HOTEL HOURS.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 September 1917, Page 5

HOTEL HOURS.

A KEEN DEBATE,

SECOND READING CARRIED.

By Telßgraj>!h,V?ress Association. .Wellington, Last Nighi The debate «1i the Rale of Liquor Be» was resumed in the Hojisc of. Representatives to-night.by Mr. Pbolc, who" declared the National Cabinet' Had been gjaced m charge of .thfyfirjeiit poetical Mchme pier given in' charge of aVy ««t of; men in the history ,of the: So-, minion Their opportunities; in gjvfng tlie people % lead on this vital ques>,|Mi had been enoiraous,. but'all theyiljad done was to bring forward a weaV.i halfhearted proposal.' On the of tie lo3s of revenue fcy the■: reduction fof hours, he contended this would not lie half as serious as was thought, bi'Wjsa this change would divert the investing : power into other channel*, which, ;ta turn, would bring in fresh revenue, In i any case, a quarter of «, million of i money was not too high a price to pay ■ for the increased efficiency which would result from shortening the hours. Ho ridiculed the correspondence read by the Premier from labor unions objecting to six o'clock closing as being a sravesty and all the unions had beon fighting for for a decade. ! He then proceeded to comment on the delay caused to snipping ' by the drinking of the crews, every such delay being disastrous to the Enipire, and concluded by pointing out the in- < equality of business conditions under > which shops were closed under law, J>ut i hotels remained open. He asked the Government to stand to the claims and ' obligation of their position, and show ' the Dominion they were prepared to develop our splendid opportunities. Hon. A. L. Herdman criticised, Mr. ■ Poole's reference to inefficiency ,in the Dominion, contending there was no evidence of inefficiency on the part of the > soldiers, business men, or mercantile ma- '■ line. Ho did not think any great change > in the liquor laws was necessary, except, • perhaps, when transports were leaving. ' Tho State should have some more con--1 trol over hotels. Apart from that, he regarded the agitation of tho prohibitionists as an unwarrantable interference with the liberty of the subject, and he denied the right of any one to interfere with him so long as he behaved decently. He also denied 'the right of the prohibition party to .put all the other people in the Dominion into the straight waistcoat. He claimed that the action of the prohibitionists was equivalent to saying to the people: "You are not fit to be trusted with liquor after six o'clock." They said to soldiers: "You are not man, you are children," and he considered the time had arrived when the liberty-loving people in the Dominion should rise* in rebellion against the prohibition movei ment which was behind the Bill." He i maintained that statistics proved there ; was a great diminution in drunkenness : and crime in the Dominion, and he assured the House that most strenuous i efforts were being made to enforce the ; anti-troating law, as well as other' war • regulations, with highly beneficial re- . suits to the community. The blot 01. the proposal of the prohibitionists was the denial of the right, of compensation. There was no analogy between this ,wo . posal and the anti-shouting law. The present proposal was not consistent with the elementary principles of ju»Mc.o. There was no bond blacker than the bond that refuses fair play. He asked : j tho House and the country to note the direction in which this movement was tending. It was leading to absolute n'olicense, and unless those who did nc; wish that condition of things to com" about stirrod themselves, disaster could not be averted. He, like the Premier, looked forward .to the day when thid disturbing question would be taken out of tho realm of politics. This end, he thought, would be best achieved by nationalising the liquor tratt* ; which was the only way to eliminate from it the element of private profit, j Mr. Wright, answering the Attorney- ' i General, claimed)there was no difference in principle between interfering bv law with the practice of shouting, and curtailing the hours in which liquc" could be sold. 'lf it was right for the Attor-ney-General to bring in an anti-shoutin? Bill, it was right for mombers to support shortening tha hours without, being open to charges of interfering with the liberty of the subject. He pointed out that the Premier's electorate had voted in favor of national prohibition from which he claimed tho Premier hail ii direct mandate from the people not merely to curtail the hours, but to vote tlie whole business out of existence. ■ Much the same thing applied to the' Ministers of Finance and .Railways. If the House could not see its way to give six o'clock closing, he hoped tho uours would remain as they are. Mr. Newman (Rungitikei) said the ' question he had to ask himself was what effect would this legislation have towards winning the war. He thought the Government should have, as a ivar measure, declared in favor of total prohibition at the outbreak of the war, and had they done so ho believed it would have been generally approved, and after the wai 1 the question could have been again submitted to tho people. He thought that during the war the importation of spirits should be stopped, because every gallon of spirits manufactured meant tho destruction of so much of tho people's food. There was nothing in the trade's claim for compensation, for when the State interfered with other businesses no compensation wag paid. He would vote for six o'clook closing. He hoped, however, the whole loss would not fall .on the licensee. Hon. G. W. Russell said he had to look round and consider how to stop the leaks in national economy, and in doing this he considered the liquor traffic was the greatest source of waste. He was distinctly of opinion that a xeduction in the consumption would be a direct saving to the people, which they would be able to spend on things more necessary to-their wellbeing. As a Minister of the Crown he had seen so much of the seamy side of the liqUor traffic that he could not find it in his conscience to give a vote in favor of liquor. So far as the soldiers were concerned, he favored a -wet canteen, because if hotels; closed at six o'clock then soldiers would have to live under conditions of practical prohibition. At the game time he did not favor an unlimited supply of liquor to soldiers, because he knew from experience that there was nothing so subversive of discipline as drinfc, and he was bound to vote for a reduction of hours in order to remove temptations from the path of our young men. If loss arose i rqin the curtailment of hours, that loss should be borne by the great brewers out of the profits made in years past. Ho did not regard the six o'clock aaitation as a wobibition movement.

