LICENSEE AND THE POLICE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 308, 28 December 1915, Page 11

LICENSEE AND THE POLICE.

JAKE HOTEL AT TAUPO.

aDYHRSE POLICE REPORT. SOME LIVELY PASSAGES. 3.t the .quarterly meeting of the Bay of Plenty Licensing t ommittec held at the Opotiki Courthouse on December 17. the chairman read an adverse police report concerning the conduct of the Lake Hotel, Taupo. as follows: —

"Magistrate's Court. Kotorua. Dec-em-fcer 1. 1815.—Memorandum for the licen--556, owners and solicit ore in re Lake Hotel a I Taupo. The police report which i E to be put before the members of the Bay of Plenty Licensing Committee, at the adjourned meeting at Opotiki. on the lithinstant. contains the following: —

"'I beg to report that the licensee's ■rife has left him. and he absolutely declines to state whether she intends to return and assist him in the management of the hotel or not. I spoke to him at Taupo on Thureday last ..bout the matter, and he refused to say anything of his wife. He said no one <vouid compel him to state who was going to help him in the management of the Jiotel. I aeked him who was looking after the domestic fide of the house, and lie said he would not <jive his guts away to anyone—he would net say. Just as I was getting into the car he said he had a housekeeper. He has practically no liquor in the hotel. All he had was about half-a-dozen bottles of gin, shout 10 or 12 bottles of wine, about half a bottle of whisky, and a small quantity of. brandy. He had no ale or stout. 1 asked him if that was all the liquor he. Sad, and he said ''Yes. and when it is done I am going to turn the key in the 600t." I told him I would bring his conduct Tinder the notice of the Licensing Committee, and he said, Til be at tho Meeting whether you Teport mc or not, snd vrhen I am leaving I will lock the house up and the Jews will have to pay all my expense.?." He was prosecuted here on September 6 last for refusing to supply meals to travellers at 6 o'.'lock on a Sunday evening. He wae convicted arid fined £0 and £14 6/6 costs. The ease was a bad one. He refused a carloaa of people, some of them children iea. They travelled from Xapier. leaving there at 5 in the morning, and they had nothing to eat on the road except 1 few cakes the children had. It was pointed out to him that they had come a long way and had had nothing to eat all day. Still he refußed to give them even a cup of tea when they asked for that. It was either too much trouble for him to prepare a meal ior them or he did not have the food to prepare. He at one period lad no staff at all. and did all the work himself. He is a most erratic man. and tbe house is not conducted in a proper manner. He is totally unfit to hold a license. 1 saw a, woman in the kitcnen working the day I inspected the house. The house is fairly clean, but nothing like the condition it was in when I saw it in July last.—D. J. Cummings, Sergeant.' -Constable Eade reports that—'Mrs. Meredith, wife of the licensee of Lake Hotel, has been absent from Taupo for the past five months. Meredith has a ■widow named Mrs. Wilkie acting as housekeeper during his wife's absence. When questioned about the position of himself and wife he replied, '1 decline to give any information whatever as to my wife.' The hotel is leased by L.D.N. and Co., and Hancock and Co., Auckland. A man named C'onnell was sent to take over the hotel on 20th October, 1915. Meredith states that Connel) had not a certificate of fitness, and that he wa,= only in the hotel for t«n days, so that Meredith is stopping in the hotel to protect hi 3 license. He is buying nothing for the bar trade. —(Signed) C. V. Robert?, rierk of Licensing Committee. Rotorua." Mr. Meredith, licensee of the hotel, eaic his advocate's car had broken down, and that he would appear in 'his own defence. He asked that Sergeant Cummings's report be sworn to. Sergeant ding's then entered the box and wae cross-examined by Mr. Meredith. In reply to questions, Sergeant Gumming said that he would swear that everything in his report was correct, excepting whac Constable Eade had informed jhiin..concerning Mr. Merediths wife, as he could not swear that she was away five months. Since the 2nd of September the bar of the hotel had been dosed, and tirere had been no sale of liquor. He inspected the hotel on the last Thursday in November. He went "into all tiie rooms. Mr. Meredith: Did you go into the drawing-room?—I think so. Mr. Meredith: Can you tell mc where ibe piano was? ■Mr, Dyer: f am prepared to give you every, chance, but when you ask ridiculous questions about the piano you are wasting time. Mr. Meredith: Very good, your Worihip, but 1 wished to show that he never went into the drawing-room. ■ Sergeant Cumming eaid he inspected the rooms that were slept in, and looked into the kitchen. He did not remember whether he opened all the doors, and he did not know whether he saw the bakehouse, butcher's shop, laundry, smokingroom, or back dining-room. He saw the lavatories. Mr Meredith: Was there anything Wrong with the lavatories? Mr, Dyer: There is nothing adverse in the report about the lavatories Mr. Meredith: lixcuse mc ' Mr. Dyer: You listen to mc when I speak, and don't presume to interrupt nie. There is nothing adverse in the report about the lavatories, and therefore you need not trouble about them, ire tying mc up. You are not giving mc Mr. Meredith: Very well, sir, but you a fair run. He added that the principal parts-ofliis house were not inspected. Sergeant Cumming said that the parts of the house he inspected were the bedrooms and the part 3 set apart for,the general public. Mr. Meredith said he knew Sergeant Cumming was coming, and had taken particular precautions to have the louse nice and clean. After conferring with other members oi the committee, Mr. Dyer said he didn't -want to waste time, but the best way would be to let Mr. Meredith go his om gait. Sergeant Cumming said he never told any licensee when he was going to visit hie house. He always went unawares. Mr Meredith, referring to the statement in the report that his wife had left him.said it was a slander, and the matter would be taken to the Supreme Court. Addressing the witness, he taid: "Have you a legal right to slander my wife's name?" Sergeant Cumming: 1 didn't do so. Mr Meredith: You did in your report. You're in the pay uf L. U. Nathan and Hancock and Co. , Mr Dyer: You mustn't say that police Bre in the psy of brewers. j Mr Meredith: This document (refer- ■ Png to the police report) leads mc to

