EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIX, Issue 8589, 17 September 1904, Page 1

EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS

I'iik result of the proceedings in relation io the Lieensing Bill have so far been di favor of the No-license party. They have received nearly .all they asked for. The reduction vote has been restored, clause 9 has been struck out, and the State control proposal has disappeared. Over the reduct ion vote there was a keen fight-, but the insertion of the issue was practically carried, and it is to be presumed that the question will not bo raised again for somo time to come. The hardening of public opinion in relation to the reduction issue lias been one of the most characteristic features of the last few weeks, and it is safe to assume that the contention which we raised when the Premier's Bill first sa,w light: that the reduction vote was a useful watchdog, has been very generally accepted throughout the colony. In contrast to the strife which was waged over the reduction vote, the famous clause 9 and the State control proposal Tiad a peaceful burial. But this appears to have been owing to a compromise which was effected on Thursday evening. There is nothing to be regretted on that account. There was no need for the bitter feeling which the earlier portion of the Bill aroused being accentuated. If the remaining portions of the measure can be discussed calmly, 110 harm but good must result. We thought the whole Bill a mistake from the start. ! But as it exists, it is as well to make tho best of it: and as the No-license party have succeeded in clearing from their path the most obvious obstacles, they can well afford to discuss matters of compromise in regard to other features of the Hill. A conference, which was composed of certain members of the Government party representing both sides of the liquor quest-ion, agreed to let clauses 9 and 10—"the no license no liquor" provision—be struck out without a division, and also to let a portion of clause 11 go. This clause contains the well-known proposal that all liquor to be sent into a no-license district shall be consigned to an official appointed by tho Government for the purpose. This, as we pointed out when the Bill was first published, sets up a quasi-State control. The compromise suggested by the Premier is that provision shall be made that orders may be received from a no-license district on condition that the brewer or merchant who sends the liquor into such district must send particulars of the purchase (in fact a duplicate of the invoice, including the name of the purchaser) to the Collector of Customs. We do not like the clauso at all. There is about the suggestion a,ll irksomeness which may militate against the needed reform. We think every obstacle should be cleared from the path of tho nolicense vote, and while we are not averse to a spirit of compromise in respect to some of the other matters dealt with in tho Bill, there must be no tampering with the direct no-license issue. However, the clause in question has to be printed with the amendments proposed, and then recommitted : and we think tho matter can be left in the hands of those who have so far fought valiantly for the right of popular control of tho liquor traffic.