MEETINGS, &c.

Otago Witness, Issue 1622, 23 December 1882, Page 29

MEETINGS, &c.

Tho Licejisiug Act.

Wellington, December lb'th. At the quarterly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr J. K. George, in addressing the meeting, said that the large amount invested in hotel property in the Colony, and the amount paid to the State in duties to carry on business, was, he thought, sufficient justification for calling attention to the working of the Licensing Act. In Wellington city alone there were between fifty and sixty hotels/ and the cost of the land and buildings alone of these hotels would probably exceed £250,000, taking the average cost of each at from £4500 to £500. The first difficulty that now occurred to hotelkeepers or licensed victuallers was in obtaining a license. Each particular licensing committee was sure to possess members with a fad. In one place they would see that lamps must be kept burning all night and not disturbed, and in another this was not considered necessary. Some member of committee was greatly afraid of fire risks, and hotels were all compelled in his district to erect outside stairs to all rooms of convenient access. The papering of certain rooms did not meet with the approval of one committee, and another had a cellar that was wrong, and this must be corrected. Another must have more bedrooms erected, or an airy room ventilated J and various other fads were made into a need of somo forced expenditure by hotelkeepers. Having succeeded with licensing committees, trouble commenced with the police, and once a policeman was offended the future of the licensed victualler was one of perpetual worry, and it was the business of every member of the force to bring the offender into Court on some charge or other. A large penalty was inflicted if spirits were sold below proof, when it was well known that certain brands are imported as much as '60 per cent, below proof. If a barmaid should inadvertently enter the bar after 11 p.m. the hotelkeeper was fined. Fines were also inflicted if cards were played, if the piano was played, although it might be in a private room, and in one instance a fine was inflicted because a landlord was found by a policeman playing a game of bagatelle in his own parlour with a friend between 11 and 12 at night. In one case a friend of his was entering a hotel on a Sunday afternoon to book a seat by a coach leaving early the following morning, and was followed into the house by a policeman, who, in a very insulting manner, demanded to know what he was doing there. The law was probably administered in accordance with the strict letter, but the effect of the law was to make every man who respected himself give up business and leave it to those who were less scrupulous. The licensed victualler was a useful member of society, and contributed greatly to the comfort and convenience of the community, and more particularly to travellers. He was as much entitled of fair and proper treatment by the law as any member of the community. It was to be hoped, in the interest of those who travelled from home, that the accommodation would never be limited to the class ot entertainment provided by the so-called temperance hotels. The hotelkeeper, as the law was at present administered, was entirely at the mercy of every meddling policeman who walked the'streets, and every narrow-minded magistrate who sat upon the bench, and who appeared to consider his duty more to inilict punishment than administer justice. _ He thought licensed victuallers deserved in many instances to be punished for the practice of refusing accommodation to' travellers when rooms were disengaged. Hotels were bound to provide lodging and refresh-

ment, but the desire of many publicans was to> limit refreshment to liquids alone. The spirit of the Licensing Act was intended to diminish drunkenness and its attendant evils, but the present administration had the effect of placing the business in the hands of unscrupulous men who had nothing to lose, and so to increase the evil instead of diminishing it. Licensing committees had, he thought, proved a failure, so far certainly. Districts should bo made larger, but a great improvement would be effected by abolishing the present system of bar trade and compelling sitting accommodation to be provided, much in the manner of the French cafe. He believed if bars were made large and well ventilated, with a chair and table provided for each customer, it would be a valuable improvement on the system of compelling thirsty men to stand at a counter to drink. They could use the hotel as a means of recreation and refreshment, as is provided in the Continental cafe" system. His remarks were intended to call the attention of the Chamber to the administiation of the law, in the hope that the authorities might be induced to attend more to the spirit of the law, and assist the licensed victualler in the maintenance of order, instead of wasting his time and dragging him to Court on frivolous and vexatious charges. The supervision of the hotela should be confined to a nigher grade of officers, who should be allowed discretion in the matter of police prosecutions. The recent exposure of illicit distillation was a subject worthy of consideration as to whether the present duty on spirits on spirits was not so high as to offer too high a premium to tho practice. Perhaps a reduction would lead to an increase in the revenue, and reduce the profits of such practices to so low a point as to make it worth nobody's while to break the law. Mr J. E. Nathan said he was glad the Chairman had referred to the Licensing Act and its administration, and agreed with most that had fallen from him. The tendency of the Act was to drive all respectable men out of the trade, and in the smaller townships the licensed victuallers were under the thumb of the local policeman, who had not as a rule the intelligence necessary to qualify him to exercise so much power. The local policeman could in a moment, if he chose, render a valuable property valueless. He would move—" That it is desirable that the attention of Government be called at once to the present state of the Licensing Act and the administration of the same, more particularly to the large power placed in the hands of local policemen." Mr J. C. Harris seconded the resolution, which was put and carried.