LICENSING LAWS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 112, 15 May 1939, Page 10

LICENSING LAWS

VISITOR'S CRITICISM

A relaxation of the licensing laws for the Centennial - period at least, to meet the convenience of overseas visitors, was suggested by Mr. C. H. Verseput, a South African, who arrived from Sydney today by the Awatea in the course of a world tour.

South Africans and others from overseas found the licensing laws in Australia and New Zealand extremely irksome, said Mr, Verseput. In the Union, for example, the hotels were open for the consumption of liquor on the premises from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on week-days, and from 12 noon to 2 p.m. and again from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays for meals with which liquor could be served. Residents, of course, could be supplied at any time.

Mr. Verseput said that he could not see the sense in licensing laws such as those in Australia and New Zealand which induced many men to drink more than they should, because the bars were closed after 6 p.m. In South Africa and other countries where the hotels were open in the evening there was far less drunkenness. He had seen more drunken men in Sydney after 6 o'clock in the evening than during the whole of his travels on the Continent and in England.

The tourist traffic from overseas would be greatly encouraged if the hotels in New Zealand were granted a dispensation to bring them more into line with the prevailing custom abroad, Mr. Verseput added. . .