The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1905. LOCAL OPTION ABROAD.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 13891, 27 October 1905, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1905. LOCAL OPTION ABROAD.

We <k> not krnow- ■ndilat the New South Wales, Lkenßimg Bill wis -like when it emerged from tito oommitittea stage in the Legislative Assembly yesterday mtofrninig, but os introduced at the beginmng of the maath it seems to have been quite a liberal <mA sanie measure. The no dou<bt -had the New Zealand law in mind when he framed his own Bill; He proposed to submit the existence <A litoenses to the people in each eleototrlafco in three issues, Continuance, Reduction amd No-lioen.se, the maohinei'y being much the same as in crar local Byatem. As originally introduced the Bill required that fifty per cant- of the voters o*n the rofll should cast their votes in order to make a valdd poll, and if twortMirds of the total number of votes cast in any district should be in favour of no-licemEe, then licenses should cease to ©sist in that distiriet afbea- a specified date. Generally the existing number of licenses was taken to be the masimmm fojr the future, an increase being possible omly with a great increase of population, as afe a mining rush, <xr through a wide growth of settlement. The Government seems to have anticipated that the keenest opposition would be encountered on the compensation question, and the At-torney-General devoted the grelafer part of his opening addiress cm the second reading motion to a oanimd'eiiation of this issue. He lieM emphatically tliat there were no vested interests in licenses, and said that whatever view might be taken by tlie Assembly, the Government would be no party to the granting of money compensation. As a .sop to the licensed victuallers, howsver, the prinoiple of " tame c"ompsnsatdon" was intiradiuoed, the idea being, apparently, to give liiceuiseeis extended "notice to quit," in the event of -the liteeneing commdtitees deciding to close their premises. It is worthy of notice that the New South Wales Government has kept a rod in pickle for itself and its saicceasors by refusing tk> hring all clubs undei- tlie law. It goes as a matter of course thats (the Bill should have roused a bitter controversy. Apparently the liquor pmrty recognised the hopelessness of demanding monetary compon.sation for the extinction of licenses, a.-nd conoentrated .'thi&ir energies on tho attempt to extend tho time compcn-satlon\ clause. The operation of this pririiciple is rJot very clear. According to the AttbrnoyGeneral's explanation it- was intended that badly-conducted houses, and houses that were clearly not required in ,a district, should be the first to be closed in the event of no-license being carried. The second class to be closed would be those defectively built, the first-class hotels being given extension : [ during good behaviour, until, at the, end of three years, all licenses in the/ j district would Cease to exist. . Thtf; {jjeoins to have bean the Government,'a

intentiion, though there were doubts whether the intention had been effectively expressed. However, the Assombly has settled tho matter in its own way. Compromises have been tho order of the day, and though the temporainco party has secured tho reduction of the "two-thirds majority" to a " throerfifths majority," as in Now Zealand, and the amieldoratioin of tho so-called 50 per cent poll provision, the liquor party, on its eri.de, Eeems to have won a notable victory over the question of tune compensation. The effect of this "compromise" will probably bo to postpone tho introduction of no-license, oven in a district that declares for -no-lic-anse, for a space of eight years. The Bill will now doubtless paiss its third reading in tho Assembly, and will be sent on to the Council for further amendment. But we imagine that the hopes of the temperance reformers in New South Wales must be at -a low ebb. It as true that the principle of local option is in a fair way to receive statutory endorsement, but looal option weighted with an eight-year compensation clause represents' rather am empty, victory. What New South Wales needs is a. little stirring assistance from New Zealand temperance workers. The Mother State is enjoying tho presence of licensing advocates from this colony, whose desoi'iptions of our local system and its operation, so far as we have seen them, aro really elegant efforts of imagination, bo that probably no harm would be done if the other side of the case were adequately stated. If the people of New South Wales wiaat to control the liquor traffic of thiair State they will have to fight for the reform as Now Zealand bad to fight, and they must expect rebuffs.