The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1908. THE NO-LICENSE CAMPAIGN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2197, 22 May 1908, Page 2

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1908. THE NO-LICENSE CAMPAIGN.

The gathering which took place at the Theatre last night comes as a reminder that in a lew months lienee the public will again be given an opportunity to review the position so .far as the granting of licenses are concerned. At last election the electorate which included Gisborne failed by the narrow majority oi 20 votes to carry no-licensu, and the closeness of the contest might naturally have been expected to provide a useful lesson to each of the parties that were lighting in the contest. Tlio advocates for No-License have certainly profited by the experience, and have in the. interim taken, steps to perfect still more their wonderful organisation. For some 'time past their most- enthusiastic workers havo boon actively engaged in preparations for the coming trial of strength. They havo an organising agent who devotes the whole of his time to canvassing in the No-License interest, and list night’s “rally” is probably only the lirst of many similar gatherings that will ho arranged for the purpose of ventilating auti-llicouse views and generally furthering “the cause.” As against this activity wo look in vain for corresponding enterprise on the part of those repersonting tlio liquor interests. If the last election provided a lesson at all it was a very plain hint to the holders of licenses that they must figuratively and literally put their houses in order. iS'o far as one can judge the warning given so plainly in 1905 has not been heeded, and the figures that were quoted last evening provide abundant evidence that'the publicans of the district are not exercising reasonable care in regard to tlio conduct of their trade. The lie'll ros, showing that 122 eases of drunkenness have been before llio local Magistrate’s Court during three nionjlis of tlio present year, were only invorostiug as providing concrete illustrations of a fact that is known to every one, namely, that there is au undue amount of drunkenness going on in Gisborne at the present time. Tlio responsibility for this undesirable state of affairs can only bo laid at the dour of “the trade,” and by .allowing it to continue they are in oJUJciqucnco providing No-License advocates with their most effective arguments. \Ve are quite aware that there are some hotels conducted in this place in such a manner as to reject credit upon the town and distinct, but unfortunately the licensees of these have to suffer for the sins of the less scrupulous. The public very naturally refuses to differentiate- in Such matters, and seeing only the gross abuse of the license system in the heavy drinking which takes place, at once condemns the trade as a whole. One would have thought that the licensees in Gisborne and adjacent districts would have seen the wisdom of combining in a mutual undertaking to so conduct their respective businesses as to merit the approval of the public. In other parts of the Dominion this has been done with highly beneficial results. A feature of these agreements lias been an undertaking with the police by. which the committee of the licensed victuallers themselves assist members of the force in bringing to book those who offend by misconducting their business; in such a way as to discreditthe trade as a whole. Unless something of this sort is done amongst the local hotelkeepers they will stand in imminent danger of losing tlieir- licenses, for the public, which, after all, is chiefly comprised of what has conveniently been termed “the moderates,” will not tolerate the continuance of the excessive amount of drunkenness which is permitted in our streets. The fact must not be overlooked that under our local option system the existence of the trade is entirely dependent upon tlio goodwill of the public, which will bo chiclly influenced upon polling-day—-not by the outpourings of prohibitionist orators —but from its own observation of tlio effects of the trade.