THE LICENSING LAW.
APPOtNTMENT OF COMMITTEE. BREEZY DEBATE IN HOUSE. (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) The appointment of a committee to consider amendmenta in the licensing law gave rise to quite a heated debate in. the House of Representatives yesterday. The Prime Minister moved, in accoordance with notice: That a select committee be appointed to consider in the interests of the public and generally for its more satisfactory working what amendments are required in the present Licensing Act, the members of the committee to be the Prime Minister, the Hon. E. P. Lee, Sir John Luke and Messrs. Harris, Hockley, Isitt, Lysnar, McCallum, Savage, Statham, Witty, and Wright. Messrs. Hockly and Isitt had not been members of the committee as originally proposed, and the Prime Minister had stated that he had refrained from placing any extremists on the committee. Mr. Massey now said that he wished to include the two members mentioned.
Mr. Isitt (Christchurch North) thanked the Prime Minister for placing him on the committee. He said that he felt it right that he should be there. The original statement of the Prime Minister that he did not wish to have extremists on the committee had been a joke in view of the fact that Messrs. Lysnar, McCallum and Witty had been included. These members were the three chief champions of the liquor trade in the House. STATEMENT RESENTED. This brought Mr. McCallum (Wairau) to his feet at once. He said that he had not got a place on the committee by any backstairs influence. The Prime Minister had asked him if he would act and he had replied that he would consider it an honor to do so. “If the honorable member for Christchurch North places me as an extremist I beg him to withdraw that at once,” said Mr. McCallum. “I am not interested in the liquor trade in any way whatever and never have been in my life. I hava never made a penny out of either prohibition or the liquor trade and I have never stumped the country on behalf of prohibition. He asked if any committee should contain a member who had arrived at a stage of predetermination and incurable -bias. The great test, of Liberalism was that a man should be fair and judicial. But the member for Christchurch North had only one narrow grove. Mr. McCallum added that he had drawn attention publicly to the danger of a liquor monopoly being allowed to grow. Mr. G. Witty (Riccarton) denied that he was an extremist. “I want to clean up the trade,” he said. “The honorable member for Christchurch North wants to wipe it out. I want to try to make it a respectable trade. I will do my best in that direction.” A member: Isn’t it respectable? Mr. Witty: It is as respectable as the other side is. The prohibitionists want cleaning up. If anything is dirty it very often is the other side. We are not on the committee in the interests of the hotelkeepers. We are there in the interests of the public. We , want- to give fair play to both siues. I have never had a penny in my life from the trade, while the honorable member for Christchurch North for many years made his living out of the other side. ,He cannot deny it. That was his trade. My trade was never to fight for the hotel-keepers or anyone else. This committee is intended to improve the conditions of the trade. Mr. Witty added that under present conditions the people engaged in the licensing trade had no security of tenure r id the public had no guarantee ’of good hotels. The effective, reform of the trade was not possible when the tfrade had to fight for its existence every three years.
The leader of the Opposition (Mr. Wilford) congratulated the Government on having placed the contending parties on the committee. He suggested that it would be interesting to have the proceedings open to the Press. (Laughter ) Mr. J. McCombs (Lyttelton) said that the nature of the licensing trade could be judged by the reluctance of its advocates to own it. The member for Christchurch North was not ashamed of the part that he played in the prohibition movement. But the members on the other side were always willing to get up and disown a trade that did them credit and the country no credit. He hoped that the committee would reach the conclusion that had been reached by every person who had studied the liquor trade—that it would bq a wise thing for New Zealand to follow the example of the United State* and wipe the trade out altogether.
REASONS FOR COMMITTEE. The Prime Minister said he thought it necessary to remind members of the events that had led to the appointment of the committee. A licensing Bill dealing with certain minor points had been placed before the House of Representatives during the session of 1920. Members had argued during the second reading debate that amendments of the licensing law were necessary in order to provide for the convenience of the public. He thought the truth of that contention must be admitted. The suggestion had been made at the time that it would be a good thing if the Government gave a committee .of the House lan opportunity to consider what amendments of the law would be necessary in the event of prohibition not being carried at the next licensing poll. He had accepted this suggestion and he was now asking the House to set up the committee. Mr. Massey added that he did not expect the committee to do much work during the present session. It would not sit during the recess, but it would be appointed, all being well, when Parliament met next year, and would be able then to make a thorough inquiry. He hoped for some useful results from its deliberations. He suspected, however, that after the discussion that had taken place that afternoon he would have to attend the first meeting of the committee in the capacity of peacemaker. Mr. McCallum: Not so far as I am concerned.
Mr. Massey remarked that Mr. McCallum and Mr. Isitt were both members of the Public Accounts Committee, which had been doing particularly good work during the present session in very harmonious fashion. Mr. Isitt, speaking in personal explanation, said that he considered the committee was being appointed to consider the regulation of the liquor trade, not prohibition. He was prepared to take up that attitude. Mr. Massey: That is the intention. Mr. Isitt added that he had been taunted with making something out of prohibition. He felt that the taunt entitled him to state that when he was in charge of a church he gave all his spare time to the prohibition cause.
without remuneration. Later when he gave all his time to the cause he had to acce*pt a salary sufficient to maintain him. At the presept time his advocacy of prohibition was costing him at least £4O or £5O a year.
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Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1921, Page 5
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1,177THE LICENSING LAW. Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1921, Page 5
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