SALE OF LIQUOR AT DANCES

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 289, 5 September 1945, Page 5

SALE OF LIQUOR AT DANCES

Advocated By Magistrate

The granting of licences for the sale of ale and New Zealand made wine at restaurants. ■ dance halls and similar places of amusement was advocated by ML J. TI. Luxford, S.M., senior Auckland magistrate, in evidence before the Royal Commission on Licensing .in Wellington yesterday. Respectably and sensibly controlled alcoholic refreshment at a dance helped the dance along, he said. The claret cup had been permitted for generations—even during the'stern Victorian era—but had now been added to the list of “thou shalt nets” if the dance'was a public dance within the meaning of the statute. “The greatest danger to moral wellbeing arising from alcoholic liquor, in my opinion, is its surreptitious consumption by young people, and particularly by young people of the two sexes when they are in the one party,” said witness. "The present restrictions on the sale and. consumption of liquor do not assist matters ;‘on the contrary, the greater the restriction on things not inherently evil in themselves and not considered inherently evil, the greater the mysticism that surrounds them and the greater the curiosity of the younger people. Anyone who knows anything at all of the psychology of youth knows that bis most potent activating force is the urge to do the things a full-grown man can do.

“The boys and girls of today go about together—to the pictures and to dances — in a way which would not. have been thought, of 40 years ago, and there is no reason why they should not, provided there is no surreptitious drinking. Liquor has been banned from the dance hall. It gets in at times, but. as far as I can see from the number of cases I have had to deal with, many young people plant bottles for after the dance.” Contrary’ Police View. Mr. Luxford said the Commissioner of Police held a contrary view on the sale of liquor at dances and places of amusement. So did other senior' police officers whose opinions he respected. A police officer’s job was law enforcement, and quite naturally he sought the fullest powers which would enable him to do this; it generally meant adding to the list of “thou shalt nots.” Onee‘dn act was absolutely prohibited the policeman knew where he was and could act accordingly. He overlooked, however, that most problems relating to human conduct in matters not inherently evil in themselves became more difficult when an attempt was made to resolve them by mere negative restriction.