NO LICENSE. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11598, 5 December 1899, Page 7

NO LICENSE. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,—The. n,o-license " vote is not a successful solution of the liquor question. It has been tried m the> dlutha district, and is a fail^ lire. Balclutha has not made a corresponding commercial progress with the towns on either side of the prohibited district—viz., Milton or Goro If prohibition were a success in the Glutha district, there would be no necessity v o take out a prohibition order against any habitual drunkard. All that would be necessary would be to banish the offender for a certain period to the Olutha district . Again, where are the vaunted saving through prohibition? If prohibition is the success in Balclutha that its advocates say it '?, the people s savings ought to have accumulated to such an extent that there should be thousands of capital there seeking investment \Vhereas any limited liability company would have less chance of getting its capital (subscribed in Balclutha than in any other town of like size m Otago. niin liVe iin- Br hot6li n Dunedin that pays xJ2O yearly in license fees and city rates alone and there are sly grog-shops in the Clutha that sell more whisky (but not such good whisky) than this establishment does.

\l ith the Glutha as an object lesson in prohibition in front of us, I don't see how you can ask any sane person to vote " no license " Take it from me, friends, that, notwithstanding the testimony of numerous parsons who really know nothing about the matter, Dunedin hi far better off with a certain number of well-built, well-furnished, and well-conducted hotels, selling good, wholesome liquor, under

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strict police supervision, than it would be with thousands of sly grog-shops under no supervision whatever.

If the police cannot prevent sly grog-selling in the sparsely-populated Clutha district, what chance would they have of suppressing it m Dunedin? No, let those who want prohibition go and live in the Olutha and try it, and then ask them whether they think it is worth while suppressing one of our most nourishing national industries (brewing) for the supposed benefits of prohibition.—l am etc., Common Sense.