LIQUOR CONTROL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 172, 20 July 1916, Page 7

LIQUOR CONTROL.

AWTT-SHOTJTING AND EARLY t CLOSING. T i 1 MINISTERIAL CANDOUR. t • a i: STRAIGHT-OUT OPPONENT TO i CURTAILED HOURS. * r JUSTICE AND COMPENSATION. a (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) t WELLINGTON, Wednesday. t When the Uon. A. L. Herdman came to ' that part of the War Regulations Bill * to-nijht dealing with the question of con- £ trolling the liquor traffic he left no doubt " that he wae definitely opposed to anything in the shape of curtailment of hotel hours. Since the outbreak of the war _ (declared the Minister) an election has " been held. At that general election the question of whether licensee should con- s tinue or go out of existence was referred to the people, and the people expressed L their opinion on the matter in very deli- ! nite fashion. "I want it to be under-

stoo.l and remembered," lie said, "that c the election was taken after the out- .) break of the war. when the soldiers were , in camps, and when we were commencing ( ito v-end men away from New Zealand. Very well, that being the case since the , ' outbreak of war. and since that declara- ■ jtion by the people, individuals have ac- - I quired rights and property, have invested ] money in institutions in the belief they t would be entitled to earn , on their busi- i ness for a period of three years without j molestation, and he allowed to make a , I living. 1 say, Mr. Speaker, it would be a gross act of injustice on the part of this f Parliament if they were to curtail the , I rights of these individuals and take away their property. If you curtail the hours during which licensed holders are able , to keep open their licensed premises 1 say you will deprive them of property, and the only \va.y, therefore, of doing it i •with justice its to give compensation." (Hear, hear.) i The Minister went on to say that in England, he believed, when certain steps , were taken to curtail hours of licensed premises compensation had been [laid. Mr. Isitt: No; they gave them the right to appeal for compensation. Mr. Herdman: Well, that being so, if ' you are going to interfere in any way with people who have acquired rights, invested money, and incurred liabilities, the only way of doing it. is to cay straight out that they shall lie paid compensation, and the only way of saying so is to fix the rate of compensation to be paid. I have carefully considered this matter, watched it with care, discussed it with the Superintendent of Police, and come to the conclusion that the best way to control the situation in a city like Wellington is to leave the hotels open until 10 o'clock. "The bill enabled the Government," continued the Minister! "to issue regulations empowering the police to enter sly grog shops without warrant. The police wanted power to prevent women going into hotels to get. a drink. The poßce informed him that the 1 practice existed of women going into hotels to fetch liquor for soldiers under the influence of drink. These men. instead of going i nto hotels to drink under respectable conditions, went to sly grog shops. If the pivwer he mentioned was given the police camld cope with the difficulty." He could not admit that there had been any great difficulty in connection with the soldiers. It had been a matter of surprise unci astonishment that J with 60,000 or 70,000 soldiers from all j parts of the country congregated in the Wellington district there had been bo little drunkenness. It was very greatly to the soldiers' credit. (Hear, hear.) , PROTECT THE SOLDIER ARGUMENT. j Continuing, the Minister remarked: ; "Some people used fihe argument, 'You must protect the soldjer.' Am I to under- ! stand that when a roan puts on a uniform he requires the special protection of the State? Does this section of the ! community which desires to close the 1 hotels, thus interfering with the righto of property, go the length of saying that when a soldier pints on a uniform he is not to be trusted? There is evidence in my possession that young men who put on the uniform lvive faced the temptations which came their way, and com- , ported themselves in a way not only j creditable to New Zealand, but to the British race. Mr. Herdman informed the \ House that the Superintendent of Police ; since February had -been consistently ' visiting the hotels to observe at first ■ hand the conditions due to the creation ,of a large army. H> reported that the j police were able to ileal with the posi- , i tion in a satisfactory manner. The email ["proportion of soldiers arrested was ovi-

