HOTEL BOOKINGS

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 202, 24 May 1945, Page 8

HOTEL BOOKINGS

Police Superintendent’s Criticism

AUCKLAND -FIGURES QUOTED

IBy Telegraph.—Presn Association.) AUCKLAND, May 23. . “There is a strong suspicion that it is only done for the purpose of legalizing the sale of liquor,” said Mr. James Sweeney, superintendent of police m Auckland, giving evidence today before the Royal Commission on Licensing regarding overcrowding in hotels. He mentioned three Auckland hotels, the Victoria, Gleeson's and the Albion,-which tie said catered to a large extent for naval ratings. Overcrowding in hotels, . said witness, had been causing trouble for some time. Licensees were not committing any offence, but at the same time it did not seem to lie right. At the Victoria Hotel the police on making a visit on March 22 last found that 194 persons were booked, in at 9.5 p.m., and 256 bottles of liqour had been sold. At 4 o'clock the following morning three ratings were found asleep on chairs in the commercial room and four -were found stretched out on the floor of a passage. Sixteen rooms were available in ordinary circumstances, and the hotel charged 1/6 a person for stopping there. On the night of March 23, 214 persons had booked in at 9.15 p.m. and at 9.-J p.m. the following night the figure was 171. Seven, hours later seven ratings were found asleep in the commercial room and the passages-. On March 27, .109 were booked in at 11.15 p.m., and nt 6.10 the following morning only 29 were on the premises. At 11.30 p.m. on April 10, 187 were booked in. and there were only 27 on the premises at 4 o'clock the following morning. On April 16, IJwere booked in, and only oO remained at 4 o’clock the next morning. At Gleeson’s Hotel. 100 were booked in on March 25. On March 30, 142 were booked in. Beds for 42 persons were provided. There were also shakedowns -for 36 persons, but these were unoccupied. At 10.35 p.m. on March bl, were booked in. A charge of 1/- for a shakedown was mad" at the Albion Hotel. No particulars ”as to bookings at the hotel were obtained. At the Albion 19 rooms were available nightly. During the year a nightly average of 70 people stayed there. At the Victoria Hotel 16 rooms were available and there was a nightly average of 100 hooked in during the .year. In other city hotels no accommodation bad been taken up in excess of that provided. Referring to the supply of liquor to Maoris, witness said he thought Natives should not be supplied except on the premises. He considered penalties tor licensing breaches should be increased. In the case of islanders the same provisions as for Maoris should apply. Hindus, he said, caused a lot of trouble by supplying liquor to Natives, and he advocated that they should be allowed to consume liquor'only on licensed premises. AVtness considered that any new licences granted should be taken from districts such as Thames and Coromandel, which had an excess of their requirements. He thought the no-licence district should be abolished, stating that it was easier from the police point of view to control hotels than to stop sly grogManagers of hotels, he thought, should be paid a fixed rate instead, of being on a -percentage basis. The police would be saved a good deal of trouble if the alcoholic strength of liquor was defined, continued witness. He was not m favour of amusements or recreation facilities being provided in hotels and he was not an advocate of the table system of consuming liquor on the grounds that it was difficult to determine under such a system when a person was in a state of intoxication. Vertical drinking, he said, did not encourage drinking to the same extent as at tables.