The Daily News THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3. THE ENGLISH LICENSING BILL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 291, 3 December 1908, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3. THE ENGLISH LICENSING BILL.

To New Zealand belongs the honor, how wr it may lie valued, of being the iirst of the dominions under the British Crown to give to the people, in certain deliued districts or sections, the right to decide whether they will continue to have iuus, hotels, or places of refreshment in their midst. As tliey have shown themselves pretty prone to do, the Australian States promptly followed in New Zealand's wake. A very strong sidelight is thrown upon Australasian legislation in this respect by the rejection of tile English Licensing Bill by the House of Lords. The leading provisions of that Hill have been already brielly noticed in these columns. Under the auspices of the lialfour Government an Act was passed by which a l'uiul was established—contributed to by all hotelkeepers and publicans —and from this fund compensation is paid when a renewal o[ the license is refused to any house. The Bill which has just been rejected ensured that the number of licensed houses should be very considerably reduced, and it gave to the people i the" right to determine upon the total ! abolition of all licenses in their districts, compensation in every case being grant- ' ed. This is the Bill which the llouse of i Lords, by a majority of 272 to 00, have \ thrown out 011 the ground of its injustice j to the publicans. J The leading public men in England j have mil entertained the idea of taking 1 from a man his business without eomipensatiou; nor have iliev contemplated the assertion of the right of the State to refuse licenses which, as a mattei of course, have been annually renewed for a long series of years., without the | giving of an yidetjnate notice. The f period of notice proposed in the Bill !\vas , fourteen years, and even the Bishops considered the proposed period of notice was too short. The wealthiest and, comparatively", the highest monopoly 111 any part of the world has bee.i built up in New Zealand. Every hotel that lias been closed has added to the business of the hotels that remained. § During the twelve years that have ■ passed since local option was granted, 3 not only have the publicans of to-day H absorbed the business of the houses that | imve been closed, but the drink bill of !S the Dominion nas increased by H 3 per

The British Licensing Bill was carried through the House of Commons by sweeping majorities. The Leader of the Opposition publicly advised the Lords to throw out the Bill, and, the cable informs us, the 272 members who voted for its rejection "was composed exclusively of Unionists." Thus, it is made clear that while Mr. Balfour was defeated and his Government destroyed at the .polls, he still remains the greatest power in the country. The constitutional question involved will be found to quite overshadow the mere issue of the merits or demerits of the Bill. Is the will of the people as expressed at the ballot-box to be paramount, or is it to be tolerated that a defeated and discredited party, rallying to the call of their leader in another chamber, is to control the -legislation of the country? What would be thought in any one of these Southern States if an upper chamber ventured to. take such a step ? The question is, where does control lie—with the Lords or with the Commons? It will-be asked,'what is the use of returning members to Parliament, if a party in another place—animated bv the conservative instinct which leads them to support the interests of a wealthy and powerful faction—is to be allowed to nullify the decisions of the people? It may be found that at » time such as this, when the public mind is already quite sufficiently agitated with the question of the reform or the abolition of the Upper Chamber, the Lords have done a very foolish as well as'a wrong thing—foolish as concerning the stability of their own [louse, wrong i.i .the discharge of their duty by the people.

Till': FINANCIAL OUTLOOK. The recovery in the London wool market is a hopeful aail .encouraging sign, and taken with the most favorable season for cropping and dairying that NewZealand is now enjoying will go a long way to restore public confidence and relax the strange, financial situation. The outlook abroad is promising. Advices from the United States show that trade and industry are rapidly resuming their normal conditions. The return of Mr Taft as President lias had a beneficial cfl'ect oil the sensitive money market, anil capital is being unloosened for various vnterprises in that country. The metal markets, which- it is pointed out by the Mercantile Gazette, may be accepted as a. very fair guide to the industrial situation, relied; the improved conoilions. copper having advanced IS .is since May, tin by t(i 2s (Id, lead by INs

