Evening star., 1926-12-02
ONTARIO GOES WET
BY@0F 112SEATS
Government Control Policy to
End 10 Years Of Prohibition
in Province.
BY the Associated Press.

TORONTO, December q. - The
Province OF Ontario. dry for 10 years.
has gone wet. In elections held yes
terday throughout the province for
the 112 seats In the Legislature at
least. 40 members, pledged to support
Premier G.. Howard Ferguson's policy
for government control OF the sale OF
spirits and beer. were elected Only
one remote constituency remained to
he heard from.
On the liquor issue Ferguson, Con-
servative. can count on the support
of four Independent Liberal leaders
who broke away from w. e. n. Sin
clair. the Liberal opposition leader,
and the solitary Labor member
elected.
With one district missing. the
sta nding Of the parties in the Legis-
lature was; Conservatives, IS; Lib
erals. il: Progressives. IL; Liberal
Progressives, s; independent Liberals.
4; Labor, /. In the old house the Con
servatives had rs members.
One Minister Defeated.
Mr.. Ferguson carried into office
with him all the members of his cab
met except David Jameson. minister
without portfolio. The premier had
ma jority OF 1884 in his constituency.
while MIR. Sinclair received a majority
Of 2313 in his home district.
BY the vote of the people they have
indicated that the operation Of the
Ontario temperance act aS method
for enforcing tempera nee was not con-
sidered a success. Much antagonism
against the act. which provided for
the sale Of liquor only on doctors pre-
al Afrr1 Ntanf
it had made things easy for boot
leggers.
Premier Ferguson on the stump
pointed out that persons feiEning i'll
ness could secure prescriptions for
liquor at vendors store. He
charged that $1,000. 900 was spent an
nually for liquor purchased on pre-
scriptions.
The supporters Of prohibition pinned
their faith on the rural constituencies.
which In the liquor plebiscite OF 1925
went dry. That plebiscite favored
prohibition. Yesterday the bulk of
rural ridings stuck to their political
allegiance.
Eighty OF the ca ndidates elected arr
pledged to support government liquor
control and 81 to support the Ontari"
temperance act. Five Of the so are
in opposition to the government eN-
cept on the control measure. hut the
governments own following of Is will
give 1t a ma jority of 3S over all
groups after electing a speaker.
OF the 80 who entered the cam
paign independently. supporting pro-
hibition only, not one was returned
victorious.
ProhibitiOnist Is Beaten.
w. r. Nickle. attorney general in
the late government. who parted with
Mr. Ferguson on his government con
troll policy and ran as prohibition
candidate. was defeated.
1t is expected that Premier Ferg,i-
son will call the newly elected Legisla
ture into session at an early date for
proposals for government control.
The details OF these proposals hav,
not yet been determined. The pre-
mier has announced that he desires
to have the collective Judgment Of the
House on them.
During the campaign II was stated
that Premier Ferguson's program
would provide for permits for every
person over II years of age to obtain
liquor or beer at government vendors
places at a reasonable cost. The cards
the privileges they gave were abused
The several provinces of Canada
have varied liquor laws. In Prince
Edward Island liquor may he oh.
tanned through government vendor
by medical prescription. In Nova
Scotia, government control exists and
doctors prescription is necessary.
In New Brunswick vendors must pur-
chase supplies Of liquors from a board
of commissioners and resell 1t on
prescriptions.
Quebec System Outlined.
In Quebec there is government con
troll through a commission and shops
in non.local option districts. Reer is
sold in taverns and heer and light
wines in restaurants and hotels.
Liquor may he shipped by express TO
individuals IN the province. In Man
itoba sale is allowed under permit,
but deliveries are made only to resi-
dences. The prices are fixed by gov
ernment commission.
|. In Saskatchewan liquor may he
purchased from government stores. In
small rural centers there are stores
for the sale OF beer only. Liquor sales
are restricted to one quart per person
per day. Two gallons of beer may be
purchased.
In Alberta beer by the glass may
he sold in hotels. Wine and spirits
may be purchased from government
vendors Delivery of beer by brewer
les to residences Of permit holders is
allowed.
In British Columbia all persons 81
wears old or over with government
permits may purchase any quantity of
liquor from government vendors.
Beer may he sold by the glass on un-
licensed premises.