SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3141, 20 July 1917, Page 7

SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING

. Sir, —In the midst of all this clnmonr?ng'for sbc o'clock jdosing, word comes from the Old Country that the output of beer is to bo increased. ' The cry in 'this country is to increase national efficiency and win tho -war by closing hotels. [After many -months of experience tlio ®ome. authorities, have decidid that to increase the efficiency of harvesters and munition maters they must havo more beer. There are many men in this country who, if they cannot get their drink mght will hß.ro it in the day, ivltich ; .Tvill tend to decrease efficiency.—l am ' ' " '

& lr .—Allow me .to priok a. bubblo that invariably appears whonever a. proposal is restrict the liquor traffio. J [refer to tho sly grog bubble. Onljy! proipose to bring l in six o'clock closing and we at once hear whispers o£ a "worse .'thing"—sly grog, with its evil train. Ajid meaning but uioxporiencod reform»ere like Mr. C. B. Morison, K.C., Sir Janres ) Allen, and others toko alarm. By the way, what is' the primary causo of sly grog? It is <hie to tho appetito already acquired Ln. licensed oremises. Even nnder the existing detective lair tho thing .has been grappled with. When the late Sergeant Rutledge was 'here he successfully rooted out most of tho sly grog business. His experience was interesting from tho fact that lie found about 90 per cent, of .tho cases in tho licensed area of Wellington Central, and few in Wellington. South, the No-License 'district, This is something for the Trade advocates to ponder, who maintain that licensed bars prevent the "?vorso evils." Fudge!

Bint now for tho remedy. Let I'arliaIment when it passes (he six o'clock limit nteo enact a, common-sense penalty for the sly . grog culprit. Givo tho lawbreakers gaol and hard labour without the option of a. fine. Thero should bo no inercy to wi-called "first ofd'endere" in sly grog cases, for they, do pot exist. A man must have beeu running the game a good time beforo he is fcuspected, and by tho time ho is caught ihe will have broken the law scores, if toot hundreds of times. The polioo know Jthis quitewell. This remedy has passed >f.he experimental stage. In Johannos/burg at ono time sly grop selling was 'rampant, but an ordii,ariqo was issued snflicting a minimum of six months' gaol Tor. the iiret offonce, vrith fines in addition if the magistrate thought a fiuo wasa also deserved. Second offonco, not ucss than twelvo months; third, or mib(sequent offence, not' less than two years. (Fines of not loss than .£SOO and .£IOOO tespectively, at tho discretion of the Magistrate. But in all cases gaol could not be escaped. This cuircd the sly grog .business absolutely. A Now Eoalimder residing thero fit the timo wrote: "All the small cafes used to sell drink on tho ply, but sinco fhoy have h;id. to go to gaol for. at leaf;!, six months, without tho option of a, fine, they reckon it is not good enough. Ono woman told mo sJi« always sold it, and would risk it again if there was a fine, but sho was not taking lon six months." Let, New . Zealand at once pass a similar law giving tho police the right of search, without a warrant, and the sly grog bogey would soon bo laid low. But, sir, our politicians. ns a whole aro not sincere. Few, if any, of the leaders consider - tho claims of tlio people or lunpdro when tho brewers got to work. Hence the craven attitude of our Houses of Parliament; on thn liquor question.—l sm, etc., AN EX-MASSEYITE.