INVERCARGILL'S LICENSING TRUST
A KORERO Report
IN]iqo6 the last handle was pulled from the pumps in Invercargill pubs. Some residents still have as souvenirs the little pewter measures used to fill the last glasses of whisky pushed across the counter. From that date until last November the town' was legally “ dry.” Not in fact, of course. You could take the bus to the “ White House ” at Wallacetown five miles out on the road to Riverton and call for a shandy. You could bring back a dozen bottles if you didn’t mind signing for them. The packed parking area at Wallacetown of a Saturday afternoon showed that Invercargillites didn’t mind the distance. Just on the other side of the Waihopai River, the western limit of the no-license area, a small brewery did a roaring trade in small kegs and'jars. But the old hotels became places to eat and sleepboardinghouses dependent for their profits on accommodation only. Some closed down, some carried on, but the standards were not those of other cities where the liquor trade supplements the accommodation account. Until 1928 no organized effort was made before the polls for the restoration of licensed premises in Invercargill. In that year, after some campaigning for restoration amongst the voters, the vote was 400 short of the required three-fifths majority. It was never more than 700 votes away at subsequent polls. Last November restoration had 46 votes to spare, and now prohibition can never
return to Invercargill. It was servicemen and servicewomen (80 per cent, of the Service vote favoured a change) who carried the day at the last poll. The result of that extra weight which tipped the scales in favour of restoration will assuredly be something different. Invercargill is off to a fresh start in the liquor business. At first there was some argument about how she was going .to start and when and where. One thing was certain. If the desert was to be legally watered, the people didn’t want a flood. They did want a change from the system of irrigation which had ruled in the old days and which still rules in other parts of the country. Some were in favour of municipal control, and pointed to the precedent in Renmark, South Australia, which has one of the best hotels in the country at a tariff of only 14s. a day. Profits are distributed for local educational, cultural, and charitable purposes. Some pointed out that the voters had simply authorized the return of the old order ’; that they could do no more under the law ; that they had no reform in mind when they went to the polls. Two petitions went forward to Parliament. One supported by almost four thousand signatures, asked for municipal control, the other, with half as many petitioners, demanded the familiar Licensing Committee with applications from private individuals.
Back from Parliament came the Invercargill Licensing Trust Act constituting the Invercargill Licensing Trust —a body corporate to run the hotels of Invercargill on distinctly different lines. Acts of Parliament are drier than Invercargill was a year ago, but the preamble to the Bill puts the position simply : ”An Act to set up a body corporate for the purpose of providing for the establishment of model hotels in
Invercargill to be conducted in conformity with the Licensing Act and in the interests of public wellbeing and of providing for the sale of intoxicating liquor in the district and to provide for the distribution of profits for public purposes.” Two of the Trust’s six members are nominated by the Invercargill City Council and one by the South Invercargill Borough Council. The other three are nominated by the Minister of Justice. The GovernorGeneral annoints the chair-
man. Mr. Hugh Ritchie has been selected for the job. A local live-wire, Mr. Ritchie’ s business ability has been proved by his work as secretary to the Southland Building Society, one of the largest concerns of its kind in New Zealand. And this is not the first time he has been connected with the beer business. After being wounded in the last war
he took on the organization of Army canteens in Egypt and won the respect of the “ wog ” merchants as one who could beat them at their own game — a not inconsiderable qualification, as any Kiwi will admit. The task set the Trust is to run model hotels within the provisions of the Licensing Act. It may buy, lease, and deal with property in the same way as any private individual or company. It decides how manv hotels there shall be,
and appoints managers and staff for them. It collects all the revenue from the hotels, stands all the expenses, and applies the profits to specified purposes. Its decisions as to where the pubs shall be are subject to an important qualification. The Act allows citizens to object to an intended site on the grounds that a hotel is not necessary in the neighbourhood, that it will disturb the peace, or that it is too close to a
