HOTEL LICENSE FEES

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 30 August 1929, Page 9

HOTEL LICENSE FEES

AN INCREASE SUGGESTED. MR. C. A. WILKINSON’S IDEA. WAY TO RAISE £400,000.

(By Telegraph—Special to the Star.) WELLINGTON, August 29. Leading oil his argument by deploring the raet tiiat burdens were being added to tlie farming community, Air. IC. A. Wilkinson, Independent member lor ngmoiit, suggested in the House that the Prime Minister might look to the hotelkeepers of New Zealand for e.vtra revenue, rather than increase tne customs taxation. Air. Wilkinson's argument was that £4O per annum was too small a sum to charge for a license ,o sell liquor, and that it mignt wen .•e increased without injury to anyone. The right to Kell liquor was a monopoly right, said Air. \\ ilkin.son. and there was no reason why the Gov - ernment should not profit from it. The licence fee of £4O per annum was fixed over s'o years ago by the Provincial Government at a time when the population of New Zealand was only 300,(JGO. To-day the population was more than live times that number. The spending power of the people had increased enormously, and the value ot money had depreciated. Last year something like £41,000 was paid by the way of licenses to sell liquor. Air. \\ i kin son thought that there was no reason why it should not be increased to £400,000. (Hear, hear, from all sides of the House). No harm would be done if the. license fees were increased considerably. The gross value of hotel properties in New Zealand was £6,000,000 and enormous profits were made by liquor. Parliament would Ire well within its rights in asking that the trade which, could weil afford to pay, should lielp the country at a time when money was wanted, rather than that extra burdens should be placed on the community generally. At the present times tlie fees for the liquor licenses were paid to the local bodies, but Mr. Wilkinson sug-

gested that it an increase m tees was effected, local bodies might receive the present amount while the balance went into the general revenue account of the country. It was absurd that wine licenses should be only £1 and that the largest of hotels should pay only £4O for the right to sell liquor. It meant that the hotels paid 2s 6-jd per day for a monopoly right. Even an auctioneer, who obtained no monopoly, had to pay £4O. Air. Ale Keen (Wellington South): The fee is £4O for a bowser pump. Air. Wilkinson: Yes, and in my district u. man has to pay £BO for a heavy motor truck license* fee. No one would say that 2s 6-fd per day was a sufficient fee for the right to sell liquor. It may be said that we are afraid of the hotel keepers, but I don’t think that Sir Joseph Ward would be , afraid of anyone when it came to a , matter of collecting taxes. (Laughter). Mr. W. E. Parry (Auckland Central) : Oh! He enjoys his surplus all . right. ,