COLONIAL WINE LICENSES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 82, 13 June 1879, Page 2

COLONIAL WINE LICENSES.

The Wellington Licensing Bench, a fewdays ago, made a vary valuable suggestion, viz., that licenses should be granted to shopkeepers for the sale of Colonial wine. With this we cordially agree. The Evening Post expresses the following opinions upon the question, with whioh we think our readers will coincide : — : ; With regard to the Colonial wine licenses, we think that they should be legalised, but we doubt .whether they would be found profitable by the holders. In Melbourne they answer well, and it is a decided boon to many people to be able at a confectioner's or a respectable shop to get a tumbler of really good pure wine for from twopence to fourpence. The policy of our Legislature has been to encourage the use of these wines by a reduced duty, but they are never likely to como into general use until means of retailing them ot a cheaper rate than that in force in public houses are adopted. Even then it will take time to educate the people generally to a taste for these wines, fcjuoh a taste if established, however, would greatly lessen the present alarming amount of intemperance which prevails* in the CoJony. If Colonial wine licenses were granted, however, there would have to be very stringent restrictions imposed. The shops should only be open during the day time, or certainly only up to a very early hour in the evening. The premises would have to be subject to police supervision equally with public-houses, and forfeiture of the whole stock-in-trade would have to bo made the penalty of having on the premises any other distilled or fermented liquors than those included under tho head of Colonial wines. In this way it would be possiblo to guard against tho evils which, as we have shown, exist under the bottle license systom. Probably the Legislature will, next session, consider both of these questions, cind we expect that the balanco of opinion will bo found to coincide with the views we have expressed.