The Wairarapa Daily SYIURDAIT, FEBRUARY 8, 1890. The Annual Licensing Elections.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3430, 8 February 1890, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily SYIURDAIT, FEBRUARY 8, 1890. The Annual Licensing Elections.

Nominations ere now invited for tho annual election of looming commit toes, nnd we enter our usual protest ngaiiist our licensing legislation. The only pet Eons who take an active interest in these elections areJl) the publicans, (2) the temperance advocates and (A) the local bodies which receive the license fees. It is found that when the toinperance advocates take tho field against the publicans, the latter almost invariably win, It follows, therefore, that the election of committees is' virtually in the [lands p? the publicans, and although as a matter of principle this is altogether wrong, it may bp said that in practice tho publicans select fairly good men to conduct licensing busi ness, and do not abuse the power which they undoubtedly exercise. Still the elective licensing system, as long as it results in placing the power of appointment in the hands of publjpans.must bp considered unsatisfactory. It is also improper to give the license fees to iocal'boqies unless the responsibility 'of maintaining police and hospitals rests with them also. There is now a direct inducement for local bodies to favor new licenses for the fake of revenue, but the boot would be on the other leg if they had to provide for the extra police supervision which is wont to accompany an increase of licensed | houses, ttaoior or later these questions of lopaj self government will have to be faced j Since the abolition of provincialism, we have gone from I ad to worse as far as real local self government is concerned. We have a shadow where once we had a substance, and tho counties of to-day do not exercise a tithe, of the power which the old provincial administrations wielded. The-unsatisfactory oondition of our licensing system is mainly due to the well meaning efforts of an enthusiastic temperance advocate, Sir William Fox, to bring the direct control of the liquor truffle into the hands of tho people, Tho people did not cere for the responsibilities ho sucoeeded in thrusting upon them, and tho real transfer of power went straight into the hands of the publicans, and the very men whose position ho desired to weaken luive been strengthened by his misdirected zoni,