MUCH INSOBRIETY

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20492, 7 May 1938, Page 6

MUCH INSOBRIETY

NEW ZEALAND FAILING LONDON VIBITOR BHOOKED DRINKING AT DANCES (By Telegrapti. —rresa A*9ocU«on> WHANGAREI, Saturday A London businessman visiting New Zealand is surprised at the amount of drinking permitted in New Zealand dance halls. ‘‘Nowhere at Home," he said, “would a girl coming out of a dance hall and putting a bottle to her lips in the street be seen. The police would not allow it.” Young people here did not seem to realise that drinking in publio In such a manner was undesirable. Drunkenness seemed to be more noticeable here. There were not sufficient New Zealanders to fill one large English olty yet drunkeness was a more frequent sight here. It was possible to go all day In London and not see a drunken person. Australia also compared unfavourably with England In that respect. THE LAW AT FAULT DRUNKENNESS PROBLEM EARLY CLOSING BLAMED Criticism of New Zealand’s licensing laws was voiced by a visitor from Scotland to-day, -when commenting on the problem of drunkenness In New Zealand. “ There Is, to my mind,” he said. “ every justification for the opinions expressed by Canon E. A. Gowring. and it appears to me that the principal cause of the problem is the restrictive provisions of the licensing laws in this country. To a native of the Old Country there seems to be neither rhyme nor reason for closing at 6 p.m.” The inevitable result, he contended, was that working-men were faced with the necessity of indulging in a short, sharp drinking bout, since it was impossible for them to enjoy a leisurely drink after dinner, when It would he much better for them. “ Quick ones—that peculiarly antipodean custom,” he said, “ are far more conducive to drunkenness than an equivalent amount of liquor taken in a leisurely fashion and the additional malpractice of taking liquor upon 1 an empty stomach between 5 and 6 o'clock is nothing short of barbarism. r Until your legislators have the insight , to institute later opening and closing i of hotels and inns I am afraid that l New Zealand will have a major drunkenness problem. “ The ancillary problem of drinking . at dances is, of course, one which j could to a great extent be cured by i similar legislation, though lam inclined • to believe that this form of foolishness on the part of young people Is really caused by the mere fact that there is f a prohibition upon the securing of - liquor in the evening.”