THE WAIPA POST. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. TUESDAY, 19th FEBRUARY, 1929. LICENSING AFFAIRS.

Waipa Post, Volume 38, Issue 2270, 19 February 1929, Page 4

THE WAIPA POST. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. TUESDAY, 19th FEBRUARY, 1929. LICENSING AFFAIRS.

A RATHER interesting position has arisen in connection with the election of five members to constitute the the Waitomo Licensing Committee, nominations for which were invited last week by the returning officer at Te Kuiti.' The rearrangement of the boundaries of Waitomo electorate, by the Boundaries Commission, places the two Te Awamutu and the two Kihikihi licensed houses in Waitomo. These previously were in Waikato, of which electorate Te Awamutu was headquarters, and five gentlemen, well-known in public life, constituted the Licensing Committee, with the Magistrate as chairman. By the rearrangement, several of these gentlemen are now ineligilbe for re-election. Mr F. Quinn is now an elector of Raglan, Mr M. Wells (Cambridge) is still included in Waikato, Mr J. W. Anderson (Tirau) is, we believe, included in Rotorua, while Messrs A. S. Wallace and G. A. Empson, )both of Te Awamutu), are now eligible for Waitomo. Just what are the intentions of any or all of these gentlemen as to seeking election to a Licensing Committee is not known yet, but we understand that Mr Quin has already been requested to stand for the Raglan Committee. Mr Wells has agreed to give serious consideration to a similar request as regards Waikato. Presumably, Messrs Empson and Wallace will, if asked, be willing to give their services for the administration of licensing affairs in Waitomo. It has been noted that Te Awamutu Borough Council has been gazetted the local authority to administer certain matters in the licensing district, including the collection of fees and apportionment among the local bodies in receipt of hotel license fees. So far there has been no notification of an appointment as clerk to the Licensing Committee. Mr P. J. Doyle previously held the position, and his successor in police duties, Mr J. Forsyth, may reasonably be expected to receive the vacant appointment. No doubt also the Committee will make Te Awamutu its headquarters, notwithstanding the fact that Te Kuiti is the electoral headquarters. Much will, of course, depend upon the personal of the committee. As the four licensed houses are located on the northern fringe of the electorate, there is good reason for that assumption. Administration from Te Awamutu would be less costly than from, say, Te Kuiti, for members' travelling expenses are chargeable against the local bodies in the electorate. Just whether those bodies are all boroughs, counties, and town districts within the electoral boundaries, or merely those wso receive the hotel license fees is not quite clear. If the latter, then it is eviderit the Te Awamultu Borough Council and Kihikihi Town Board will not have much of the money contributing the license fees available for general purposes—in a word, clear profit—after paying the clerk's salary, the members' travelling expenses, advertising, and other incidentals. It is quite conceivable that these expenses could exceed the total sum of the four hotel license fees. In that event, the two local bodies named might regard the Licensing Committee as somethingf in the nature of "a white elephant." These expenses of adminstration would be increased if, say, one or more members of the committee happened to reside at the southern end of the electorate. In any event, if it happened, that there were more nominations for a seat on the Licensing Bench than the five vacancies, the resultant election, with polls throughout the electorate, would be costly. It may be that the representatives of the Trade and No-License can confer beforehand and reduce this possibility to an extreme unlikelihood, though there is apparently nothing to prevent any elector in the Waitomo electorate being nominated by two other electors. We wonder how' the Te Awamutu Borough Council, and Kihikihi Town Board view the prospects and what steps, if any, the representatives of the two protagonists in the licensing issue will take to avoid an expensive poll.