can do is to trust thorn until they havo'proved themselves unworthy of our confidence. Disloyalty to leaders never wins bat-' ties. However, on the merits of Hie question, II behove that the New Zealand Alliance • representatives have gained'much' rnoto - than' thoy hayo given up, and are entitled to tho warmest ihanlis of our party for the* way - in .which they have. discharged their very 'delicate and responsible duties./ Admittedly, they: they have gained, two very important concessions. ' "■

provision of 55 : per "cent.. of. voters needed to carry No-License. There -is no need to show the great advantage of this concession P.ow favour; If it uad been ,in force, at the last .poll at least a' dozen electorates (including- flie '.city of D'unedin) - would -have -beenadded to thrise: now under the operation of NoLicense. 'Moreover,- this concession is a further .instalment, of ■ the hare majority,, principle: for which we - .have been 1 ' so' long contending. Some: ardent "enthusiasts-say that, if .we had not accepted this : compromise of 55 .per cent, wo would have had. conceded to us tho bare majority. Not at all; if for no other .reason: than the ,of the. present House of Itepresentatives, tho majority of which are decidedly opposed to our democratic' demand. ... . ~ . ... \.. ;, , 2. The provision for national option is also a most valuable concession.. But say some; "How about; the. five years' grace? Is. it not' mon--strous that after 1 the people have decided., in favour of the.:liquor traffic should continue its harvests' of sorrow, and suffering for the'long-period of five'years .'".' May I ask our friends another,'question, viz.,"How much /pnger will this, traffic be jdontinued if, as at present, the people are not able to vote on tlje question,of nationairoption.at all?". The concession that. our representatives ;• have wrung from, the Liquor pajtjr'.will; involve the over. ; throw of .'its traffic within a' few. years' at the most,. whereas present, conditions ... will per- 1 petuate it indefinitely. Further, in, my ; judgment,' this l provision ■ of l , five years' ; , grace will win for us a large .'number, of 'vbtes ..which would not be: given if f the .licenses were suddenly taken; away. In the first place, if the five years' provision were not • in : , force, governing tho carrying' of'national prohibition, i-a most, formidable weapon would, be placed in. the hands., of the. Liquor: party. ,' Dunng the contest they would ,'sayi "Look, at tho financial disturbance that 1 would be' caused by the sudden stoppage of: the liquor traffic, throughout the Dominion!'' And then they would add: "Consider tho enormdiis loss that. would be Sustained ,by 'the Trade' through the sudden nature, of such a drastic change. '.They, will have .'no time in which ' to' seek other channels for the investment of .their capital." I am sure that these arguments would tell heavily against us. This five years'. ■ grace - provisipn will prove' to be a blessing to the NoLicense party, • instead .of a curse.., Moreover, is it not fair ; that those who' hive invested , huge sums in the trade,should have. a reasonable' timo limit given to them ? In the late Licensing Bill of the British 1 Government' the time limit "was 14 years.- Surely, then, five years cannot be" too lons. Let us, even as 'pro-hibitionists,-'remember that we must always bo fair. Though we feel strongly, we mijst 'ai:t justly. Any movement will not. be likely io win votes unless it is equitable,;and certainly without this element of justice it • will riot stand. ' 1 '

As to the elimination of the Reduction issuo under tho proposed legislation, there will bo various opinions, but personally I believe it will greatly, facilitate, the triumph of tho NoLicense party. I say this not only as one who never believed in the policy of .Biduction.-.but from the point of view of one who, as.'aii,'official asent for the No-License party for several years, lias been able to feel the. pulse of -thousands of voters upon this subject. I nm confident that the'straight-out issue of License or No-Liteilso will'bo a great factor in our ftture success.' ■ • • '..' ...... '' ■ Of course, we have had to; give concessions to the other side in' ; order''to g»in v some ; from them,; but the, more I have studied the terms of the' published .agreement.: between the '.'two. parties, the more satisfied am I that the representatives of the New 1 Zealand Alliance desorve our thanks for the efficient manner: in which they havo conducted negotiations of a most difficult character.—l. am, etc., t „ T v C- PALE- - Levin, November 22, 1303..