LIQUOR IN THE COUNTRY COUNTRY.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 30, 9 August 1900, Page 3

LIQUOR IN THE COUNTRY COUNTRY.

Mr Beddon's unexpected announcement to the Maori deputation on Tuesday night that if the inhabitants of the King Country declared in favour of the sale of liquor in that district he would introduce a system of State control on the lines of the Gothenburg system, has put quite a new complexion on this question. 'When the agitation against iatro-' ducing licenses into the King Country commenqed, it was not contemplated that the Premier had any intention of putting the Gothenburg system into operation. Had this been known at that time it would have certainly modified) and possibly may have entirely removed, a good deal of opposition. Of course, the Prohibitionists will not be satisfied, for they are, as a rule, as bitterly

hostile to the G-othenbuig system as to the existing licensing methods ; but a large proportion of moderate people who think chat in matters such as this the Maoris oxighfc to bo treated very much as children and protected from themselves will probably welcome the Premier's suggestion that intoxicating liquor (it it is to be admitted into the King Country at all) ohould coiuo under State supervision, and be Hold by persons employed by the Govern* ment for the purpose, who, of course, would not have anything' to gain by selling as much liquor as possible. The Bishop of Wei-, lington, for instance, has taken a prominent part in the agitation' against the removal of existing restrictions on the sale of liquor in vhe King Country. I had a brief conversation With the'j Bishop on the question to-day, : when he plainly admitted that ] the Premier's latest proposals placed the matter in a very' different light, and, speaking on the spur of the moment, he was : inclined to think that <the ex-J periment would be a most in--! structive one, and on© which he would like to see tried in the ; interests of the Maoris and Europeans alike. The Bishop,however, pointed out that, of course, he could not commit himself to a more definite and deliberate opinion on the subject until he was acquainted ' with the details of the Piemier's scheme. The Rev. T. H. Sprott, of St. Paul's Pro-cathedral, who, though neither a Prohibitionist' nor a total abstainer, has been co-operating with the Prohibitionists in this matter, also admits that Mr Seddon's proposed experiment on the lines of the j Gothenburg system gives quite a j new complexion to the question, though ho is not prepared at present to state definitely whether he regards the making of the experiment with approval or not. Both the Bishop and Mr Sprott, however, are quite sure that the agitation and the petitions have done good. The Bishop thinks that he, and those who have been working *vith him, have every cause for satisfaction if their efforts have been in any degree responsible for the Premier's latest utterance. The Prohibitionists, however (so I am informed by Mr Atkinson, one of the Prohibitionist members of Parliament), are utterly opposed to the proposal, which they consider as bad, if not worse, than the ordinary licensing system. So their hostility will be as strong as ever. There are now two sots of alternatives before the public. The first is pi ohibitibn, or licensed houses as they exist in other districts ; and the second is prohibition, or sale under State control, whereby th 6 element of private profit will be eliminated. The Premier has, on more than one occasion, expressed a desire to give the Gothenburg syptem a trial, and therefore it would hardly be fair to conclude that his intentions regarding the King Country are entirely the result of the recent agitation, although he has no doubt been influenced, to a very considerable extent, by a desire to, as far as possible, disarm opposition to the proposal to introduce liquor into that part of the colony.