The Star. THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1883.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4341, 23 March 1882, Page 2

The Star. THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1883.

A tblkgbam *bom Wellington with reference to the Licensing Act, may poß.ibly give another little shock to the minds of members of importing firms who are anzions for the renewal of their wholesale licenses. We hasten to administer to these gentlemen as much of consolation as lies in our power by the exprossion of an opinion that the view taken by the sender of the telegram is a mil* taken one. He states that a firm, whose annual license expires in this present month of March, have discovered that they can now only ©\Awi % .fc"_«_w«A .oi; ihe ti_ce« mor-th.., , to expire on the thirtieth of June next. A. ' this last date fresh annual licenses in force ; until tho middle of 1883 will bo granted, on payment of tho annual fee of twoa ty pounds ) So far bo good. But the Wellington firm in . question then went on to discover, according 5 to our correspondent, that for this inter- } mediate renewal from March to June they > would have to pay the whole Bum, vi» :— 1 twenty pounds, duo on annual license. No ) wonder the members of the firm think them* . selvcß injured men. i There is; however, ono flaw whioh unfort unately breaks this chain of reasoning : the oomplaining parties have neglected to read the Licensing Act, or they would have discovered that their fears are ill-grounded. Clause 3 of section 78, says plainly that— " In the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two, renewals of licenses may be granted at the quarterly licensing meetings to be held in the months of March, September and December, for licenses expiring during the said months respectively ; but suoh renewals shall be granted only for the period intervening between the grant of the renewal and the succeeding annual licensing meeting." " A proportionate fee shall b? paid in respect of the renewals aforesaid, as follows, that is to say : — " (1) Por all renewals of licenses granted at the aforesaid meeting in March, one fourth of tho annual liconge fee prescribed under this Act." Now, without professing to bo especially learned in the law, or to havo " Maxwell on the interpretation of statutes " at our fingers* ends, we think that the abovo claueo clearly meets the eraot difficulty pointed out by the telegram. The licensing Act is not a perfeot measure ; it is as full of blunders as all the other pieces of legislation which have marked tho attorney-generalship of Mr Whitaker. But in this particular instance the reasons above pointed out seem to make it plain that the Act io in tho right, and tho grumblers in the wrong. For the sake cf the business men interested, we are glad that it is so.