The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 10. LICENSING ANOMALIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 113, 10 June 1909, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 10. LICENSING ANOMALIES.

\ hen tin l police prosecuted a man foi in the Mokau dis riot and the coTitenti'au of counsel for tlx lefeucc that that district did not ednu mder tlic ban of the proclamation pro libi'tiiig the s>ale of liquor in the Kin< Country, w<;js upheld by the Magistrate .ve expressed the view that the deciskn ivas against the spirit, if not the letter >f the licensing kvws and would lea< to consequence* of a far-reaching nature ri»s has 'happened. At the Taumarunu Licensing Committee meeting the othc (lay, applications were made lor license in what were hitherto regarded as pn hiliited .areas, with the result, as i known, that four wore granted—on each at Kactihi, Okahune. Rangataji and Wait-am. The taction of the com mittee is severely criticised all over t ; h colony, and by papers that cannot b accused of -being in sympathy with th prohibition puny. And the verdict i that if the law Ims been rightly inter pretcd by counsel for the applicants, t-li Licensing' Committee and the Magia trate, an amendment of the Act is ur gently • required and' that L'arliamen -iliould at the first opportunity take th matter up. Tire Wanganui Herald goo into the past history of the Xing Com try a-nd the prohibition ban. It say that for twenty years it has been un derstood that the Waima.rino and othe in tlTe interior of this Islam ■were prohibited districts under a pre damation issued at the instance of tli late Hon. Jolm Ballance, then the Mill ister for Native Affairs and Ministe for Lands in 1887. but it would appea that for twenty years the Logislatur and the prOplo of the dominion hav been laboring under a great delusi-or which has 1 only been discovered and dis peiled within the past few months W'hen gome twenty-three yearn ago th Government of the day were discussin; the question-of constructing raihvn; lines in native territory in this Islanc and permission had to be obtained Irojthe natives to take the Iron Jlors through their lands. consent was give on the understanding that liquor wa not to -be allowed to enter the nativ domains, This was one of the reason that led to tire King Country being dc clarcd u prohibited area, which urea wa {subsequently extended to include th Wiuuuirino and other inland districts Lt now transpires that a few days prio to the issuing of this procalaniation Gazette notice appeared declaring cci 1 tain lands within the proclaimed are, hitherto held by the natives to be Crow. | lands', and this ratter notice, it is claim I ed, over-rides the subsequent proclaim . tion, which applies only to lands owne I and held by the natives. At the tim lof the issuing of the proclamation I there wore only one or two European j in the King Country and the WaunaniK I the greater proportion of the popuhi tion toeing natives. A quarter ot a cen tury has witnessed great changes, air to-day the position is reversed so fa as" population is concerned, and th' bulk, ot the people are of European do* cent; Be that ats it may, it could no be seriously <i that t'he Govern inent of the day did not intend the .pro ciaiuation to cover those blocks, of lam which it had -already acquired by pur chase from the natives or lands tha might subsequently pass into the hand of the State, <aud this is >a very import ant point to be considered in eonnec tion with the position a**revealed at tbi present time. Of course, if it were eon teinplated that so soon as lands ill th< iprohi/bited areas passed .out of the ; hands of the natives, or that as th" European population increased, th< j ordinary provisions of the Licensing AH were to apply, then there is ar 1 end to the matter. But this contentior is open to grave question.

if Ifeonsos can hp issued in these areas formerly prohibited, continues our contemporary, then by all means lot there I'>e hotel licenses 'and ,not wholesale licenses, for the latter will assuredly lead to much greater drinking a",id attendant evils than would result from li<|mir being s old under a retail license. A\e can conceive of 710 greater lianil being in Hie ted on a community than for a number of young fellows, to club together and hi the name of one of their number .purchase liquor in wholesale quantities and then consume without let or hindrance. What is there to prevent football ifcid cricket teams, mill hands, and other combinations purchasing liquor in this way and doing great injury to themselves and the community generally; I'ar better would itX, We say. if licenses are to be granted, 'that liifiior ishould be (<old in retail rather than in wholesale quantities. '1 hen there would be some supervision, Iwhieli under wholesale license is .impossible. Then again, die ease with whieh a wholesale license can be obtained by an applicant is not in the best interests of the community. The Ijcginlatnre rightly decided that before a hotel license i.; issued, the applicant must satisfy the Committee that lie is a lit and proper peison to hold it. lie must lirs-fc of all obtain from a .Magistrate a certificate of good character, and twentyone days' notice must he given of the intention of the applicant to apply for a license, .so that ample opportunity is afforded for the protection of public ,n----teres'ts. 111 the ca'-v of a Wholesale licence, no question of fitness or character iti asked and it is nut required to £ivc three weeks' notice. In the eireunistances, then, iit is easy to see how abuses may creep in. 1 right of the Tauniamnui Licensing Committee to grant now licences, that is a question which appears to SBe M'angauui jiaper to be enveloped in mystery. The Act proI vidpfi Unit where the population of aay district has increased by 2o per cent., & proposal as to whether there shall bo tin increase of lu'enses granted shall bo s'ulimitted to the electors for their do--1 termination. and if sunh jiroposal is carried by a majority of .three-fifths, the (-'ommittee may then grant additional licenses. "No such poll was taken at Taumarunuf," continues the Herald, "and s o far as we are aware this clause ■of the Act hiis never .been repealed, 'though we ibelieve the l''ul| Court has decided Unit tJi ( . carrying of a proposal 'tl»al the number of licenses existing in a district shall no j. interfere with the po,. ~ ; ,ut new wholesale licenses. And that is the position in the Taumanmui licensing district. At the last local option poll the district carried continuance, hut, taking advantage of a technicality, in theiir wisdom 'the Committee have decided wholesale Jfcenscß shall be increased, a7id this 111 face of strong opposition, tendered lull*' police and residents of the district's afleeted. Tf the will of the people is not to be considered in the .granting of wholesale licences, then it i,s time there was a radical change in this farcical position."

