THE LICENSING QUESTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4115, 17 May 1892, Page 2

THE LICENSING QUESTION.

Extension of Hours. : Ming of Residents, f A meeting of residents opposed to the' extension of the licenses of hotels from ten to eleven o'olook was held in the Masterton Temperance Hall loßt e (Monday) evening, About fifty pers sons were present, and the ohair was occupied hy Mr E. Feist. * The Chairman briefly explained the object 3 of the meeting. The weather, „ he said, had materially affected the attendance, but notwithstanding there if were quite sufficient to enter a protest. it Mr VV, M. Easthope then moved ut the following resolution:-"Having heard that a request will on behalf of e ' the publicans , be presented to tho Licensing Committee for an extension of the hours of drinking from 10 t. p.m. to 11 p.m., tbia meeting of ratelo payers and residents view with deep regret and alarm the said proposal as d inimical to the moral and material rt interests of the fown and district." it He pointed out that already the K hours for drinking were sixteen out of twenty-four. There was an agitation e throughout the world to reduce the d hours of labour to eight. Thepublioans of Masterton, however, wished to '» increase the hours to seventeen. '■ Facilities for drinking meant on increase of drunkenness. He had much pleasure in proposing the resolution, The Bev. J, Dukes, in seconding g the resolution, said that as a temper- „ ance body they fully expected the 1 present demand of the publicans, e They intended fighting this demand in an honourable way to the last, If l they were beaten they would take t their boating in an honourable way. The Mayor of Masterton, in conver--8 sation with him recently, had chuckled over tho faot that he had upset the first licensing eleoticn. Whether there was anything to J chuckle over he left it for the public | to judge. The result of the second eleotion was thatabodv of men calling themselves" Moderates" had been J returned. He was gratified that this 1 Committee had proved their "moderation" by closing the hotels at j ten o'clock. He believed that with a r body of moderate men any person I defying the law would have a . poor chance of having his license granted. . Indeed, he believed that at the prei sent time ceriain publicans were 1 trembling in their shoes, An exten- ! sion of the licenses fur an hour meant 1 the extension of moral deterioration. The London Times hud recently said \ in an editorial that there was not a | vice, nor a disease, nor a calamity , whioh did not take its origin in the ; publichouse, The liquor traffic could not be extended without impoverish- , ing the community, (Applause), An ' increase of the'liquor traffic meant i an iuorease of disease, an increase of 1 vice and an increase of squalor. He bad no doubt that when the licensins meeting waa held they would have , the old stock arguments in favour of ; extending the licenses, They would | be told that it would be a great pub- | lie convenience to travellers to extend | the hours to eleven o'clock, (a voice: , So it is I) He (the speaker) admitted | it was, The licensed bouses bad to be ( kept pppn all night for the conveni- , ence of travellers and the police ] themselves knew, that, \k voico: | Are they travellers I) Another stock ( argument was that an extension | of licenses meant an inorease of E revenue, What was the increase of r revenue in Masterton 1 Why, £BO. j He held that for every pound they , took in license fees tbey expended c £IOO worth of commonwealth to seoure it (applause). From an ad« j vertiscment he saw in a Wellington T paper he found that one hotel in the , Wairarapa which was offered for sale e , $ profit of nearly twenty eight d percent, He would ask those presont \ to mark this feet, Another argument j was that to oppose an extension whb e to interfere with the liberty of the b subject. But he maintained that it was interfering with the liberty of the g j subject to keep public-bouse servants working all hours, What right, he B1 asked, had a revelling crew to go el through the streets at midnight and t [ flisturb tbe.subjoot in bja bed, The Bxtension of the license to eleven 01 3'olock was an inteiference with the te liberty of the subject. He appealed w ;o his hearers to lift this question iom the low tnoial realm of "TVJIi it «y?" He urged tbeii 4b men 1 16»

put their foot down on any propoaal ;o extend this terrible liquor traffic. The resolution, was pat and carried unanimously, ainidst-applaune. Mr Dunoau MoGregor then moved " That this meeting is of opinion that in extension of the hours of drinking would be fruitful of evil, and petitions the Licensing Bench to refuse the application of the publicans." He did not think it would matter muoh whether the hotels were closed at ten or eleven o'clock, but it was a question whether they .advanced or retrograded. They had made a certain advance, and as temperance people they Bhould not go back, He did not think the Licensing JBenoh could possibly extend the licenses till eleven o'clock. It was not within the power of the Licensing Benoh to maintain the liquor traffic as it should be and keep it within fair and respectable limits (hear,- hear). The trade itself was abominably bad. He. believed that the traffic'was doomed, and the publicans knew it (hear, hear). Slowly and surely wouldthe traffic bestoppeJ. When young liew. Zenlandern grew up and bad to legislate upon tlie matter the trade would be put an end to, for he believed the Colonialß wer6 sober people (hear, hear.) He did not think it was necessary to have hotels. He had seen plenty of houses of accommodation quite as good m hotels. (A. voice: But could you not go out and gat a bottle of whiskey ? --The Chairman: You sit down, you'll 'have a chance of speaking directly I) He held that people would not think of whiskoy when in a temperance house (hear, : hear,) : Where Prohibition had had a . fair trial it had proved a most complete success. If they could have an I exporienoe' in Maßterton for five years without drink, he did riot believe the people would go back to their i old Ways! (applause), He 'moved the resolution with much pleasure (applause). The Rev E. Wood seconded the resolution, and read the form of the petition to bo presented to the Licensing Bench, The plea of the publicans was that the extension, of hours was for the benefit of the public, They would show by a petition that the extension was not for the benefit of the public. He would advise the publicans if they wished to strengthen tfoir case to present a petition to the Licensing Bench showing that the extension wai for the benefit of the public, Under the reign of the present Licensing Benoh there had been' revelations of iniquity whioh had aroused temperance people from their lukewarmness, They did not ask the Licensing Bench to refuse the licenses. They merely asked that people be requested to drink all they wanted before ten o'clock. It was against the law of the land to give any man drink to' make him drunk, and yet in Masterton people were to be seen drunk from eight o'clock in the morning till ten at night, The speaker then related a tragic story of the man Dickson, recently found dead in a paddock in Wellington, stating that he was almost morally certain that it was the same man who had been brought to his manse in Masterton about twelve months ago and taken away to a hotel to be entertained, As patriots and citizens lie urged that they should go to the Licensing Bench and say that thej did not want the hours for drinking extended (applause). The resolution was then put and carried with few dissentients. A collection was then taken up, The Bev K. Wood proposed that this meeting recognises the good work being done by the police in protecting tho interests of the public, This resolution was carried by acclamation, although several persons present dissented.. A vote of thanks to the Ohairman terminated the proceedings,