THE LOCAL LICENSING POLL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2351, 18 November 1908, Page 4

THE LOCAL LICENSING POLL.

Those local enthusiasts who have during the past few months devoted a considerable .amount of time and inoney to the fight against the evils of the open bar must have been sorely disconcerted When the- returns came to hand yesterday, and showed that instead of carrying No-license as they had 'fondly hoped they had. in reality 'lost ground as compared with the position three- years ago. The result can be best accounted -for by the superior organisaton of the liquor party, which having received a fright at last election, left nothing to chance upon the present occasion. Amongst other things it would appear that they succeeded in persuading a large section of the community that No-license had produced' unfavorable results in those districts where it had been tried, Ashburton being specially mentioned in this connection. Mr. Sheridan’s pamphlet was a particularly convincing document in this xespect, and though we are satisfied that many or the fasts jand figures therein eon-

tained could have 1 been successfully ■refuted, the fact .remains that they were not. Other important points were missed by the No-liccnso advocates, whilst their opponents left hothing to chance. No one who saw the admirable manner in which “the trade” attended to the task of getting voters to the poll could fail to recognise that a perfect organisation was evidently at work. We do not make this comparison in disparagement dc our No-license friends, for it would be manifestly unfair to expect fromi a small band of enthusiasts bariued together for a reform they think desirable the samo results as can be obtained from a number of representative business men who are prepared to spend large sums of money to protect their own financial interests. Now that the fight' ,is ever it is to be hoped that the licen-

ce! victuallers will exhibit a keener sense of their responsibilities than they have in the past. There must be no more such cases as the “lambing clown” of Pearson, which we exposed a few months ago, and in their own interests “the trade” -will do well to form a combination for the purpose o 1? reducing the undue amount of drunkenness which is at prej,

nt carried on in this town. Moreover, it may reasonably be expected that the provision of greater accommoclatioii' for the travelling public of which we have heard a good deal lately shall be speedily provided. It is only by such methods that “the trade” can hope to do more than postpone for another election the loss of'their licenses. The fact that they are at present held against-the expressed wish of a majority’ of the electors should stand as a permanent warning that continued abuses will not be tolerated.