The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1917. EARLY CLOSING OF HOTELS

Timaru Herald, Volume CVI, Issue 16284, 11 July 1917, Page 6

The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1917. EARLY CLOSING OF HOTELS

I■t ■ The Prime' Minister has stated that a Bill dealing- with the question of hotel hours will be brought down at an early stage of tJie session, and at any time now we can expect to see - the violent contention that is always raised by licensing- -.proposals in the House revived. We think that too much can easily be made of the great number of .si'gha- ' tures o± petitions, in favour of six o'clock closing-, that have been presented to the House. The organisation of the Proliibition J.'arty, which has been mos£ active in collectings these, has never left much to "seek, and although the number of signatures I may sound impressive we should be surprised if it is equal, for the whole dominion, to - the number"—a reduced numb er—r-wlio voted for Prohibition at the last poll. In .considering whatever Bill the Government or a member of it may bring down, Parliament should be guided, not by petitions on one side, which may only speak of zeal in canvassing-, but by the merits of the ! proposals themselves., For this reason it may prove unfortunate that, through Mr Craig-ie's J example, the petitions have been forwarded, not to the committee | which took evidence a year ago, but directly to the Government. One issrould think that a first object of those who are pressing for early closing, 'if they do. so (for the sake of war efficiency and not merely in the' Prohibitionist belief that anything- which will harm hotels is good, would be to show -how conditions have' tered, making it necessary or advisable for the House to impose hardships on hotels which" it' deliberately judged to be unnecessary or inadvisable a year ago. The petitioners' case, foi what is put forward - as a war . proposal, is not commended when J they depend entirely on the v delusive factor of many - signatures, and say that they 'do" not - wish any more, evidence to'"be heard upon it. We.suspect that,- if it-.were;not; for the attractiveness of war sacrifices which can be made by proxy—in this case at the publicans' expense—and the zeal of the Prohibitionists, very little would be heard of - six o'clock Closing as a war proposal. The people, beyond .the soldier and the irablican, for whom it would involve a "sacrifice" would be those "who care very little whe ther they drink or. not. Those who drink heavily, and should be discouraged, would be able to get all. the drink: they wanted before closing time, but none of the thousands of soldiers in camp would get any drink at all, their, leave in the city not beginninguntil after six.. The soldiers would 'be specially penalised, which the advocates of change affirm is not their object. It is worth noting that, when evidence was 'heard by the Parliamentary Committee on this subject last year, the demand for early' closing- was opposed by both camp i commandants and, by the Superintendent of .Police in Wellington, on the. ground that it would only give rise to sly arog shops and illicit; drinking, which would bo less , easily controlled- That the war would be helped in any way is not easy to believe. The quantity of wheat which' might be grown instead of barley would nbt be affected during its duration, apart from the fact that land which grows the best bauley does iiot. grow the best wheat, nnd spirits, destined' for "New Zealand, whi'ch have been said to block the English railways, would probably not be more reduced than they will be by high prices if those go on mounting. Let us have war sacrifices certainly, but for preference those which are not made by proxy, at the expense of a special class. The liquor trade is a recognised calling in New Zealand, and if licensees, who do not generally own their hotels, and many of whom have entered into heavy oblig-ations 011 the strength of a State-sanctioned system., arc to be exposed to special injuries, they should be compensated for them. Those who press most eagerly for reduction . of hotel hours will not hear of compensation by the State, and the suggestion has been made that the loss, or a fair proportion of it, should be pushed back 011 the brewers by a Government revision of all leases made between the hotelkeepers and their landlords.' That would not be easy, to perform, but it is certain that a reduction of their hours which might mean ruin to many licensees who are struggling now would be sharp injustice, and injustice will not help us to win the war. -

Once again the Russians Lava stiuck skiewd blows. General Koimlofi, west of Stanislau, on ike i«ulway which runs south of and loughly paiallel with, the Dnieslei, has commenced ~lii.s ■share o.t the offensive, captuiing half-a-dozen villages, vtith 'over 7000 prisoners- and suns. If that ;blow can. be pushed far enough' the German lines will be turned on the Halicz front. Further north; General Brusiloff is attempting' the envelopment of Brezezany, ' and an intercepted German message admits terriblelosses on, the enemy's part. The Turks rallied on Ihe Persian north-west boundary, and Petrograd admits evacuation ,of Pondjvin, Khanikin, and Kasherin on this less important front.. Heavy fighting- continues between the French and Germans, and from Marshal Haig there ig no news as -we write.

From Amsterdam, not Berne 1 this time, come reports of warm, discussions in the Reichstag. Heir Erzberger, leader-' of tne Centre party, which is the largest party in the Reichstag, since the Social Democrats became divided, has even been more bold, it would seem A than Swiss accounts suggested. Ho has demanded the immediate resignation of Admiral von Capelle (von Tirpitz's successor), Herr Zimmermann, the "Foreign Minister,. anclDr Helft'erich, Home Minister and "Representative of the Chancellor." The- submarine campaign has failed, he insists. As that was only started when the land war for .Germany was seen to be' a- failure, there is cause for the "excitement" in the Reichstag. Possibly the chief object of the air raid on London, made with unusual forces, was to cheer the German people's spirits with reports of British suffering, and - avert the political 'crisis that has not been averted. Kaiser has had a long and anxious interview with Br von Hollweg, and it is expected that the Government will be reorgan--' ised', as the army and naval controls have already been. But that will not bring food to Germany' or relax the,pressure of the Allies' offensives.

■ -The, Russian Government has called a -special conierence oi tiiu Allies to consider DaiKan questions, political and strategical, Willi a view to common puiicy. It admits the lack of common policy" w'hen -it reveals that it did not .approve W assist with troops the removal of King Coiitataiitine, with show of force. Constantino niig-ht" be, and was A an enemy, but it was for the broeK people, unassisted, to suy how nicy, sUould be-governed. In tnis explanation, oi. l'eceut policy may be heard the voice of the itussiau Soldiers' and vVorKmen's Council, the socialistic Dody which maintains the (iovermnont, and the Council's views must be held to be more academic than practical. The Greek people had nu chance of saying how they would be governed .while Constantino professed to rule by divine right, dismissed the Government which they sent to office, and prevented the main party in the State from voting at the new elections called by him. In any case it has been officially stated that, if the Greeks ' want Constantino back when the war is over, they can have him. It will be surprising if they want him back. Tho Russian -argument further ignores the fact that the Greek people decided, fifty years ago. that they would be governed constitutionally, and France, Russia, and Groat Britain were made guardians of their Constitution.

The concern about their man, power wiucn tne i'rencn inusc xeei till America in _ su-engin "comes ou vlie scene is renecicd m the War .Minister's admission tnat the price ior tiie onensivo made-in April- was too hign ior the results. The question has been discussed) belore, and a I'aris correspondent has pointed out that the suriuce results of the offensive were the capture of 175 heavy and field guns, -iV-i niachiiiu guns, 119 trench guns, and over 20,000 prisoners. The whole /lithe enemy's front line, which tho troops hail been ordered to defend to the death, and portions of his second line on a front ofnearly forty miles, were captured by troops who, according to the;. Germans, had lost their- fighting strength. German divisions, which the enemy professed to bo holding for a later were reduced from 43 to 10, lessening the menace on the Russian front and assisting all the other Allies.; The price was heavy, says this correspondent, but it was notexcessive. The French people thous'ht otherwise, and the first result was that General Petaih succeeded- General Nivelle. Tho French policy, says the War Minister, is not to attempt rash plans, but to conserve their forces for the final battle. The. French are almost as candid .. as tho Russian Government.