LICENSING COMMISSION

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 May 1945, Page 3

LICENSING COMMISSION

AUCKLAND HOTEL TRApiNG AUCKLAND, May 8.

Evidence on hotel trading'conditions in Auckland was heard by the Royal Commission on Licensing which commenced its Auckland sitting to-day. The commission is expected to sit for at least a ’fortnight. Mr. J. D. Willis, counsel assisting the commission, said the evidence proposed to be tendered would be from individuals desirous of presenting their views, representatives of various organisations, and those concerned in the manufacture and sale of wine, police witnesses, and persons interested in the liquor- trade. Several licensees and managers of hotels had been subpoenaed to give evidence, as had also the clerk of the Magistrate’s Court and the clerk to the various licensing committees. Examined by Mr. Willis . on his agreement as manager of. the Britomart Hotel, Alexander Watt said it originally provided for one month’s notice, provided the profits and the condition of the hotel were satisfactory, and for remuneration at the rate of one-third of the net profits. The agreement had been amended, and he was now paid a salary of £l2/10/a week. Gross profit on the sale of beer would be about 60 per cent., and net profit about 20 per cent, on the whole house. His hotel sold only 12oz glasses. He agreed that a hotel with little or no provision for guest accommodation enjoyed an advantage over hotels with-large accommodation. It would be fair to say that any resultant loss from catering through accommodation must be made up through the bar trade. To Mr. R. Hardie Boys, representing the Now Zealand Alliance, the witness said that 20 per cent, net profit on his turnover of from £7OO to £BOO a week would, under the original agreement, have yielded him about £23 a week remuneration. Losses in glasses were very heavy, and he estimated them at about two gross of glasses a month. It was common practice in Auckland for a man to buy a quart bottle of beer and ask for two or three glasses. He did not think that the custom was due to crowded conditions in bars.

“My customers are chiefly vertical drinkers,”, said the witness, in answer to Mr. H. F. O’Leary, K.C., representing the Now Zealand Licensed Victuallers’ Association. Very few of them used the seat around the bar wall. “Customers like to get close to the bar, tlio closer the better,” he added. After further evidence the hearing was adjourned.