LICENSING PROSECUTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 12

LICENSING PROSECUTIONS.

THE BONA FIDE TRAVELLER. j At the City Police Court on Thursday j morning, before Mr C. O. Graham, S.M., | Alex. Craig was charged with being found on licensed premises — to wit, the Saratoga Hotel, Waitati, on the 27th ult., at a time when- such premises were required to be 1 closed, defendant not being an inmate, ser- j yantj or lodger on such premises. The j information •was laid under section 42 , of j the Licensing Act Amendment Act of 1804-, j .which reads as f oliows :—" Every person! • found on licensed premises at any time that J such -premises are required by the Licens- , ing Acts to be closed is -liable to a fine not exceeding £2 unless he satisfies the court that he was an inmate, servant, or j lodger on such premises or a bona fide traveller, or that otherwise his presence on such premises was not in breach of Jho ■ provisions of ihe Licensing Acts with respect to closing of licensed houses." j | Mr Brown-Dune, who appeared for de- j { fendant, pleaded '"Not guilty" to the charge of being unlawfully on the premises, but admitted the facts as set out in the information, that defendant w-as not an inmate, servant, or lodger on the premises. The charge as set out, he contended, dis- | closed no offence, and ho would object to 1 any evidence not set out in the inform?.- j tion. _ i His Worship: The charge is that defendant was on the premises without lawful excuse, and the onus lies on the defence to prove that he was there with lawful i excuse. i Mr Brown-Durie : The information says ] nothing about' the bona fide traveller, or j • that otherwise his> presence there was not j a breach of the Licensing Act. His Worship : He is charged with beingfound on licensed premises. That is the . wording 'of the act. Mr Durie : But that does not go the length the section does. Inspector O'Brien : We don't want to insert the whole section in the information. Mr Durie: Jt should be enumerated in the information. Inspector G'Brien : It is for the defence to satisfy the court that he was there lawfully. On the date of the information, which was a Sunday — a time when licensed premises were directed to be closet! — the defendant and another man Mined M'Con- j nell entered the Saratoga Hotel at V» T aitati i and ordered whisky. A constable happened to be on the premises at the time. Ho I saw the two men enter, and heard the J order given. The licenses happened to be in the bar at the time, and he very properly refused to supply the order. There was no question that, prior to the passing of the ' act of 1904, the defendant was eniitlcd to ' be supplied with liquor, because on the ! night preceding the date m "cjjiesuon he j slept considerably over three miles away \ from tho hotel. Had he on the Sunday i entered the hotel for the purpose of ob- j taining a meal, or some light rei^-^hment, | then these proceedings would not nave been ', i taken, but the defendant had iio right to | enter the hotel for the- purpose of procuv-" ing liquor. . I Constable Connor, stationed at Wajtati. was on tho premises cf the Saratoga Hotel ! at a quarter-past 12 on tho 27th' inst. He j saw defendant there in" company vnth ! Alexander M'Connell. Th» men came together, and on entering the promises asked ! j to b& supplied v.-ith drinks." One of the ! two men, he was not «.ure which, asked for '' whisky, and the landlord said he did not ' think ho could serve them, and lefused to ' do so. Witness took the names and ad- >' dre-sscs of the men, and they afterwards went siway. They told witness they did j not know tho new act was in force, and . that they came there to get a horsa. The men had no meals or light rpfrpshments ' on the premises. They came from Sa^j-ers' Eay. His Worship : That is more than throe, mile? away. Are they not then bena fide travellers ? Inspector O'B.-ien : Xo. Th?y went there ' for the purpose of getting liquor, and were refused. , Br'.ciset Co'chan. wife of the licensee of the hotel, said defendants came ebcui a horse belonging to her sen. . To Inspector O'Pr.cr. : Defendant d'd cot ask to be supplied with a meal, or kroonai*c, or light refieshmenl. Mr Bi-oinrn-Durie submitted t'nat was noc nectary for him to pro-luce evidence. It was clearly shown that tho men wer~ not supplied wirh l'q.ior They had a Vight io go iuio the hotej : tlier wotp ihovo on an errand As s, matter of fact, tlv-v a«ko(l if they could bo supplied vjh (h inks, and tii&y vvura noL supplied. They had