Had it been «p he would look upwi ft' with eusplaioo. He, hpwever, jmmf »• large body of pnbllo opinjoß W it, Indeed, he was confident: a W-joftif of <the people of the Dominion foftfW six o'clo<jk. Perhaps the change W<mu not realise all expectation, trtit ft K-, served a trial, If, after &> trial, it $&8 still found that evils extend, tb»y w could go a step further and the sover&gn power of tip fjtfttaf 06 did not anticipate any trouble if t&(j direction of islypogtrade. thfl |uj«f 'was made iqutUly reSf Oflaittle w jts_ the seller. He appealed tp the pr&w* tiopists to provide tSe soldiera wfe a substitute for the Ifguor traffic. J os. concluded by indicating WoiildfvQtft. for the largest reduction In the Iqfljrs it. was possiblo to secure. £ ■ Witty contended iore .up tfo scrap f p&perts%n« to , the trade when the people decidijl to 1 favor of great hardship on hotel «mploye«9 l, wii% would be thrown o«t of kb also destroyed at means of securing the nectary jav^U^ 1 •beside? casting, a slur 'on the goldtaa ■ who were treated as serf?,, Thwn'wMe 'good enough t<jt feht, but n^jgoMi 'ty 'Wtlw\m $ liquoj Is wsmqu, If things, went # '«64bis rste. i 1)) wwjld not ta tyn# fyisfatt ty blojw; q«? candles outit S| nfe <Aloc& '5 Mr, Webb detfftred. ttio Bill So remedy for tie evils'ftttased fa'ffr tiring traffic, The whole question should be referred,'to the people, wfyi s&wld have an opportunity' or settling It fey a referendum. t '-I Dr, Thacker repudiated the amgetim , that a hundred soldiers were to be, ?&( walking the streets of frf a .drunken condition. He «aic| thbt'jgitil State control game, with consM& tion, lie stood absqlirtelv fpr the fifths majority and foj." taa jprewii|fcis&' of sale. ' said that after t|ie speeoii'lij;, stand the difficulty the National C&biiwij' now had in bringing down a Bill affirm- 1 ing the principle of six o'clock closing. Discussing the question from a national point of view, he regretted the Bill was a compromise. 'He thought it" would, have been better if they bad met the wish of the country whole-heartedly, ans not resorted to a half-way house,' which did not always give the best acsommodif tion, The Bill was a timorous concss« sion 1 to growing public opinion, oft thought the Government was not abrea*i> of public opinion, and it was idle tyj say that' only the prohibitionists wera behind the movement. Hif persona) knowledge gave him a different imprest sion. The movement was backed by a large number of business men, «Wd waß' strongly reinforced by women, who had ' feab for their loved ones both now anj , in future years. Looking at the quest , tion from a national point of View, id asked: Could the country go on spend* ' ing such an enormous sum on drink J lie claimed there should be a material! " reduction in the national drink bill of the Dominion in tho interests of tifrift, ■ economy, and efficiency. The war riflght' easily last at least two years, and in that case great personal economy'wimld have to be' exercised, and this Waj all ■ the six o'clock closers were asking tho country to do. If the country lost £500,000 of revenue as the result, then' it followed tho consumption of liquor would be halved, and that in itself would be an enormous ' economy. Ha denied' this Raving would be wasted in other extravagances, and therefore- thu argument that "the country would 3oso revenue was rather weak. Discussing the position is other countries, ho afked if the Attorney-General could say Canada was wrong, and that they were the victims of phantasy? He thought, rather, that Xew Zealand was lagging behind -and not doiiig its part. ,I?rue,.wo had passed the anti : shouting law, which, on the whole, was a useful measure, •and lie was not in favor of its repeal. Ha deprecated the continual revival of the limio'.' question every three years. ■ It ought to be \divorced from politics.' by not being determined on general dectio:i day. He hoped this mischief would be speedily removed from the naxunal life, and lie would like to see the people have an opportunity to determine upon ■ its elimination by a bare majority on the basis,of compensation. ■ > Mr. Vv'.' T. .Jeuuinjfa defended the soldiers against the slanders of drunkenness. He denounced the fanatical prohibitionists who were endeavoring to stir ' , up strife in the country at a critical ? juncture. He. favored State control, and • i asked that a trial of that system should be made in tho King country, whero at there was absolutely no control, : Until the people decided differently'''by poll, he believed the eompromiso offered by the Government was a fair one, and he wo\ild< support the Bill. Mr. 0. A'; Pearce said that though ho was not, a .prohibitionist he would sup- <• port six. o'clock closing as a means. of effecting' economy in, the country, .provided the tenant was not to bear the greater part of tlie joss. Messrs Wilkinson, Svkes, and Ell supported six o'clock closing. The Bill was read a second time on tho voices, and the committee stage was Bet down for to-morro'w. The House rose at 11.15 p.m.