REVISION OF HOURS FOR HOTEL BARS

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5303, 16 January 1947, Page 6

REVISION OF HOURS FOR HOTEL BARS

C. R.

Mentiplay,

NEW SOUTH WALES VO'IE women will favour status quo

(From

N.Z.P.A.) SYDNEY, Jan. 15. i Liquor reform in New Sduth Wales has reduced itself for the moment to the simple issne as to whether hotels shall close at six, nine, or ten o'clock. A decision will be made on February 15, when the electors will state their preferences by a vote which is compulsory. This is the first opportunity citizens have been given to change the present closing hour of 6 p.m., which was imposed in 1916. It is understood that if 10 o'clock closing is carried, bars will close between 6.30 and 7.30 p.m. * The campaign is already briskly under way, with much expenditure oi' money in advertisements in newspapers, on hoardings, and on the air, but so far the public is more concerned with finding an hotel which observes the statutory hours now existing. More Beer, Shorter Hours It has become habitual for many publicans to close {their (doors as soon as the beer runs out, so- that even now, when the United Licensed Victuallers' Association assures the public that more beer is being brewed than before the war, many bars are open for only four hours a day. A recent survey found 60 Sydney hotel bars closed between 3 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. on Saturdays. The licensed victuallers fear a reduction of the legal hours is this continues. The supply of spirituous liquors and wineS is now adequate, but many iicensees prefer to concentrate on more profitable beer saies. The New South Wales Temperance Alliance is heading the fight to .retain the existing hours. It claims that later closing increases drunkenness, and that in Queensland and Tasmania, where there is 10 o'clock closing, the 6 o'clock rush has been complemented by the 10 o'clock stampede. In Brisbane, drunkenness is stated to have in- / creased 36 per cent since the change was made. England, America and France are cited as bad examples of greater f'reedom in drinking. Who Would Mind the Baby? The Liquor Trade Council for New South Wales favours a late hour, and bases its campaign on provision for more enlightened drinking. Drunkenness, it claims, is the result of workers drinking in congested conditions on empty stomachs in the sl ort period between the end of the working day and the closure of hctels. It cites France, "where drunkenness is almost unknown," as the perfect example of enlightened drinking. Public opinion polls reveal that men generally favour the late hour and that women back the existing closing time. Most women seem unattracted by the prospect of enjoying an evening beer with their husbands in the lounge of the local hotel. One woman voiced the widespread fear when she said: "One of us would have to stay at home and mind the baby, and I have a suspicion it would not be my husband." It seems as if this will be one dedision in which the women's vote will have an overpc-wering influence. There are many reasons for the belief that that influence will be directed at supporting the status quo.