THE RECENT LICENSING POLL

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 48, 20 November 1928, Page 13

THE RECENT LICENSING POLL

Sir, —Whatever the final figures of the above may be it is abundantly evident that New Zealand has given an overwhelming vote for the "liberty” so widely advocated in the public Press of the Dominion. It is plain that prohibition stands discredited and State control evi ore so.

1 being the case, it follows as surely . die day follows the night that many restrictions upon liberty imposed in the past by the opponents of the liquor trade should now be removed. To be more definite, should not 6 o’clock closing give place to 10 or 12 o’clock! Should not Sunday closing be consigned to the limbo where all things tyrannous belong? Should not license fees be lowered and more facilities be granted for obtaining liquid refreshments? And why should hotels have to close their bars during polling hours? Why should young people be compelled to wait until the age of 21 before being able legally to obtain liquor at licensed houses? These and many other shackles forged by prohibitionists now stand discredited by last Wednesday’s great vote for liberty. Will not the daily Press, which has so valiantly opposed prohibition during the recent, campaign, now follow this thing out to its logical conclusion and strike a further blow for freedom? —I am. etc., ' OUT AND OUTER. [The majority of the daily Press have advocated reform of the licensed trade. Our correspondent presumably is a prohibitionist. and, like some others, can only see logic in extremes.]