HOLIDAY DRUNKENNESS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 2, 4 January 1910, Page 5

HOLIDAY DRUNKENNESS.

IN CHRISTCHURCH AND LYTTELTON.

PLAYING INTO NO-LICENSE

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[FROM OTJU CORRESPONDENT.^]

CHRISTCHURCH, Jan. 3. A correspondent writing from Lyttelton complains of the amount of drunkenness that was noticeable in the streets at the port on Saturday. The complaint, unfortunately, says the Lyttelton Times in an editorial, cannot be confined to Lyttelton. The streets of Christchureh on Friday night were just as bad as those of Lyttelton were on Saturday night, and they were infinitely worse than they have been in previous years. There seems to be a growing tendency to look with a lenient eye at holiday time upon breaches of behaviour which on other occasions would be the subject of severe censure, and thei-e is more than a suspicion that the publicans themselves, partly from thoughtlessness and partly from a wrong conception of the requirements of the season, are not sufficiently careful in the supervision of their customers. It is a common excuse to say that a good deal of the rowdyism of New Year's Eve is ah affection, and that much of the apparent drunkenness is assumed; but if this is so there are scores of capable actors attempting to walk the streets who could well replace some of the indifferent ones who are strutting the boards. The explanation, however, is too disingenuous to be accepted, either as a reason or as an excuse. We should have thought that in the present temper of the country the licensed victuallers would have taken better heed of their responsibilities. The opponents of their business are sure to find in the occurrences of Friday and Saturday nights further proofs of the impossibility of effectually controlling the drink traffic under existing conditions. /