POLITICAL NOTES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3186, 10 September 1917, Page 6

POLITICAL NOTES

THE LIQUOR BILL CLOSING HOURS STILL UNCERTAIN The Bill which by a, very largo num®or °i people in the conntry, is considered of more importance than any menbui e that could possibly some before l'arjiament. is to appear this week., It is the Bill to 'provide for the earlier closof hotels, and it is always called 'Wt ■* jl 9 Uor .Bill. It will boar-a different title when it appears, but tliere Ims been so definite announcement as to what the titlo will be. Some days ago Mr. llassey said, in reply to a question in the House of Representatives, that there was to be no amendment of the War Regulations Act this; session,-but: that there yould be, an amendment of" the War legislation Amendment :Act, so that it ■Rould appeal' that the Government will arrange for thoVnrly closing Question to be dealt with in this way. It was always well understood that it would not be done by the ordinary peace-time . Jiiethod of an amendment of the Licens- , ing Act, the reason being that an amendment of the law made in this way would havo to bo repealed after the .war, anil there would bo just as big a trouble about the repeal of it then as about the enactment of it now. It will be done l>y an addition to an Act which expires automatically at the end of the wax, and (irhen the Act expires-. hotel closing hours ■ ""ill be as they are now. It would bo i'ust as convenient to make the alteration >y en amendment of the War Regulations Act, but the objection to this procedure probably is that the Government' does not wish to have a troublesome dis'cussion on ,the War Regulations generally; by members who are so fond of .talking about "freedom of speech." As to the contents of the Bill, there is still nothing but speculation. No anBouncement of the decision of Cabinet 'will-be made until the Bill comes down, R"d it is not known yet whether Cabinet has 'Said the last word "about it. There is a strongly-held opinion that whatever hours the Government put in the Bill "Trill, bo accepted by the House. Many jravercrs will be glad to let the Government settle the question for them, and will do it by voting for tlio •"ill. ; The present hours for the sale of liquor in hotels are from G a.m. to 30 p.m. Not even members -of the Trade want to keep the very early morning hours, for the amount of business done m thJse hours is not sufficient to pay l for the staffing of- the bars. 'Probably opening hour will bo 9. a.iii. Thero is little chance of six o'clock being agreed to ns the closing hour, and there is also little chance that the hour will bev later tiiau eight o'clock. It is always difficult .1.0 find "how certain members are coing to vote on a liquor question, and there js more than the usual uncertainty about this Bill. One lot of tipsters say that the hour will be eight, and another lot, equally trustworthy, say that thero is a inaionty in the House in favonr of seven o'clock. v

' A demand is made by the liquor people .fni the repeal of thu anti-shouting law, but it is improbable that anything ot the BOrt will be done. Everybody but the Government admits that the law has not accomplished what it was enacted to do, but a 6 the members of the Government profess still to believe that the 'law is a good law they .cannot give wstf to popular clamour and repeal it. Btcu the Prohibitionist's have said that the law is n farce, but they would probably resist the repeal of it. The men in the Trade Bay on the other hand that the law is a vexatious one, and some of them say it has led to a reduction 1 in uikings.

NEARING THE END. The Prime Minister gave an indication to the House the other day that the session is not likely to be a very long one, or at any rate that an effort is . to be ifiiiuo to get it over as soon as possible. Kariy in'the__session Mr. Massey expressed the opinion "that ft won?* b'e a wiser and more comfortable policy to let tho House 'Bo on- a -little longer if by this means it was possible to do without lata sitp]> till now there have been no late sittings, and a lot ol' .important 'work has been done. It is-: reported, however, that there are a number of country members who arc very anxious to get back to'their farms, and that they are pressing the Government to push 011 icfth the business. The announcement has been made by Mr. Massey that he proposed to ask the House to agree to sit on Mondays after this week, and Monday sittings ■usually mean that the end of tlie session is near. The biggest Bill ahead is the Amendment Bill, which fihonuT appear next weelc. There is r-iso to be an amendment to the Military. Service .Act,, but, since the Government has dropped the idea of reducing the military age, the Bill is not likely to be contentjaaj. There will be, perhaps, two late nights fo deal witli the Liquor Bill, but there will not be much talk on it. QTie Pensions Bill will bo a longer business. The most general prediction is that the session will end about the middle of next month, but it may go on nntil the ord of'tho month.