dencp of their self-restraint. Contrai.y to exportation t'ne prince officials found v very small propoi-Mcei of sokliern in hotela when large numbers had leave. Or.lv on one or two occasions did the commissioner see many under the influence of liqusor. Picture theatres attracted the majority of the men. When the Eleventh Iteinforcejnent's departure was unexpected"!;.' delayed the whole draft got an evening's leave, but only a few returned in liquor, and none were deserters. Seven thousand soldiers were jin Wellington that night, but no arrests ■ for drunkenness worn made. The posijtion, reported tl»> Superintendent ot Police, could 'be <A?alt with by enlarged powers relating uo sly grog shops and preventing women getting liquor in hotels. ANTI-SHOUT IX« CLAUSE. '"It is proposed in the bill," continued Mr. Herdman —"and. Tin not enthusiastic about it—l believe it is a concession to the prohibition party—to prohibit treating. If the bill pases in the present form I propose in committee to move a new clause giving the police power, which they should always have, of calling upon the licensee to appear at any time before the Licensing Commfttee to show cause why his license should not be cancelled for misconduct." Mr. Hornsby; Does anti-sbx>uting apply over the Dominion? The Minister: "Yes." He added that by taking power to call on licensees to appear before the Licensing Committee at any time it would be possible to properly discipline men who perpetually broke the law. This would protect decent licensees.

Mr. Isitt: Why not endorse the license? The Minister: What the hon. gentleman wants ie to cloee the hotel, but I prefer to turn out the offender and put a decent man in. STATE CONTROL ADVOCATED. Mr. Wilford pointed out that the bill did not contain any clause proposing to close hotels at six o'clock, and iiintil they 6aw some concrete suggestion it seemed idle to discuEe during the second reading matter which would probably not he introduced, till the committee stage was Teached.. He himself was a State

control man. He believed wholeheartedly in State control, and he suggested that the Minister should' have introduced a clause in the bill giving power for the State to acquire compuleorfly, on payment of fair compensation, existing interests in the sale of intoxicating liquor, and thereafter to canry on the trade for the convenience of the public, and that no individual should have any: interest in the sale or derive any profit from the sale. The member continued, that no man should be allowed to make! a profit out of alcohol, and be paid by! results. New Zealand, ho believed,! afforded a splendid opportunity of, testing the success of euch a scheme. As to the hours of hotels, he did not think any hotel should be open earlier than nine in the morning, and he thought twelve houre wore long enough for the hotels to be open in one day. He would, therefore, steer to try and

get hours fixed from nine to nine, or as near that aa possible.. He did not believe that the people of Xew Zealand] 1 were a drunken lot, and he believed thatj the New Zealand •'Tommy" would well stand as an example of sobriety. (Hear, hear.) In his mind the only possible solution o-f the drink question was State control, and he hoped it would be effected. NATIONAL EFFICIENCY. Mr. Poole eaid that 'the scheme of State control could be dismissed as being beyond the range of practical polities at the present time. Justification for the amendment was, ho con-i tended, national eilirieney in sustaining j unimpaired the energy of the British i people. A public scrutiny had revealed a number of flaws. Many efforts were, being made in Great Britain to endeavour to bring about restrictions. The, trouble, was over-capitalisation of the, liquor indnstry. The licensee had to' carry the burden. lie had to keep tho> pace going and sell lkjuor sufficient to save himself from loss. A representative of the liquor interest before the committee declared the low to licensees through the closing of the bars at six o'clock would be £1,200,000. The fight rested between veiled interest and patriotism. It was an appeal for national efficiency that the civil population pass through discipline during the crisis. The proposal was not njmed at the soldier. QUESTION OF ECONOMIC SACRIFICE. Mr. Uornsby declared that the question was not protecting the soldier, but hn-w far the nation was prepared to go in for economic saeriOee. Dr. Thacker asked should our soldiers not be given the same privileges men who made the name Anzac glorious. There were men who would be ruined through the. anti-shouting clause, and they certainly ought to receive compensation. Mr. Craigie supported eight o'clock hotel closing without compensation, as it would mean a reduction in the consumption of liqnor and make for efficiency. Four millions was too much for this country to spend on liquor.

Mr. Harris declared for six o'clock rlos. ing as a war measure, on the same lines as our allies, Russia and Fraucc. He urged that the trading hours of other businesses had been restricted, yet no question of compensation had been raised as a result, and also argued that no compensation to publicans followed the reduction of hours from cloven to ten o'clock. He contended that compensation from tlio State was quite out of the question. Xoue of the license fees went into the coff«re of the State. He contended that liquor drinking wont hand in hand with brothels and infection from venereal disease. If early closing were introduced, as had been stated, it would moan a decrease of drinking by 25 per cent. He contended that it would therefore mean that that 25 per cent would be to the benefit of the public purse, and would result in more than 2.5 per cent greater efficiency on the part of our troope. It was the duty of Parliament to bring this reform into immediate practice or give the people an opportunity of voting- on the question.