HOTEL HOURS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 155, 30 June 1916, Page 2

HOTEL HOURS.

EFFECT OF EARLY CLOSING. •PUBLICAN'S GLOOMY VTEW. NEWCASTLE, June 23. The Newcastle Licensing Bench to-day in considering over eighty applications for Tcnewnls' of licenses, was asked to reduce the amount of license fees on the grounds that the early closing of hotels had seriously affected trade, and that i 6 o'clock closing would have a more i serious effect. The bench decided to c hear evidence on behalf, of four appli- [ cants, one each from Newcastle, Cook'.s i Hill, Hamilton, and Walbend districts. < Laurence D. Mouat, licensee of the < Central Hotel for six years, said there had been a very material decrease in trade since 8 o'clock closing. His tak- j ings had fallen off by 40 per cent since j the outbreak of the war, as compared 2 with 1914. Tlie falling-off between 1914 ] and 1915 had been, as a consequence of c the war, 24 per cent, 10 per cent owing to early closing. He estimated that the £ falling-off would be at least 50 per ecnt when 6 o'clock comes in. Apart from that, there had been an increase of about i 20 per cent in prices. To Inspector McHardy: It was not an . rasy matter for hotels to increase prices. It was hard to get hotel-keepers to agree to a rise. Inspector McHardy: Then it is your * own fault that you cannot pass on an in- , crease. / Witness: We will attempt it. ; To the Bench: He estimated that the > * rental value of his hotel had been re- ' duced 'by half. He now paid a license T fee of £85 per annum, and he thought T it should not be more than £50. I Thomas Dalton, licensee of the Com- t monwealth Hotel, said his rental was I . £208 per annum, and he paid £2,300,, of c which £GOO was for furniture, for good- s will, and a 5j years' lease. His rental t value was assessed at £530, and he paid I a license fee of £80 per annum. His r takings had fallen off 25 per cent as a t result of early closing. His falling off as a result of 6 o'clock would be at least r another 25 per cent. He thought £20 < would be a fair fee to pay for a license, c Harold G. B. Robinson, licensee of the a Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton, said that t as a result of the 8 o'clock closing his t takings had decreased 25 per cent, and 6 o'clock would mean another 25 or 30 .per cent. Samuel Wilson, licensee of the Lemongrave Hotel, WaUsend, said there had been a big decrease in his takings since early closing. Six o'clock would mean a decrease of '40 per cent. Other hotels in Wallsend would suffer more, because 90 per cent of their trade \*as after 4 o'clock. To Inspector McHardy: Six o'clock would mean financial ruin to Mm and the loss of fifteen years' hard savings. All the applications for renewal were granted, but the Bench reserved decision < on the application for reduced license h fees. ' .