LICENSEE IS SUBJECT OF CRITICISM

NZ Truth, Issue 1304, 11 December 1930, Page 7

LICENSEE IS SUBJECT OF CRITICISM

MRS. BROUGH FACES ADVERSE REPORT "NEW ZEALANDER" (From "N.Z. truth's" Wellington Rep.} That, if her. license is attacked, m any way at the annual meeting . * of the Wellington Licensing Committee, Mrs. Cissy Myra Brough, the licensee of the New Zealander Hotel, must be prepared to face an entirely unfavorable report, was the comment of Mr. £. Page, S.M., chairman of the committee, after dealing with an adverse police statement on the conduct of the hotel, which was submitted at the quarterly meeting of tlie committee recently. • * THE report declared that a system. of bells, installed in'the hotel, gave rise to the suspicion that they were employed to give warning of the approach of the police, and it was aiso mentioned that bookmaking .had been carried on on the premises, and that it was suspected "that after hours trading was being conducted there. A man named George Leney hadbeen operating as a bookmaker m the public bar of the hotel, and the police allege that when members of the force entered the premises oh November 12 last the bells were rung from the various bars, and Leney immediately left the bar and went into- the . passage. Leney was subsequently "con-: victed and fined, £200 ' on a charge of bookmaking. „ ' v When Mrs. 3r,pugh.;lYf as w winter- . : , vievyed . with'-refereKce.'tq.-.i^eney'.s \ presence at .the h6tej,'fsKe~de.plared. ■ that she did r\pi : kndW;;He^was!;iising. : ; the bar fprfbetting^ijrposes.' ! \ She y explained* that.?;ihe bells were., used for the^convenience qf "^persons - BOOKMAKER who were serving, and who required, assistance or change. „-•.. ' The report stated further^that eleven persons were found on the hotel premises shortly before 9 p.m. on November 14, and that they could riot give a satisfactory reason 1 'for their presence there. Mr. W. \Perry, counsel for Mrs." Brough, announced that he had been instructed to raise the strongest possible objection to the tone, at any rate, of the 'report. It had been alleged that Leney had been carrying on the business of bookmaking for eleven days, but it was said that 'the bells had been rung on only one day. ; Counsel explained that the bells arrangement "was simply a Bystem or In* 'ter-communlcation, . and that there ' was nothing sinister about it.

Evidence was given by Sen.-Sgt. Edwards of having interviewed Mrs. Brough, and of having questioned her regarding a man who had been stationed at night at the front door ofthe hotel. He said that Mrs. Brough had explained that the man was kept there to prevent half-drunken men from entering the hotel. ■ The police suggestion was that the man was .employed to give ..warning of police approach. Sen.-Sgt. Edwards said he had seen the man there up till ten o'clock at night, though it was very rarely that drunken men were seen on the streets after 6.30 p.m. The police, the Sen.-Sgt. remarked, did not complain about the bells system, but about the way it was being abused. Mr. Perry said that Mrs. Brough . had been licensee of at (east seven hotels, and that she has had only one conviction recorded against , her. . f Further, though he had no definite instructions on the matter, he suggested that no person had ever been

"UNFAVORABLE"

convicted .for, using her premises for bookmaking purposes. . Inspector • Rawle, who. conducted the matter for the police, pointed out to counsel that within the last six months another bookmaker had been found on the premises and fined £ 300. After consulting the other members of the committee, Mr. Page said that the committee took the view that if it was knowingly tolerated, the hotel was not properly conducted. The committee would be glad if Mr. . ]?erry advised his client of its view m that regard.' There were certain undisputed facts about the police report. There might be an answer to the question of the bells. Apparently the construction of the bells was the usual one, but the police held \he view that they were improperly used to warn people m the hotel of the approach of the police-., It was admitted that a man who had been found on the premises had been convicted of carrying on the business of a bookmaker. '"It seems difficult m our view," said the chairman, "tojthirik that the licensee can be ignorant of those facts. Eleven people were found on the hotel after hours and apparently they, did not give a satisfactory explanation to the police." -. Mr. Page mentioned that the committee would regard the report as an entirely unfavorable one as : far as the licensee was concerned, and she pjust be prepared to face that adverse report if her license were attacked " m any way.