NO-LICENSE IN CLUTHA.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 43386, 10 November 1908, Page 3

NO-LICENSE IN CLUTHA.

To the Editor. Sir, —We are assured by the “ trade ” that No-License injures business. If so, how does it happen that a leading

Tapanui firm doing £IO,OOO or £12,000 per year, had last year only Is 8d of bad debts ? In 1894 the valuation for the Borough of Talclutha was £.34,000 ; in 1908 it is £125,750. Regarding the question of sly-grog in (Tutha, wo find that during the last 10 years ■ f license there were 251 conviclions. During the first ten ye rs of No-License the: e were 81. In Clinton, du ing the last three years, there have been 11 pros eutions for cases con i•ec ed with drink Of these, only two were again-t residents, the majority coming from License districts, [f No-liccnse has been a failure in Olutha, why has the license vote decreased from 1618 in 1896 to 1459 in 1905, while the No-License vote, during the same period, has increased from 1989 to 2546 ? Evident]}’ the Clutha electors are satisfied. In 1896 Balclutlia voted for continuance by a majority of two. In 1905, after an eleven years experience of No-License, the vote was as follows: Restoration, 231 ; against restoration, 465. A minority of two was changed into a majority of 234. We are told that under No-License hotel accommodation is inferior. Mr J. li. S;ott, Secretary of the Otago Dairying Association, after travelling thirty years all over Otago and Southland writes thus : “ My experience is that I now get a better bed, better I meals, and am in every way more com- 1 fortable in the hotels in the No-License • areas than I used to be in those same hotels when they had licenses. Compared with the same class of town under License, I have also no hesitation in saying that the accommodation in the ’ No-License areas in Otago and South- j land is in every way superior,” These are facts and should be considered by the electors. The speech of the Rev. -j W. Beatty, that puguacious cleric, is. being published in Te Aroha, in the interests of the brewers. We would advise ! that some of the other speeches delivered I at the same Synod meeting also be pub- 1 lished.—l am, etc.,l 1 Hopeful, j