The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 3, 1901. THE LICENSING QUESTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 113, 3 June 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 3, 1901. THE LICENSING QUESTION.

For some time past the public of New Plymouth have been greatly exercised at the attempt which is being made to establish another hotel within the Borough. All doubt upon the question basjb:en set at rest by the application*that have hero madia for lice&ses to be issued in re=pect to two buildings, one to bs called the Jubilee and the other, the Commonwealth, It is cot cecesn siry to discufs, at this stage, the suitability or otherwiee of the buildings in question for the pui poses of licensed houses; what we proposo to deal with is the proposal to establish another licenspd house within the Borough ef New Plymouth against the wishes of the people of the Bcrough as expressed at the poll at the list

licensing election. The spirit of the of the past ten yeiis has been to place the con'ro! of licensing matters more and more in the hand * of the people. Pirrto 1893 the control I cf licetsing matters was v. ry unsatisfactory and temperance r- formers lepeatedly tried unsuccessfully to secure for the perplrt a larger measure of <ontro' in legard to a ma'ter which so vitally cosewn'd the mitstial welfare of the community. Tf.e advent of a3 Liberil Goverrjm.nt rosul ed in fhej introduction of the Liquor Bales Control Act, and it was fn'itled an Act to give the people greater control over the (j ranting and refit dug of liixn.ses under the licensing Act of '/SSI. The genera! provisions of the Act are so

we'l kr.ovvn that we med not refer, to them hire furth r thau lo sny t'at the Act was an honest .■rttempt to" give eflect <o the wi 1 of ihe pc<ple as sM; but in !he tiilo. Itistrj' at all surprising to find, in de.lintr with .so largo a subject, that the Act was not p rfeet, and in 1895 an amending Act was pi-s'd. The experience of the Act of 189:{ wa-', however, so far satisfactory that the Act of 1895 whs intended to simplify the working ai>d at the same time strengthen the contra! of the issue of licenses by the people. The broad principles laid down in the Act of 185)3 were the right of the p-op!e to vote for au inceasa of licenses, their cDutiuiunce, us txis'ing ■it the tiiuo of the Poll, their reduction ia number or their total ab li inn. An important .•!i)ii>j}>c-mads by the 1896 Act was the resfciiction of the power of | the electors to grant; any inciea ; e i<~ he nnmb-r of licenses rxcept u'dei iveiy ex-copt : on»I conditions. The

issues upon which the popular vote was provided for under the 1895 Act wen | continuance of existing licenses, their reduction in number, or their total abolition. Another important anK'Ldniuut was in the icstricion of :.ho uglr, to remove eskthig hcerss t'ifcm one p.rfc of (ho d:'s lict to another. This had been foiKd necessary hGc:.iis9 c«f the cases where licenses weio lemoved from place to place, thus over-riding the intention of tba A.cl for lieeriHes to remain as on tfee di*e of tbo Poll whore continuance was carried. TJie 1895 Act provided for the restrie-, tion ©i eucii reaioyfti to the borough,

'or w.'.rd of a divided boiough, cr town district, or riding of a county or ra<l dis'fics hciiKj'.ht »o cam furlln-.r than • /,-; '.;"■< ri- ..•/' " mH- Ly the n. ~•.-. *

Oil'l I'm 111 ." '_tho or lii e.j from which i".. is intended to remnvi-., the Kjfi.-Kse. No:ivuh;-<.!:iding th. s. .-j tppf.renily s'.iinj; nt provisions an at ' tcinjjt. is to be made to ir.ji-o.iso tbinumber of I'censsn- in the Borough oi New Plymouth, and tin-', we are tnlj, i-< piopcsad to li.mlo-.5c by lowing th lictii so of the ho 1 el at Beli Block ti lays", aud arply for a new license fur i , building in New Plymouth. We arc | fuither toll thr.t a Judge of t'n. | Suprem;i Court has de ided that this > can be done under the existing law. : With all due respect to tha leara-<i , Judg.l we do not believe his decision , would bo uphold by lha Court ol i Appeal. We believe there irouU b bttle difficulty in getting a maidamu.- ' i-sucl to prevent the issue of tueh ilicence. The clause just referred t clearly contemplates the restriction of any incrra«o or decivase, >n thq mira bev of lie jds'S, not only in the iicen ii> t distric' but in the particular ward O' tiling cf (he dis'i-ict. It is do.*.- to ouc mind that what, is proposed is quite contrary to the spiiit of the Act, the intention of the Act being clearly t.> alow tha people to govern all changes ty their vote. The Act is by no moans fileut on tho question of an increase (r d< create of iicons;s and appeirs to us to make provision for bath, anrl curiously gives givat prominence tothp impoi'tancs of the local sub-division. In pioyidicg for a reduvticn of licorse* the last ilausß cf saction 20 of the 1893 Act Fays : "Pi ovid d that in making an rt duct Lb of license? the Oomm<tt-e shall make such reduct'oDSto tx'end ovdr the whole district in such a manner as they think equitable, having regard to the convenience of the public aud the particular requirement of the si-ye.al localities within such district." Now in the 1895 Act, all the clauses of Section 20 are repealed, but this last clause quoted is r«;inacteJ, The 1895 Act alsop:ovides that " tvei y local authority " which Buffers loss of revo.iue from licence fees under the Licensing Act from the reduction or prohibiten cf licenses may make goad such loss by an increase in the general rates, Every kcal authority,- in this me; clearly means means those to •he controlling local authority, towards the cost of administering the Act. The Act of 1893 mikes two provisions for increasing the number of Noenpe"s ; first in clause n : " When the population of any riding of a county, etc., has suddenly ircreas- d in a Krge degree, upon the petition of not less than one hundred persors t,h>i Governor may issue an order-in-council giving power to the licensing comojif-e:) to gnihs a license in the said riding or r<.ad district in a ratio of one licensed home to every seven hundrul people within a radius of two miles fr\>m Such licensed house," And secondly in cl«use 14, which provides: If the census shows an. increase of twenty five per cent, and a rnajoii y of 'hree - fifths of the total votes are recorded in favour of i-, one additional license may be granted to every seven hundred of such increflse in papulation." These clauses are both e'.aintd in the Act of 1895, and make it quite clear that the ir.creasj in •he iiuaaher of licenses in a sub-divi-ion if a licensing district and in the district as a whale ore treat-.d st parately, .nd th*t any iucrease, under other cocdi ions thtn these stated, in the .umber of licenses in any .borough, the wavdjof a divided borough, or the riding )f a county is qui'e contrary to the spirit cf the Ac l -, and cannot tograntod uule.'s in the mann-r provided for iu clause 5 of the Act of 1893, which does no'j appear to apply in the inse of a norough. We do not wish it to ba understood that we take it for granted that the Licens-ing Committer (in this case the S.M.) intend to grant an additional license in New Plymouth, but consider it desirable to point out that ha applicitions made are contrary to I the vota of the people and the spirit of the Licensing Act,