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Evening Star, Issue 11607, 18 June 1902, Page 4

The idea of closing the hotels on Coronation Day evidently mee'ts Hotel Bars with a great deal of popular oh (loro- favor, find we have no hesiHitlon l)«;. tiition in supporting it in a somewhat modified form. Of course, we are aware that neither the C'.ty Council nor the Licensing Committee nor any other existing authority can compel the licensees to bow to public opinion in this respect. If they insist on keeping their bars open throughout the whole of Thursday week, no one can prevent them having their way: but we think that the L'censed Victuallers' Association might well take the matter into rnn:--ir!rrv# ; o-;. '■■;<■'■ a viav to -

direction to the local hotelkeepers. It may be questioned whether, from a purely selfi>h point of view, such a step would not be wise on the part of "the trade." It would be calculated to create a favorable impression on the minds of a considerable section of the community, as showing that the licensees were not solely actuated by a greedy desire to make every possible penny without the slightest regard to public opinion or sentiment. It would be unreasonable to ask that the bars should be closed for the whole day; all that can fairly be expected is that liquor should not be sold before, say, five o'clock in the evening—a restriction which would largely prevent the recurrence of certain painfully memorable features of the Peace Day celebrations in Dunedin. We have heard many hotelkeepers say that they have no desiro to sec youths drinking, and we are quite prepared to credit the genuineness of ,the disclaimer. Here, however, is a capital opportunity for giving practical proof in the matter. If the bars are closed during the holiday hours of Coronation Day, temptation will be lessened to a great extent, and the publicans will be able to claim that they had the chief hand in the work.