LIQUOR POLL DESIRED

Taranaki Daily News, 13 September 1935, Page 7

LIQUOR POLL DESIRED

KING COUNTRY PETITION PRESENTATION 'TO PARLIAMENT. A petition is being prepared in the King Country urging Parliament that the European inhabitants of the area should be allowed a voice on the licensing question and that the question of whether there should be licensed houses in the King Country should be submitted to the votes of the electors and determined by them. The Taumarunui Borough Council initiated the movement and circularised 14 local bodies in the district, of which 10 replied giving general approval and two others, though not favouring the proposal, did not definitely oppose it. The remaining two did not reply. A conference of delegates from the local bodies was called, Mr. G. Dennison •representing the Ohura County Council. At Wednesday’s meeting of the council he reported that it had been decided to prepare a petition for, submission to Parliament, a draft of which he read. The petition Says that since 1884 the King Country has been a proclaimed area under the Licensing Act and no licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors have been granted there, nor have the inhabitants had the right of voting upon the question of the granting' of licenses in their district. It is pointed out that the great majority of natives in the central parts of the North Island live in or adjacent to Rotorua, Taupo, Tokaanu, Kihikihi and Taihape, where there were licensed hotels. The number of natives living in the Rohe Potae is now very small and is only very small in proportion to the European population, continues the petition. According to the law any quantity of liquor can be brought into the area. At present very large quantities are brought in legally and illegally. Most of the liquor sold by “sly-groggers” in the area was adulterated and deleterious in its effects. Notwithstanding the acknowledged vigilance of the police, it has been impossible to prevent the sale of sly grog, which could be purchased in any of the towns in the area by Euro-, pean or Maori. Public opinion in the area is averse to the present anomalous position under which the inhabitants are deprived Of any opportunity of voting on local op- # tion, states the petition, and accordingly many residents, feeling that an injustice is being committed, do not give moral support to the local representatives of the law in their efforts to stamp out the illegal sale of liquor. Although in other parts of the North Island more thickly populated by the Maori race the natives are permitted to consume liquor in licensed premises, the petitioners feel that it may be advisable to give the European electors of the Rohe Potae the right to vote for or against the licensing of houses, the licenses to restrict the sale of intoxicating liquor to Europeans only.