Page 12 Advertisements Column 2

Fair Play, Volume I, Issue 20, 17 March 1894, Page 12

Wellington Licensing District TRIENNIAL ELECTION. TO THE ELECTORS OF THE WELLINGTON LICENSING DISTRICT. Ladies and gentlemen,— Having completed my three years term of office under the Licensing Act, I again offer myself to represent your interests uner the new Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act, 1893. In 1891 I was elected under the Ratepayers’ Roll. The present election will take a much wider field, every person on the Electoral Roll have a right to vote on this great and momentous question. I am not a Prohibitionist. I believe in personal freedom. Acts of Parliament will not prevent the use of alcoholic beverages.. Let us show by all means their evil effects when taken in excess, but let us be reasonable in all matters. I believe in trusting the people. I am therefore favourable to the Direct Veto. Majorities must rule. But the magnitude of the interests affected should receive most careful consideration. The three-fifths majority provided by the new Act is a wise safeguard, and the Act itself should certainly receive a fair and reasonable trial. The number of licensed houses in Wellington is not excessive for the population and travelling public, but the accommodation provided is not equal to the re quirements. The present licensed hotels should be compelled to provide increased accommodation of a superior kind, or their licenses should be cancelled.

The Alcoholic Liquor Sale Control Act, although not perfect, provides two great improvements. First, an applicant for a license requires to produce a certificate signed by a Resident Magistrate as to his fitness to receive such a license. This important question has often been disregarded. Second, no woman, whether married or unmarried, shall hold a license unless under very special circumstances. tjT have always contended that respectable married men living with their wives should be the only persons qualified to hold a license. These two clauses strike at the very root of having hotels conducted honestly and in the true interests of the public. These opinions will guide you in deciding whether to favour me with your confidence or not. Your expression of that confidence by returning me as a member of so important a Committee will be felt by me as a very high honour. I am, ladies and gentlemen, Your very obedient servant, JOHN H. HEATON. Thompson street, 16th February, 1894.