THE WANGANUI LICENSING COMMITTEE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12120, 5 December 1894, Page 2

THE WANGANUI LICENSING COMMITTEE.

EXTENSION OF HOUBS AGAIN

REFUSED.

The quarterly meeting of the Wanganui Licensing Committeo waa held at the Courthouse yesterday (TiwsrJay), tliere bfing presort -Mr 0. 0 K-ttlo, *..\1 (chairmap), Rev T. B iloeloHii, Messrs V. A. Krull, E. A. Campbell, T. D. Cummins, T. Bamber, 8. H. Manßoa, and W, Ritchie. BJJTRNSION OF HOURS. Applications for extension of hours until 11 p.m. were received from — C. J. McCarthy, Rutland Hotel.

Mr Ifitzhorbert said he appoaved on behalf of the applicant, and also on bohalf of tbe other hotclkfopere, thirteen in all. T .c nomea of the o'iicr applicants were ns follows :-H. E. Brougbt.m Provincial) W. R Tuck, Ben market j F. J. Taekor, .Albion j M. O'Hara. Family ; J. Ctttell, Commercial j J. Mahono.v, Railway; W. B*. G-. Foster, Foster's j F. L. K. Uill, Rod lion ; 0, H. Chavannea, Victoria; H. Morrow, Criterion ;J. Brennan, Custom House ; and 0. Batt, Masonic.

Mr Fitzherbert said the applications were brought under sub-aoction 3 of section 12 of tbo Act of 1893 Practically, aa the evidence had boen given on three previous occasions, he had uothtng moro to add, but would givo a briof resume of what had taken place in the interim. Last year when tbo application was mudo tho Bench had granted an extension of a quarter of an hour, and oil tho pubiienne had paid their fee of £5 to the Borougb Council, hut by the time thecitension should hare come into forco thoy had boen atronglv advised that they dare uot take advantage of it, as if tliOT did so they would probably bo convicted and their licensee endowed j rorssquently, thoy did not avail themselves of the extenfion, bul cppHed again at tha la>t September mooting, nud the Benoh deohned to allow tho extension till elevoo, but admitted 10 o'lock was too early,nnd expressed their intontion of applying So the Legislature to pass a remedial Act allowing them (the Committee) to grant an extension, this application had (icon made and refused, and tho position now was that tho Bench had upon two occasions oxprwd itulf convinced that the hour should be extended beyond 10 o'clock, but had only given an extension that was useless to tho publicans, becanso if thoy used it they would lav tborosolves open to a oonviotion, Mr FiU'ier-' bart referred brisjl? to the necessity whioh exißtefl for tho extension, and instanced the largo travelliag public, which previous endenco had shown nnnibarod some IB,QOO par yeat 1 . He said there was a very general opinion cxprees!d of tho inconvenience of closing at "the prosent hour of 10 o'clock, and the very large nuwber of roliablo wifclioeßes had [ivon evidence at tho previous meeting in support of tho contention to that effect. Furthor than vhnt, ho pointed out that two of tho large oi tio closed at 10 o'olcck, but tho other two— Wellington and Cbri&tcbuvcb— at 11, while in places similar in eize and population to Wungamii Iho consensus of opinion among;!; Licensing Committees waeatrongly in favonrof 1.1 p.m., Wnnganui being the only place of its size on tin's coast that closes at 10 o'clock. The Bench had Übo aborted that ten o'clock was tin oarly an hour, and as there was only six months of the present licenses to run ho would suggest that the Bench should give the eleven o'clock system a trial. '1 his had been tho third occasion of the npplication, and tho public had not como forward to oppose it. Ac ten o'clock was too oarly ho considered thcro was nothing for it but t"> grant tho extension until cloven as v riotplo matter of justice Mr Carson said, as a resident of some twenty years standing- in the Borough, lie would liko to present a few reasons why the extensions should not be grantod. lie thought that experience told its own tale and Wanganui had had experience of 12, 11, and 10 o'clock licenses, and he felt sure thtttthose whohad resided in the town for years past would be convinced that so far as order and peace and quietnes3 was concerned the town had been very much improved since the hour had been reduced to 10 o'clock. He spoke as one in a position to know, when he said that during tho last two or throe years tha habits of tho people and the orderliness of the town had been much better than in tbo preceding years, There had been a time whon 12 o'clook licenses wero concidored necessary in var.ous parfc3 of tho colony, but that time was past and gene, and now the fcrond of public opinion was strongly in favour of a reduction in the facilities afforded for tho sale and consumption of drink. It would not be pre. tended, he said, that the extension asked for was in tbo interest of the public >of Wangau'ui. It was not for them, and therefore coulcl -only be needed for visitors, Certain figures' had been given purporting to show fhe large nUnibor of trayellerswhoyearlyvisitedWancfanui.but bo thought observant- people, would notice that travellers who intended to stay over night generally came by the through train in preference to tho ni?ht train, the number cominjr by the 1 latter beinglimited indeed, especially after eleminating those residents who were returning to their homes. Tho hotelkeepor could not a3k for tho extension in the interests or on behalf of tho townspooplo, bub merely for those who arrived by the 10 o'clock train and wanted accommodation and refreshments. And with regard to this matter, thoro appear to be n strange niseonception prevailing, possibly indeed! .. ■ ■ . . . 'I

