THE LICENSING BILL.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 December 1918, Page 7

THE LICENSING BILL.

A COMPROMISE MEASURE.

NOT LIKELY TO PASS. PROBABLE STONEWALL M COMMITTEE. (By Telegraph—Own Correspondent.) Wellington, Last Night. It is not impossible that the Liquor Bill will go through Parliament this session. At present the House is still in the second reading debate, which has revealed nothing of great moment, but there are fears that the Bill will be stonewalled in committee, ana that the Government will not fight it through. Mr. Massey is in charge of the Bill, but palpably it does not re'present his views, nor does the Bill represent the views of any one member of the Cabinet. In the same way, and for the same reasons, there is not a single member of the House who approves of all that is in the Bill. It is a compromise measure. The opinion of a number of members of the House, who are certainly not friends of the trade, is that the Bill, if carried, will give the prohibitionists a gambler's chance and nothing more, and that if the prohibitionists do not succeed at the special poll in April the trade will be entrenched for ever. These members are not likely to oppose the i Bill at the second reading stage, but I thev may have suggestions to make in committee-

Arother opinion freely expressed about the Bill is that, in view of the possibility of voting out the trade, wi'honly six mouths' respite at the end of next year, is not -worth while to pav four millions and a-half for the privilege of voting it out in April. The features of the Bill most approved by the opponents of the trade in the TTousc are the recognition of the bare mnior'tv principle and the abolition et the provision for four years' grace for the trade in the event of national prohibition heir? carried. It was always considered that th» four millions and •l-nalf were given in compensation for the immediate enforcement of prohibition, as against the four years' resnife. and now tbnt the four years' provision has gor.c it is considered that a great number of the electors will nTcfer not to vo'/ for the payment of compensation now, but to wait for a 'year longer pud par nothing. These are the views that nre being expressed by a number of members It is a fact that the New Zealand Al! ! ance accepted the Bill, or the central feature? of it, in the negotiations carried on with the Government. The representatives of the Alliance are not quite satisfied with the Bill, but they a-i-c almost satisfied with the provision made for the talcing of the special poll in April. Their only regret about this part of the Bill is that the vote is to be taken on the old rolls. What they had hoped for was the abolition of the old rolls and compulsory registration on new rolls for this ballot. The objection to the old rolls is the difficulty proved bv expcriencj of purging them properly. They disapproved of the second part : of the Bill because they do not think it fair that any proposal e'xeept continuance should require an absolute majority in order to carry it. They had hoped the Government would.have given them a system of preferential voting on the three-issue ballot paper. Already notice has been given «f a number of amendments, and if the Government does not decide to drop the Bill the progress througlTeormnnteß is likely to be slow and long. It is believed that the intention is to force the Bill through at this sitting, and. if that should be done, the House will probably be sitting at dawn. One suggestion' is that a move may he made to have 8 o'clock closing made the permanent law of the Jand by an addition to~this Bill.