LICENSING REFORM

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 61, 15 March 1924, Page 8

LICENSING REFORM

I TO THE EDITOR. . I Sir,—l am pleased to observe from "Tho ;P ost" °f 12th mat. that the Commercial iravollers' Association is desirous of'giving assistance to the Government to have the Licensing Acts improved, so as to give some consideration to the requirements and needs of the general public I hope tho Commercial Travellers will be successful, although I believe we never had a Government in power with sufficient courage and determination to placethe licensing laws upon a just and reasonable basis, so that the country would receive its fair share of revenue from this State-protected business. The old LibLabour Government was fairly kind to the licensed trade, and the present Government has so far done .nothing to indicate that there is any desire to let the country and tho general public have a look-in,. so as to get a fair deal. Pools, combines, and high prices are now the fashion, so it is no wonder the cost of living keeps rising, and that statisticians are kept m full work making efforts to calculate where the high-water mark may be. -|

■ (Ul£ ? e'i!i Zealand had 'ts fair rights from the highly protected liquor trade the country would _be able to wipe off the war debt within 20 years, but so longas there are strong contending factors on each side, fighting for their own particular view. Government takes up' the the £fb Kam6' the othel' s rock It is said that beer has advanced 50 per cent, in price since 1915, but the adTq^°° W -more liko 10° Per cent. In Wls a, thirsty man could buy a. pint of beer for fourpence; to-day he has to pay sixpence for a glass of beer, which is 'wr qual10 Y]i a pjnt \ lf he ""»*»" • ama" .ff'ass of beer he has to r>av sixpence also, and the "smair glass represents one-quarter of a pint. This sort Ibuf1 buf, inef exPl*™ how the public pay hberally towards enriching the licensee, | thei owner_of the house, and the brewery owners. Beer is never supplied now in legal measures, neither is other liquor^ although whisky and other spirits' sure Ua^ me faSUl' ed °Utf the s°lcalled ™*J sures are <jf an unknown, unstamped quantity, but m capacity are about equal bottTTol^' 81*'11 Of a commm Wl .V s JUst ru * into a Skss and handed to tho customer. It is true that Th,rr er °?- if, fc B desires, dlmand that the vendor shall compare his socalled measure with an officially stamped measure (see section 19, Weights and know this, or would care to make such a demand, if m a hurry to get a drink »nd ko. The Weights aid 3feasur"es Act is not much use in such cases, and is not very vigorously applied. I once held the office of Inspector of Weights and ' Measures- in a rather important town I and believing some traders' measures and ' weights were i Vrong wrot t th h d °'*f ,*nd M. Department 'asking ion? Z A S.° me °f the auth°™ed copy of weights and measures out of the office to detect fraud. I received a reply tat such permission could not be given, but I could request the owners of the suspected weights or measures to bring them to the office for comparison. Of =™rso: I was a ™re I could do that with--1 T!CV° X jU5t ticked,the writer, and there the matter ended. Some phases of the licensing laws are just like that. for 6 lp?° rmOlJ 3 ,^ ents and Premiums paid for leases of licensed houses are clear oftr-^T eT. ldence Of «ie great volume man of T ¥ VCTy Sma!l lioensed h°"ses. S a"y p °-V Whl°r are- mlS"amed hotels> but Placeft^ T hcen. s; "fr la^s permit'such a "Dom^r 6111 t \ h° Pay 5; *Pence for fi, P° Jt glass of beer. °f nineroence for the "unknown quantity- of w«-W are he htr nron7 h° P, rOvide fceluidi f°* Premn^ltm^ en°rm°US S°M' 15th March . *'