A MANIFESTO.

Evening Star, Issue 14002, 8 March 1909, Page 6

A MANIFESTO.

TO THE ELECTORS. [Advt.]

To-morrow. Tuesday, 9th of March, you will be called upon to elect a- Licensing Committee for the Dunedin district for the term of three years. The present Committee, therefore desire to refer to their past terrure of office, and to intimate their readiness again to place their services at your disposal. We were elected in 1906 to administer tb.i Licensing Act as it was and is. This we did without fear or farror. We testify with pleasure that neither the Prohibition n«,r the Liquor party approached us in arv way with a view of influencing our action. Further, we were not elected to reduce the number of hotels, or to close any that already had a license. We had to see. that the licensees were men and women of good repute, thai the houses were well conducted, and tha.t clean and iiwqrata accommodation was provided for th-j public. These we scrupudnsly attended to, and among other reforms we irsisted—

1. That every hotel be amply provided with fire escapes. 2. That hotel employees be provided with clean and sufficient accommodation. 3. That hotels be closed promptly at It" p.m. 4. We also irsisted that no intdxi-

cated person be supplied with Ikruor, and that women and youths be discouraged from drinking in hotel bars. 5. In fact, we claim that we faithfully enrried out our pledges, and did our le?t, under the guidance of Mr H. Y. W:odov.-<:on and the efficient assistsnice of t'i6 Inspector of Police and his staff to ?ei'tr-i!'y improve matters. Moreover, it is but fair to admit that as a rule tbe hotelkeepers were anxious to serord -onr efforts. 6. On various occasions we paid surprise visits, and after independent inr,uiry :iid mature consideration, corro IkhmJ-oI by independent police inquirv, we cfe!U prni.ely declare that considering the difficult nature of the liquor traffic that the trade- as a whole in the Duncdn. district i« well conducted.

We o rrph=.'.icany deplore the evils of drunkenness, but realise that under present conditions the only permanent otto is self-prohibition or individual total abstinence. We further realise that the closing of a certain inmber of hotels has nor. reduced the .'f?.?si:rnptian of liquor, bat in n. prowls city like Dtmedin, accentuated the difficulty of visitors obtaining proper wee-mntf/dation, especially drring crush periods of the year. Hence, while readily agreeing to obey the mandate of the luteal Dp' ton poll of November 17 jast to still further reduce the number of hotels, \w *il], if elected, be guid-i.i in this matter by the requirements of the public, the character of the licensee, and the public necessity or other wise of certain "hotels. Further, we are strongly of opinion that Parliament sHouM, as early as possible, ci;nct the lollowuijr measure's : 1. Thit no ~erson under 21 years of age 'Wild le supplied with liquo-. . 2. That no females should be supplied with liquor in hotel bars. 3. That no females should serve liquor in hotel bars. We will, if elected, vigorously suppress (wherever the law will allow us) the pernicious practice of suppryihg mere boys with liquor. We emphatically repudiate the assertion that_ we are in any way whatever the nominees of the Liquor party. We have no pecuniary interest in any hotel property, and, while independent of all parties, we specially appeal for election to the great Moderate party, and will, if elected, decide all matters in the future, as in the past, in a firm, judicious, and moderate spirit, and in harmony with the best interests of the entire community. With this sketch of out future poHcy, we now leave the decision in your hands. We are, vours faithfully. JAMES ARKLE. JOSEPH BRAITHWAITE. WILLIAM BURNETT. HENRY CRUST. JAUES.SMALI^