THE LICENSING POLL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 141, 11 December 1911, Page 8

THE LICENSING POLL.

DISCUSSED IN AUSTRALIA. ißy Cable—Press Association —Copyright. I Received 11, 1 a.m. Sydney, December 10. I The secretary of the New South Wales Alliance s jubilant at the New Zealandvote at the liquor poll. He says nobody can deny that it s a grand victory, and that with the assistance of the Catholic vote New Zealand could probably have carried prohibition with a good deal to spare. ■Mr. Tennyson-Smith, the temperance advocate, predicts that the liquor trade will be badly beaten at next elections. The officials of the Licensed Victuallers' Association declined to discuss the matter on the incomplete figures. RESULTS STILL COMING IN. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The official results for the national prohibition vote are still drifting through to the chief electoral officer (Mr. F. W. , Mansfield), but the results do not differ [ materially from those already published. . It is generally anticipated that the vote , j in favor of prohibition will fall short of • the required majority by 5 per cent. i, THE NATIONAL POLL.

FOR PROHIBITION 245.110 AGAINST 1-93,696 These totals show a deficiency of 18,173 in the number of votes required to carry prohibition.—Wellington Times. LEADERS' IMPRESSIONS. Auckland, December 8. Mr. Arthur M. Myers, M.P., interviewed to-day in regard to the result of the licensing poll, said it was clear from the vote recorded that the majority of the people were still in favor of a regulated licensed trade, and were not prepared for the drastic change advocated by the prohibitionist party. The fact that in Masterton, Ashburton and Ohinemuri a -majority of votes had been cast in favor of restoration, should open the eyes, of the prohibitionists to the wisdom of requiring a substantial majority to effect a change in the established order of things, so as to avoid the unsettlement and inconvenience attaching to the liability to frequent fluctuations.

Asked how he accounted for. the large vote recorded In favor of national prohibition, Mr. Myers said that until it was ascertained how many votes had actually been cast on both side of this question, and how many of the electors had failed to record their votes, he thought it would be premature Go venture an opinion on the subject. The vote cast for national prohibition would give leading members of the trade considerable food for thought. The opinion of the prohibition party on the results of yesterday's voting was sought to-day from the Rev. J. Cocker, I .president of the Auckland City No- ' License League. He said the result of yesterday's voting was based upon a long and continuous education of the people upon the no-'license question. It was part of the trend of public opinion towards a sober State. Every poll recorded in the past had been a growth upon the one preceding it, which showed that more and more the people were voting for no-license. It was felt that local no-license had been an educational factor in preparing the people for the wider issue of national prohibition. It was for this reason that the no-license leaders asked that the national question be placed upon the ballot papers, so that the people might vote upon the question from a national standpoint." "The vote cast yesterday," remarked Mr. Cocker, "emphasises the correctness of the opinions thus expressed. The returns which have been received up to the present give a vote of over 55 per cent, for national prohibition. At this rate of progress the next vote will mean a dry New Zealand!"