SLY GROG-SELLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 930, 25 September 1869, Page 1

SLY GROG-SELLING.

"We do not see why the burden of protesting against a social evil such as that of sly grog-selling should be thrown on the shoulders of the licensed victuallers. That it seriously affects their interests is not a very strong argument in itself. It demands the attention of the authorities on for higher grounds than that. There is no need, however, for expatiating on its ruinous consequences to society, or on the moral responsibility which rests upon tho Government in connection with it. But it is necessary to point out thatno satisfactory moans have yet been adopted for its control, and that it is consequently increasing. There i« no lack of evidonco to prove that, both in town and country, the violation of the law in this respect is openly carried on. Th« grog shanty in the inj torior is as common a place t>f resort as the licensed house, and in most cases a far more profitable one ; while in town tho ovil is actually encouraged by the law. It cannot be doubted that the system which permits tho issue of bottle licenses is a vicious one. Tho»o licenses aro obviously open to abuse, and it is notorious that they aro abused. The peculiar misohief of the system is, that the polico aro foilod in thoir efforts to secure a conviotion against persona whom thoy boliovo to bo offondors. Thoroaro practically no moans of dotooting and punishing offenders, Another consideration of Htill greater importance requires to bo alluded to. It v well known that the facilities for indulging in drink which are offered by

this system, often- prove- to befirresistiblie temptations, tq,w,omen. , I% ln the 1 Jar^e cities of the 1 jmother^cditotry, it has|been .ascertained, that" "a, large s per-, ,cenJ3agej pif, ! the drunkenness prevalent aifidrig, females .ds, due to these "faciJiv ties, j This' form, ojf the ;evil does not apppar to have developed iteelf ( in Dun-, edul, but we are bound to recollect the, I experience of older countries in examining the question. If the system; has produced such consequences elsewhere, it is reasonable to , suppose , that, sooner or jlajber it will , produce them here. Setting 1 aside this view of the question, we have only to ask whether • the issue of bottle license^ tend&\ to, promote, sly. grog "selling, fee #3igH,fc of evidence, £Oes to prove '^iifcfc^S 68^, Three years ago the .matteVyasHformally e,nquired into, by a Select Oommittee of the Provincial Council* The licensed victuallers had petitioned the Council, ( repre- x senting the injury to their interests arisingfrom the prevalence of sly grog-selling, | under cover of the bottle licenses. The Report of the Committee stated that, the petitioners had' good, cause to complain, and that the. evidence taken on the subject led them, to .conclude that the discontinuance of the bottle licenses w.ould considerably oheck the evil complained of. The , Committee recommended that a Bill, to that effect should be introduced by the Government during the following session. In accordance with this recommendation, a Bill to abolish bottle licenses,' entitled the Licensing Ordinance Amendment Ordinance, 1867, was introduced during the next session. It was thrown out, however, on. the second reading. No further attempt to legislate in the matter was made until last session, when another petition, from the licensed victuallers was presented to the Council. Mr Haughton then moved, on behalf of the petitioners, that a Bill. to amend the existing law should be introduced. The motion was lost after a short discussion. The licensed victuallers, however, appear determined to have their own way if they can get it. They havo declared their intention to get another Bill introduced during the next session of the Council; and they have extracted a promise from His Honour to submit the desired amendments to his Executive.

The question at issue must be looked at from two points of view — from a financial and a moral one. With the Government at least, the former will probably rank as the more important of the two. Jt does not appear that the abolition of bottle licenses would involve any sacrifice of revenue. On the contrary, the Select Committee of 1866 stated it as their opinion that the revenue would be increased and not decreased by the discontinuance of these licenses. The revonuo dorived from them is very trifling j it amounts to some £700 a year only. The revenue derived from the licensed victuallers, on tho other hand, amounts to some £10,000 or £12,000 a year. They, moreover, havo oxpressod thoir willingness to pay an increased Hconso fee of £30 or £40 a year instead of £20, in tho event of their prayer for the abolition of bottlo licenses being granted. The revenue would thus l>o considerably increased. So far as financial cofo siderations aro concerned, there is no reason why tho bottle licenses should not be discontinued. An increase of fifty or a hundred per cent, on tho rovenuo derived from ' general licenses' would more than counterbalance the loss on the other item. Tho moral view of the question appears to be equally in favour of the proposed i amendment. If thero bo any doubt on that point, it may be ensUy. settled by tho appointment of another Committee when tho Council reassembles. Sufficient ovklenco, in our opinion, ban already been brought forward to show that sly grogwlltog is largely carried ou under corer of the lyifem ia quest

tion, and that r there, are no adequate means of checking 1 the evil. 'It is.ob-. viously impossible to. provide any such means. ' The, only argument in , favour, of the .bottle license is, that it, suits the [convenience of ,the^ public This may be so, ibutit does not follow that the public, i would be, inconvenienced by the discontinuance of such licenses. There is no reason to suppose that , any grievance would arise from their discontinuance., The n number of hotels and taverns is so great, that the amount of inconvenience to be dreaded from any change in the law affords no ground for alarm. No outcry on that subject is heard, in other, colonies where bottle licenses are unknown. The necessity for dealing with this question without delay, is especially forced upon us by the notorious prevalence of, sly grogselling in the interior. Some discrimination will be required in order to,, place the shanty system on, a proper basis. To, abolish it indiscriminately, would entail considerable hardshipon a section at least, of the travelling public. Many habitual travellers in the, rural districts find accommodation in the shanty when no other house of call is, within reach ; for the shanty is often set up in places where more pretentious establishments could not exist. In cases of this kind, the convenience of the public becomes an argument of some weight. To meet ■ such cases, a roadside license might be exacted at a moderate rate. These remarks, however, must be understood aa strictly, applying to places remotely situated. Where the shanty is allowed to exist in the immediate neighbourhood of, the licensed house, it exists without any reason for its existence, to ' the injury of the honest tradesman as well as the detriment of society.