J on the part of some of the hotelkeepers themselves, Thero was nothing in tho law to prevent travellers obtaining admission lo hotols after ten o'clock at night, and neither was there anything to prevent hotelkeapera from snpplying such travelers with any refreshment they might require for themselves and their friends. In order, then, to meet' all the I wants of travellers no extenbion of licensed hours was required. What he, in common with a largo sect'on of the public objected to was not that travellers should be received and refreshed accord* ing to the law, but that the h^tel bars ahculd be kept open, to the detriment of the people of Wanganui, until 11 o'clock at night. It had been urjed, in support of the application, that 10 o'clock wbb inconvenient for those engaged in shop 3 on Saturday nights, but because shops remained open infcil JO o'clock on one night in the weok was no reason why i he bars should be kept open uniil a later hour every night of the week, Even in this particular the inconvenience waa not so great as had been made ont, as, after deducting the employers, the, ladies, and temperance people engaged in th 6 shops, the number who required refreshments were very small, indeed. He had no foar that the Committee, wlu.after due deliberation, had twice pronounced 11 o'clock unnecessary, would go back on their opinions; but be felt it to be his duty as a citizen, holding the views te did, to speak against the application. One point hod been raised which needed a word ortwo, and that was with reference to the quartor-of-an-hour extension that hid boen allowed by the Committee, and with regard to which the Chairman hninelf (Judge Kettle) had expressed the opinion that it was psrfoctly legal. He understood, however, that the hotelkeepers had boeu advised that they could not fake it, and he did not think that they weio to blame for declining to risk an action at law. Tho difficulty was. that they had paid tho money, but his opinion was 'hat a wav could bo found by which the money could be refunded. As a matter of Btrict law perhaps it could not bo handed back, but he believed that the difficulty could be got over. [Mr Fitzherbert— The Borough Council have no power to refund tho fee, unless the members pay it out of their own pockets.] He (Mr Careon) had an idea (hat the money would be refunded all the same; but, in any case, that was beside the real issue, the question being; would tho extensions bon«6fc the community, or wou'd they have a prejudicial effect ? Ho felt that any possible advantage that might accrue to the few would be counterbalanced by evils of far greater magnitude. He felt strongly on the matter, as, having warmly supported any proposal that he believed would benefit the community, he would naturally be sorry to seethe Committea take one backward step to the injury of tha town. In concluding, ho hoped tho Committee would remain firm in their previouslyexpressed determination not to grant the 11 o'clock extension. Mr Fitzberbert said Mr Carson had made an oxcellent address— in fact, a very good electioneering address— but he had not quite done justice to the casa before the Committee. He had attributed the gieater sobriety that now obtained to the earlier closiusr of the hotel?, whereas it was the result of a natural growth thst was pretty evident throughout tho colony. TII9 people had become more sober, but it was most unfair to say that the improvement had been due to early closing. Mr Carson had not referred to the number of people who attended the entertainments at night to the evidence previously given by travellers, or to the largely-increasing tourist traffic, nor to' the fact that Wanganni was gradually becoming conspicuous on this coast for affording so little facility for amusement to those on pleasure boat. Tliis wbb the third application that had fcesn made, md the only voice tbar had been raised in opposition was that of Mr Catson, who, aftsr all, had only oxpressed- hie own opinions. Sir Bassett followed, and said he would liko to support tne arguments put forward by Mr Carson. Mr Fitzberbert protested that it wss not right for another to speak after the opposition had been made nnd replied to, and the Bench having decided to hear Mi Bassett, the latter said he would have seemed it impertinent to have pressed himself boforo Mr Fitzherberr, who had risen as scon as Mr Careon had conoluded. He believed tjhafc the Licensing Act provided that any individual might come forward to object without notice : but in any case he had not much to- say in addition to what Mr Carson had already put before them. It must be ovidont to them, he said, that the great trend of public opinion was in the direction of a reduction of the facilities for the sale and consumption of drink. The very last Act under the consideration of the legislature was in this direction. It was admitted that by closing at 10 o'clock a small measure of ioconvenienoe was caused to tbe isolated fcv. He pointed ont the unmistakable fact that mci eased facility meant increased consumption. Thetrafflo was inimical to the working cWssos in particular; and in his opinion, when a working man had to work hard all day, 10 o'clock was quite late enough for him to leave his hotel for hia homo. They knew that a large number of women in town woro suffering through the traffic, and ho (Mr Basse tt), on their behalf, earnestly appealed to the Bench to be strong in thair determination not to inevc-asa the hour. He also pointed out tbnt the evidence that had been given on tho former applications had been adduced, by the publicans, and was therefore not a purely voluntary expression of public opinion. Mr Fitzherbert said that Mr Bassett could hardly claim that tljo swing of public opinion in favour of a reduction of the hour was eviefcneed by a Bill that had not boen passed by the Boiue.He repeated that it was quite a mistake to suppose that the dexeise in drinking had been cau-ed by early closing, as it was really due to the people themsolvee having becomo more sober, In concluding, Mr Fitzuerbert urged the Bond), as a matter of simple justice, to grant the extension desired,

