OAMARU AND NO-LICENSE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9133, 4 July 1908, Page 6

OAMARU AND NO-LICENSE.

THE TRUE POSITION. (By a Recent Visitor). The recent manifesto by the Mayor of Oamaru concerning the condition of Oamaru under no-licen3e has, of course, attracted a storm of controversy, of affirmation and denial, and of blast and counterblast. But a goo 1 many of those who have entared into the argument have done so only on theoretical lines, and with absolutely no knowledge of the actual circumstances and surroundings oil whish they have been writing. The only possible way to arrive at a true idea of the position is to visit the White Stone City, and it was a realisation of tuis that impelled me to spend a few days in the district last week. I do not wish to occupy more of your space than is necessary, but I snould ,like to deal with the notorious manifesto in some aspects in which it has not been touched, and also to give the public some further knowledge as to the true position of the town under nolicense.

THE MANIFESTO. I The manifesto, in the first place, it will be noticed, is not a voluntary or spontaneous utterance from the town itself. It is signed almost wholly by MILITANT PROHIBITIONISTS, at the head of whom is the Mayor of Oamaru, who has been actively associated with the Prohibitionist cause for very many years, and who has never hesitated to lend what interest he possesses to the advancement of that cause. Moreover, the signatures to the manifesto were collected by Mr G. Bernard Nicholls, who is the organising agent of the no-licenae p rty inj Dunedin. It is noticeable that it does not embody the signatures of a single prominent [retail business man in Oamaru, with the exception of that of the Mayor. I conversed with a large number of business people in Oamaru, who informed me that in no sense whatever could the manifesto be regarded as a representative statement I found, further, that %IREE DIFFERENT FIRMS whom Mr Bernard Nicholls had interviewed upon the subject were omitted from the names on the manifesto because their opinions were not favourable to the no-license party, and while they would naturally not be included in a document of the sort required, in common honesty the fact that the opinions had been expressed should have been mentioned by Mr Nicholls. How many other firms did Mr Nicholls treat similarly? The difficulty in regard to using the names of these people is that the town being a very small one, tho tradesmen are compelled to rely upon both supporters of the trade and the prohibitionists for the success of their businesses, and the publication of their opinions in a report of this character might draw upon them the hostility of a portion of the community and seriously effect their businesses. A prominent citizen of Oamaru, a man who has the entire respect of the whole community and who lived in Oamaru almost before Mr Milligan was born, states that when interviewed by Mr Nicholls he told him that under no-license the takings in his business had decreased by onefifth. This gentleman, I may mention, is a member of the Borough i*o wcil. Another old and respected business man in Oamaru, and one who is also a member of the Borough Council, informed me that his takings had decreased similarly. These are but cwo instances of many similar ones, but they will suffice to show that a very serious difference of opinion does exist with regard to the value of no-license to the community. The signatures to the manifesto conclusively show that the document is the EPITOME OF BIAS.

and not the reflection of the true feeling in the White Stone City. THE RATES.

Now, with regard to the question of rates. , The Borough Council was NOT UNANIMOUS

in the recent reduction of the rates. Some four or five years ago a rato of 6d in the £ was imposed for special purposes, and at the time a distinct promise was made that the amount would be taken off again as soon as possible. This promise has been continually passed by, for one reason or another, until the present year, when, owing to the increase of rent obtained from one of the principal borough endowments, the Council deemed its revenue sufficient to allow of the rates being reduced. Even this determination, it was subsequently ascertained, WAS NOT A WISE ONE,

