LICENSING QUESTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20372, 28 September 1929, Page 11

LICENSING QUESTION.

COMMISSION IN BRITAIN. THE TERMS OF REFERENCE. (Received September 27, 5.45 p.m.) British Wireless. RUGBY. Sept. 26. The constitution of the Royal Commission which is to inquire into the licensing question has now been completed. It includes representatives of all. the chief interests concerned, such as temperance organisations, licensing and brewing, licensing justices, co-operative and trades union movements, the Teachers' Union, social workers and the public.

The terms of reference for the commission are: To inquire into the working of the laws relating to the supply and sale of intoxicating liquor and into the social and economic aspects of tho question and to examine and report upon proposals that may be made for amending the law in England and Wales in the public interest.

" Although Parliament is not sitting," wrote "A Social Student" in the Observer recently, " the Government has made considerable progress with the arrangements for setting up the Royal Commission to inquire into the liquor licensing laws, and the names of 10 members, in addition to the chairman, are announced.

" The chairman of the commission, as was stated by the Homo Secretary in tho House of Commons, will be the new peer, Lord Amulree—better known to tho publie as Sir William Warrender Mackenzie, K.C.— and it is widely felt that the Government is fortunate in having secured his consent to undertake this responsible and difficult task. " Lord Amulree is an authority on licensing' law, having edited the 10th to the 21st editions of Paterson's Licensing Acts, and bis experience and competence aro beyond question, for as an arbitrator in industrial disputes and as chairman of a whole series of important inquiries, be has proved himself specially equipped for guiding a committee in a complex investigation. He was chairman of the Railway National Wages Board, and presided over the delegation sent by the British Government to inquire into industrial conditions in Canada and tho United States. Last year he was chairman of the Departmental Committee which inquired in'o the working of the Shops (Early Closing) Acts."