THE LIQUOR TRADE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 10, 6 October 1917, Page 6

THE LIQUOR TRADE

The Statutes Eevision , Committee of tho Legislative Council is to be congratulated on the manner in which it has grappled with the difficult task of apportioning between hotel owners and the lessees of hotels the loss which is certain to result as the outcome of tho proposed curtailment of the hours for the sale of liquor. It was recognised in and out of Parliament that -unless some provision was made in the new Act an unfair share-of the burden of the loss would fall on the hotelkeepers, and' there was a very general desire to sec this loss fairly distributed as between the parties interested in tho liquor trade. It. is, of course,, not possible in all cases to do this. Where, for instance, a man owns the hotel and conducts it himself he cannot escape any part of the loss save under some system of (state compensation, which Parliament is not likely, to entertain. In tho case of a licensee who merely holds a lease of an hotel it is possible to provide that the owner of the property shall ba called on to share the loss, and the House of Representatives expressed a desire that this provision should be made, but, in order not to del ay the passage of the Bill left to tho Legislative Council the task of framing a clause to meet the situation. After hearing the evidence- of tho interested parties tho Statutes Revision Committee of the Legislative Council brought down a proposal, and it has now been adopted by tho Coitncil, which appears to cover tho needs of tho occasion is equitably as is possible. The clause, which is said to find, approval, from both hotel owners and hotel lessees, practically throws the onus on the interested parties of settling then own differences. It merely provides the machinery and sots out the basis on which a settlement may be reached An hotel lessee is empowered to tro to the owner of the property and claim such , readjustment of vcnfcnl conditions as he deems fair and reasonable under the altered conditions arising out of the restricted hours ot trading If the owner considers the proposed readjustment a fair ono 'the terms of the lease are to be altered ' accordingly. If on tho other hand, he thinks the demands of the -lessee excessive and declines to grant them, the lessee can surrender the lease and claim from the owner the repayment of a proportionate part of the sum paid by the lessee by way of bonus or premium m order to secure tho lease. Thus, if he paid £5000 by v/n.y of premium to secure a five years 1 lease, and there woio three years o£ the lease yet to run, the lessee, in the event of surrender, could claim £3000 for the uncxpired portion of his len.se. Th.ro is also revision made for an adjustment as to stock-in-trade, furniture, etc. It is possible that the owner may in iomo cases find himself awkwardly placed in having :H> choose between ■ I lower rent than be regards as i oa■sonablo and the payment of a la *e proportion of-an excessively hijjh rcmium where the lessee has pa'd a fancy' price for his lease from a third iVrty. On the -hole however, the method proposed of bctuiing an rqmtnMc adjustment of the oss as between owner and .lessee mccts 'a difficult situation in a simnlo and satisfactory way. J. He Bill as amended having now passed the Legislative Council, it will have o he reconflidered by the House of befor, «, pa«e» on to the Statnl-o. Book. It is nofc.an"cipnted. however, that any serious Snt will he ma-dr in the Lower Cn Xr to contest the a factions introduced, by the legislative Council.

Xench comfoH , " o, oclier. was held on Jhursd,v in the Town Hall, and resulted 11. was opened by the Mayor (Mr. .T. }\. rarcli; and both afternoon and ovcnins the various stalls met with liberal palTonioo, whilst numerous com pet it ions arliVpri ' In the sources of revenue. Iho rierrote afsisterl with I[h' ;■»'«- calprogr'amme, .also Sergeant Petlit and Mr. J. Buck.