Packet Licences.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10819, 9 December 1902, Page 6

Packet Licences.

i Mr Marshall applied for a renewal of the 'licences to the up-river steamers, and stated that he had received 4 from the Committee a formal intimation that th'cy would probably apply for leave to 'appeal against the recent decision of the Chief Justice, and also apply for" a stay of execution. 1 The Ohairriian said that after the decission of the XJhief Jufitiqe , the, had bepn left entirely in the' hands of -the Justice Department. After the -decision had beau given he ( received a letter froni Mr H. ;J>. Bell, -the Grown solicitor, statjJnj» that he Baa laid the -matter before the Solicitor-General, and thought the appeal should bo proceeded" with. The matter had not been dealt with yet, owing jto the abjMnc^'of' jMi^Lsteri."- i_ £ ") "T" T" .\lt Marshall saioT*tliat,"uu3er these circumstances he hoped the Committee would allow him to proceed with his application. As "far as the application to stay execution was concerned, he presumed that it woNiltT not be granted, as it would bo nepessary to show irreparable, loss would' re.sull.aiid the Committee would not lose anything, lie would ask the Committee now to, decide on the merits of the case, 'lav Chief Justice held that fhe river was part of the prohibited area, aud within the area, bui had also held, on a. point not mentioned by anyone, that a license did not take effect as a license in that area. The remarks which fell from His Honor wore" really the result What* he might call e*-partcu statements, ;. Possibly M^s Honor had Relied, on" something that. could not '• ho snbrttantiated— faces' 'fjfeited and facts alleged. Included in the papers for-

