SELWYN LICENSING COMMITTEE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7819, 11 June 1909, Page 4

SELWYN LICENSING COMMITTEE.

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Selwyn Licensing Committee was held at Darfield on Thursday. Present: Messrs T. A. B. Bailey S.M. (chairman), Thos. Langle^ John Lambie, W. J. Dickie, Thos. Blaokley and D. McMillan. RENEWALS. ; The police making no objections, the following applications for renewal of licenses were granted: Hugh Kennedy (Canterbury Hotel), Methven; W. J. Crooks (Methven Hotel), Methven; E. P. March (Chertsey Hotel), Chertsey; ID. J. Mahar (Sheffield Hotel), Shef- ! field; A. T. Beardsley (Springfield Hotel), Springfield: John Blumskey (Bealey Hotel), Bealey; James Lorgelly (Horarato Hotel), Horarato; C. R. Morton (Commercial Hotel), West Oxford. In the case of the Coalgate, South Rakaia and Kirwee Hotels the renewals were granted subject to repairs and improvements being carried out. A RAKAIA HOTEL. The police objected to the renewal of the license of the Railway Hotel, on account of the alleged unfitness of E. Richards, the present licensee. Mr Alpers anoeared for the licensee, and Mr Moseley for the owner. The chairman ruled that Mr Moseley could not appear m the proceedings, except as an onlooker. After hearing evidence, the Bench decided to grant the application. TRANSFERS. The following transfers were grant- ! ed: Darfield Hotel, from C. W. Hammond to Wm. Young; Coalgate Hotel, from Daniel Spence to Maurice A. Kenny. THE MOUNT SOMERS HOTEL. On behalf of William Fergus, Mr Fraser applied for a hotel license for the hotel at Mount Somers. He explained that the hotel had previously been m the Ashburton district, and had lost its license when No-license had been carried there. By the recent readjustment of boundaries the hotel was now m the Selwyn district, which was a licensed area. After going carefully into the Licensing Act, Mr Fraser said that an absolutely new license was not asked for. They had one before, but it had lapsed through no fault of theirs. They were asking m the terms of section 28 for it to be renewed, and were m the same position as if* restoration were carried, for the old poll was swept aside and was no longer valid, as section 27 said the result was not to have effect any longer. If any further interpretation were placed upon it, it was tantamount to amising the Government of leaving a very serious gap m the Act, and except that a statute was perfectly clear they had no right to assume it had been lacking m its duty. Mr Fraser, m further urging the claim, said the people of the_ district wanted an hotel, and that without a license the proprietor found it almost impossible to carry on the house, which had fallen into disrepair. The police objected to the application, on the grounds that most of the building was unsuitable, being very old and dilapidated and smelling musty; also that the closets and sanitary arrangements generally were m a bad state. The committee then retired to consider the application, and on resuming the chairman said that the case arose out ofl one of the anomalies existing m the Licensing Act; but the committee did not feel it was within its power to increase the number of licenses m the Selwyn district. The license might or might not be necessary, but the vote of the people had determined that the licenses should continue as they were, and the committee was bound by this. The application would be refused. An application by Mr Fraser that the Bench should hold its decision m abeyance until the result of a possible appeal m the Taumarunui case was known, was refused.