The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1915. THE LICENSING POLLS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 71, 26 March 1915, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1915. THE LICENSING POLLS.

The official results of the polls on the liquor question, taken in December, last, are instructive to students of the question. An excellent analysis of the comparative statistics has be«n made by the Lyttelton Times, and this shows that the polls of 191-1 mark the first set-back suffered by the prohibitionists in the course of their industrious campaign against liquor during the last twenty years. The Times goes on to say : It is true that in 1911 there was a slight drop in the percentage of'total votes that were in favour of local no-license, but the prohibitionists were compensated for that in securing , a large expression in favour of the then new issue of national .prohibition. They had, not unnaturally, put forth their greatest endeavours in that direction, and were content to slacken energy in respect of the minor issue. At the seven triennial polls that havoi been taken on the local option issue the attack on liquor licenses has been expressed as follows, the figures showing the percentage for no-license of the total number, of valid votes recorded : Per cent. 1896 37\82 1899 42.23 1902 48.88 190.") ... 51.27 1908 53.45 1911 49.74 1911 45.54 It will be seen that with the exception of 1911, when the new national ques-, tion protruded itself, the last poll was, the only one since 1902 that did not. give a hare majority against license., Three years ago the vote was but a fraction short of half the total, and on that occasion there was a vote of 55.82 per cent, of the electors for national prohibition. The growth of the vote against liquor and the extent to which it appears to have been arrested can best be expressed ill tabular form : LOCAL OPTION, Votes for Electors Continu. Votes for on Polls, ance. No-license 1890 ... 339,230 139,580 98.312 1899 ... 373,744 143,961 120,542 1902 ... 115,789 1-18,449 151,524 1905 ... 176,473 182,884 198,768 1908 ... 537,003 188,140 221,471 1911 ... 590.012 237.025 234,656 1914 ... 616,043 274,405 229,171 NATIONAL PROHIBITION. For. Against. 1911 ' 259,943 205,661 1911 247,217 257,142 We see from these figures a corres-

ponding; alteration in the expression of opinion through the ballot-box in respect of both issues. Not only have both the anti-license and the antiliquor votes shown no advance, but they have actually failed to retain their former position irrespective of the increase in the aggregate number ( of votes recorded. This is the first occasion upon which such a result has | been recorded since the Local Option Act came into operation. The national prohibition figures show that the vote against grew by 51,781 and the vote for diminished by 12,726—a total apparent change in public opinion represented by 64,500 votes. Centesimally, the position is as * under:— Per centof Total Votes 1911. 1914. For prohibition ... 55.83 48.82 i Against prohibition ... 44.17 51.18

It is, of course, very much easier to state these facts than to explain them. Lack of interest seems to be ruled out of consideration as a factor tending to reduce the anti-liquor total, because the people as a whole took rather more than the usual interest in the polls. The voting on each issue, and especially on the prohibition question, advanced more than relatively with the increased number on the rolls, as the figures prove : Votes . Votes Recorded Recorded on Recorded on ' Local on National Option Rolls. Issue. Issue 1914 ... 616,043 504,659 503,879 1911 ... 590,042 465,604 471,681.. Increases 26,001 39,055 ' 32,198 The percentages of electors on the rolls who recorded valid votes on the two issues in 1911 and 1914 respectively were as follows: National . Local Prohibition. Option. Per cent. Per cent. 1911 77.21 79.93 1914 81.91 81.79

Clearly the people as a whole were* is also evident that many men and is keenly evident that many men and women who voted for prohibition at the first time of asking reversed their attitude at the "second. The Times is disposed to believe that the war influenced a considerable number of electors against interfering with an established, trade and the custom of the community. This would he quite a reasonable position to take up, and possibly it accounts appreciably for the change recorded. People interested in the trade and enthusiastic prohibitionists will no doubt draw varying conclusions and apportion the reasons for the set-back in many divergent ways. It is possible that the continually swelling votes against license and against liquor over many years were due to various considerations. The steady advance in the consumption of liquor that has taken place side by side with an increasingly, apparent, success of the campaign against it has always left much to be explained. The equipment and management of hotels has certainly improved vastly under the salutary influence of the popular vote, and it may be that the majority of the people are inclined to be content, for the present, with the advantages that have been secured in that direction.