THE HOUSE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 33, 2 November 1917, Page 7

THE HOUSE

' THE LIQUOB QUESTION. .. The Eoise. of Bepresentat'ives met' yesterday at 10-30 a.m. .. lr4C;l ;-n-n-The Eight Hon. W. F. MASSE? (Prims Minister '.made f about -Jjie liquor question. He said, that when the six oclock dosinsquestion was Wore the House and m Committee-there had. been a good deal of unrest and noiae and eptement and ■the opinion was expressed by himself ami the Finance Minister that .something would have to be done to put mattere on a more satisfactory footing. He thought they had both expreesed the opinion that it might be well to give the electors an (opportunity to settle tae matter on, the lines of the recommendations of the Efficiency Boaid. The issue would be as to whether there should, be Continuance er Prohibition, withcompensation for the people m the trade. It seemed that what they had eaid at tbe fime had, given rise to.some wrong impressions.- He had been informed that ■goine of the .Australian papers. had saifl that the New Zealand Government intended "to introduce legislation next session to provide for the settlement of the. licensing question -by a bare WW: This was not what had . been stated. At the {ime he. hoped that Cabinet would be able to decide upon something taring the present session, but Cabinet had been' so very busy that there had been ao time for this matter V* lecess it would be the duty, of the Government to . consider the question, and

to Revise something that would ba mor satisfactory than the present state o affairs. The suggestion about the bar majority was not intended, to appli' fc the ordinary licensing issue that ha< been before the people for many years It was intended to apply to the nei proposal of the Efficiency Board. iLi own idea, was that the issue sugjMtei by tho board should bo put to the elec tors, and that the decision should u bv a bare majority. „ . , SIB JOSEPH WARD (Sinister o Finance) 6aid ho believed it was r cco t nised by everybody that we had nc solution of tho liquor pro! lem in this country. When tho queStio was before the House lie had vote against six o'clock closing just as « would vote against everything tha would tend to reduce the revenue t this country at this time. Another ret son why he had voted as he did was tha Continuance had been oarried at tho lai poll, and it had been carried in his ow electorate. From his constituents h had received 110 representations on tli subject, with tho exception of lettei from -a few clergymen. There were peopl who said that the revenue would not k affected by- this early closing of hoteli On -this point he would give the Hou« some figures supplied. 1 to him by a coui try hotelkeeper, of the amount, ot Cui toms duly' paid by him for <iquor for h: hotel. In 1913 he paid ,£3087, in 191 •E2562, in 1915. <£3390, and in 1916 J2305 He mentioned this only for the purpos of showing that a great deal of reveni was' collected from the liquor biwines and it was for this reason that he ha so firmly 'resisted the proposal, wliic would have the. effect of depriving it State of much of this revenue. He woul not at once commit himself to any cours but ho wits quite satisfied that we woul havo-to consider the question again i this country. Whatever one's opimoi might, be, all agreed that the Uquc problem was one very difficult ot soli tion. CONGRATULATIONS AND FAREWELLS. ! AND THE WAR. ' The Right Hon. W. 1\ MASSE congratulated Mv. Speaker on. h«vvm asain presided over a very linportai session of Parliament. He thought i was expressing {he opinion of most men bers when he said that the sessionjui closing had been one of tho most strew oiis in tho history of the New. Zealan Parliament, a 'session in which much in portant legislation had been consider® by ttie House. Provision had been mad for the dependants of the gallant iSe Zealanders who were now fighting bl'avi ly for their King and country, and pr< vision had been made tor lho eariyiu on of New Zealand's share in tl e wa. Very contentious legislation had croi ped up, but he was bound to ®y..tna by the exercise of tact and considoratio oil the part of Mr. Speaker, inc.deui that might have, caused had jbM avoided. This applied also to the Ghai mail- of Committees, and i.e nislied t congratulate both of Item on tho w successful manner in which .ho busin<* of Parliament had been «ond * session. He expressed thankb also to tL officers of Parliament for their unfaibn . to- members. He hoped Ih members and officors ivon 1(1 cess and he hoped that when next ■ Sent met, if the war was not the ■over, the end would be JYh li to admit, however, that thepresent k dications were that the war would • h The Tar had been brought; homo_ t members bv the number of the sons, members who bad.-marie I:hp • rifice in tho service of then count i He regretted that there, nereim casualty 'lists to como the i «t te dnva "But, he said, whate\ei. nay pens, there, is only one thing to do, an that is to Eet our teeth and cariy on the end. I hope that before neri- yea is over the war clouds will have rolle ewiv, and that, the Sun of Peace am Righteousness will, be again shining a brighter- and a Wjner r } V;m. flu SIR JOSEPH WARD joined with th Prime Minister in congratumting J Mr , Speaker and in .recognising the work o the officers of the House. He wibhed ti say this regarding the war-, that tiier was in this country a. feeling of the inos supreme confidence that whatever r. verses-might come-to the Allies tie would in the end triumph, that it; wa. only a matter of time, and that R-igh must in- the end prevail. He consider* that tli© session had been one of tin greatest difficulty. We were pasani -through times without parallel m tn history of the world, and the turmoil, o . tho war made difficulties without prece dent. But the financial position ot ±\ei< Zealand was strong, and they were al gratified to know that Parliament hac • gone as far as it could go with safety in making .provision for the dependant; of soldiers. . if , ■ „ There was a belief that tho Govern ment had not done enongh to che&pei . the foodstuffs of the people,/but he woulj say, with a full sense of his responsibn ity, that the war had originated cause and brought about effects ivhich ntado 1 impossible- to keep down the / prices o commodities. . In countries beyond oui shores the cost of manufacturing com modifies had increased enormously, anc this, made the task of keeping down thi . cost of living one of eitraoldinary dim culty. Even regarding the prices of. thf commodities produced in this country, 11 | was a problem of unexampled difficult} to. keep down tho prices to consumers and at the .same time to do justice tc tlie producers.: .He maintained that m . the matter of the cost of living our country compared favourably with any othei part of..the. world.. JIB..SPEAKER acknowledged thr —n-

pliments paid to him, and expressed ap- ( preciation of tho assistance given to htm in the discharge of liis duties by tho officers of tlie House, and by memWrs. Mr. A. S. MALCOLM of Committees) likewise thanked Ministers and members for kind things said about himself and his work. The usual mook division was called on (ho motion to adjourn, and the motion was carried by 26 votes to 15. The Houso rose at 0.30 p.m. Before members left the Chamber thry sang "God Save the King." '