The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 31, 1895.

Timaru Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 1768, 31 May 1895, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 31, 1895.

Sir W. V. Harcourt introduced to the House of Commons on April Bth, a Local Veto Bill, and as this measure deals with a subject which is the source of a permanent agitation hi New Zealand, we will endeavour to extract, for the benefit of our readers, the gist of its provisions as they are described or alluded to' m the Vice-Chancellor's introductory speech. It is practically the same measure that he introduced m 1893. After some preliminary remarks on the admitted evils of drunkennesss, poverty, crime, and destruction of domestic happiness— he spoke of some of the difficulties of effecting reforms under the existing law, which places the granting of licenses m the hands of the magistrates, who are " not strong enough to deal with the question." The decision upon the necessity for licenses must be remitted to the consciences and to the voice of the community. He proceeded to argue that the local community ought to have as much right as a wealthy landlord to determine whether they would permit a licensed house to exist among their dwellings, and then touched on the schemes which have been proposed as alternatives to local option, especially the Scandinavian systems, which, however, m reality had effected more real good through the local option principle applied m the rural districts, than by the special system called the Gothenburg system applied m the towns. He stated that m Norway within the last six months, the local option system had displaced the Gothenburg system m the towns also. The present Bill is a Local Option Bill, with three alternatives. Three questions would be submitted to the local vote, no reduction, reduction, and prohibition. The vote is to be taken by the local authorities, and the franchise is the largest known m Great Britain, that given by the Parish Councils Act of 1894 ; and the areas are the smallest municipal units, wards of boroughs and wards of parishes, and m London, sanitary districts. The local option poll may be taken every three years, but m order to have a poll taken, a requisition must be presented to the local authority for the district, signed by one-tenth of the electors. The poll may be thus demanded on behalf either of a reduction of licenses or of their total aboliiion. The prohibition yote must be carried by a two-thirds majority of the electors voting. A feature of the prohibition provisions is that an affirmative vote is not to become operative for three years, at the expiration of which period it must be re-affirmed, or it may be repealed by a bare majority. If the resolution is rejected at the expiration of three years, another resolution for prohibition may be brought forward at the next local option poll. A vote for reduction of licenses is to be carried by a bare majorit \ r , and it involves reduction of tlie number of licenses existing at the time of the poll by one-fourth ; and similar reductions may be carried at succeeding polls. To simplify the work of the Magistrates m selecting the houses to be licensed, the Bill declares that licenses are not renewable. Every year the Magistrates are to deal with each district as if there were no licenses existing. (There is to be no claim for renewal on any plea implying a vested interest or prescriptive right.) And the Magistrates may if they think proper, reduce the existing

licenses by more than the one-fourth determined by the vote. The reduction vote is subject to the same regulation as the prohibition vote ; its operation is postponed for three years, and it may then be reaffirmed or reversed at the local option poll. The voting papers will contain the two questions, and the prohibition vote is to be counted first. If this is carried it of course renders it unnecessary to count the vote for reduction. When prohibition has been m force for three years there may be a proposition for its repeal. When limitation has been m force three years three questions will be put to the electors — prohibition, further reduction, or repeal of reduction. Grocers' licenses come under the law, and where reduction is enforced wine dealers must be licensed and be counted among the surviving licenses. Provision is made for the issue, # even m districts where a prohibition vote is carried and enforced, of licenses to hotels and like establishments. On this head the Vice-Chancellor repeated what he had said m 1893, m explanation of this part of the Bill :— " This is a Bill which is not conceived m any spirit of narrow fanaticism. We don't desire or pretend to put down the use and consumption of liquor by persons m their own houses, or, if they have no houses of their own, m the places where they reside or take their meals. I believe if we were to attempt anything of that kind we should be met with a violent resistance and probably a violent reaction m this country, than which nothing could be more injurions to the cause of temperance. This Bill is directed against the tap-room and the gin palace. It is not intended to prevent the consumption of liquor by such persons as desire or require it m such places as inns, railway refreshment rooms, and eat-ing-housesi These restrictions are directed against what I may describe as 'tipplers.'" He quoted also the clause of the Bill relating to these " restricted licenses " : — " Whore a prohibitory or limiting resolution is m force, and it is shown to the satisfaction of the licensing justices that any premises, whether previously licensed or not, are so constructed and intended to be used m good faith exclusively for the purpose of a hotel, eating-house, or railway refreshment room, and is not so constructed as to be suited for the retail sale of intoxicating liquor, the licensing justices may m their discretion grant m respect of such premises a license to be called a restricted license." Then there is a definition of these classes ; a railway refreshment-room is defined as a place " for the supply of refreshments to persons who arrive or depart by the railway and are not travelling for the purpose of obtaining intoxicating liquors." The Bill also remits the question of Sunday closing to ' the local vote, to be affirmed or rejected by a bare majority, the decision on this point tc come into force at once. Lastly, there is to be no compensation, and the Bill is not to apply to Ireland.