THE BRUCE LICENSING COMMITTEE'S POSITION.'

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12991, 4 June 1904, Page 4

THE BRUCE LICENSING COMMITTEE'S POSITION.'

■ ,THE REV. P. B. PRASER EXPLAINS. Prior to the second meeting ot the Brucu Licensing Committee • yesterday the Rev. P. B. Fraser said lie wished to lake advantage of the opportunity that offered to niako the position of the. committee clear to tho public. '. ■ '. ' ; Mr Fraser then spoke as follows:—As the nction, whatever •'shape it. may eventually take, of the Bruce Licensing Committee is likely to be criticised hy friend am! foe, wo think it is only fair that at this juncture a brief statement of our position should bo offered. ■ Public opinion has a very short memory, and' is not likely to trouble itself with tho pledges and circumstances of our election in March, 1903. It appears to bo commonly believed that the action of tho eommittoo was held to be denoiident on the decision of tho Privy Council, and that since that 'judgment has been delivered wo have no Tight standing, and 'never had a right standing, and that .wrought.forthwith.' (o grant licenses. This inay have, been the position token up for good reasons at Ncwtown; but it was never ours. The one fact that controlled our position aiid action was H>o incontestable finding of the magistrate who tried the petition to upset our. election, that,. tho irregularities notwithstanding, Bruce had the required three-fifths majority and 31 to. snare—making- £+7 of an achirii majority in favour of no-!iccnso. Not for one hour would wo have sought to deprive the licensees of their licenses, by any technicality or lapse- of tho unless, the magistrate had found that we had the required majoritj'. We, therefore,, never, would liavo been justified in elcctihg'a committee r.er.inaiiontly to refuse unless previously nt tho licensing poll, we Jiad iucontcstably the required no-lieensc majority. And t.o never sought in Bruco i'fo close- the houses permanently.on the standpoint of the famous clause 3 of the'act. Consequently, despite numerous protests from many' quarters, wo persevered in the contention that it was,io Parliament and a valid poll, and,not to-tliu law courts, wo should look for redress. -»\ r o held that the houses were dosed, only by a (urn of the legal lottery-, ivheol, and rui by the legally expressed will of the' people, and that, therefore, we should 1 not.re.sfc until our poll was validated: .failing validation, if that were impossible, we agreed, through' our member in Parliament) to. accept, a fresh poll, if the provision requiring., half)the electors to vole werd'stnlck' out.'- • Could anything have been fairer than that? We have never taken up tho position that advantage should be taken of a (ccmirrality to prejudice the bona fide intemt* of the- : publican; but his interest was wiped out in Bruce the moment the magistrate declared, wo' bad the 'required majority.; Consequently,' when wo were, elected lastyear, before Parliament met /ahd.'.b'efpre it ; bad dealt with.our position, ii wag , 6n tho clistinc|'tinclcrstanding that we ■jShbufd,, personal—risk,.:, refuse licenses..until 'Parliament should deal with our position.'': For we'in Bruco. .were not unreasonably exasperated.. Most people for-, get that at'thepicvious election . tiie> majority 7 in 'Brace werb deprived of their , rights through' equally /despicable trivialitiesas on the present occasion. -Arc- wo-jroar after yeat to march to the-, polls, slaves ; and poltroflis, aiid make.'. no "protest?■ Now : wo found that chisc 3 of the act was declared by the bestMawyers in the colonjyto give us power to refuse licenses—or, lather,, I hat we hail no jurisdiction'-'to : " grant-• them. Again, fortunately, ive had Jhp magistrate with us. But evidently if-'apy othpi--' technicality" had been, or js, available to prevent the issue of licenses,until Parliamentshould grant "some'reasonable redress wo arc pledged to avail ourselvea.of it. ■ Hie Privy Council diwion does not alter onr real position nor its merits one |0i: it simply deprives, ..us -nf -Hint tollnioality in defence \pl • ;t ■ ».Oik case, for refusing license* is as just as it v\er was Only we arc ■deprived -o» this "technicality." for fu6lfnicairty.it is; as unjust and iuitjuitous to, the. publican as to •the prohibitionist. VorV- is.it not a inon- | strou's thing to wipe out tho whole publican property in a district by...ii..voided poll l Is it not equally monstrous to' deprive the electors of their rights by a'voided poll.' The contention about; dniise} ?,-on either side, is a barren victory—it ought; not, to have cost either side ,a. 