behevo he is. 1 showed my wife's and my own correspondence to Constable Clinstciisen some time previous, when he was making inquiries concerning myself and wife He gave mc to understand that he was perfectly satisfied. Witness: 1 didn't want to read your wife's correspondence.

Mr Meredith replied that documentary evidence was the only kind that was of any use in a case of this description. He had yet to learn why it was permissible for a single man in the same electorate to be holding a heen«e for the last six years and objections being taken to the wile of another heiug away during 11i» winter months. "My wife was in Auckland educating the children. What' business of yours was it to know what *he was doing^ . Witness said the constable stationed at was away on leave, and it was Constable Eade's bounden duty to inspect tho hotel and report. Mr Meredith: ft ie a gentleman's report. Your report it, terribly bad English. Did you write it ? Witness: No, I didn't write that. Mr Meredith: Did 1 really use the word "guts' , when conversing with you? Sergeant Cumming: Yes. Mr Meredith: 1 may possibly have made that statement, as 1 usually aildress persons in the language they are bes-t able to understand. Referring to the statement in the report that the case was a bad one, Mr Meredith pointed out that in bad cases the penalty was an endorsement of the Kct-nse, valued at .t)20O. and a fine of £10. The Magistrate must have failed in his duty in fining him only £0 if his case was a bad one. Witness: What were the costs? Mr Meredith: They would have Ueen the same in any rase—£l4 ti/li. Jf trip case had been a had e.ne, Mr Dyer would have had pleasure in endorsing my license. Proceeding. Mr Meredith alluded to the statement that he Uad no staff, and siid that period was after the issue of the most damnable document ever issued in New Zealand. It was done by forgery, ai»d the whole thing was illegal. He di.l not know how it passed the clerk of court or how the magistrate came to sign it. When he turned the bouse over it was beautifully clean, but when he took it back it was in a dissustiupr state. He ran the house himself because he could not get n staff immediately. In alluding to the reference to .lews in the report. Mr. Meredith said: "I think the Jews pay for lots of things, even police reporte." Wich respect to the statement that the witness saw a woman in the kitchen. ! Mr. Meredith asked: Why did you say you saw a womnn? Did you see the licensee of the if pa Hotel" , " Witness: Y;\=. I «.<iw him oiitsirfc • Mr. Meredith: He was in the kitchen. He had taken in a box of flowers and was on one side of the table. T2h houseKeeper was on the other side sorting ihe flowers. At this stage Mr. Meredith challenged Serjeant Cumming to get an unfavoJrI able statement from either of the police 'officers in the district or from any other person. He then handed written evidence to Mr. Dyer concerning his personal character. Sergeant, dimming objected to these paper.* «oing in before .he had perused them. They were then handed to him for perusal. In reply to questions from the Bench, the witness snid that Mr. Meredith was a spber man, but he tJI--1 not Tike his general conduct. "They saw how-he was behaving that day. He (the licensee 1 closed up the bar of the .hotel apparently without any Tcacon, because there was liquor in the hou.-e. People failed for refreshment* ! couldn't get it. He (the witneasl ha! *O!it \>ord over that if the licensee refused accommodation and refreshments he would have to proeecute. Mr. Meredith: That, like your report, is a deliberate lie. Mr. Dyer said he must not call a man a liar, and warned him that he might be liable to 14 d3ys' imprisonment. Mr. Meredith said they had better go on with it. as he intended to call a spade a spnde. Proceeding, he said he closed up the hotel after be got wit-

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ness' report. He was afraid to keep the bar open because witness might get a Maori to stand outside with a whisky | ■bottle and get a charge up. He closed ! the bar to protect his name. '

11l reply to Mr. Dyer. Mr. Meredith j said he would see Mr. Wilford in Roto- ; ma, and would get 'his advice as to transferring the license. | Sergeant Cumming said that on the I owner's notice to quit Mr. Meredith closed the door and put up the notices. ! Mr. Meredith: I saw the police find L. ' D. Nathan were hand in hand, so I closed the house on the receipt of this lying , and malicious report. i Mr. Dyer warned him against using : such strong language, and asked if he was going into the box himself or calling any evidence. ' Sir. Meredith pointed out that he wished to put in the written statements as to his character, but Sergeant CuiUuiing oVijcoed to all these papers going in on tlie ground that he would have no chance of examining the witnesses who wrote them. The Beivh then rejected the papers submitted by Mr. Meredith, who consequently declined to go into the witness box. In reply to a question by Ml". T)ycr. Mr. NeumegPii said that he wished to apply for a transfer of the Lake Hotel at Taupo from Mr. Meredith to clients nf his. The committee then decided that the application would be heard on January 21, at Opotiki Courthouse.