NO LICENSE PARTY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2612, 21 September 1909, Page 5

NO LICENSE PARTY.

MASS MEETING IN DUNEDIN. [Per Press Association.! DUNEDIN, Sept. 20. A mass meeting was held in the Garrison Hall to-night, under the auspices of the No-license party, with the object of making a. demand for improved licensing legislation. Despite the fact that rain* fell all tho evening, the attendance was *so large that the accommodation in the hall proved insufficient, and an overflow meeting was held in the Salvation Army barracks. Mr. T. E. Taylor, M.P., who was to have been one of the speakers, was absent owing to ill-health. Speeches were delivered by Mr. A. S. Adams (chairman), Revs. L. M. Isitt and J. Dawson, Mrs. K. L. Stevenson, Ywung Liang Hwang (Chinese Consul), and Hon. J. T. Paul, M.'L.C. Reference was made to the preponderance of the vote in favor of No-license, and it was oontended that the No-license party was suffering an injustice, inasmuch as it was in the majority, but had to submit to the will of tho minority, owing to the law requiring tho three-fifths majority before licenses could bo abolished. The following resolutions were carried with enthusiasm: “That this meeting of citizens of Dunedin affirms: (1) That the time has now come when all questions at the licensing polls should be decided by a hare majority vote; (2) a Dominion option vote should be taken triennially, in addition to the local option vote, and we urge upon the Government and Parliament a respectful demand for immediate legislation to secure these reforms; (3) that the members of this great meeting express deep indignation at the violation of the solemn promises given to the Natives by the New Zealand Government, that no liquor licenses should ever be granted in the King Country. They call upon the representatives of every section of the Christian Church and all press editors and members of Parliament, to whom the safety of the Maori race and the honor of the nation are dear,- to urge upon the Government to at once annul the licenses granted, and amend this evil.”