church, hospital, or school. These objections are heard by a Justice of the Supreme Court. Three of the original suburban sites were queried by local residents, but the objections were not sustained by the Court. The members of the Trust hold office for four years, and the Secretary, who is appointed by the Trust, for three. The members are all local men. The Secretary, Mr. H. B. Barnett, who was selected from eighty applicants, is an Aucklander with nlentv of exnerience in
hotel management and the wine and spirit business. Applications for other jobs, especially managers, were also plentiful. As the Trust must operate within the provisions of the Licensing Act, there can be no change meanwhile in the hours of the hotels, but there will be other changes which, for New Zealand, will be revolu-
tionary. This new order has some difficulties ahead of it. Invercargill has been “ dry ” for thirtyeight years. Many of its citizens are still not in favour of liqour being sold in the city. Those who are —and many of them cannot remember the day in 1906 when the barmen called “ Time, Gents., Please ” for the last time—had only the return of the old order in mind when they struck out the bottom lines. Licenses have lapsed (not altogether a disadvantage), hotels have closed down or struggled on, sites have changed hands or been subdivided. All these things mean difficulties, especially when the Trust has ideas about new conditions for drinking, a new atmosphere for dim and dingy bars, and a new approach to the pub as a community facility. Add to these, wartime shortages of staff, labour, and materials for buildings and renovations, fittings, furnishings, utensils, &c., and you will realize that the Trust has a job ahead of it. You will realize why an anonymous poet said : —
Hugh Ritchie arrived at the Pearly Gates, His face was worn and old. He stood before the Man of Fate For admission to the fold. “ What have you done ? ” St. Peter asked, “ To gain admission here ? ” “ I’ve been Chairman for the Trust,” he said, “ Arranging for the beer.” The Pearly Gates swung iopen wide As Peter touched a bell. “ Come in,” he said, “ And choose your harp.” “ You’ve had your share of Hell.
Restoration in peacetime would have created a headache or two, but the difficulties are doubled in wartime. A lot of linen, crockery, cutlery, and glassware are needed to stock a city’s pubs. And the souveniring of several hundred glasses on opening day doesn’t help much. One thing the Trust can be grateful for is that there is no shortage of beer. But the Trust and its Chairman would be the last people to tell you that the pro-
blems are insurmountable. One wag has described their job as a duty to provide facilities for drinking and at the same time discourage drink. This the Trust proposes to do by cutting perpendicular drinking to a minimum—by running the Invercargill bars on the continental lounge system rather than in the way New-Zealanders usually take their pint. Invercargill will be the first place in New Zealand to combine restaurant, tea-shop, and bar. And in case you don’t think that very unusual, ask some of the conservative citizens of Invercargill. Some are viewing the innovation with eagerness, some with anxiety, some with humour, and some with hope. But upon the co-operation of all the watchers the success of the experiment depends.
This central modern restaurant, the Brown Owl, will serve Mum with her cup of tea, Dad with his glass of beer, and the children with ice-cream sodas. Office workers and shoppers may have a glass of beer with their lunch or evening meal, provided they have it before six o’clock. After that the restaurant serves nothing stronger than a good hot cup of tea. There is no bar. All drinks are served by waiters at the table.
The Brown Owl served its first drink on July i, as did two other temporary bars, the Kelvin and the Clyde. The fourth bar was the Appleby, which knew the clink of glasses in days gone by. The two temporary bars have an interesting association for the Army. The buildings used were originally intended to house Q.M. stores in the Pacific. They now house something more palatable than “ Nets, Mosquito, Troops, for the Use of.” They are 90 ft. by 50 ft., and are divided into public bar, private bar, and lounge. There will be plenty of seats in all three sections, but otherwise they will not be very different from bars anywhere else in New Zealand. Both serve beer only and spirits when available. Both are handy to the shopping area, while the Brown Owl is on the main street. The Appleby, one of the old hotels, is near the main road out to Kew Hospital and Bluff.
