"WET" OR "DRY"?

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 286, 9 December 1914, Page 4

"WET" OR "DRY"?

Concurrently with the exereisinc of the Parliamentary franchise W morrow, tlie- electors will have ai opportunity of expressing their loea option viows arid, in addition, o; casting their votes for or againsi National Prohibition. Upon th< question of continuance or local no license we do not propose to say verj iimueh. For pur own part, we dc not favor no-license, as we hold thai tshe .comfort and convenience of th< immunity can best be served by th« te^iijtenco of a limited number of we'll conducted hotels ■ where honesi ctlcOholie refreshments can b< obtained, and where adequate accom modaition ts pi'ovided for the 'travelling spitblie. Unfortunately, there are far too many hotels : in New Zealand -srhere ftSie liquor that is sold if far. fr^m being of good quality, anc where isie aocaßaniodation for^ travellers is mea-gi-e m extent and in manj wiays unsatisfactoofy. That there has been som*6 im>prov<Knont of late years we admit, but muefe. still remains tc l>e done to bring many*, licensed 'houses np to the required standard. "The feeling in favor of State control &, we believe, steadily growing, and %t is an open question whether the time has Jiot arrived for such an" issue to bo submitted to the ©lectors at the same time as the licensing and prohibition polls are held. Into the discussion as to whether no-licenge really proves a pucoess ■'■ hi those distriete where it'has. been. Instituted >we do ust hV^xft U:> cftter. -.. A rnt

mass of figures and alleged facts lias' been put forward on this question by the contending parties, and the public, though no doubt sadly puzzled, must be left to form its own conclusions. What, however, we feel constrained to say in reference to the noilicense qiiestion generally is that in our opinion the pi-ese-nt system under which the licensing districts are the same as the Parliamentary areas ! has worked very badly, and should i give pl;w:e to some other scheme. At I present it is possible in the larger- ! centres of population for a licensed : house on one side of the street ta remain open whilst within fifty yards there may be another hotel the doors :of which are compulsorily closed for three years as the result "of a licensing X>oll. "We should prefer to see the licensing districts much larger, and Ino alteration in the- electoral boundaries should affect them. It is doubtful, too, whether the present system under which Licensing Committees control the trade is the best ■\rliioh could have been adopted. We come now to the much more important issue of National Prohibition, so much more important than the license or no-lioense question in that it'affects so gravely the revenue question and indirectly the whole financial position of the country. J National Prohibition, if carried, must necessitate' something like a complete revolution in the taxation system of the Dominion, and the present is no time for the country to embark upon what might prove to be a most dangerous experiment. No one, noteven the Minister' for Finance himself, can say what will be the final result ujxm the financial position of the Dominion of the great war which is now proceeding, and to embarrass the Government or the day by taking a step which would infallibly imply a colossal loss of revenue in three years' time would, we thinly be sheer folly. It is idle to pretend that in three years the taxation can be so readjusted that the loss of revenue from excise and Customs duties on liquor could be made up from other sources without any section of the community having to carry a severe extra burden of taxation. Finance Ministers who are worth their salt look much further, ahead than threeyears, Apart altogether from the financial side of the question, we do not agreo for one moment that New Zealand either needs or would be any better off lor havinp; National Prohibition. We should infallibly lose, and that at once, the whole of our foreign •■ tourist 'traffic, which is a , source of indirect revenue by no means despisable. Sly-grog manufacture and selling would come into existence to an alarming extent. New Zealand is not a country of drunkards. Taken as a whole there is no more sober*, law-abiding, indus- * trious, and virtuous people on the face of the earth than are the inhabitants of the Dominion. ; That the ; excessive use of alcohol is. productive lof great evils no one can deny. But it is an open question whether ■ National Prohibition would not bring ! into existence still greater evils. By > all means let us- be a temperate ;.' people, temperate in all things, '. ; temperate above all in* our legislative .'i experiments. But the main, the chief '. argument, against National Prohibition at this election at any rate is , the grave disorganisation it would 1 inevitably bring about in our .■• national finance. Three years from 1 • now, with the war over and our . financial position strengthened, we ; hope, by a long period-.of increased ! production and consequent augmented . I national wealth, the question can bo 1 : reconsidered. But for the present ! we feeM it our duty to warn oui ! i readers against any such dangerous • I departure.