'lon-pound.note, and never would have done' 'up with an honest Government., -'Itvis. per/naiieflt y worthless to cither sidt\:..'l'he, proper .remedy i for Bruce, NowtCjWU, or J'qrt, Qhalincrs is not contending for an ■ j'necjuitaWo": position, inflicting a .gross'jiijtlntiee. oii'oue side or the other, but ft'freo poll,'a free inquiry, .and a fresh election for. a voided poll—that is, the same law in the' licensing and paiv liamentary election'. \ ThaUliafl'))B«n-our contention in Bruce. Olatik-3-H'-ail-iniqui-tous clause for cither side; \w held that all along. Yet, when "wiTtfero atriviiiß for a straightforward renio(!y_:..!roni ■.Parliament, and wore willing, to take even a fresh poll, it was evident that inauy thought wo were fipjiting'for an idea " when' wo* nndgot all we wanted." We had for'the momeht only a favourable turn of the legal lottery-wheel —the wheel that Mr Seddou keeps the prohibitionists and publicans, playing at, so vexatious and costly fOf both, Consequently, the only question now for the Braco Licensing Committee is, whether thpro -are any more turna-of-MrSeddon's legal lottcry-wheclV and what will Iliby cost? We Have just as little' desire to inflict a pound of o\penscs on the innkeepers as to pay a pound oureelyes. Yet.'it , there are any more"'surprising"technicalities" preventing tho granting ot' licenses, then, doubtless, however exasperating it may bo to the licensees, we arp just as.much entitled to use' them as-before;- no-more .and no less. And only so far as before—that is, temporarily—till Parliament gives the proper remedy of'a fresh poll, which wo already offered, through our member, to accept last session. If, however, there are no more surprising and exasperating technicalities on whioi' {'io ■ committoo can stand, then, rfearly. it is the duty of the committee, since 'they are pledged to grant no licenses, to resign; and let this democratic Government call to their seats, as it has tho power, representatives of the trade to do its behests and issue licenses, so that it may be made.plain to tho. wayfaring man that the trade governs the electors of Jruce. It is, of course, open to the committee to go to gaol for refusing to 'issue licenses, in tho evont of there being no more technicalities to bar the way; and it is also open for them to waste more money in futile legal proceedings, threatened as they are. at evory otage with 11 actWus insten-1 of one, to coerce them into submission. To go to gaol would not prevent the issue of licenses, and, in view of "the decision of tho Privy Connoil. we should be misrepresented throughout the colony as " robelling aramst the highest court of the Empire," although it is true, in point .of fact, that neither our

ease nor ila real ntorits, nor our constitutional rights, over went for'hearing beyond the local Magistrate's Court, where, for despicable trivialities ami ' absurdities, wo have, under form, of "law," in two elections been reduced to a state of slavory unparalleled in a'free- confmunity. We are strongly dissuaded on all hands not to go to this extremity. There is every appearance that'etich aotion would bo mistaken by friends and misrepresented by foes. But that a committee pledged not to grant licenses, and elected for that purpose by an individual majority of 615 votes, and a col- ' lective majority of over 3000 votes, should be compelled, in defiance of their pledges, permanently to grant licenses with their own hand, is (in act of tyranny, to which , they will not submit. Let the Premier | appoint the appropriate instruments of his ' tyranny to rivet the shackles of his darling . trade on the electors of Bruce. I would fain hope that there could nrft bo found a , single respectable elector of Bruce to do his behest. Hut the spectacle of tho nominees of the trade called by Mr Seddon to occupy our seats on the. licensing bench, and granting licenses for the sale of liquorin Bruce, will be a memorable object-Jesson to the j people of' Now Zealand, andatrue measure of the power of the trade and of tho j quality of the democracy under which we live. .'.■■!

There -was no comment on Mr Fraser'e explanation.