warded tyf „;th>^h^ v 4^tififtr.^Hlt't}}«i #vi- , deuce of "a 'native" named Walter- Williams, wha had stated- that he had htari ooff f Maoris purckasing drink on thp* steamers' and taking, it ashore. The Jlev* A. O. Williams liafl also made a similar statement. Mr Hatrick had communicated with, the latter, pointing out that ifcw»s a serious charge to make against' the' conduct of his. boats, and asked to/ be suppHed "i*itji the' .namc.tof the infprmant. Mr 'Williams had replied, giving 3the nape of a native, "and on. the latter being spoken to he had admitted that' he" naxl never seen' it .himself, but had been told ' another native, whose name ,he Itatj, _ -forgotten, , . Marshall pointed oiit that' ii, was easy to make statements like this, ._ and »ls.o remarked that tlie Chief Justice had not ,hear.d the .other side qf . ,tbe - question. • , Mr Ha trick had no knowledge of any" natives getting tyStiuWflQJp cojißumj}tiosa i a£b.ore, .^ndhe fead bepn assured, ,by his stewards that , jao j&u^r. jg&d'^been sold. in. the, way in<£ie.ate4. The Chief Justice had expressed the opinI ion r that the^ convenience of ?a f^w -tourists should not bjfepiaced in'ihe scale against tljie preser#ijitjpn ,-p£,tbeMaori_£ace. AS, a matter" of fact over; 10,000' tourists travelled last year by Mr Hatrick's steamers, and but .very few natives were residing jon the Banks of ■ th^ ' riyer.. It •was^notv'to be assumed that Mr.ELatrick made, any preciable amount .out J»f liquor sold to, natives. ,It might have been different with .the Aotea,' .on which steajper. nearly "all the natives travelled. Had. Mr I;fatnck agreed:to the cpnditions^sought, to pje imposed by the Conjmittee, it might < have been taken as tin admission th,at liquor had been supplied to the natives. Such, .however, was noti-the case., He had > now; been, i instructed to state- that- if the .Committee;, ■saw |it tp impose the conditions that liquor should not be supplied to^oatives, Mr Hatricft would accede to them. In reply to the chairman, as tp how the condi\tionfc were to be .enforced, Mr Marshall stated that instructions 'would- lse issued by Mr- Hatrick, and if there were ..any breaches ,-the. Committee had it in , their ■ power to deal with . the matter when tHe application for renewals fame before them. The Committee had stated that they desired to foster the tourist traffic. Tlm; ;Chaij:jrtim ssti^the Committee .an 4 a gTefat maily -people^ were, of opinion" that tlie non-granting of licenses would not interfere with the tourist traffic at alj. The tourists, he Ihowgljt, would cpwe here all the^ same, whether they" could get liquid or nof. They had to tx-avel on the coaches iind trains without liquor.* Mf Marshall said^ there wpre stoppingplaces' by rail and' road, 1 where refreshments could Be obtained. The Committee had raised but two objections, to granting the licenses, as Mr Hatrick was willing to 'comply with the he submitted that the licenses should be' granted. The Chairman thought it' was a poor compliment -td the river' if tourists .wpuld. not coinp unless they* were able to 'get liquor. .'. , - . t f f >" Mr Marshall said, that the' majority of the tourists, who werd' people *with money, were accustomed ' to have their liquor. The Chairman said thai Ms experience was that very few tourists drank, any thing at all. Did. Mr Marshall seriously think they would stay away if they could, not 'get liquor? They x had a first-class place •at PipAfiki, . run on , magnificent v lines. There, were also splendidly equipped- : steamer^, , witlj , good attendants. .J.f tourists, required liquor they could carry a Hask. , • s Mr Marshall, retorted that th,ey <lid not all carry' Gladstone bags. He' then proceeded to quote from the correspondence with Shec Committee to-iShow that .-tie Qom-, mittee had only' raised two object iqna, and.' that-,if th'cpo'-vrere' , complied with the licenses would be granted. The Chairman pointed out ,thi^ now 'the districts ,-liad hepn r altered>rand paction...pf 'the rive£ >vas. in the Rangit'ikei, which had decided against thq .increase' of -licenses. If the CoTMn?ittee granted/- the ; lioensep, they Would be increased by five or aixi * Mr Marshall replied that if one -searched for objections they* jnigljt them, and called .• " , Alexander jHatrick, who s^ate^ that the stewards' -on his steamers never had any in|eres.t- iii the sale of liquor,., their qnly interest toeing to s.ec that liis'jjiis'trujcttons wsi**carried out. Those instructions v^exe koVto. a^llow- excessive drinklng-r— he Vasn<fT aware there ever had been ahiy—^nbr to sell to natives fqr consumption ashore. ■Indeed, only in isolated eases watf liquor given to tourists going on by coach, and he could 'guarantee to say that during the ten years the sales in this way would not amount to <£IQ.' There, was very little /demand for it. So far as't^e natives were concerned, Ire never knew any ask 'Jot liquor to^be taken ashore. He; would, iiot allow his stewards to sell a bottle of Hquor ,to them.., 4 '.££ ca * #umber of i^ie tourists toolc a glass of ale or other refreshment fpr lunch, and would tbe -»cry .disappointed if they were deprived ->f- it. Many peopje who had gone up the river ]were indignant bec|use of thp prohibition^ Smd some livh'o intended staying' at Pi^riki House Jiad . returned after spending, a jqu^r aftd werp yery indignant iv -cQnsequence. So far ac tya, natives were^concefiied, he would only bc^too happy to assist the Committee in their welfare .S The inability to procure liquor would (detract ye^y from, the Rppularity- ofr the trip. *- Tourists wct'e-irrft^blc arkr&uilfiv'e'i 'attnot being abld 1 to.prtfcnre '^f)xat Whey haifl bapij acciistomod .Wjgpt'? And/he^ lad them say they wonl^d recom^ifnd I ptfiers not lo make the. trip. He* had Spent \£SO,GGO in ibstcriucr the tourist feet and Hfie'Conimittoe'lind no reason to j doubt^thst-'ajuy he made vrtpnll jiot be' carried out. .". . . v J. D. Ciimmins, chairman of the Ilivcr Trtist Board, said that he made on.an-'-ave-rage eight trips a y.e.ar, a«d l>ad -Ipver eegji a natiyc purchase' a bottle .of liquor pr a native • w,onian supplied.' He slipuld say, knpwing the class of people who gravelled, that it would be a hardship to $ie.m if they could not get what they got'SiTpeivhere," He incidentally mentiojied 3 hat he had jieard an exTGfOvtrnor . ,of T?ew South .Wales, Lord Hampden, complain yf his' inat»iJjty''*n'<f»»)«we'-4kfUO3Btii*(-t > ipiriki aud an tlie tour. Ho was very wroth because Aio. could not . obtain what he thought Tie should get. . The Committee adjourned at 1.30, and resntned nfr-SkSO.- "•- --- •- * • Stuart, master of one of the up-river. Voats, stated that his instructions had been that no excessive drinking should be 'allowed on board, and that no drink should be supplied to natives for consumption on shore, t H,ad nevat *een, 4.r^j»k in bottles haudo^Ao HiuL ne_ver_ known' a 'canoe ti> r tome along- # •jicre the^sTeainers for the purpose of; get-" ting, drink to take ashore. Henry Jajncfl, one of " the stewards on tfia W.aione, who had. been employed for three tourist seasons, gave similar^ evidence to Captain JSttiart, adding that he had been instructed not to supply anyone with Jiquor for consumption.. ashore. i i John lldward, . at present -manage^ of Pipiriki -nouse, wh,o was cugagod for ten years^a^ steward, qu. t^i|t sjtoaincrfe. plated that" lie ".received similar Mnstnictioss to Captain' Stuart, whose evidence he ; - corrpborated.' He had .occasionally supplied liquor to tqurisls going _ashore. j - j »'.'.." • . "~ . •■ • nfter retiring for a quarter of an Jhour, the"tfonimittee i l cfiiafflr«flsa i^WrChair. •mttn stated that' they- desired"*- to further consider thp matter, nndwoiild rgive their decision on Tuesday, at 3.30.