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Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 105, 2 May 1908, Page 7

; (To the Editor.) 1 Sir,—Allow mc to thknk Mr. Palmer for kindly giving our "Handbook" so excellent an advertisement, and I Hope he will not think I am angry when I venture to inform the president of the New • Zealand Licensed Victuallers' Associa- ; tion that he is mistaken when he places j upon us the responsibility of the term "the trade." This term was first culled I from the Licensed Victuallers of the • Old Land, who declared "Our Polities • the Trade." Mr. Palmer calls us a ' "don't-know-what-you-want party." It I is true that there are those in our ranks 1 who, as regards methods, think and act 1 differently, but then we are not all { t bound by one idea. Let mc teil Air. ; Palmer that we want to stop drunken- ' ness, and "all the ills that rise from out ' the wiiiecup, all the sin that lies en--1 wrapped within it, all the cruel loss in- ' Volved in payment of' its worthless drdss." Less than 100 years ago we started ' out on definite lines of moral suasion, ■ and made good progress, even securing ' the patronage, smiles, and sneers of "the Trade." Then we worked amongst the I young, and "the Trade" still smiled in ' its success in undoing our self-sacrificing ' labours. Then about 50 years ago . someone suggested that, as we did not • send men to gaol for eating too much, it 1 was wrong to send them there for ' drinking too much (practically punishing him for effects), so perhaps the fault was in the quality of the liquor, ' which was proved to contain from 8 j per cent to 50 per cent of poison, so they said "Why license men to sell poison as a Tteverage?"—hence No-license, upon which "the Trade" does not smile. I Up to the year 1495 everybody could . make, sell, and drink*"good old ale," but it did its work then as now; so in the j reign of Henry VII. the first licensing ' I statute empowered any two J.P.s to ' J "reject and put away common ale-sell-ing 'in towns and places where they ' should think convenient, and to take sureties of keepers of ale-houses in their good behaving." This not having the desired effect, it was further enacted that no one should be allowed to keep an ale-house without authority of two Justices. Four hundred years and four, hun- ; dred Acts of Parliament having failed • to regulate, it is little wonder that the i people are beginning to think that what ■ cannot be mended must be ended. The j t "London Times" admits "Drink baffles! • us." We say: "Give No-license a trial." j ' The question is: Which is the safest and i best way to bring this about? The late MrV Seddon admitted, "It is a question i for. the people.-" So say we. We now : have Local Option ( minority rule i in. favour of liquor), under wfiich, as I ; have Str. Palmer, we nave : made astounding progress. Local Opi, tiofl, w the name implies, gives us £ow- >

er to vote .liquor put. of one electorate" and vote .it in in another.. Hence we]: have No-liconse iii Grey Lynn and i License in the city; The remedy is an j. : extended border of whichever is best—in" my opinion, not license in Grey Lynn,; but No-license in the city. We' have asked for Dominion Option,' and the people's i elected representatives have , twice granted btrf request, but the antiquated Upper House, afraid to trust I the people, has, to the advantage of "the Trade," twice defeated the bill. Under Dominion Option \ve will require* to prohibit the manufacture, sale, tation and barter of all intoxicating liquors, but nothing in the shape'of the infamous clause > 9 will , be necessary uhless the liquorites repeat the lawless tactics of Invercargill depots. Under local option it would be a foolish wrong to make it criminal to buy liquor in the ■city under license and take it into Nolicense Grey Lynn. We want Dominion option. % ■ . ! I make all allowances to Mr. Palmer for looking at this question from a different- standpoint to myself, but it is remarkable how the dying, will clutch at. straws, and' while accusing us of i abuse'and mis-statements, , wilfully or ign'orantly commit the very error denounced. Here is a specimen:—Mr. Palmer says: "The other day at a public meet-ing-voters for License were described as rapscallions." Nothing of the kind; was said. What was said is this: "The vote of two rapscallions who vote for Continuance, is ' equal to the vote of three of the best citizens who vote for Nolicense."—a totally different statement, but one which proves the disgrace attached to a country boasting Democracy and submitting to minority rule. I have given reasons why I think voters will vote for No-license. These . have been sneered at, but not refuted. II can give many others, Sir, if yourself J and Mr. - Palmer give mc opportunity. lAt present I content myself with the expectation of an intelligent judgment and discretion, at the proper time, putting !an end to licensed drink-caused crime, poverty, misery, and death. There are too many evils in the world without giving trade licenses to manufacture more. — -I am, etc., "» W. J. MACDERMOTT.