LIQUOR TRADE & POLITICS,

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1150, 25 April 1912, Page 20

LIQUOR TRADE & POLITICS,

COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF POSITION. SEARCHING INQUIRY WANTED. For the last two decades the liquor question has been allowed to dwarf all other social and political issues at election times, which has not only had a detrimental effect on the politics of the country, but has to a considerable extent resulted in the public being'blinded to ’the true position of the licensed trade, and actually impeded reform. Recent happenings have brought us face to face with a very contradictory position in regard to the traffic in alcoholic liquors. We are ..indebted to our office contemporary for a very" comprehensive and clear statement of the position of affairs.. The' writer explains: that the licensing polls of 1911 furnished diametrically opposite results. Qh'the one hand, Continuance was carried by a small majority on the Local Option issue; on the other, the principle of National Prohibttioh 'was affirmed by an actual majority of 54,282 votes, the vote constituting 55.83 per cent, of the total number of valid votes polled. The continuance vote, which in 1908 only amounted to 45 per cent, of the valid votes polled, advanced to 50.25 per cent, last year. .In 1908 a 53 per cent, majority was recorded for no-license. That majority was converted into a minority in 1911, the continuance issue being carried by an absolute majority, for the first time since 1899. While the no-license vot- : - certainly advanced, rising by 13,185, the continuance vote showed an increase of-48,885 votes, the respective votes in .1908 and 1911 being as follows: — ' - ; . ;- 4 - • 1908 ' 1911 Increase. No-license vote 221,471 234,656 13,185 Continuance ’ - . vote 188,140 237,025 48,885 The fact that, in face of such an unprecedented advance in the continuance vote,-so formidable a majority should have been secured on the ' national prohibition . issue, is suggestive of a good many things. But it is decidedly perplexing, and it must be confessed that the “Yes —No” attitude, adopted by the public on the two issues, is equally disconcerting to both parties to the dispute. Each party claims a victory, although neither the prohibitionists nor the representatives of the Trade, can say that the public have ‘definitely pronounced in their favour. The verdict upon the questions at issue, can not be taken as conclusive. We must look beneath the surface to ascertain its real meaning. Doing so, we are made conscious that there is, in the public mind,. a .very, real feeling of. dissatisfaction with. the Trade as now constituted. it is not easy to determine the cause of that dissatisfaction. Some will say that the Trade is controlled by wealthy monopolists, others- declare • that closer and more systematic Inspection of the liquors sold to the public Is required; also that a searching inquiry should be made into the whole conduct of the trade. Without that inquiry, and without the reforms which

it would inevitably bring about, the average citizen is not prepared to say that the trade should continue. At the same time he has not altogether made up his mind to vote it out of existence. He is prepared, under certain conditions, to extend the term of its existence. Accepting that view of the situation (and it is one freely expressed by people who admit voting for local Continuance and National Prohibition), we have a perfectly feasible explanation of the contradictory voting upon the two issues.

There are men in the Trade itself, who are alive to the necessity for a full and complete inquiry into the circumstances and conditions of the licensed trade of to-day, and who are desirous of seeing the existing licensed laws overhauled on commonsense and practical lines. If it be a right principle that men engaged in the licensing business itself should be debarred from administering the law that regulates it; then, surely, it is wrong to allow men who are practically sworn to destroy the trade, to administer the law regulating it. At the recent annual meeting of the Auckland L.V. Association, a series of resolutions, propounded by the president, received unanimous endorsement at the hands of the assembled licensees. For some unexplained reason, although they were, we believe, communicated to the Press, neithei’ of the Auckland dailies have thus far deemed it necessary to apprise the public of the character of the resolutions brought forward, nor have they seen fit to even refer to them, the “Sporting and Dramatic Review” being the only paper that has recorded them. The resolutions point clearly to the readiness of the Auckland hotel licensees to submit their business to a searching and impartial inquiry. jfc 4: 4c 4c Constituted as the president of the L.V.A. ’ would have it constituted — that is with equal representation of the wholesale and retail trade interests, and of Prohibitionists and business men, with the necessary legal assistance, and armed with the fullest powers of inquiry, it should not be a difficult matter for such a Commission to overhaul the licensing laws, and to suggest practical amend ments, that would place the trade on a better and more satisfactory footing, and so minimise those evils of which the Prohibitionists are always complaining. It is obvious that the Prohibitionist does not want to see the Trade reformed; he would prefer to bring about its destruction. But the. Prohibitionist element must, in this case, gives place to the dictates of common sense and reason. The - moderate ' minds ‘of the community have a right to insist that, before the extreme step of extinguishing the Trade is taken (as taken it must be eventually, unless affairs are readjusted on lines commending themselves to the general public), an earnest attempt should be made to reform.the business and to remove those evils, which- are not necessarily the accompaniments of a properly regulated and well conducted trade. In due course, no doubt, the resolutions approved by the Auckland L.V. Association will be brought under the notice of the Government. It will then be interesting to note the attitude of the Prohibitionists towards the demands for a full and impartial inquiry into the working of the liquor laws, and into the conduct of the licensed business in New Zealand. The demand for inquiry appears so reasonable that it is difficult to imagine it will meet with any real opposition.