In reply to the Bunch Sergeant Cullen said he had nothing to add to what lie had stated at last meeting.

The Committee then retired and on reBurning Mr Kottlo stated that the Bench hid again decided to refuse the application. At the annual meeting, wlwn a similar application for extension bad been mado, the Committee had carefully considered the matter and wore satisfied that, in the case made out i by tin hotelkeepars, thqy would not be justified in granting the extension. No evidence had been adduced to Bb< w that tho extension was necessary in (119 interest of tho public, and the Act distinctly provided that they mint be satisfied on that point. The committee had granted an extension of 15 minutes and they were still o£ opinion that they were justified in so doing. However, the point nvght be arguable, but until their decision was reversed by the Supreme Court the; saw no reason to alter it. If they hnd not felt confident that they could do so they would not have increased the time at all, and if they now^_ altered their decision it would be the return to 10 o'c'.oek and not in the direction of a further extension. They had made the small concession for the convenience of the travelling public, and wore not piepared to go any further. At tho last quatterly meeting a similar application had been m°.de, and too Bench again refused, by a large majority, to grant the extension. This time no fic3h evidence had been brought, and altlu ugh. they accepted !I|3 old evidence they were not satisfied from it (hit it would te in tho interest of the public to extend the hour until 11 o'clock. With reference to thb £5 fee, that was a matter for the hotelkeepers themselves, who, if they had had any doubt about the legality, need not have paid it. It had nolhinp whatever to do with the teommitteo/'who, as he had previously said, would onlya'.ter their tlseision byreturning to 10 o'clock. 'Tba decision as announced had' btjen'arriyed, of by a subsfahfial rijajorifcy 6( the committee, and he did pot think it would- bo desirable for them fr> make any further application for extension unless tli6y bad mucl) stronger evidence to support it,