King Country Chronicle Wednesday, August 6th, 1913 KING COUNTRY LIQUOR.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 591, 6 August 1913, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Wednesday, August 6th, 1913 KING COUNTRY LIQUOR.

That the conditions under which the liquor traffic of the district is conducted are urgently in med of alteration has been frequently urged, and rarely does a court sitting at Te Kuiti pass without the matter being emphasised. The illicit sale of liquor is undoubtedly

being carried on throughout the district, and as long as liquor is obtainable the practice is apparently destined to continue. Usually the person who engages in the illegal traffic is that type which is commonly designated undesirable, and no sympathy is extended to him in the event of him being caught and penalised. This week, however, a case was heard in which it was plainly indicated that a tremendous temptation confronts the people of this district. It has not been customary to regard as a heinous crime the sale of liquor in a prohibited district, and the King Country residents from the tact thai they are arbitrarily prohibited, and are denied an effective vote in respect to local option may be inclined to look upon the offence with a tolerant eye. This renders the temptation to sell for pro-

fit all the more keen, and (hat the ■ possibility exists of ordinarily ):i\vabiding residents falling into the evil practice is undoubtedly a son' us menace to the morals oi' the >o:;i----munity. The story related in court this week by Mr Finlay and substa:;tiatod by the police disclosed ih<- cni=' of an industrious and respectable n:s:i ' who saw in the liquor iraiiic an opportunity to relieve an urgent need for j money. That the lavs? was temporary was plainly indinted. and tiioufjh selfrighteous people may no; see in the circumstances any r> :-?on to condone the otl'ence it cannot be denied that there exists in the local conditions a temptation which threatens to undermine the moral sense of the people. The position is one which calls for ; remedial action. The existence of ! laws and penalties is entirely ineffecj five to prevent the illicit traffic.and in | the interests of the whole community it is high time other steps were taken to prevent the degradation of the people. Advocacy of license or nolicense is futile in face of the existing facts. Individual opinion is usually tempered by prejudice, or by circumstances which should not be allowed to affect great public question 3 and the only safe course is to confide great issues to the people. In recognition of this principle the question of | license or no-license throughout the I Dominion has been placed in the hands \of the people in the form of local option. The King Country has not yet been granted the privilege in this respect which is conferred upon ths rest of the Dominion, and it is high time a determined effort was made to claim equal rights and privileges with the Dominion as a whole. Once that principle is affirmed there will be some hope of effecting a remedy in respect to illicit liquor selling. The crusade in respect to license and nolicense in the Dominion has hitherto been prosecuted on the asumption that the present licensing law represents fixed and permanent conditions and that any vote of the people shuuld be taken accordingly. It is to be hoped the Government will have sufficient courage and initiative to shatter that illusion of partisans. The people who conscientiously believe that liquor in any form is an evil have full opportunity to vote according to their convictions: On the other hand the people who do not hold such extreme views, but who are opposed to the monopoly constituted by the present system of license are very numerous. In consequence of the manner in svhich the local option vote is taken J these people are disenfranchised, or at ! best are forced to choose what they | believe to be the least of two evils, I and vote accordingly Such a position j is entirely opposed to the democratic ideal, and in urging that the whole I question should be opened up for consideration apart from the advocacy of ; partisans we are supported by the coni victiun that a great principle is at stake. It is to be hoped the disclcsj urea which are continually being made : locally wil' call public attention to the crying need, and that the mind of the : people will be so exercised that ; prompt action in the interests of the ; public will be insistently demanded.