for the Council Was faced almost immediately afterwards by a demand for increased expenditure, which it could not undertake, although it would have preferred to do so. The endowment to which I refer is the Maerawhenua Reserve, adjoining the Otekaike Estate, wnich has been cut up for settlement. Many years ago the reserve was leased to the owners of the estate at an annual rental of JEIBI 14s, and it has recently been re-let by the Borough Council at £364 17s, or an increase annually of £lB3 3a4d. It will be seen, therefore, that it has more than doubled in value. The reduction of 3d in the £ in the rates maans n loss to the Oamaru Borough Council of £SOO per annjm, ami to make up the deficiency the Council purposes to curtail the expenditure in the borough by an amount which, when added to the increased revenue from the reserve, will make up the deficjency. To show the effect of this reduction, FIVE EMPLOYEES OF THE OAMARU BOROUGH COUNCIL, after the rates wero reduced, appliel to the Council for an increase of wages, and. although the Finance Commit ee, to whom the matter was referred, was unanimously of opinion that the increases were deserved, it was compelled to report to the Council that in the state of its finances IT dAD NOT MONEY ENOUGH tj grant the well-earned increases. Tuc amju it received by the Oamaru Borough Council for license fees was £olo, so that had the system of licensing been h operation now, the Council would have been able to decrease the rates by another 3d in tha £ or have devoted the money to

improvements in the borough and to placing the wages of its employees on a proper footing. The town, in any event, would have been that much better off. I think this proves very conclusively that the reduction in rates has been coincident only with the institution of no-license, and is in no way due to the new system. In this connection, the list of annual valuations of the Oamaru hotels is of interest, especially as the Oamaru Borough Council

With regard to sly grog shops, I had ample evidence to show that Oamaru is just as honeycombed with them as Ashburton is. I spent one hour with the local representative of a prominent brewing firm, and a man who handles a good portion of the liquor which goes into Oamaru, and he informs me that he knows of between twenty and twenty-five sly grog shops in the borough, and that there are, in addition, a number of others the location of which is unknown to him. He informs me that all sorts of ruses are adopted for bringing liquor into Oamaru without sending a report to the Court. Traps drive in from Morven and Glenavy in the dead of night and all the police vigilance in the world will not, in his opinion, stop this practice of smuggling liquor in from a licensed district without notifying the police. Another visitor to the, town, who spent some days there, and was in an enquiring mood, actually went in search of experiences, and ho writes to the local paper as follows : "Let me give one more experience, and I have done. On Friday evening—the (day on which the Mayor's statement appeared in your columns—in order to fully satisfy myself that the sale of liquor was going on, I asked a resident of the town if he would

take myself and a friend to one or two of the places where i drink could be had. He readily consented, and at the end of an hour and a half we had been to four sly grog shops, all within easy reach ,of one another, at which unlimited whisky could be obtained. In some cases the whisky itself was directly charged in others, we were told that the whisky, would be given to us for nothing, but that we could have a bottle of soda water or a jug of ordinary water for sixpence. At one of the places four empty whisky , bottles were lying on the floor. At the same place the vendor said he didn't mind if the police did come, because he would swear that we brought the whisky with us, and anyhow, he didn't care, as he had no money, and they could only

give him gaol." In addition to this, lam credibly informed that at least three of the signatories to the notorious manifesto are large importers of whisky used for home consumption, and there is a very strong suspicion, amounting almost to a certainty, that one of them does a good business as a slygrog seller. I can only say in conclusion that I myself saw quite sufficient to firmly convince me that Oamaro is no better off under no-license than it was before, and any ' unbiassed person who will take the trouole to visit the district can speedily convince himself that only its innate prosperity is keeping it going. The facts I have quoted speak for themselves, and require no special pleading to emphasise them.

RATES ON THE RENTAL VALUE. ] 905-G 1006-7 (NoHotel. Licensoa (Li cense) icense) £ £ Criterion J. McLeod 187 83 Sciir & Garter A. Potter 258 10(5 Royal T. Cartwright 150 G2 Empire 15. Porry 240 104 Imperial J. Munro 20S 172 Queen's 0. R. Wise 271 2G0 Allianco T. Tausoy 240 02 Globe P. Kelly 271 247 North Otago J. A. Duncan 145 70 White Hart M. Hannon 134 114 Junction P. Corcoran 104 ' 83 Totals 2214 1429 SLY GROG SHOPS.