BILLIARD SALOONS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3778, 19 December 1907, Page 2

BILLIARD SALOONS.

The action of the Borough Council at the special meeting held on Monday last, in fixing the hour for the closing of local billiard saloons at n p.m., is not in the best interests of the rising generation. We cannot congratulate those Councillors who proposed and supported the 'amendment, altering the time from xo p.m. to n p.m. We have nothing to say against the conduct of the saloons. We believe the licensees are exemplary. That however, is not the point. The Council should do everything in its power to- promote a healthy moral and physical tone in the borough. The police have stated their reasons for objecting to 11 o’clock licenses ;so far as we know the billiard-saloon keepers never asked for an extension of time. In other towns the closing of billiard-saloons is regulated by the time at which hotels close, and this is as it should be in fairness to the public house billiard-rooms The arguments used in support of n o’clock licenses at Monday night’s meeting, were humorous, if nothing else. One Councillor solemnly exclaimed that it would be depriving the licensee of his living—which prompts the query, where does the other fellow come in ? ; another explained that the game was scientific who denies it ? ; another that “ billiards was the favourite pastime of the great Herbert Spencer!” ; but what in the name of common sense have these statements to do with closing the billiard saloons at a certain hour in Foxton ? Enough ! We commend the blessing of wives and parents to those generous Councillors for tempting husbands and sons to remain out until the hour when the ghost walks. The peace and comfort ot the home is only a circumstance after all, —at least to some people!