These four have been the start. Three suburban sites are available now that the Court has dismissed the objections which a legal wit labelled “ a move for the restriction of convivial rights.” The Trust’s original intention was to erect licensed restaurants of the Brown Owl type on these sites. One of them adjoins a modern cabaret called Elmwood Gardens. This building, which stands back from the main road in the privacy of lawns and trees, was run before the war as a cabaret and is now hired for dances, parties, and receptions. By buying the cabaret the Trust will have some say in the liquor drunk at these
functions. Later it intends to build a first-class hotel on the next-door section and run it in conjunction with the cabaret. For the future the Trust has a plan, but the members realize that conditions will prevent any radical changes for a year or two. Essential buildings, especially houses, must have priority over pubs. To improve accommodation standards the Trust intends to renovate the one hotel of any size that can be modernized satisfactorily. This hotel, the Grand, has big bars and plenty
of lounge space and will be made into a first-class commercial hotel. The bar, which will be a standard for the other hotels, will have low-backed seats jutting out from the wall and a shelf on which to place your pint. A large tourist hotel on the site of the old Kailway and a family hotel where Deschler’s now stands are jobs in prospect when the old places are pulled down. The Milford, another large, central, private hotel, is to be another family house. The Trust also aims to rebuild the Appleby and use it as a house for people wishing to visit patients in Kew Hospital. Circumstances may change some of these plans, but it is the Trust’s intention to cater not only for the drinker, but also for the traveller. Should the present programme succeed, there will be tons to do when building conditions are back to normal. From the economy angle bulk buying will give the Trust an advantage over the individual publican. A site for the
Trust store has been bought, and here the hogsheads, foodstuffs, cases of spirits (the Trust is permitted to import some spirits), furniture, coal, utensils, &c., will be stored. Issues to the various hotels will be made, A.S.C. fashion, every day. There will be a cool store attached and a saw-bench and perhaps, ultimately, a flower garden. Laundry on a large scale can be done at Elmwood Gardens. Where will that important item, the beer, come from ? There is a small brewery just out of town ; another larger one, which has been out of commission for some years, is being renovated ; and a well-known firm of Dunedin brewers can supply any quantity. The modern pressure system will replace the old keg-on-counter or hand-pump in the new bars. The Trust dropped no bombshells when it announced its price-list. Sevenpence for a 12 oz. glass and 6d. for anything smaller. Spirits, when available, are rod. a nip. There will be no “ shouting.” No one will argue about the profits in the liquor trade. Takings on opening day in Invercargill were But there is as little doubt about the costs of large-scale hotel buying, building, and furnishings. Public Account is backing the Trust, and the profits must first of all repay these advances and meet the cost of new hotels as well as the many incidental but not inconsiderable expenses connected with running the present ones. After that (and the time-lag shouldn’t be too long) the profits may be distributed by the Trust within the Southland Land
District for educational, cultural, and recreational purposes. Though the main object of the Trust is not to provide profits but to run better hotels at reasonable cost, Southland’s schools, libraries, sports bodies, and charities
should benefit ultimately from the new system of control. Of course, the attitude of many a canny Southland Scot is “ Wait and See.” Secretly they rejoice that, when Otago invades Southland in the post-war period to lift the Ranfurly Shield, Invercargillites will be able to celebrate the victory right beside the Rugby ground. Otago’s attitude to this optimism is also, “ Wait and See.” But the Trust, with some justice, requires more from Invercargill than waiting and watching. The venture is a co-operative one and its success will depend as much on the active assistance of drinker and non-drinker as on the plans of the Licensing Trust. “We want the support of the average citizens who are non-drinkers, and hope that they will use the restaurant as usual, thus preventing it from becoming a drinking-house only.” If the teetotaller shuns the restaurant which serves beer, he turns it into just another public bar. If the drinker is always “ one over the eight ” he doesn’t make the restaurant any more attractive for the teetotaller. Such is the argument of those who have been asked to provide facilities for drinking and at the same time discourage drink. A lot will depend on the Trust’s representative on the spot. The Trust contends that there will be no incentive to managers to trade after hours or serve a man above his capacity. Others argue that without some bonus system there will be no encouragement for the manager to make his house any better
than the fellow’s next door. Competition, they argue, is the soul of the liquor trade. The Trust realizes the 41 difficulties of its task, but, it believes that “with the good will of the public ” it can make a success of the experiment.
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Bibliographic details
Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 17, 28 August 1944, Page 3
Word Count
2,588INVERCARGILL'S LICENSING TRUST Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 17, 28 August 1944, Page 3
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