PACKET LICENSES AND SLY GROG SELLING.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 207, 30 August 1905, Page 10

PACKET LICENSES AND SLY GROG SELLING.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —The exemplary fine of £20 for illegally selling liquor on the s.s. Kotiti when in port should be hailed with satisfaction by all law-abiding citizens; also the fact that the fine has been placed on the right shoulders—those who are responsible. If this were always done the ends of justice would not be defeated so often as in the past. I remember one instance when on the Bench, when it was proved that some dynamite, fuse, and caps were sent by a passenger steamer to Bay of Islands enclosed in a package of tinware; trieris a liability of a fine of £100 for this careless handling of explosives sent by passenger vessels. As usual the defence was: Sent by the storeman without the knowledge or consent of the firm, but that defence does not palliate the breach of a Licensing Act by a barman without the knowledge of the licensee. Primarily, I consider that the Waitemata Licensing Bench was to blame in issuing packet licenses to these small vessels, which, in many instances, act as small sly grog shanties, paying £5 license, against £40 paid by licensed shore premises. Secondarily, the pernicious syst?m of giving all license fees to the local bodies in the licensing district where the license is issued is a disgrace to our Licensing Act, as it is simply bribery and corruption in its worst form, because it is municipal and not personal, and is thus winked at instead of being condemned. In the case of the Kotiti and other small steamers with a few hours' run, it was considered unnecessary to grant a packet license, the loss to the city funds not being considered by the Auckland Licensing E_nch, as th port of departure of these small floating hotels, and the steamship companies knew that it was useless trying to get packet licenses granted for these 1 oits by thf* Auckland Licnsing Bench But, unfortunately, provision is made for packet licenses being issued at ports of arrival as well as ports of departure, and it was only neo?ssary for the application to be made across the harbour at Devonport as the headquarters of the Waitemata Licensing District to get a license. I have seen a dozen of the country people waiting on the wharf for the arrival of a coastal steamer where no licensed premises exist, and where they do exist, and a rush made aboard when the vessel was moored to the wharf by eager inquirers for cargo, or to see "one of the crew about a dog." To-day liquor is carried by vessels openly labelled and landed in native townships; this is utterly illegal. The remedy lies in tbe hands of the people securing pledges from candidates at forthcoming elections

to have an amending Act passed preventing small vessels with a three or four hours' run having any packet license issued to them.—! am, etc, P. E. CHEAL.