OCCIDENTAL HOTEL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8285, 18 June 1890, Page 6

OCCIDENTAL HOTEL.

. —_—<> THE LICENSE RENEWED. Ax adjourned meeting of the Auckland East Licensing Committee was held at the Police Court-house. Present: — Messrs. J. .1. Holland (chairman), J. Winks, A. Porter, J. Craig, awl C. Bailey.

The only business was tho consideration of an application adjourned from a previous sitting, for a renewal of the license of the Occidental Hotel, Vulcan Lam?. The application was supported by Mr. Whitaker and Dr. Laishley, the former appearing ou behalf of the licensee, Mr. Russell, whilst Dr. Laishley represented Mr. Gleeson. Mr. Whitaker said that neither ho nor Dr. Laishley would call evidence, and he then proceeded to address the Court in support of the application. Ho pointed out that the Occidental Hotel, before a license was given to the present building, was a small hotel. The licensing committee of that time decided that a larger house should be built, and plans and specifications were prepared, and another building erected. The present house was fine and commodious, ami much better than many others now licensed ; and what security was there for a man to build a good house, according to plans and specifications approved by a licensing committee, if another committee could summarily take away his license? He was sure that the house could not be cleaner or better kept than at the present time. The licensee, Mr. Russell, had gone to considerable expense, and had brought his family down to the hotel. No notice had been jjiven him when the temporary transfer was made that objection was to be taken to the license. Mr. Whitaker pointed to tho action of a recent committee in dosing four hotels in the city, and said that even Ln their case they had given twelve months'notice to the licensees of tho action which they afterwards took. He appealed to tho committee as men of business to say how they would like to have their own places of business closed, and, moreover, without warning. In reply to the chairman, Mr. Whitaker said that Mr. Russell's lease of the hotel had until next October to run, but if the license were renewed he would no doubt stay on. Dr. Laishley said that as the Bench had requested him to put his previous arguments in writing, he had done so, and had written a letter to the Bench which ho would now read, and which would show the present position of affairs in regard to this hotel :—

Auckland, June sth, 1*90.— To the Chairman and other Committeemen of the City East Licensing Committee, Auckland. The Occidental Hotel. Dear Sirs, —In pursuance of your wish that I would place my arguments in the form of a letter to you, I now write: — 1. Mr. Gleeson instructs me that XMJOO was paid by Mr. Lynch (whose children are interested) for the goodwill of this hotel, and that £2200 has since been spent on the hotel, apart from furniture; so that £3800 virtually hangs upon your decision. '2. The hotel belongs to Mr. Lynch'a estate, settled on the children, as shown by Mr. Gleeson'a declaration of trust handed by me to you, Mr. Cleeson only having an interest in it by virtue of being trustee for the children, and by virtue of having advanced money expended on the house, as shown by the deed. Thus if you decide to refuse the license, Mr. Gleeson tells me, the children, the subjects of the trust, will be pecuniarily ruined : that is to say, that the money now devoted by Mr. Gleeaon, out of the house, for maintenance and education, will then have peremptorily to cease. And Mr. Gleeson tells me, in this connection, that a bov, now being maintained and educated in Ireland, will be left absolutely without means. Further, as you will see by the above-mentioned deed, Mr. Gleeson would also lose very heavily, whilst Mr. Boylan, the freeholder, Mr. Gleeson assures me, would also be a severe sufferer, 3. The door referred to in the police report will be adjusted to meet your wishes if you decide to grant the renewal. As you are aware, there is no appeal from the exercise of your discretionary powers. Thus the power to ruin—and that practically without notice—rests solely with you. Of course my client cannot ask you to disregard the public interest in favour of Mr. Lynch's children, or in favour of him. Hut what he docs ask is that you will be pleased not to take such a disastrous step for the children, and one so injurious for him and for Mr. Boylan, as to refuse the license without there being good public grounds for your doing so. 1 would venture to remind you that the house has existed as a licensed house for over 20 years, and that not even a temperance licensing committee has mooted the refusal of a license to the house—which house, I need also scarcely remind yon, is especially conveniently and centrally situated. Your considerate attention to the foregoing will oblige.—l am, etc., R. Laisulky.

Dr. Laishley, continuing, said he had very little to add to the facts stated in this letter, except one circumstancethat the amount now due by the trust to Mr. Gleeson was not more than about £1100, and at the present rate of diminution the debt would be wiped out in five years, if the license of the hotel continued to run. He mentioned this to show that the interest of the children was much larger than that of Mr. Gleeson. Only on Monday, the previous day, a draft for £30 had been sent to Ireland for the maintenance of the boy spoken of, and this was only in pursuance of a course taken from time to time in sending these remittances., Dr. Laishley maintained that to take away a man's licenso without notice, without compensation, or without any cause or fault-finding against that man might bo law, but it was not justice or fairness ; and he considered that any Bench accepted by the community as a fair and moderate Bench, elected by the community as fair and moderate men, as the present Bench had been, would give great weight to that argument. The two hotels in Vulcan Lanethe Occidental and the Queensferry—had been in existence for 20 years or more; and the necessity for closing one of them must have arisen long ago, especially as the population had now increased ; but it was an arbitrary decision of a committee to say that any particular house was not required. Dr. Laishley pointed out that when the Occidental Hotel was established, and for some time after-

ward, committees had no power to refuse the renewal of a license. Lest the committee should come to any conclusion that they had compromised themselves by adjourning the matter, and must close the house, he pointed out that they had fall power by law, and there was also a precedent in the case of the Eaglo Hotel, whose license was renewed after the Bench had adjourned the case. The committee retired to consider their decision. When they came back into Comb Mr. Adam Porter did not return with the other members.

Mr. Holland said that after discussing the matter, and hearing the whole of the arguments, the committee woro prepared to grant the renewal. The renewal was granted forthwith. The decision appeared to give groat satisfaction to a number of those present in Court.