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Premier Ferguson was greeted with considerable applause when he arose to speak. He thought it wise to bring the whole question of beer--by--the--glass sale into the Legislature, to see if there was any justification for it--to ascertain if there was any real foundation in the Province for such an outery. Personal-- ly, he did not think there was any clamor, appreciating, however, the fact | that in certain localities there might be some sentiment along this line. Edmond Proulx (Liberal, Prescot) ex-- pressed disappointment that the Gov-- ernment had not carried out what he bad understood as a plan to establish beer and wine shops in small communi-- ties where large liquor stores would be impracticable. In rural counties, he said, there was frequently only one| liquor store, and many of the cmzensL had a long distance to travel to makej a purchase, and for this reason he ex--| pressed the hope that the Government would open stores of this kind in re-- mote villages. "A.man is being forced to buy ten} times more liquor than he wants at the present time," T. Legault (Liberal, Sturgeon Falls) declared in supporting the resolution. It was frequently the case, he said, that a man wanted only one drink, or perhaps two, but he was forced to buy a bottle. This was the only fault he had to find with the Liquor Control Act. Mentions Montreal. "It is true," he said, "that a man can buy two or three bottles at a store, dilute them with water, then sell them in a blind pig after hours We've always had that condition with us. And it's a condition we've got to meet, not only by developing sane, strong temperance sentiment, but by putting these fellows in jail as fast as we get them." (Applause.) Some Good Features. The law, while not periect, he said, was "doing very well so far." Whereas the old act was always a topic of dis-- cussion, everywhere, psople had quit talking about the liquor control law. The general practice of hip--toting was disappearing, too, he said. "These things" said Mr. Ferguson, ":re some of the good things to look ' .ll It was unfa.r, submitted Mr. Fergu-- son, to expect that the now law could in nine months' time reach a maximum of usefulnesrs and perfection, whatever its defects might be. "Until," said he, "it has a reasonable time to be understood, to be enforced, and to play a real part in upbuilding public sentiment and pro-- moting public welfare, I don't think it should be changed." i Mr. Proulx's Argument. The people, he said, who carried the present Liquor Control Act were not extremists either way, but the great central body between the two extremes ----thinking people--many of them total abstainers, many of them prohibition-- ists, who felt that a position had been reached where conditions were intoler-- able and who turned to a system of "control" they thought would rectify these conditions. The law, he empha-- sized, was barely out of its swaddling clothes. The Government was still try-- The Prime Minister reviewed at some length the change from the Ontario Temperance Act, and its "abuses," to the present law. The Government in passing the Liquor Control Act, had carried out to the letter, he said, its election policy He was not arguing for a minute that it was = perfect law, and he thought it very unfair that those who advocate prohibition should con-- stantly criticize it and endeavor to un-- dermine the sentiment behind it. It had been in effect only nine months, but in that time conditions had been improved wonderfully, and the big bootleggor operator had been put out of business. W. C. Weichel (Conservative, North Waterloo), and seconder of the reso-- lution, referred to his own personal ob-- servations of beer parlors in Montreal last summer. He inspected 22 of them, and never saw a drunken man emerge from one of them. He thought it was the duty of the Legislature to promote sale of beer rather than hard liquor. In conclusion, he said he had been one of the members who had talked "beer by the glass" after the Prime Minister had dropped it from his plat-- form. 'He would continue to talk it, ho said. Act Not Perfect, Says Premier. e$c§&~4' --ele. * ¢th iag to meet a great variety of condi-- tions the Province wide. Now, to bring in something that would combat and recreate public opinion--would revolu-- tionize the whole scheme of things-- "And," said he, "in the opinion of this Government, it shall not be tinkored with or interfered with just to meet the demands of some isolated sentiment in certain localities of Ontario." was in effect unthinkable. Government Determined. In conclusion, Mr. Ferguson asked the House to reject Mr. Wilson's reso-- lution. He thought that the vote could be postponcd a.day, in order that mem-- bers then absent would have a chance to participate in it. YVote Is Postponed. In a brief reply Mr. Wilson declared that he had received his nomination when "beer by the glass" had still been a part of the Conservative party's plat-- form:; his constituents had received it favorably and he had promised to sup-- port it. "I even went so far before the election," he said, "as to offer to run on that policy, and then, if any Cabinet Minister were defeated, to re-- sign my seat in his favor; so you see I am not playing politics. I made a pledge to my constituents that I would support this policy and, so help me, I'm going to keep it, and vote for this reso-- lution." '"The Government," he said, "is de-- termined, having accepted so emphatic a mandate from the people, to give this law a thorough trial. It doesn't propose to have it interfered with, or altered in any way, until it has to say to the people: 'We've given it a fair trial; we find it impossible to maintain it or sup-- port it, and public opinion is no longer behind it.'" Sees Labor Divided. All legislation, Mr. Ferguson agreed, was experimental. But, he said, there would be no going back in the present law noefore the Government had made a full and complete test of it. The member from East Windsor, he said, had argue? itaat Labor was in favor ~f beet by the glass. Well, he said, he nad different Labor deputations wait on him. And Labor was just as di-- vided on the question as were churches and communities. The vote was stood over till today