THE OTAKI MAIL. Published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1920. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Otaki Mail, Volume XXVIII, 20 October 1920, Page 2

THE OTAKI MAIL. Published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1920. EDITORIAL NOTES.

I Licensing Committee 1 Elcctiom,. I The triennial election of licensing committees is a costly business, and, I considering the little interest token in j ?ame, it i-- a moot point whether these i elections should not be- dispensed with ! altogether, and some other system J adopted of controlling licensing mati teis. The main issues concerning the , licensing question are decided by ihc ret'erendum, and the licensing comi mittees have comparatively Hub power. They can certainly do a certain amount in the direction of keeping the licensed house* within then area- comfortable and convenient, but these function.- do not seem to us to warrant the continuance- of the present cumbersome and highly expensive method of electing and maintaining licensing committees. We have just received from the Otaki Town Board i detail? of the cost of the last licensing , J election, held in this district in March i la>t. from which it appears that tl.--election cost the local bodies concerned no Ursa than £124 Is id. A: this election only about thr*-.- hundred j votes were polled in the whole eletI torate, with a roll of well over "000 j names. In many electorates no ek-c- ---' tion was held, owing to lack of interest Iby the- public. All this, we contend. ! goes to show- that the present system J is unnecessary and a waste or publir • money, and it i- high time that Pa:- , liament deviled some simpler and less i costly a method of administering the j business that at present falls to th< j lot of licensing committees. As matj u-r- already stand, the stipendiary j magistrate for the district presidfe* at | all meetings of the committees, and, in j most case.-, virtually manages the j whole business,, and the public would ! not mourn much if the elective cora- ! mittees were wiped out altogether. It should not t>e a difficult mpt+er to de - vi-e some form of control that wpuii I prove more satisfactory and less cam- ' bersome than the present system.