NO-LICENSE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10246, 24 May 1911, Page 7

NO-LICENSE.

HAS IT BEEN A FINANCIAL SUCCESS IN INVERCARGILLP

(By C. W. Brown.) I notice that the above question has been agitating the minds of several No-license Conventions lately, not only in New Zealand but in Australian colonies also, and in order to set the matter at rest, I have taken out of the Valuation Rolls, which were recently open for public inspection, some figures which I think will prove of interest to your readers. It may be explained that it is only quite recently that any authoritative opinion could be expressed upon the progress which Invercargill has been making since No-License was carried in 1905. The valuation roll, which should have come into operation in 1909, was withdrawn, owing to the large number of objections lodged against it, consequently the present roll is the only one under which comparisons can be made of the value of property under license, and for the period covered by No-License. It may be as well here to state that the gloomy predictions of those who anticipated all sorts of disasters in December 1905 (when No-License was carried), have not been fulfilled. What were these predictions? First, property was to depreciate, more especially Hotel property; second, wool sales were to be held at the Bluff instead of Invercargill, and stock sales were to be held at Winton; third, country people would not come into the shows, etc. None of these predictions have come true, and I will show presently that hotel property has actually increased in value; wool and stock sales are still held in Invercargill, and greater crowds than ever throng our streets on show days.

But it was with the intention of looking into the value of hotel property that this article was written. The municipal rate book, which is open for inspection by all ratepayers, and the figures for the present valuation have been, as previously stated, from the valuation roll, which was recently open for'inspection. The returns work out as follow:

HOTELS.

£65,543 £89,345 Deduct 1904 valuation 65,543 And we have an increase of £23,802 Or nearly 36A- per cent during the No-License period. These arc no fairy talcs, but can be checked and re-checked by any ratepayer applying to the proper quarter in the usual way. It cannot, of course, be claimed that all the increase is due to No-License. Southland, of which Invercargill is the distributing' centre, is being rapidly developed, and is coming to the front in regard to dairy produce, etc., but the cry that property will be deperciated by No-License ought surely to be silenced by Invercargill experience. It has also to be remembered that we have at best only had PARTIAL NO-LICENSE.

■".With beer depots established on the borders of the electorate, with an hotel at Wallacetown Crossing, within easy distance of Invercargill, with two breweries in full operation, and with four hotels at the Bluff, it can easily be imagined that Invercargill has not had half a chance; but even under all these disadvantages a splendid record has been put up. The time will come, however, when the adjoining electorates will fall into line. Southland would then form a compact area for the operation of No-License. It may be explained in reference to the return that the whole of the valuations are based on the capital value (i.e., land and buildings), with the exception of the Prince of Wales. This is based'on the unimproved value, a"s the building has been removed, and consequently no other comparison could l>e made. The land has recently been leased for 15 years at an annual ■ rental of £365 —a rental which would I have warranted an unimproved value of £7OOO, instead of the recorded value of £4790. In only three instances, it will be noted in the return, is the valuation less than in 1904. This is accounted for in the natural decay of the buildings, there being a considerable increase in the unimproved value in each case, but the aggravate return of 36| ppr cent-on the seventeen hotel properties quoted is surely good enough to satisfy any candid critic. It may, of course, be said that it is by the expenditure of capital that * the increase has been brought about. Just so; but business people do not usually invest money in a sinking ship, and Invercargill was, according to some people, very much in that position when No-License was carried in 1905.

Tho" general average percentage returns for increase in the valuation of tlie whole of Greater Lnvercargill ore not ret available, l>ut I have no doubt that they will work out on similar lines to those recorded on the seventeen hotel properties referred to in this article, live of the hotels are now occupied as shops and'offices. But it may bo asked: Has the closing of the hotels interferred with

LEGITIMATE HOTEL-KEEPING ! or with the tourist traffic? The answer to this question must be in the negative. Tea rooms have taken the judge by statements made in the local press;, tho supply of sleeping accommodation is about to be materially increased. One hotel is being enlarged by the addition of forty bedrooms. The Carriers' Arms has recently been sold to the Palace Co. for £3750 (a price considerable above that set down in tho valuation), and it lias been stated that it is the intention of the proprietors to re-model the old building, erect a row of shops, and use the space over these for hotel accommodation, making it one- of tho largest hotels in the Dominion. This does not by anv means indicate that legitimate hotelkeeping is killed out by tho removal of tho bars. *.*

Name Valuation Present of 1904, Cap. Cap. Hotel Value: Value : ft £ £ Crescent 6,eoo 7,650 Albion 9,701 12,555 Supreme Court 2,817 4,100 Princess 4,920 6,250 Shamrock 1,672 1,600 Criterion 2,633 4,275 North Star 629 2,310 Carriers' Arms 2,418 2,850 City 5,198 ' 5,225 Prince of Wales 3,715 4,790 Club 8,708 10,350 Railway 3,850 6,400 Deschler's 5,865 6,400 Clarendon 1,585 1,275 Park View 930 800 Royal 1,900 9,000 White Swan 3,010 3,700