£ ad, mid antimony by 10s, aud with regard to steel and iron Duo's Review rccently stated thai the statistics of pro- % Auction were more encouraging than at & any previous time of the year. The Gazette quotes the Bankers' Magazine (London) to show that the aggregate value of representative securities has in- ® creased .substantially, and the C'ommcr- ¥ c-ial and financial Chronicle of New I' York to show tliat bank clearing returns S are 011 the rise again, and indicate a volunie of mercantile transactions more nearly in agreement with the movement in i!)i)7 than lias been the case for a % number of months past. Further the ifi Financial Times of recent date is cited y to show au improvement in business with South Africa, ami another financial paper that " the shipmasters ill the j North are looking for an improvement - in trade before long," the (Janet,te's re- ; view concluding : "A good deal of cvit ilence of a similar character can be ail- > iluecd to show that there are indications 'i of a. general belief in an early impt'ovcmcnt in trade and industry. 11 does not follow that normal condition's will be restored immediately, and those who f think so will be disappointed. There I will be. a gradual recovery', and that i would be the best for the world. 'The I cheering fact is that the tide lias turned i it will be sometime, however, before it <1 is felt in New Zealand." So far as the £ New Zealand money market is coucern- { ed, the position, 'while more hopeful for i the l-easoiis we have named, docs not ,\c- £ tually show very much change. The $ main' factor responsible for the present » financial tension, as pointed out by J the Gisboruc ...Herald, is that the Dominion is importing goods to consider- ] ably more value than those it is at present sending out. 'Chough the dairymen are receiving splendid prices aud turning ' out an increased quantity of produce, there is not enough butter manufactured to pay for New Zealand purchases abroad„nov even with wool added to its

bridge lln> gap between our imports and our export*. The Chairman of tlic Xapier Chamber of Commerce, who was mentioned in recent, messages as having referred to tlie financial stringency, might to have emphasised this poi'at and impressed upon the mercantile men of the eommuHy the imperative necessity of some concerted movement to curtail purchase?, it seems to us that il the Chambers of Commerce were to grapple witli the position aild preach ami enforce economy (tie financial situation would lie quickly righted. It was just audi concerted action that t«™ed the tide in America, manufacturers anil merchant* when they found the country overstocked shipping over-supplies in large ipinntities to Europe ami elsewhere for i|iiick realisation. There is no need for shipping away imports that have already come into . Zealand, but it would help to improve the financial position of the country if traders and others could be induced to lessen their orders and do all they can to promote the use of New Zealand goods in preference to those from abroad. Th" fiovernment can. as Air Kllhoii pointed out. plav an important pint in the rehabilitation of public ,-I'dtil and the restoration of a free (low of eapitsl by j i'iving Mime definite inducement for the introduction of outside capital in larger volume for the development of land settlement and various Industries within the Dominion. Sir Joseph Ward, ns a keen bihiaess man will recngni-e the importance of securing the confidenceofliritish and Australian financiers, ami now that, his Government has been firmly established in power for another three y<\a>'B it would be a master stroke on his part and one leading to the great_ advancement of the country to establish a cordial entente with those wlio have tlie control of iniiiHMi-e capital for hivestmeiit. Meantime we do not think tlw j

.present financial stringency. though it may press •hard on some, is li.v any means a bad tiling. As the i\ew /eal;inil Trade Review points out. sin import;nit factor in (he present position is til*' value of land, "it has for «• low lime." *ays that careful authority. " been recognised by financiers Unit laiul in New Zealand, both rural and urb:r;i, lia« all.iieeil u-in'i\-:malile and inMal.cd price". I'nri'v conditions a shrinkage jii valnnfinns is looked for, ami » r,\> r l"vel will c'vlaialy be adopted by •01 prudent finan-ierx in makins advances op landed security, This will pre"

upon those needing to raise loans of this character, or those who are, even now, being pressed to redeem sueh advances."