as Professor Barber puts it, success inus be sought through the living genu. 'Hitherto the tried methods of weaker ing the tuberelv bacillus so that it migl" be safely inoculated for protective pui poses have failvd, and at the same tim deail bacilli uud their products, whir have heen so largely used, have prove) inadequately efl'eetivH'. "'lhc livin. svrum" is the new idea—new, tha is, in its particular application. An working presumably from this basi lshigami proelnims a serum whh'h h .-alls 14 tulierculo-toxoidiji," and affirm lluil. it not only produces immunisatioi ;»ut is also curative. "Out of a toU »f 771 tuberculosis patients," he sai< ' cadi of whom has received more tha ifteen injections of tuberculo-toxoidiu i ny clinic within the past few year: ;hcre were 274 who were complete! ■ured, and 258 who were partially cum These fast two figures added togethe mike f»32, being (iS.OI per cent, of th otal number of patients. Those \vh liseontinued the treatment for variou easons numbered 107. 'those wiio die mmbered 20, and tbe remnants nun end KU. The average number of ii rations per patient among those eon letely cured was sixty-five/' ■Scientific testimony very strongl uggests that tuhercinosis is not liti'i lly hereditary, but is caused hy a pai cular microbe, feebleness of resistant* i which nun certainly be inherited. I as on tin* strength of this generalise on as well as the evidence given In le Congress that the American Kedera on of Women's Clubs, representing 10,000 women, made a remarkable deiimation in the course of "woman's

club day" at the Tuberculosis Congress. -The great scientists, gathered from all parts of tlie world, have told us what to do and how to do it," one tu u»e Federation's spokeswomen said in expressing its sentiment: " to-day we know that tuberculosis is not inherited.. We know that it is communicated from one human being to another, and we nn 4 going to do nil in our power to prevent; this contagion. We know that it mi ho cured, and \\'c are preach this doctrine of hope to uiose afflicted wit.* the dread disease. . . Wit know that it can be prevented, and we are going to try to educate the masses up to a realisation of the necessity of adopting , religiously all the preventive measures ! which seientilit- investigation has urged upon us." It is by means of education that the most good can be done, and there is little doubt that if this were thoroughly pursued and people could lie persuaded to adopt such precautions as Mr. John Hums suggests, the dreaded disease would, as he be stamped out in a generation.

An intersting suggestion lu\s l*oo made by Hi*. W. 'I 1 . Stead in a lottr to one of tiu» Loudon dailies. .Medic;' science, he \Vrites, with the aid of phi anthropie capitalists, has studded th Continent with sanatoria for the euro c consumption. They are to ho fotvn everywhere, in the Black Forest, on th higli Alps, 011 the seashore, and on U\ confines of tlie African desert. Ther are more than one hundred of them i Germany nlone. Yet to this day th best site in the whole world for sami toria for tin; cure of tuberculosis remain unoccupied. What is still more strange this superb site is to be found in on . own special domain, which is free fo occupation without relit, rates, or taxes I refer to the ocean. We hear muc of the blue-water school of Imperial de fence, but no one speaks of the blm water cure for the great white plagut Yet, if the most eminent medical aullio: ities of the modern world are right, th possibility that a consumptive patien will be cured in an ocean sanatoriur is at least twice as great as if he wer sent to the best sanatorium on hnt What is proposed is to have a lloatin, sanatorium, properly equipped, statione in the neighbourhood of \ the Canar Islands. The medicine which alone pure consumption is pure air, and no nir 01 land is so pure or so restorative a the salt-laden breath of the soft so: wind. Oxygen and saline matter are no where else so deftly intermingled. "Fron a business point of view," says Mi Stead, the scheme, so far from ofl'erin] any difficulties, offers positive tempta tions to the capitalist. Kkiin for skn all that a man has he will give for his life. To buy a suitable vessel, and t< fit her up as a superb floating hospital would not cost more than C 20,000 at the very outside. It is computed that to cure a patient 011 these terms would not average more than one hundred pounds per head. What is a hundred pounds for a life? The ocean sanatorium is coming. The (Jermans are already thinking over the problem, and if w art; not prompt they will get in ahead of us. and that ought not to be. For the sea is our own domain, and it would never do for Britan/iia. to allow the healing potency of the waves which she rules to be first practically demonstrated by any but herself."

OX THE FOUKTH PAGE. ('omnierV ; ia'l. District News. , On'cral News. Woman l * World. TJ;uliuiTi Miracle. The ttritiisb Navy. Tim Slnire Market. I Tragralv oi the S\>a. "The Idol nf A\'\ Russia." A "Russian Policy o-f Turpitude.