The Press THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1967. Two Days Of Late Closing

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31498, 12 October 1967, Page 12

The Press THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1967. Two Days Of Late Closing

When Canterbury hotels closed their bars at 7 last evening on the decision of the Hotel Association the dispute between the hotel proprietors and their barmen moved another extraordinary step forward. Out of the growing confusion over the justice and legality of the barmen’s application for higher pay and the “ lock-out ” of the public by the hotelkeepers, one thought emerges: the public will probably pay for it Public opinion does not count for much in this dispute. It pught to count for a great deal after its clear expression in the referendum last month. The hotel workers’ unions may feel that public opinion will work in their favour if the bars remain closed after 7 p.m. Yet the proprietors can confidently expect their trade to continue profitably whether or not they close their bars—legally or illegally—at 7 p.m. If the licensing committees reject the proposed applications to vary temporarily the usual hours of sale, the proprietors may then be ready to concede the claim of the barmen and—on the ground that the public demand later and more expensive drinking—announce a rise in their prices. If the law is calmly invoked on the issues that have arisen in two days of 10 o’clock closing some good sense and order may yet be won. So far, the public have not got what they voted for.