THE LICENSING LAW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24949, 23 June 1942, Page 2

THE LICENSING LAW

The extent to which the War Emergency Regulations place legislative powers in the hands of the Government has been illustrated on many occasions in the regulations that flow in a steady stream from the State Printing Office. A fresh illustration of it is provided to-day in the issue of regulations reducing the number of hours during which liquor may lawfully be sold in hotels, and placing other restrictions on the public use of alcohol. The subject of this regulation might appropriately have been discussed in Parliament in the form of a Bill for the amendment of the licensing law, and it is not unreasonable to suggest that it should have been, since the interrupted session of this year will be resumed to-morrow — only two days after the issue of the regulation. It is hardly to be expected that the provision for the curtailment of the hours of sale in an hotel will, except on Saturday afternoons, greatly affect the amount of business that is done, for it is probable that the quantity of liquor that is sold before 10 a.m. is inconsiderable, and it may even be that the period during which hotel bars are to be closed on Saturdays is less profitable to a licensee than any other two-hourly period of the day. The regulation which prohibits the consumption of intoxicants in public vehicles is to be welcomed. It is, however, to be recognised that the virtue of it —as,, in fact, of all licensing law —depends very largely on the which it is administered. The enforcement of the regulation prohibiting the consumption of liquor in railway trains has not in the past been strikingly successful. If, however, there is to be laxity in the administration of these regulations, the many meetings which the Prime Minister says have been devoted by the War Cabinet to the consideration of them might have been better put to other purposes. The secretary o€ the Licensed Trade, it will -be observed, has commented that it will remain to be seen whether the regulations will achieve what the authorities had in mind. That they will bring about the results which are hoped for by those who pleaded with the Government to adopt stringent measures to prevent excessive drinking, particularly among soldiers, seems doubtful.