WINE THAT MAKES GLAD—

Evening Star, Issue 25617, 18 October 1945, Page 8

WINE THAT MAKES GLAD—

"INSIDIOUS EVIL," SAYS ALLIANCE COUNSEL'S ADDRESS TO LICENSING COMMISSION (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 17. Wine was described as an insidious evil by Mr Hardie Boys, counsel for the New Zealand Alliance, when he resumed his address this morning before the Royal Commission on Licensing. The alliance, he said, was convinced that a complete overhaul of the wine industry in New Zealand was needed. Sounding "so respectable and bo refined," wine exercised a subtle appeal for people who would not dnnk beer or whisky, said Mr Boys. It therefore created'a completely new class of drinker. Beverage wine of low alcoholic content, labelled honestly and taxed on a steeply graded scale according to its alcoholic content, would help to eliminate the mischief. For the better control of the industry and uniformity; of standards, it was desirable that wine licenses of all types should be issued by only one authority. The alliance contended, Mr Boys said, that any spirits legally sold in New Zealand must have been imported under Customs supervision. If spirits were distilled here, added supervision would be necessary. Especially in view of the unanimity of opinion between the trade and the alliance on the subject there should be maintained a total prohibition on the distillation of potable spirits in New Zealand. The alliance considered that clubs might be permitted charters for the sale of liquor as a reasonable social amenity if the circumstances were satisfactory to the licensing control authority, but chartered clubs should not be allowed to sell outside of the ordinary licensing hours, nor be regarded as " bottle stores," and should be liable for the same penalties as ordinary licensees for breaches of the law. FAIR MEASURE OF BEER. Claiming that the public was entitled to a fair price and a fair measure in beer as well as in other commodities, Mr Boys argued that the Price Tribunal could have done more to protect the public interest. When it dealt with beer prices the alliance was taunted wth the claim that prices and measures were none of its business, but the alliance stood for the public interest where.there was a matter of exploitation. The customer was entitled to his fair measure and a fair price, but the was dimly aware, without ability to prove it, that the contents of a glass of beer were somewhat smaller than they used to be, while at the same time the price was higher. The trade, Mr Boys added, could afford to have the public dissatisfied so long as it retained a grip on the majority of the sites from which liquor could be sold, and also the majority of the places in which it was produced. The alliance submitted that the Price had failed completely to serve the public interest in its decisions concerning the sale of beer. The people had) a fundamental right to keep the _ liquor trade out of the communities in which they lived if they wished to, said Mr Boys. He advocated on behalf of the alliance the retention of local no-license areas and the reintroduction of local no-license polls. He claimed that even suburbs and small communities within existing, electorates should have the right to impose their own ban on the. liquor trade. The alliance wanted to emphasise with all the vigour possible its. opinion that licensed premises should be created only in answer to a public demand. The reintroduction of local option polls was sought so that .people could exclude the trade from their own districts if they wished. AUTOCRATIC TRUST. Mr Boys criticised strongly several aspects of the Invercargill Licensing Trust system. The creation of a trust to control liquor sales in Invercargill, he said, had several good features, but the trust had arbitrary powers in the siting of hotels, and had chosen sites which an elective body would never have used. Only an' autocratic trust would dare buy for £43,000 the best restaurant in the city and convert it into a second-rate one. Answering the claim that golf clubs should be allowed to sell liquor on Sundays, Mr Boys argued that such a proposition was quite out of the question. If golf clubs were allowed this privilege, it would be claimed for tennis clubs, bowling clubs, and other sports, organisations Sir Boys asked, also, that the provisions of the war regulations, 1942. • concerning drink on trains should he enforced permanently, that the restrictions on the gravity of beer be retained, and that there be more frequent tests of beer at the point of sale to check the gravity.