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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 8951, 16 January 1888, Page 4

While as a reaction to the fierce feud of the past our Licensed Victuallers and Teetotallers are cultivating sympathetic accord, and seeking out a modus vivondi in the selection of licensing Benches of a neutral tint, the two parties in Victoria are girding themselves for warfare, and

seemingly it is intended that it shall 6, war to the knife. And it is a noteworthy thing that the battlefield on tho occasion is to be selected on the ground on which it was intended that the conflicting parties should bury the hatchet and smoke the calumet of peace. For the Legislature of Victoria in its wisdom had devised local option clauses in the new Licensing Act, which were supposed to be fitted to give satisfaction to all, inasmuch as while they gave power to the people by tote to ref uee the renewal of licenses, they made provision that compensation should be given to the publican for the closing of i his bar.

It might be supposed that such a concession to both sides should have produced harmony, but compromises as a rule give

satisfaction to neither party, and this case is no exception. Whether it is that the compromise has irritated both, or whether from inherent antagonism of parties, they have both marshalled themaelvea for conflict, and Victoria is once more to be the experimental battle-field for testing theories of a social and political kind for the benefit of the colonies in general. We find that the Teetotallers are intending to put the Local Option clauses in practice for the purpose of eupprtssing licenses, and the Licensed Victuallers are intending to help them, but not with friendly intent, but with the object of driving the Act to an untimely end. The method of_ operation is to be this : The Licensed v ictuallers will take a poll of the thickly-populated districts aa to the closing of houaea, so as to bring on a crisis, and so put the Government in a difficulty to find tho extraordinary amount required for compensation. Tho game is a perilous one, and will be watched with interest throughoat the colonies, as well aa in Victoria itself. It is a bold attempt this of driving the Government into a corner; for, if it is so that they succeed, in conjunction with the Teetotallers, ia shutting up a large number of hotels foi which the public Treasury will be called to pay, the Government being driven to bay may show fight, not in the way expected —namely, taking steps for the repeal of the Act, but possibly rather for the repeal of the clauses that are proved to be inconvenient to the Treasury. It \$ ' certainly a considerable concession that has been made by the Victorian Legislature, in providing for compensating a hotelkeeper for the remptal of his license; but if it is found that this conciliatory clause may be made embarrassing to the Treasury, we venture to think that the likely result will be the repeal of the compensation clause. It ia probably to be regretted that aa interesting question like lihis of compensation should be brought to a violent issue, instead of affording us the benefit of seeing how it would naturally work. It is contended by opponents of the drink traffic that there is no obligatiou on the part of the public to pay for the non-renewal of a license to sell which is only granted for a year; while on the other hand it is contended that when men have sunk large sums of money in the erection of hotels, in the faith that the license would be renewed till forfeited for misconduct, it is unfair to them to have their main source of income cut away by a vote of the people, without being recompensed for their loss. As an abstract question, this difference might be wrangled over for many years, without a solution of it being any thing nearer, but the practical application of experience, such as would have resulted, if these belligerent parties had only left it to its natural working would have been of incalculable benefit as a guidance to the other cobniee, who are always glad to profit from the experimental legislation of Victoria. As it is the experiment is likely to fail, Teetotallers and Licensed Victuallers apparently being both disposed to pay ofi the Government for the compromise ; but we venture to say that the point of breakage will be that it which the Government ia made to feel the pinch, namely, the compensation clause.