LICENSING COMMITTEES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7268, 3 June 1885, Page 4

LICENSING COMMITTEES.

CAVERSHAM. Tho Caversham Licensing Committee beld •heir annual meeting yostarday, when there yere present—Mesars J, Todd (chairman), W. Ings, J. Beveridgo, J. Craig, and J. H. Kil;ottr. The Chairman stated that tho polico report is to the conduct of tho houseß in tho district ivaß gonorally satisfactory. . Tho Oommittoo ntonded to be very chary of granting oondi-. .ional liconaes on special occasions, unless the ipplications were made in good timo, bo that they could ba duly considered. The Committee intended to aot according to their own judg-, ment, and would not grant such licenses Bimply because it had been the oustom of the previous Committee to do so. Thoy were also anxious that Sunday trading should be checked, and would be.inolined to deal oeverelyiwith the licensees if any caseß were brought up. In answer to an inquiry, the Chairman said tbe Committee would require at .least two days' notioe of applications for conditional licenses. In commencing bußineßa, ha would state that the Committee had unanimously decided under no circumstances to allow tho hours of cloaihg to ba later than 10 o'clock. Renewals were then granted to the following applicants :—Franciß Porter (Porter's Hotel), Mary Paul (Edinburgh Castle), Henry Owen (Tramway Terminus Hotel); Matthew Jackson (Waterloo Hotel), John Bryant (Carlton Hotel), John Wolls (St. Clair Hotel), Ebenozer Kingsford (Parkside Hotel), Peter Casey (Kensington Hotel), William Graham (Ayrshire Hotel), John Blaney (Caledonian Hotel). A warning was administered to tho licensee of the Waterloo Hotel, who, it was stated in tha police report, wsb inclined to drink too freely, The Committee were of opinion that any person permitted to aell drink to others should not make undue uae of it himself. James Muir (for whom Mr Solomon appeared) applied for a license for the Commercial Hotel, and the Committee in granting this cautioned the applicant as to tho future conduct of tho houso.—The Chairman said the Committee wero anxious to look as favourably as possible upon the application, but the position of tho house had not beon satisfactory for some time. The police had complained at the previous meeting of a disturbance whioh took place in tha house on New Year's evening.—Sergeant' McDonnell said that the reason why the police had not reported upon the application was beoauße they understood from what was Baid at last meeting that tha license would not .be granted, The police had thon been prepared to prove the.disturbance, but Mr Muir did not turn up.—The Chairman said he had been prejudiced against Mr Muir by hiß absence on that occasion, but he scarcely thought a single disturbance should be made a ground for. taking away • the license altogether. — The licause waa granted, Mr Craig dissenting from tbe resolution of tho Committeo. Petor Rutherford applied for a renewal of a bottle license, whioh waß granted. :' LAWRENCE. The annual meeting was held on Tuesday, whon thero wero present: Messrs J. Harrop (chairman), P. Miller, M. Fraer, G. Jeffery, and G. Walker. Renewals of liconses were granted to Messrs J. Johnson, J. Roughan, J. Chalmers, R. Wobb, and J. Barcloy, Mesdames R. Williams, and S. Airey. The closing hour was fixed at 11 o'clock, instead of, as last year, 12 o'clock. Bottle licenses were granted to Messrs Arthur M'Kinlay and J. Mitchinson. PORT CHALMERS. The annual meeting of the Port Chalmers Licensing Committee took place yesterday at I the Courthoußa at noon. The members present woro—Dr Drysdale (chairman), Messrs Cable, | Dodds, Mill, and Inues. Sergeant Hanlon requested permission of the Bench to mako a supplementary report in addition to tbe written one he had handed in, The population of the town stands at 2400 persons. This gives 300 of the whole population to each of the eight public-houses in the district, and in addition to theße there are four bottle licenses in town, and one publichouse in the suburbs. There were 102 persons arrested for drunkenness duringthe year ending May Sl, and during the corresponding period of tho previous year, there were 122 arrests, thus showing a decrease of 20 during the year juat ended, and moat of theßO arrests were.of | seamen from Bhipa in port; while it is a noticeable fact that there was not a single ratepayer belonging to the town included in those 224 prisoners. None of the publiohouaes close on Sunday with the exoeption of the Port Chalmers Hotel, which is shut between 5 and 0 p.m. on Sundays, All tho houses were fairly well conducted, and no complaints have been made by any of the publio; while those crimes which' generally follow in the train of drunkenness have been comparativoly/inknown during the past 12 months, The Chairman stated that as the police had noted in their report that several of the houses were in a bad state of repair, and only partially furnished, the Bench had decided to visit the houses before they tookthe applications for licenses into consideration. The meeting would therefore be adjourned until an inspection bad been made. On resuming the business at 1.10 p.m., the applications were beard, and new licenses granted to Edward Reuben Bolton, Provincial Hotel; William J. Waters, Port Chalmers Hotel; John Cooper, Commercial Hotel; John Thomson, Marine Hotel; James Morkane, Gaorge Hotel; and John Hay, Railway Hotel. Transfers were granted from Ellen Chick to Goorgo Chick, for Chick's Hotel; and from James Ashcroft (Official Assignee) to James Morkane, for the Royal Hotel, NEW LICENSES. A new license was granted to George Chick for Chick's Hotel; and on the application of James Morkano for a license for the Royal Hotel, the Chairman stated that on account of tho objection made by tbe police tbat this house was only partially furnished, tho Bench bad visited it and had determined, for two reasons, not to grant the license—first, that the house was in a dilapidated and ruinous condition, and secondly, they ware of opinion tbat there were too many licensed houses in Port Chalmers. He, however, wished to state thationo member of the Bench, Mr J. Mill, dissented from the action taken by tbe Committee. Mr Morkane applied to be heard in respect to the decision of the Bench in this mattor, The Chairman stated Mr Morkane was out of order, the Bench having arrived at its decision, and could not, therefore, hear bim. Mr Morkane protested against tnis, and stated he considered tbe action of the Bench was very unjust. BOTTLE LICENSES. The applications of William Kettle, Matilda Ritchie, Edward Sutton, and John Mitchell, all of George street, for bottle licenses, were granted, and the Chairman congratulated the police on the orderly manner in which the hotels had been condiftted, as appeared from the report submitted to the Committee by Ssrgeant Hanlon. The whole of the licenses wore granted up till 11 p.m., it being the determination of the Committee not to allow any inorease beyond that hour; and lamps were ordered to be kept burning in front of each hotel up till tha hour of closing.