H—3B

(ii) Where the population of a riding in a county or in a road district outside a county has suddenly increased in a large degree, when one license may be issued for every 700 persons residing within a radius of two miles from the licensed premises : section 144 of the Licensing Act, 1908. (iii) Where' a restoration of licenses has been carried in a no-license district a new license of any of the four kinds mentioned above may be granted: There is no legal limit upon the number of accommodation, New Zealand wine, or wholesale licenses which may be granted after restoration has been carried. The only legal limit is that imposed upon the issue of publicans' licenses. They must be granted by a Licensing Committee and must not exceed one for every 500 electors, or be less than one for every thousand electors (section 11 of the Licensing Amendment Act, 1910). 55. Club Charters.—There is no legal limitation upon the issue of club charters. Nevertheless, since 1909 all applications for charters for clubs have, as a matter of Government policy, been declined by successive Ministers of Internal Affairs. There are at the present time only forty-seven chartered clubs, although the evidence shows that the best conditions for drinking alcoholic liquor may obtain in a well-conducted club. 56. Bottle Licenses. —Section 18 of the Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Amendment Act, 1895, provided that no new bottle license should be granted within any licensing district after the commencement of that Act and that all bottle licenses then in existence should expire on the 30th June thereafter, which would have been 30th June, 1896. Bottle licenses should then have ceased to exist, but section 35 of the Licensing Amendment Act, 1910, provided that, after the passing of that Act, no bottle license should be granted or renewed. There are no bottle licenses in existence to-day. 57. Numbers of Licenses. —Excluding conditional licenses, which may not continue to operate for more than seven days, the following were the numbers of the various licenses in existence during the year 1945 :- Number. (1) Brewers' licenses .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 42" (2) Hop-beer licenses .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 31 (3) Winemakers' licenses for making wine .. .. .. .. .. .. 170 (4) Winemakers' licenses for making spirits for fortifying wine .. .. .. .. 18 (5) Wholesale licenses .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 140 (6) Publicans' licenses .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 948 (7) Accommodation licenses .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 150 (8) Packet licenses .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 (9) Licenses to sell New Zealand wines, cider, or perry, not exceeding 20 per cent, proof spirit, under section 77 of the Licensing Act, 1908 .. .. .. .. .. 4 (10) Licenses for permits to sell New Zealand wine, cider, or perry pursuant to the Regulations 1943/122 To 30th September, 1945 .. .. .. .. .. .. 54 To 31st May, 1946 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 75 (11) Club charters .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 47 In addition, the Invercargill Licensing Trust under its statute is able to purchase liquor anywhere, either wholesale or retail. It operates at present six premises for the retail sale of liquor. 58. The effect of the policy of not increasing brewery, wholesale, publicans' and accommodation licenses has been to limit the competition to the holders of existing licenses. They are free to make such arrangements as they think fit for limiting competition among themselves or for eliminating the competition from one class of license by acquiring the ownership of that class, or otherwise obtaining control over it. As we have indicated, the distinction between brewer's, wholesale, and publican's licenses has ceased to be important in respect of bottled beer, because 2 gallons of bottled beer has practically become a retail quantity, though it may be sold under brewery and wholesale licenses. • 59. The limitation on the increase of licenses has resulted in the following alteration in the ratio of licensed houses under publicans' and accommodation licenses to the whole population : in 1905 there was one licensed house to every 583 persons in New Zealand ;

27