DANCE HALLS AND DRINK

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22338, 28 February 1938, Page 9

DANCE HALLS AND DRINK

TO IHB EDITOB OF THB PRESS. Sir.—At the last Kaikoura County Council meeting a letter was received from the local police constable referring to the running of dance halls in Kaikoura. The local constable, in a manner befitting the Police Force, politely stated: "If pressure is brought to bear on the licensees of the two halls, this should have the desired effect." The council, in a manner befitting the dignity of a county council, politely decided to send a copy of the letter to the licensees of the respective halls, and so far as the local constable and the county council are concerned the matter ends. , Surely the local constable and the County Council should realise that licensees of social halls and dance halls wish to conduct' their socials and run their dances in a proper manner, and when respectable people go to these dances and socials, they do not wish to be continually insulted by "hoodlums," who require to be taught a lesson. The only one who can teach them the lesson is the local constable. The two dance halls in Kaikoura arc not the only dance halls that require the assistance of the local constable. All the social halls on public works require the co-operation of the local constable to rid them of the riffraff who continually go with the express purpose of creating trouble. I would suggest to the Kaikoura County Council that it try to make satisfactory arrangements for its dance halls to be run in a proper mapner by giving assistance. It will certainly be no credit to the local constable or the County Council if the licences of these halls have to be cancelled owing to the fact that hoodlums are continually allowed to run riot. After the Kaikoura halls have been cleaned up, we can find useful work for the local constable at the social halls on public works, in spite of the fact that the social committees are doing their best. —Yours, etc., P.W.D. WORKER. February 17, 1938. [When this letter was referred to the Kaikoura County Clerk, Mr A. Burgoyne, he said: "The County Council is concerned only with the licensing of halls for dances and other social gatherings, and the matter of conducting these in a proper manner is entirely the responsibility of the hall authorities. When their rules .are broken they have the alternative of enlisting the aid of the police to enforce order. If this will not suffice, the only action that the council can take is to cancel the licence of the hall in which the disturbances occur."]