The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1891. THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC!.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2192, 23 April 1891, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1891. THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC!.

The extraordinary activity which temperance people are exhibiting at the present time appears to us to be indicative of coming events. They have gained ground wonderfully—far beyond the dreams of their most ardent sympathisers, and we’feel sure they are as much surprised as anyone themselves. Their victory in Sydenham was remarkable, but it was not only there they scored heavily. Even in Dunedin, where they were completely defeated, they gained ground to such an extent that the Otago Daily Times says that if they bad had fifty votes more they could have shut up every public-house in the city. That is a little too dose to be pleasant for the publicans. There can be no doubt but owners of public-houses are responsible to a very great extent for a great deal of the liquor traffic. Owners of public-houses are not satisfied with fair and reasonable rents for their properties, but must exact from the pub' licans three limes as much rent as the same premises would let for if Used for the retail of other kinds of goods. The consequence is the publican has to pay too high a rent, besides a heavy license fee, and haa to provide expensive furniture to keep the house up to the standard required by the Licensing Act, His expenses are very large, and his sale of liquor must be large also to enable him to pay his way. For these reasons he has to resort to all kinds of devices to draw trade and induce his customers to spend money with him. In consequence of this the liquor traffic is more baneful in its effects than it would otherwise have been, and the result is that public opinion is rising up against it. ihe results of the elections so far show plainly that the flowing tide is with the temperance party,' and unless those interested in the liquor traffic are wise, and try to tone it down to a degree that will render it less obnoxious, they may expect hard times at the end of the coming three years. It is well known that our sympathies are with temperance, We have never tried to bide them, and we shall not do so now. But while anxious that the liquor traffic should be curtailed in every possible manner, we cannot see our way to support stern and unrelenting prohibition. To close up all the public-houses in this colony at once, and prohibit the sale of liquor, would create dismay and confusion such as few people can realise. First of all, the Q-overnment receive close on half-a-million of money yearly from taxation on liquor, and if that were suddenly stopped what would be the result ? The Colonial Treasurer would be an object tor pity. He would be compelled to double the property tax at once, and then he would not have nearly enough revenue to pay his way. Then would rise the cry for retrenchment; Colonial Treasurer after Colonial Treasurer would be kicked out of office till no one would be found so reckless as to accept the position. Coming to local bodies we find their chief source of revenue to be the public house. Take Temuba, for instance. Five hotels yield £220 a year to the Town Board, and if that were taken away the rates would have to he quadrupled, and then the members of the board would run the risk of being lynched. We merely 1 referred to Temuka as an example of what would happen all over the colony, but this is not all. Take now all the publicans and brewers with their dependents, and all the other people engaged in the liquor traffic, and say what would become of them ? They would be thrown ont of employment at once, and as most of them, have means they would clear out of the colony, taking away their wealth with them and impoverishing the country to an extent we little dream of. There was never such an exodus as that would be, and we have never known such a depression as would follow such a change. This would be the immediate result of the sudden prohibition of the liquor traffic, but at the same time we are not prepared to say that if the traffic were suppressed by a gradual process the colony would not be the better for it. If we were called upon to debate the question we would prefer to take the side of gradual prohibition, rather than that of the present system. What we object to is sudden prohibition. Reforms must always be brought about by a gradual process, or they are liable to prove a curse instead of a blessing.

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT.

In another article we have dealt with the prohibitive aspect of the liquor traffic. In that we have stated that high rents, heavy license fees, and large expenses, compel publicans to

force trade, and that a great deal of | its evil influences are traceable to this. I It is not necessary to dwell upon the inducements held out to men to squander their money in public-houses. I hey are too well known. What we desire to do is to suggest a change which would do away with this. Doctors always seek the cause of a disease. They remove the cause, and then the disease removes itself. The cause of two-thirds of the amount of drinking going on at the present is the seductive influence of those engaged in the traffic. Remove the cause of this and drinking will be reduced to a minimum. TMs can only be done in one way. Let the Government take the sale of liquor into its own hands ; let them place in charge of the houses salaried men wdo will have no interest in the business. Let these men’s instructions be not to supply more than a certain number of drinks a day to anyone, and let them understand that any deviation from this rule will be the signal for their dismissal. Let them be instructed further with regard to all kinds of gambling and all other objectionable practices, and it would be found that in a very short time the liquor traffic would attenuate to a mere skeleton of its former self. This, we feel confident, will he the ultimate way in which the liquor traffic will be managed, and it is, we think, the most rational way of dealing with it. Then the man who wants a drink can have it, but he will not be allowed to exceed a certain limit, while at the same time the concomitant evils of the trade will be entirely abolished,