H—3B

on liberty after 8 p.m., should be able to obtain a drink lawfully. The opinion of Sergeant Adams was that much of the sly-grog selling would have been avoided had the visiting servicemen been able to obtain a lawful drink in the evening. 725. Evidence as to the conditions in Wellington, and how they were brought under control, was given by Sergeant G. E. Callaghan (R. 1574). The demand was created largely by the visiting servicemen, who desired, not so much beer, as wine and spirits. On one occasion in one raid in Wellington over £1,200 worth of liquor was seized. 726. The conditions referred to were war conditions, but the record of convictions shows that before the war liquor was regularly sold unlawfully. We have evidence also that it continues in the centre of Wellington, where licensed hotels are easy of access. The Rev. Harry Squires, of the City Mission, Wellington, gave evidence of it within his parish (R. 1382 and 1383). Chief Secretary Charles Walls, of the Salvation Army, gave evidence that sly-grog selling was prevalent in the Te Aro Flat area. 727. In Invercargill the police know of no sly-grog selling to-day (R. 5585), though one witness indicated that he knew it had not disappeared (R. 5630). 728. With respect to the no-license areas, we refer first to the King-country. Large quantities can be obtained from the brewery at Hamilton through the C.0.1), system of the New Zealand Railways. Mr. Paterson, S.M., at Hamilton, said (R. 136): — Time and time again I have had cases of sly-grog selling where the offenders have had orders supplied that would represent good orders for country hotels . . . Supplies may also be obtained surreptitiously and brought in by road. We have had much evidence as to the difficulty of the police in preventing cars filled with liquor from coming into the King-country by back roads. 729. Sergeant Campagnolo, who was in charge of the Te Kuiti sub-district from October, 1937, to January, 1941, said that sly-grog selling was very prevalent in the district. Between 9th November, 1937, and the 13th June, 1939, before the war commenced, there were forty-five convictions for sly-grog selling at Te Kuiti. The fines amounted to £720, and four offenders were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. The sergeant said that he had no trouble with Hindus (R. 852). 730. Sergeant Gatehouse, who was stationed at Te Kuiti from January to August, 1944, and again since November, 1944, found that there was much difficulty with visiting servicemen, and that they had to be prevented from visiting the area. He said that there was little sly-grog selling in Te Kuiti at the present time. He knew of only one reputed sly-grog seller in the town (R. 5126). On the other hand, he regarded the C.O.D. system as wide open to abuse, and thought it should be abolished. A return which he supplied showed an increase in offences from 1935 to 1939 inclusive, and thereafter a reduction. We set out the return as follows (R. 5128) :

731. Although the convictions have fallen in this way at Te Kuiti, it appears from the evidence of the Maoris who gave evidence at Te Kuiti that there is a very considerable amount of sly-grog selling still going on. Witnesses who were in favour of licenses being granted in the King-country, and witnesses who were opposed to the .grant, were both agreed on this point (R. 4814 and 4918). 732. The evidence indicates that the position is worse at Taumarunui with respect to sly-grog selling than it is at Te Kuiti, but that the position is better at Raetihi.

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— 1935. 1&36. 1937. 1938. 1939. 1940. 1941. 1942. 1943. 1944. 1945 to 7th July, 1945. Drunkenness 2 13 7 18 46 50 15 12 9 3 6 Selling liquor unlawfully .. 2 4 2 13 28 16 6 1 Supplying liquor to Natives 8 2 8 22 20 12 11 17 14 3