THE LICENSING BILL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 184, 14 November 1910, Page 8

THE LICENSING BILL

NO-LICENSE PARTY DISAPPOINTED. THE "TRADE" CONSIDERS IT EQUITABLE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. Interviewed regarding the Licensing Bill, the Rev. John Dawson, secretary of the New Zealand Alliance 1 , declared that the party was universally disap- . pointed sit the retention of the present three-fifths majority. "We shall not cease from to-day,'' he said, '"to agitate for the bare majority. Jn fact, we shall be more vigorous than ever. We feel acutely the injury the people suffer in having to submit to a three-fifths majority. \Ve are pleased, however, to learn from members of the House that if they had not been bound by election pledges they would have reduced the majority this time. The separation of the issues," continued Mr. Dawson, "has given us very great satisfaction, without which the Bill would not have been acceptable to us at all. We are also glad to note that some of the provisions of the Bill will do away with the evils and .abuses now existing; such as the locker system, the bottle license, beer depots, and barmaids. In the interests of the women themselves, we are sorry the Bill did not go the whole length in the abolition of barmaids. It is a calling in which no young women should be allowed to serve. We are satisfied, too, that the term of license after local No-License has been carried has been kept as it is, so that the No-License voter can see the fruit of his labors on the first of July following the elections. But I wish to emphasise this fact," concluded Mr. Dawson; "this Bill does not bring us to our goal. We wish Parliament and the country to realise that nothing short of justice to the electors on the majority question will satisfy us." "An equitable Bill under the circumstances," Mr. John Bevewlge, of the Grand Hotel, president of the Wellington Licensed Victualler*' Association, described it; "an equitable Bill, generally favorable to the other side. They have done remarkably well in getting what they have got—separation of the issues, provision in regard to restoration, abolition of barmaids, and other concessions. W T e are pleased that the reduction issue was struck out. It has generally been regarded as wrong and unjust in principle. We regard four years as too short a period to elapse after Dominion No-License has been carried, and before it comes into force. We think nine years would have been a fair minimum, both to permit of readjustment i in a trade employing a very large ; amount of capital, and to give the Col- ■ onial Treasurer time to adapt his •finances to meet the loss of nearly a million" of ' revenue. The gradual abolition of bar- • maids will establish a monopoly interest ; in them. Suppose you have 100 bar- - maids registered in Wellington when the I Act comes into force; if they drop out i by marriage or otherwise at the rate of i 25 a year, you can see what a state ! tilings will be in during the last year. - On the whole we are content to accept s the Bill as reasonably equitable."