THE LICENSING QUESTION.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19332, 9 June 1928, Page 17

THE LICENSING QUESTION.

TO THE EDITOB OT TEE PRESS ' Sir,—With reference to the-resolu-tion adopted by the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Licensing Reform Association, published in your issue of the 6th, we note that the Canterbury branch is requesting the Dominion Executive to formulate a plan "to prevent the new Parliament from becoming subservient to the domination of the super-government of the Prohibitionists outside the House." It is immensely flattering to find the Prohibitionists described as a "super-gov-ernment." Apparently, what the Licensing Reform Association wants is domination of the "super-government" by the Continuance supporters embraced in the L.R.A. There is humorous significance in the fact that the L.R.A. formulated a plan which it loudly declared was intended to prevent the present Parliament from coming under what it calls "the domination of the Prohibitionists outside the House." The plan did not succeed in 1925, and we can with confidence assert that it will not succeed in 1928. It is, perhaps, this failure'which is reajponsible for Mr D. M. Findlay, vice-president of the L.R.A., suggesting, in the Press in Wellington, that the Prime Minister, the Hon. J. G. Coates, should label the Reform Party a Liquor Party; go to the country with, a liquor policy; and then, if returned, do away with the referendum and introduce a system of Government control that is to remain in perpetuity. Lest I should be suspected of misrepresenting Mr Findlay's attitude, I quote his own words, which are: "If the Prime Minister formulated a definite, clearcut, and sane policy of reform and went to the country on it, I believe he would carry it in spite of Prohibition political activities, and find that the bulk of the people were behind him. If, however, the formulation and carrying into effect of such a comprehensive reform policy resulted in the doing away wrSn the referendum on this question, I believo that practically the whole of the people would breathe a sigh of relief."

The vagaries and inconsistencies of the Licensing Reform Association have been so amusing during recent times that it would not be surprising to find that the Canterbury Association does not agree with Mr Findlay. It would, however, be interesting to know whether they do desire the referendum to be abolished. The plain citizen has a great deal of difficulty in following the L.R.A attitude because, in popular phraseology, the Association hardly seems to know whether it is "coming or going."—Yours, etc., J. MALTON MURRAY. Executive Secretary, New Zealand Alliance. Wellington, June 7th.