travelled from Sawyers' Bay, a distance over three miles, so that he (counsel) contended that they were bona fide travellers. . Inspector O'Brien : The bona fide travel- i ler is not known now. Mr Durie : It means, then, that a. person cannot enter a hotel at all now. Inspector O'Brien: Oh, yes, he can for lawful purposes. His Worship said an accommodation house was a house for the convenience of travellers and others. People could go there for accommodation, or to sit down, or rest, but they certainly wore not allowed to be , supplied" wirh liquor. Had they been supplied, both the licensee and the men would J have committed an oiFe-nce. The defen- ' dant was charged with being lin licensed . premises, but he considered the men .were : tona fide travellers, and had an excuse for going into the hotel. Inspector O'Bv.en : What is the excuse? His Worship : 'They were perhaps tired, and probably wanted a rest ; -or they may j have> wanted to «cc someone on the pre- I inises on business or other matters. They had como aU the way from Sawyers' Bay, ! and why should they not have a rest in ' the hotel? ' j Inspector O'Brien : If that is held to be ' the caso, if a man walks five-, ten, or . thirteen miles from the country, he or any im.p.bor oi men ma}' be found on hotel pre-mi-es in, say, Dun-odin. without being liable to the usnalty provided by Iho section. , His Worship : 1 cannot hold otherwise. ' Inspector O'Brien : I-f a man goes to an hotel bona fkle for the purpose of procuring a meal or a glass of milk cr lemonade, that ' is. a lawful icason for his presence in the- ' hotel. But ho cannot go there and cisk to bs flip plied v. ilh drink; if ho dee?. I , contend that he commits an offence. If ', your contention is correct, them fho section ; might as well be wiped out of the act at ! once. ' j His Worship : It is a very confusing eec- i tion. oncl one difficult to interpret. Here 1 is the case of men driving a lone distance ! over a rou?h road. They were entitled to ' accommoa ilion and ret. i • Mr Durio: Noc only that; it is not even ! ' shown that the* defendant asked for a drink. | Inspector O'Brien : Any man, then, who ' j is now found in a publichouse may say, " I '. came here to rest." I ask if that 'is a. legal '. excuse. In this case one <x thf men ""asked i to be supplied with drink; everything wpnt i to show de-fondant wont there for ihe purpose of getting drink. The men drove to the _place. and thc-y could not be tired. ; His Worship : I did not know the men had ridden. Supposing I went there tired and weary, and sat down to rest, surely there would be no harm, on my gcvig inside ' io pit down. In this ease it "has not been ' : pvovod that tho defendant asked for a ' i drink. | Inspector O'Brien : There is nothing to ' ' shew that the men went there for the pur- i ! peso of -csting themselves. They walked ! into the Lord f>nd made- straight for the bar. Again, there i* nothing to phow that tbey needed rc>i. They went there for , 1 tho purpo-jo of proc";-inc; whisky, and fov j no otlier purpose, and 1 challenge tho J ' defence to put the (/*>frnrlar f in the box. j . Mr Dm so : They did not ask for drinks ; ' th°y asked if it was possible to get drinks. | ' Tnsfpcfor O'Brien: They diove up to the I ' r'.-rv and v.-onf to ihe. bar. I will admit 1 that f.h- 1 other mm's position is somewhat ] diffavtiu. "" | ' His "Worship: What is the definition of a. I ] hena fifle traveller? Kore is a man who I \ tra\c!lcd ihcro to hand over a l-orsr- he had ' borrowed, and want to tfll th? landlord ho had brought the horse back. -Seeing that ( the defendant came nil that distance to hand ] over the ho-«e, I think he was a bona fide I ] traveller. j ; Insncctir O'Brien: But you must remetn- j , her thf>ro is no bena fide traveller entitled . ' to liquor on a Sunday ncnv. j , Uis Worsh-p: TV defendant is not « charged w.th setting 1-quor. He' is merely , < cha.f-a.rcl v;th hoing oa hcors?d prpmises. i f Mr Du';*>: T'p*>v would net ha 1 ? been at '. ( Waitali !i it hi"l rot b:en to c'clher ove-r ( } th- ho-se. j -j Hi» Worship: Hie two of them vreni \ thtve tog' > l1:or.l 1 :or. T T n 'cv the cirei-iT;sranr?3 I t wll d.sTm ti'-o i-a^. ' i I'i-r""ior O'Brien: I jhaTl probably | appeal. " ! ( Alf?.audsr MTonnc'l m' then s"mil">rlv- } clnn-^i. " 1 M' 1 Brcun r )u'i'> a^n^arec' fc- tho dofen- t rant, who pleac l^! " Not guilt v " t Tn*p.""'(c r O'TSr m • Jr. free of iV decis'on i ;p; p tho 1""t r •<?:• I 'hall offc- no o\ :Y!or>c;>. c Hi's Wo sliii) n-3T>arl.rJ fl-at he thought i i^O'--" 1 wa« a fl'.ffi'-fcrrp ir> i 1« J«= rvf, in that this defendaiit asked for tho liquor. There i

was no evidence that the other defendant asked, for liquor. Inspector O'Brien said that he again denied thai. Craig had anything to do with the horse- at all, and th£re was no evidence to show that he had. He was never even put in the box to say that he. had. The Inspector offering no evidence, tho case was accordingly dismissed.

WANGANUI, December 15.

At the Magistrate's Court to-day a test ease is being heard with a view to obtaining a judicial definition of clause 42 of " The Licensing Act, 1904." The licensee {8.. Brown) of the Castloeliff Hotel was charged with selling liquor to James Palmer on Sunday last, the latter not being a lodger. Th© facts were admitted — viz., that Palmer, who is chairman of the Wanganui Licensed "Victuallers' Association, went for. an outing to Castlecliff, and. having previously informed the police that he intended to do so, asked as a bena fide traveller for liquor in the presence of the police. Drink was supplied to him; hence tho action ( a friendly one) to define th© position.

WELLINGTON, December 15.

Mr M'Arthur, S.M., delivered reserved jiidgments in several cases under the new Lic-eusing Act. In tyro cacas— one of which was being on the. premises after closing tirae and the other being served with lea on Sunclay afternoon — the magistrate dismissed the information, as it was not shown that the defendants were on the premises in contravention of the act. In a third case, in which the defendant pleaded that ho was on the premises on Sunday to secure a meal, his Worship imposed a small fine, as he discredited the excuse offered. INYERCARGI3LL, December 15. The nrst prosecution in Invercargill under the new Licensing Act — section 42. which makes it an often cc to be on licensed promises after .the closing hour — took place to-day before Mr RirlcHl, S.M., when an elderly man was charged with being on hotel premises "after r-iosing time. H<? admitted the" off&nce. but explained that he did net remain after 10 o'clock for the purpose of obtaining drink, but in order to have a conversation with a friend whom he had not seen for some time, and who was sta3-ing in the hotel. The police said there was no evidence that drinkin-r -fc a d bc«n going on or was about to take place. The defendant was fined 10s and costs (7s).