Letter To Editor Hotel Accommodation

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 March 1948, Page 2

Letter To Editor

Hotel Accommodation

Six’, —In a recent issue of a northern weekly some statements made by Mr W. H. Freeman, S.M., chairman of the Hauraki Licensing Committee, were published. He said (as well as much more) that if hotel licensees in that district did not carry out their statutory obligations to provide meals and accommodation for the travelling public he would refuse to renew their licences at the next annual meeting in June. It is a great pity he has not the responsibility for granting licences for all over New Zealand because without a doubt licensees are not playing fair. I well remember a case in Blenheim during 1946. In that year I represented Golden Bay at. Rugby and two teams travelled to Blenheim in quest of the Seddon Shield and Ryder Cup. We could not obtain accommodation at any hotel in Blenheim and both teams stayed in private boardinghouses. On the Saturday the Marlborough people were out in full force to see the trophies defended and won. Before and after the games people spent freely in the bars. The publicans were taking their money and yet had not the decency to book in the sportsmen who had provided the games and naturally caused the public to spend so freely. Unfortunately, there are no coal miners in that district, but perhaps had the public known the facts the majority of them would have done some boycotting on that occasion. I well remember, too, when four people and myself had lunch at an hotel in a northern distiict of the South Island. We were not refused a meal, but were charged a total of 15s. It would be very untruthful to say we were given and ate more than 3s worth of food. < During the last few years I have been transferred from place to place because of the nature of my work and on many occasions have been unable to get a bed at some hotels before finding a permanent place at which to board. Yet any person can walk into _the bars of hotels at 9 or 10 or 11 o’clock at night and is never refused a drink, provided a constable is not in the vicinity to make a raid. It is well past the time something was done to make hotel licensees take heed, and I hope the statements Mr Freeman made will give a lead to others who are responsible for granting licences elsewhere. —Yours, etc. “LEMONADE FOR ME.” Greymouth, March 15.