SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21377, 21 January 1935, Page 17

SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING

DOMINION LICENSING LAW CRITICISM OF A CRITIC A strong defence of the "six o'clock closing" hour, and an equally strong criticism of the views expressed on the subject hy Mr Hector Bolitho, a New Zealand writer, is contained in the latest issue of the "New.Zealand Methodist Tiroes." Mr Bolitho had written an article in an English paper attackting the New Zealand institution of "six o'clock closing." "Mr Hector Bolitho is a New Zealander who had a Methodist upbringing" says the "Methodist Times." His friends rejoice that he has achieved so honourable a place in the world of letters. He does not, however, yet seemed to have achieved the mastery of his prejudices, and in some, of his books there is a facile •positiveness which does not carry weight with the discerning reader. "Of this characteristic the latest illustration is contained in an articlepublished in the 'Fortnightly Review' after his return from a'brief visit to New Zealand. There he refers to the closing of hotel bars at 6 o'clock as a piece of 'disastrous hypocrisy,' and adds: 'The front doors of the public houses close at six, but there is always a back door by which one descends to a murky cellar. There the young people learn to drink, and what should be a controlled, pleasant habit becomes a secret vice.'

Ihe "Murky Cellar" "It is true that dishonourable hotelkeepers are known to break the Jaw. These gentlemen will break any law if by doing so they can put a few additional coins into their tills without discovery. But the picture of the 'murky cellar* in'every hotei with its company of 'young people learning to drink* is a gross exaggeration. It is not there that the drink habit is acquired. It is learned' at the open bar, the dance hall, the wedding breakfast, and only habitues frequent the back-door. „,.,,_ "The early closing of hotel bars is one of the most beneficent reforms introduced into the country, and we quote the words of a former editor, who in writing to the daily press, says: 'lt is evident that Mr Bohtho, as critic, has taken no pains to enquire whether or not 6 o'clock closing has, on the whole, been beneficial. Those who remember when the hour of closing was 9 o'clock or 10 ociocK, are not likely to forget what the condition of the streets at night was m those days compared with to-day. Scenes of drunkenness and disorder were then all t6o frequent, whereas now there are thousands of men who go home sober who would have remained to become victims of over-in-dulgence if the bars had been kept open to a later hour."

Omar Khayyam "In a single sentence, Mr Bolitbo lets the cat out of the bag. He is a disciple of Omar Khayyam. His words are: I who have always drawn my views on alqohol from Omar rather than from Lady Astor.' Now we have neither space nor inclination to quote the tavern songs of the old libertine andl his exultation of the wine-jar, but those who will may turn over the pages for themselves, and may perhaps find access also to the quatrains which, as Mr A. C. Benson tells us, Edward Fitzgerald found too gross for Jus taste. But so candid a disclosure of disciple&iip having been.made we cannot think that Mr Bolitho's views on the liquor question will be regarded as of much value." " ■