TRAFFIC IN LICENSES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16696, 30 March 1922, Page 7

TRAFFIC IN LICENSES.

REPORTED PROPOSED REFORMS. (Special to the “ Star.’’) WELLINGTON. March 30. The results of the inquiry by a Parliamentary Select Committee inui the licensing laws of New Zealand will not l>e authoritatively known until the House meets, but it is reported that the committee, during its recent meetings, went very thoroughly into some of xhe causes of complaint against the licensing system. Its members are said to bo concerned over evils which are alleged to arise out of the sale of goodwills, which in the opinion of some of them is responsible for much of tho abuse of the licensing laws, owing to the necessity of each succeeding tenant to go one better than his predecessor in the way of turnover, otherwise the high goodwill, based on consumption of liquor, cannot be sustained. The committee will make an attempt to devise a system for abolishing trafficking in goodwills. This is an old problem, bound up with the question of tied houses, and it will be interesting to see how it is proposed to solve an admittedly difficult question. , Lb is also probable that Parliament will be recommended by the committee to revise the licensing fees for hotels, so that they will pay more n proportion to their bar area and opportunities for sal© of liquor. All these aspects have been discused by witnesses who have come before the committee, and in this connection it is interesting to hear that a clergyman who gave evidence turned out to be a supporter of continuance, and a strong advocate of improved regulation of the licensing trade, as ho believed all present abuses can be removed by suitable legislation.