RESTORATION

Southland Times, Issue 20618, 17 October 1928, Page 3

RESTORATION

MEETING OF BUSINESS MEN. NO-LICENSE CONSIDERED A FAILURE. A representative meeting of business men gathered at the Y.M.C.A. last evening to organize a campaign for the restoration of licensed houses in Invercargill. The meeting was most enthusiastic and many of those present spoke in strong support of the movement. Mr. Holloway was voted to the chair. In his opening remarks he said that 22 years under no-license had shown the people of Invercargill that they were standing in their own light. They had the liquor and, as the Prohibitionists would say, its attendant evils, but the money was going out of the town. The districts outside the town with the license did not want restoration in Invercargill. The position should be either all out or all in. Local no-license only penalized one place and built up another. If the drink was right out of New Zealand they would all be in the same position, but at present they had neither the one thing nor the other. Another speaker said that the movement needed support. The state of affairs in Invercargill was not what the business people desired. They had not any of the benefits of Prohibition because they had the liquor and they had not the benefits of license because they had not got the accommodation. He recommended the formation of a publicity committee. The matter of forming the committee was left in the hands of the chairman. Other points mentioned dealt with the value of property, the consumption of liquor in Invercargill at the present time, and the avoidance of Prohibition towns by tourists. It was stated that 81 business people in Invercargill had been personally canvassed and of these 74 were in favour of restoration and seven were against. Quite a number of these men were National Prohibitionists, but they saw the folly of local no-license. There was nothing inconsistent in voting both local restoration and National Prohibition.