TO THE EDITOR.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2304, 17 December 1889, Page 2

TO THE EDITOR.

Sib —I answee to Mr Hngo FrledUuder's latter to you of yesterday's date, 1 b3g to say that, es thare Is no olaune In , ; he LiceQßlnj; Aot forbidding each a meetIng of the Licensing Committee as wii r*otfntly held, I presume the Chairman, In c»lllng the meeting, exercised (to use Mr Friedlander's own words) the righta and privileges of a free-born Britisher. Mr Frlodlsnder most have forgotten the cxi t »noo of section 73 of " The LlcßUslng Act, 1881," o'herwlse b!s undeniably ablo Intellect muat neocnarlly huve preoloded him from writing snob, a letter aa that above alluded to. S»id srotlon 73 readi *' Conditional Hoensos mey be granted at any time without notice or any formal application ai a Uoenetcg meeting by atiy two members of the L'oenslng Committee. Aa It will be seen from the foregoing qao ed a otior/hit any t tro Ocmmltteemen ein grant a temporary license for the sale o^ liquor In be Domiln, without coneuliiny their colleaguta, and as the sale or other* wise ' f liquor In tbo Domain, Is ppa^ently of more tban ordinary Interest to the r&top yors (aa is evinced by the largely *»g?ed petition lately presented to tha Boroagh Cour.oiilora against snob a pervclaaiou), tbo rooo> t'y held meeting of the OommUies w*a c»Ucd m order that an exprPßolnn of opinion might be given by • majority of members, to gnide and regntate the action r.f any member Indlvidualiy dealing with any »ppl c»tlon fov luoh a iloeoae, In the event of such a license belnq applied for, Had therefore the Oommi tea followed the recognised procedure of a Magistrate's Ooart (and Mr Ffledlander oalls members of the Committee meaningless names for not h»ving compiled rigorously therewith), Instead c f having followed the course that gentleman disapproves of, it would bare bean open for a minority of the Commit* tee to grant a conditional license for the sale of liquor m the Domain, but now I presume it to otherwise, I am eto, ; J 0. Duncan* Ashburton, 17 ih December, 1889.