WILL of THE PEOPLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17347, 19 December 1919, Page 11

WILL of THE PEOPLE.

NINE PREVIOUS REFERENDA. SUMMARY OF THE POLLS. DECISIONS BY LOCAL OPTION. ( The first Act of Parliament, providing lor popular referenda on the licensing 1 question was passed on October 2, l«9i, a < fortnight after the franchise was granted i to women. The law has been modified . from time to time, but the most numerous , and radical alterations were made in the , Bill passed by Parliament on December Ju 1918 .- •™" legislation provided for ' the special poll on the national issue only, < which was taken last April, for the addi- i turn to tbe ballot, paper of the State purchase proposal, and for the decision of the issue by absolute majority. Prior to the special poll last April, ' "got. referenda had been taken in New i Zealand, on all but the first occasion on 1 the day of the triennial election of mem- , bers of the House of Representatives. At . the first six—lß93 to 1908—the electors, voting by districts only, were asked to ' decide upon the issues of continuance, reduction of licenses, and no-license. In ; 1911 and 1914, district polls were taken . on the two issues only of continuance and '. no-license, the reduction proposal having been eliminated. On these occasions, : also, the electors voted by special ballot papers on the question of national prohibition. The No-License Movement. Voting on the basis of the three-fifths majority, 12 districts carried no-license, the required majority having been recorded in on district in 1893; in two in 1902; in three in 1905; and in six in 1908. The districts in Which no-license has been enforced upon the vote of the electors are as follow, the table showing the year in which no-license was carried and the votes for and against:— „ ~ Year. For. Against. Clath» .. .. 1893 1643 487 Aehburfcm .. . . 1902 2870 1734 Matwxr* ~ ~ 1902 2939 1877 Qwy Lynn .. 1905 3426 194?* Oamaru ~ .. -1905 3142 1818 Inverc-rsill .. 1905 3409 2573 Ed? _ ~ . . 1908 4057 , 2249 Ohmemun .. •.. 1908 3333 2035 Masterton .. .. 1908 3287 2111 Wellington South 1908 4054 2241 . Wellington Suburbs 1908 4334 2448 Bruce .. .. 1908 2968 1872. The new district of Roskill is a. noucense area, as more than half its population is contained in the area formerly within the boundaries of Eden. This is the first "/dry" district created by the revision of electoral boundaries. Effect of Restoration Vote. The Licensing Act of last year abolished the local option poll, except in no-license districts, and in these polls on the question of restoration of licenses are to be taken, in terms of the 1910 Act, which requires a majority of three-fifths of the valid votes to carry restoration of licenses. If restoration should be carried in a nolicense district the number of publicans' licenses to be granted shall nofl exceed one for every complete 500 electors of the district at the date of the general election at which the poll was taken, and shall not be less (if a sufficient number of such licenses are duly applied for) than one for every complete 1000 electors of the dis- | trict." / . . ■< At the 1908 poll 38 districts showed an actual majority in favour of no-license; the number dropped to 25 in 1911, and to only eight in 1914. On the other hand, none of the "dry" districts has ever 1 shown tile three-fifths nrajoritv necessary to restore licenses. The following table shows the aggregate voting at the eight previous local option polls:— Continuance. No License. ~-1893 ~ Mm 43,429 48,993 1896 .< .. 139,580 98,312 1899 .. .. 143,961 120,542 1902 .. ~ 148,449 151,524 . 1905. ... .. 182,884 . 198,763 1908 . - r - .. 188,140 221.471 " 1911 .. .. 237.025 234,656 191* .. .. 274,405 229,474 The majority fo; no-license thus increased from 15,884 in 1305 to 43,00 l in 1908. There was, however, a majority for continuance of 2369 at the poll of 1911 and of 52,073 in 1914; The National Issue. , "Hie first national prohibition poll was taken in 1911 and the second in 1914, a majority of three-fifths being required to , carry prohibition, and; under the Act of 1910 such a vote would have become effective 4£ years after the poll.' The poll last April -was taken oh the proposal of immediate prohibition, with compensation of £4,500,000 to the licensed trade, th« decision being by a hare majority. , The following table shows the results of the three polls, with an analysis of the votes cast last April by civilians and discharged soldiers, and by soldiers in the ( Dominion and abroad:—> Continuance. Prohibition. Votes. Per cent. Votes. Per cent. 1911 .. .. 205.651 44.11. 259,943 55.83 1914 . . . . 257,442 61.0:1 247,217 48.99 April. 10,1919— Civilians.. 232,208 48.5 i 246,104 51.45 Soldiers in N.Z. .. 3,886 72.40 1,482 27.60 , . Soldfeis abroad .. 28,095 81.82 6,241 18.18 1 Total . . 264,189 51.00 253,827 49^00 ; Although the supporters of prohibition , failed in 1911 to carry th day, the vote , showed only a narrow deficiency. Of those who voted for continuance, had 19,420, or about 9 per cent., marked their 1 ballot papers in the other way, the neces- * sary majority would have been secured. ' There was a marked reaction in 1914, at 1 both the local and national polls. ,oni a 1 similar calculation, 55,579, or 21 per cent, of those who voted' continuance must have reversed their votes for prohibition to have been carried. As there was a ! majority of 2 per cent, in favour of continuance last April, the reversal of 6282 I votes would have given a majority of two votes for prohibition.