Local Option and State Control.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 91, 17 July 1908, Page 5

Local Option and State Control.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —In your issue of June 26th "J.H.T." points out the great issues at stake with regard to the question of License or No-License in the King Country. He urges that we should unanimously support the demand < to be put under the same conditions as peopie in other parts of the Dominion. It has been clearly pointed out that prohibition was granted to the Maori leaders to secure their people from tempation to obtain liqour, and, as a means to the end. of keeping the " closed door" policy for the KingCountry, so that that part of the country at least should be safe from the encroachments of the Pakeha. He urges that as other conditions of the Treaty have been broken we may as well have the Constitutional liberty granted us to break this other part of the agreement with the Maoris. Continuing, "J.H.T." presumes that we will say " Yes " when asked if we will have liquor or not, for he next advocates that the State should control the sale of it, and says that it would be the means of remedying the present conditions, which necessitate a man becoming a schemer that is, of course, a man who cannot get along without having something intoxicating to drink. We know, of course, that there are men so far gone that they cannot do without grog of some sort. "J.H.T." presumes they are in the majority in the King Country. And why won't the Government give these unfortunates the privilege _of being asked whether they would like to have drinking houses or not, Iso that they can answer like free citizens, " Yes ! We would like it very much." And what a fine thing it would be to thus deal a last crushing blow to the " closed door " policy adopted by the old Maori leaders and chiefs and their sympathisers. Put the drink in their way, and if they can't stand it, well, under they go. The Pakeha can then encroach upon them to his heart's content. Of course we admire the fine Maori race and wish them well, in theory, but in practice they are always in the way. Even when we seem to be getting over the difficult land encroachment scheme, another difficulty presents itself in a Maori agreement which debars us from indulging in intoxicating liquors. We are denied this glorious privilege so that the Maori may be protected as far as possible from the vice of drunkenness, and so that he may not be unduly encroached upon. So we are forced to deal with sober Maoris, and our childen are being reared in such ignorance that they hardly know what it is to see a drunken man. I have heard sensible men of the world declare that the next thing will be that people will be forbidden to smoke. They are not far wrong, for in China already the authorities are forbidding people to smoke—opium. Then seeing the turn events are taking let us without further delay demand equal rights with those who live in more favourable localities, where freedom (and intoxicants) exist. —Yours, etc. " OUTBACK."

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Allow me to endorse the remarks of " Resident " with regard to the dog nuisance. I would go further and add a strong complaint about the " stray cattle and horse nuisance." It is high time somebody took the matter in hand and agitated to have a pound established. We are badly enough off in most respects through no fault of our own, but this is a nuisance we can control, and I hope it will be done. I hope the member for the riding on the County Council will take action in this, as' the infliction is serious.—l am, etc., ANOTHER RESIDENT.