A PUBLICAN'S LICENSE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15033, 5 January 1911, Page 4

A PUBLICAN'S LICENSE

CERTIFICATE REFUSES,

FRUITLESS APPEAL.

(Pas United Press AssocuTfoN.)

WELLINGTON, January 4,

On the 25th November Frederick James Bright, settler, Eketahuna, being desirous to obtain a transfer of the -license of the Telegraph Hotel, at Otaki, applied for and was refused a certificate of fitness to hold such .license by Mr Thomson, the magistrate, on the ground that the applicant's wife <lid not intend to reside with the applicant at the hotel. The magistrate made it a rule to refuse certificates of fitness, except in exceptional circumstances, to married men whose wives would not be resident at tho hotel. Bright brought an action against the magistrate, asking the Supreme Court to issue a mandamus ordering the issue of the necessary certificate. To r uay Judge Cooper delivered his reserved judgment, dismissing the motion, with costs. In doing so he said the certificate required was not that applicant wae o£ good fame and reputation, but that ho was a fit and proper person to be licensee of certain premises What the magistrate determined was that because the applicant's wife definitely refused to reside in the hotel, the applicant was not a. suitable person to hold a license, though his fame and reputation were good_. That was purely a matter for the magistrate's discretion. The magistrate had dealt with the eaee on its merits, and there was no appeal from his decision.